JP2005128858A - Contact input type communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prolong a battery life for a battery-driven contact input type communication device. <P>SOLUTION: The battery-driven contact input type communication device comprises a contact state detection means for detecting whether a contact is open or closed; a means for controlling a contact current to flow in a large amount only for a predetermined period of time, at least after a change in the open/closed state of the contact has been detected; and a communication means for communicating contact state information which is the result of determination made while a large amount of contact current is passed. The current passed through the contact in order to detect that the contact is closed is controlled so that a conducting state and a non-conducting state alternate periodically. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a battery-driven contact input type communication device used for a window opening / closing sensor and the like, and more particularly to a technique for extending the battery life in this type of contact input type communication device.

In battery-driven contact input type communication devices, when the input circuit detects a change in the contact open / closed state, the current flowing through the contact is made larger than usual, without making an immediate determination to avoid erroneous determination. A technique is known in which the contact state is confirmed in a state where a large contact current is passed to extend the battery life (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-32127 A

  In the technique described in Patent Document 1 described above, only a contact state confirmation time is used to increase the battery life by flowing a larger amount of current than in the normal state. However, when the contact is closed, the current is closed. The detection current always flows through the contact.

  Here, a contact input type communication device such as a general window opening / closing sensor is driven by a battery, and the detector is composed of a magnet and a reed switch as a contact, and when the window is opened, the contact is closed. When the window is closed, communication is performed by changing the contact from the open state to the closed state. As described above, communication is performed with the opening and closing of the window. However, when the time during which communication is actually performed and the time during which communication is not performed are compared in one day, most of the time is the time during which communication is not performed. Comparing the opening time and the window closing time, the closing time is longer.

  Therefore, the life of the battery is greatly influenced by the current consumption in the state where the contacts are closed. However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, since a detection current always flows through a closed contact, it cannot be denied that power consumption increases when the contact is closed. However, there is a problem that the user needs to change or charge the battery frequently.

  Also, in this type of battery-driven contact input type communication device, when the battery voltage drops, only the battery voltage state is periodically communicated as information for replacing or charging the battery. It has become. However, since the battery voltage state is regularly communicated, it has been pointed out that the power required for communication increases and the battery is exhausted heavily.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described points, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the average value of detection currents flowing through the closed contacts as much as possible to extend the battery life. Another object of the present invention is to reduce the power required for communication and extend the life of the battery by simultaneously communicating the contact state information and the battery state information.

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention achieves the above-described object by means of contact state detection means for detecting the open / closed state of the contact, means for controlling so that a large amount of contact current flows at least for a predetermined time after detecting the change in the open / closed state of the contact, In a battery-driven contact input type communication device having communication means for communicating contact state information that is a determination result in a state in which a large amount of current flows, the contact is configured to detect that the contact is closed. Means for controlling the current flowing through the contact during the closed period so that the energized state and the non-energized state are repeated periodically.

  Further, the battery state detection means for detecting the state of the battery and the time measurement means for measuring the time, and when the passage of a predetermined time is measured by the time measurement means after the communication by the communication means, the contact state described above The information is detected and the battery state information is detected by the battery state detecting unit, and the contact state information and the battery state information are communicated by the communication unit.

  Alternatively, a battery state detection unit for detecting a battery state is provided, and when the change in the open / close state of the contact is detected, the contact state information and the battery state information detected by the battery state detection unit are detected by the communication unit. Configure to communicate.

According to the present invention, the current flowing through the contact during the period in which the contact is closed in order to detect that the contact is closed is controlled so that the energized state and the non-energized state are periodically repeated. It is possible to greatly reduce the average value of the detection current flowing through the contact that is in contact, and therefore, compared to the conventional technology, the power consumption when the contact is closed is greatly reduced and the battery life is extended. Can be achieved.
In addition, since the contact state information and the battery state information are simultaneously communicated, the power consumption for communication can be reduced compared to the case where the contact state information and the battery state information are individually communicated at different timings as in the past. Therefore, the life of the battery can be extended in this respect as well.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 to 5 relate to a battery-driven contact input type communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as this embodiment), and FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the contact input type communication device of this embodiment. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of the MPU in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing the operation of the contact input type communication device of the present embodiment, and FIG. 4 is an explanation of a message structure used by the contact input type communication device of the present embodiment. FIG. 5 and FIG. 5 are explanatory diagrams showing communication timings of the contact input type communication device of this embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, 1 is a contact input type communication device, 2 is a contact that opens (opens) when the window is opened, and closes (closes) when the window is closed (denoted as SW in the figure), 3 is a contact MPU (Micro Processing Unit) that controls the entire input communication device 1, 4 is a first detection resistor, 5 is a second detection resistor, 6 is a first current control element, and 7 is a second current control element , 8 is a first output circuit, 9 is a second output circuit, 10 is an input circuit, 11 is a first current control output terminal, 12 is a second current control output terminal, 13 is an input terminal, and 14 is a battery. , 15 is a power supply circuit, 16 is a communication function unit, 17 is a voltage detection circuit, 18 is an oscillator, 19 is a telegram to be communicated, and 20 is a communication device that communicates with a plurality of contact input type communication devices.

