JP2005347839A - Mobile apparatus and method for measuring electric energy used by electric product utilizing the mobile apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile apparatus with an infrared ray remote control function capable of simply measuring rough electric energy in use and to provide a method for measuring electric energy used by an electric product utilizing the mobile apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The mobile apparatus is provided with: an infrared ray remote control means for converting a power ON / OFF control signal into an infrared ray signal and transmitting the infrared ray signal to the electric product; a storage means for storing information such as a power ON / OFF time, an entered rated power and standby power, and an electric charge per unit electric energy; and a control means that transmits the power ON / OFF control signal in response to a key operation to the infrared ray remote control means, makes the storage means store the time of power ON / OFF, calculates accumulated time of power ON or power OFF on the basis of the stored power ON / OFF time, calculates the electric energy used for each electric product and the electric charge on the basis of the rated power, standby power and the electric charge per unit electric energy or the like which are stored, and makes a display means display the power supply state of each electric product and calculated information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable device having an infrared remote control function and a method for measuring the amount of electric power used by an electric product using the portable device.

  Various electrical products are used at home, and electrical products such as TVs, videos, and air conditioners have infrared remote control (hereinafter abbreviated as remote control) functions, and power can be supplied from remote locations using infrared remote controls. Can be controlled such as ON / OFF.

  On the other hand, recently, a mobile phone equipped with an infrared remote control function has appeared, and this mobile phone is pre-installed with data of an infrared remote control used in each manufacturer's electrical product, and can control the electrical product by remote control. ing. Furthermore, by downloading remote control data of a new manufacturer from an Internet site or the like, it is possible to perform remote control while switching a plurality of electrical products with one mobile phone (for example, Patent Document 1 below).

JP 2003-264612 (page 3-5, FIG. 1)

  In ordinary households, the power company usually notifies you of the amount of electricity used and the electricity charge per month, but you know how much electricity each individual electrical product used and how much it cost. In order to measure the amount of electricity used by each electrical product in the home, it is necessary to install a watt hour meter for each electrical product. It was difficult to grasp the usage amount and the electricity bill.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its main object is to provide a portable device with an infrared remote control function capable of simply measuring an approximate amount of electricity used, and an electric device using the portable device. It is to provide a method for measuring the amount used.

  In order to achieve the above object, a portable device of the present invention is a portable device having an infrared remote control function. For one or a plurality of electric products that can be controlled by the portable device, the electric device is provided for each electric product. The time when the power control signal for ON / OFF control of the power of the product is transmitted is stored in the storage means, and based on the time, the time of the power ON state and the time of the power OFF state of the electrical product are calculated, Control means for calculating power consumption of the electrical product based on the calculated time of the power ON state and time of the power OFF state and the rated power and standby power of the electrical product stored in the storage means in advance It is what has.

  The portable device of the present invention is a portable device having an infrared remote control function. For one or a plurality of electric products that can be controlled by the portable device, the electric product is turned on for each electric product. The time when the power control signal for controlling the power supply / OFF is sent is stored in the storage means, and based on the time, the time of the power ON state and the time of the power OFF state of the electrical product are calculated, and the calculated power ON The power consumption of the electrical product is calculated based on the time of the state and the time of the power-off state, and the power consumption and standby power of the electrical product stored in the storage unit in advance, and the calculated power consumption Control means for calculating an electricity charge for the electric product based on an electricity charge per unit power consumption stored in advance in the storage means.

  In the present invention, the control means sends out the subsequent power control signal when the next power control signal is sent before the predetermined time has elapsed after sending the power control signal. It can be set as the structure which performs control which memorize | stores only in said memory | storage means.

  In the present invention, the control means changes the power state of the electrical product recognized by the portable device from a power ON state to a power OFF state or a power source when a predetermined key is operated. It can also be set as the structure which performs control which changes from an OFF state to a power ON state.