  In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the state of the contact 2 is the voltage SNS generated by the current flowing through the first detection resistor 4 and the second detection resistor 5, and is input to the input terminal 13 via the input circuit 10. By doing so, the MPU 3 recognizes. The MPU 3 communicates a message 19 including information (contact state information) of the input terminal 13 and battery state information described later to the communication device 20 using the communication function unit 16 at a timing as described later.

  The current flowing through the first detection resistor 4 is controlled by the first current control element 6, and the current flowing through the second detection resistor 5 is controlled by the second current control element 7. The first current control element 6 is controlled via the first output circuit 8 by the signal of the first current control output terminal 11, and the second current control element 7 is controlled by the second current control output terminal. 12 is controlled via the second output circuit 9.

  The current I11 flowing through the first detection resistor 4 and the current I12 flowing through the second detection resistor 5 are set to values such that I11 <I12. Normally, the values of the detection resistors 4 and 5 are set so that I11 is several μA and I12 is several mA.

  The first and second current control elements 6 and 7 use FETs or the like that are voltage control elements that require a small amount of current consumption for performing control. The first and second output circuits 8 and 9 and the input circuit 10 also use logic circuits such as C-MOS with low power consumption.

  The current that flows to the MPU 3 and the contact 2 is supplied from the battery 14 by the power supply circuit 15, and the MPU 3 is operated by a clock generated by the oscillator 18. Further, the MPU 3 recognizes the state of the battery 14 (remaining battery capacity) by the voltage detection circuit 17. The voltage detection circuit 17 of the battery 14 uses a general comparator or an A / D converter (in the case of an A / D converter, an A / D converter provided in the MPU 3 may be used). .

  The communication device 16 may be wired or wireless, and is determined by the system. The number of the oscillators 18 may be one or two, and in the case of two, one oscillation is stopped when not communicating. The MPU 3 performs control of the oscillator 18 and internal clock control, and has a low power consumption mode that operates at low power consumption in addition to a normal operation mode that operates at high speed.

  The power supply circuit 15 supplies the detection voltage Vcc1 to the first and second current control elements 6 and 7, and supplies the power supply voltage Vcc2 to the MPU 3 and the communication function unit 16. Vcc1 and Vcc2 may be different voltages or may be the same voltage by the same circuit. Further, the power supply circuit 15 may not be a constant voltage, but may be a smoothing circuit using a capacitor.

  Next, the internal configuration of the MPU 3 in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, 30 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), 31 is a clock circuit, 32 is a first timer, 33 is a second timer, 34 is an I / O (input / output) circuit, 35 is a switching function unit, 36 Is an interrupt control function unit.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the MPU 3 includes a CPU 30 inside, and the CPU 30 controls each unit in the MPU 3. The clock circuit 31 supplies a clock generated using one or a plurality of oscillators 18 to each unit in the MPU 3. By controlling the clock circuit 31, the clock supplied to the CPU 30 is slowed down or stopped, thereby realizing a low power consumption mode in which the current consumption I2 of the entire MPU 3 is reduced. A normal operating current is I22, and an operating current in the low power consumption mode is I21.

  The first timer 32 divides the clock supplied from the clock circuit 31 and generates a waveform signal that keeps the current control element 6 in an energized state for a period of T2 with a period of T1. The second timer 33 divides the clock supplied from the clock circuit 31 and generates an interrupt signal at a constant interval T9. The I / O circuit 34 sets the output state of the first output circuit 8 and the second output circuit 9 and acquires the state of the input terminal 13.

  The switching function unit 35 selects whether the control signal of the first output circuit 8 is the output of the first timer 32 or the output of the I / O circuit 34.

  The interrupt control function unit 36 causes the CPU 30 to generate an interrupt according to a change in the state of the input terminal 13 or a signal from the second timer 33. Also, it has a function of returning the CPU 30 that has been slow or stopped to normal operation by interruption.

  The basic operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, consider the state shown in FIG. The CPU 30 controls the I / O circuit 34 and the switching function unit 35 to set the first current control element 6 and the second current control element 7 to the energized state. In this state, the current I1 is 0 because the contact 2 is open. At this time, since the SNS signal has a low impedance, it does not malfunction due to noise. Since the CPU 30 does not need to operate, the CPU 30 sets the low power consumption mode and reduces the current consumption I2 to the value of I21.

  Next, the state shown in (B) in which the contact 2 is changed from the open state to the closed state will be considered. At this time, the current I12 flows through the contact 2, and the voltage of the SNS signal changes from the H level to the L level. When the SNS signal becomes L level, the state of the input terminal 13 changes via the input circuit 10, and the interrupt control function unit 36 causes the CPU 30 to generate an interrupt signal. The CPU 30 to which the interrupt is input returns the clock supplied to the CPU 30 to normal and operates at a high speed. For this reason, the consumption current of MPU3 becomes I22.

  In order to prevent malfunction, it is confirmed that the contact 2 is closed. The CPU 30 controls the I / O circuit 34 to set the first current control element 6 and the second current control element 7 to the energized state for the time T4 in the cycle of T3, and the state of the SNS during the energization. Is confirmed several times using the I / O circuit 34. By causing the large current I12 to flow through the contact 2, it is possible to prevent malfunction (error determination) due to contact failure of the contact 2 and malfunction (error determination) due to noise. When it is determined that the contact 2 is closed, the first current control element 6 and the second current control element 7 are set in a non-energized state, thereby reducing current consumption. Moreover, the open / close state of the contact 2 is converted into a message.

  After confirming the open / closed state of the contact 2, the state of the battery 14 is detected using the voltage detection circuit 17. The result is converted into a message. In addition, the counter in the second timer 33 is cleared and an interrupt is set to occur after T9 (see FIG. 5).

  Subsequently, the MPU 3 transmits a message 19 to the communication device 20 using the communication function unit 16 that the contact 1 has changed from an open state to a closed state. At the same time, the state of the battery 14 is also transmitted as a message 19. During communication, a current I31 necessary for communication flows through the communication function unit 16.

  After transmitting the telegram 19, the CPU 30 controls the switching function unit 35 to set the output from the first current control output terminal 11 as the output of the first timer 32. As a result, the first current control element 6 is set in a state where it is energized for a period of T2 with a period of T1. Thereafter, the CPU 30 controls the clock circuit 31 to set the low power consumption mode, and reduces the current flowing through the MPU 3 to I21. The CPU 30 maintains the low power consumption mode until the change of the contact 2 or the interruption of the timer 33 occurs.

  Next, a state indicated by (C) in which the contact 2 is closed is considered. In the conventional technique, the detected current when the contact 2 is closed is I11. However, in the technique according to the present invention, the average value of the detected current can be reduced to I11 × T2 / T1. In the case of a window sensor or the like, since the time T7 when the contact 2 is closed is generally long, the current I11 always flows while the contact 2 is closed in the conventional technique, and the consumption of the battery 14 is intense. In the present invention, the consumption of the battery 14 can be reduced to T2 / T1, and the life of the battery can be extended. In this embodiment, T2 is set to about 0.1 to 0.2 seconds, and T1 is set to about 5 to 10 seconds. However, the value of T1 is a value of about several tens of seconds or depending on circumstances. Even a value of several minutes can be used.

  Next, the state shown in (D) in which the contact 2 is changed from the closed state to the open state will be considered. When the first current control element 6 is energized while the contact 2 is open, the current I11 does not flow through the contact 2, so the SNS signal becomes H level. When the SNS signal is changed, the interrupt control function unit 36 generates an interrupt signal and causes the CPU 30 to transition from the low power consumption mode to the normal mode. Further, the switching function unit 35 is controlled to be switched so that the first current control element 6 is controlled by the output of the I / O circuit 34.

  In order to prevent malfunction, it is confirmed that the contact 2 is open. The CPU 30 controls the I / O circuit 34 to set the first current control element 6 and the second current control element 7 to the energized state for the time T4 in the period T3, and the SNS state is set to I during energization. Confirm multiple times using the / O circuit 34. By setting the first current control element 6 and the second current control element 7 to the energized state, the SNS signal is determined in a low impedance state, so that no malfunction occurs due to noise. When it is determined that the contact 2 is open, the first current control element 6 and the second current control element 7 are set in the energized state so that an interrupt can be generated when the contact 2 is closed. Set. Moreover, the open / close state of the contact 2 is converted into a message.

  After confirming the open / closed state of the contact 2, the state of the battery 14 is detected using the voltage detection circuit 17, and the result is converted into a telegram. Also, the counter in the second timer 33 is cleared, and an interrupt is set to occur after T9.

  The MPU 3 transmits a message 19 to the communication device 20 by using the communication function unit 16 that the contact 2 has changed from the closed state to the open state. At the same time, the state of the battery 14 is also transmitted as a message 19. During communication, a current I31 necessary for communication flows through the communication function unit 16.

  After transmitting the telegram 19, the CPU 30 controls the clock circuit 31 to set the low power consumption mode, and reduces the current flowing through the MPU 3 to I21. The CPU 30 maintains the low power consumption mode and returns to the state (A) until the change of the contact 2 or the interruption of the timer 33 occurs.

  Even if the contact 2 does not change, when an interrupt is generated by the second timer 33, the state of the contact 2 and the state of the battery 14 are detected, and the result is transmitted to the communication device 20. The state confirmation operation of the contact 2 and the detection operation of the battery 14 are the same as the operations (B) and (D). By performing regular communication at intervals of T9, the communication device 20 can simultaneously check the state of the contact 2 and the battery 14 of the contact input type communication device 1. It can also be confirmed that no failure has occurred in the contact input type communication device 1.

  In FIG. 4, the example of the information which the message | telegram 19 has is shown. Assuming that a plurality of contact input type communication devices 1 are provided in the system, the message 19 includes device ID information 41 that is a unique number in the system of the contact input type communication device 1. Further, contact state information 42 indicating the open / closed state of the contact 2 and battery state information 43 indicating the state of the battery 14 are included. From the device ID information 41 and the battery state information 43, the communication device 20 can determine which contact input type communication device 1 battery 14 is exhausted, and if necessary, the user can replace the battery 14 or Can prompt charging.

  The electronic message 19 includes other information 44 as necessary. The format of the electronic message 19 is a format corresponding to the system.

  FIG. 5 shows the overall communication timing. As shown in the figure, when a change in opening / closing of the contact 2 occurs, communication is performed. Communication is also performed when T9 has elapsed after the end of communication.

  When the state of the battery 14 is transmitted to the communication device 20 at regular intervals regardless of whether the contact 2 is opened or closed, N is the number of times the contact 2 is opened / closed per day, and M is the number of times the state of the battery 14 is transmitted. The N + M message 19 is transmitted every day. In order to perform communication, electric power is required. When the number of communication is large, the battery 14 is consumed very much, and the replacement frequency and the charging frequency of the battery 14 are increased.

  In the present invention, when the contact 2 changes from open to closed or from closed to open, the state of the contact 2 and the state of the battery 14 are simultaneously transmitted to the communication device 20 using the telegram 19 shown in FIG. In this case, in order to clear the internal counter of the second timer 33, communication is performed after T9 after performing the last communication. Therefore, since communication is performed only when the contact 2 is not opened or closed for T9 or more, the number of daily communication is less than N + M times, and the battery 14 can be prevented from being consumed.

It is a block diagram of the contact input type communication apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is an internal block diagram of MPU in FIG. It is a timing chart which shows operation | movement of the contact input type communication apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the message | telegram structure which the contact input type communication apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention uses. It is explanatory drawing which shows the communication timing of the contact input type communication apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 contact input type communication device 2 contact 3 MPU
4 First detection resistor 5 Second detection resistor 6 First current control element 7 Second current control element 8 First output circuit 9 Second output circuit 10 Input circuit 11 First current control output terminal 12 Second current control output terminal 13 Input terminal 14 Battery 15 Power supply circuit 16 Communication function unit 17 Voltage detection circuit 18 Oscillator 19 Telegram 20 Communication device 30 CPU
31 clock circuit 32 first timer 33 second timer 34 I / O circuit 35 switching function unit 36 interrupt control function unit 41 device ID information 42 contact state information 43 battery state information 44 other information

Claims (3)

Contact state detection means for detecting the contact open / close state, means for controlling at least a contact current to flow for a predetermined time after detection of a change in the contact open / close state, and a determination result in a state in which a large contact current flows In a battery-driven contact input type communication device equipped with communication means for communicating certain contact state information,
In order to detect that the contact is closed, there is provided means for controlling the current flowing through the contact while the contact is closed so that the energized state and the non-energized state are periodically repeated. A contact input type communication device. In the contact input type communication device according to claim 1,
Battery state detecting means for detecting the state of the battery, and time measuring means for measuring time,
When the passage of a predetermined time is measured by the time measuring unit after the communication unit performs communication, the contact state information is detected and the battery state information is detected by the battery state detecting unit. A contact input type communication device that communicates the contact state information and the battery state information. In the contact input type communication device according to claim 1,
Battery state detection means for detecting the state of the battery,
When a change in the open / close state of the contact is detected, the contact means communicates the contact status information and the battery status information detected by the battery status detection means.

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