  In the present invention, the control means includes at least one of a power state of the electric product recognized by the portable device, a time of the power on state, a time of the power off state, the power consumption, and the electric charge. It is preferable to perform control to display one on the display means.

  Further, in the present invention, the control means communicates at least one of the time when the power control signal is transmitted, the time when the power is turned on, the time when the power is turned off, the power consumption, and the electricity bill. It can also be set as the structure which performs control which transmits to the computer apparatus connected via a communication network.

  The method of the present invention is a method for measuring the power consumption of an electrical product using a portable device having an infrared remote control function, wherein the electrical product is controlled with respect to one or more electrical products that can be controlled by the portable device. For each product, a first step of storing in a storage means a time when a power control signal for controlling ON / OFF of the power supply of the electrical product is stored, and based on the time, the power ON state of the electrical product A second step of calculating a time and a time in which the power is turned off; a time in which the power is turned on and a time in which the power is turned off; and a rated power and standby power of the electrical product stored in advance in the storage means And at least a third step of calculating power consumption of the electrical product.

  The method of the present invention is a method for measuring the power consumption of an electrical product using a portable device having an infrared remote control function, wherein the electrical product is controlled with respect to one or more electrical products that can be controlled by the portable device. For each product, a first step of storing in a storage means a time when a power control signal for controlling ON / OFF of the power supply of the electrical product is stored, and based on the time, the power ON state of the electrical product A second step of calculating a time and a time in which the power is turned off; a time in which the power is turned on and a time in which the power is turned off; and a rated power and standby power of the electrical product stored in advance in the storage means Based on the third step of calculating the power consumption of the electrical product, and the calculated power consumption and the electricity charge per unit power consumption stored in the storage means in advance. There are, a fourth step of calculating the electric charge for the electric products, and has at least.

  Thus, according to the configuration of the present invention, in a portable device with an infrared remote control function capable of power ON / OFF control of an electrical product such as a television or an air conditioner, the time when the electrical product is turned on or off is controlled. Since it is stored, the total use time for a certain period (for example, one week or one month) can be calculated based on this time. In addition, by setting the rated power, standby power, and electricity charge per unit of electricity for each electrical product in advance, the approximate power consumption and electricity charge within a certain period for each electrical product controlled by the remote control can be calculated. can do.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily grasp the approximate amount of electric power used and electric charge for each electric product without using a dedicated watt hour meter or the like.

  The reason for this is that the portable device equipped with an infrared remote control function capable of power ON / OFF control of electrical products such as TVs and air conditioners stores the power ON / OFF control time of the electrical product and the stored time. A control means for calculating a power ON time or a standby time of an electric product based on the power consumption and a power charge used based on a pre-stored rated power, standby power, and a power charge per unit power; This is because the display unit displays the amount of power used and the amount of electricity used calculated by the control unit.

  In a preferred embodiment of the portable device with an infrared remote controller of the present invention, in addition to general means (wireless communication means, timing means, operation means, display means, etc.) as a portable device, power ON / OFF control Infrared remote control means for converting signals into infrared signals and sending them to electrical products; Storage means for storing information such as power ON / OFF times, input rated power, standby power, and electricity charges per unit power amount; , A power ON / OFF control signal corresponding to the key operation is transmitted to the infrared remote control means, and the power ON / OFF time is stored in the storage means, and the power ON / OFF is based on the stored power ON / OFF time. Calculates the cumulative power ON / OFF time from when the control signal is sent to when the next power ON / OFF control signal is sent, and the recorded rated power Calculates the amount of electric power used and electric charges for each electric product based on standby electric power, electric charge per unit of electric energy, etc., and displays information such as the power status of the electric product, the calculated accumulated time, electric energy used, and electric charge Control means to be displayed on the means, and it is possible to easily know the usage time, the amount of power used, the electricity charge, etc., for an electric product whose power supply is controlled by a portable device with an infrared remote controller.

  In order to describe the above-described embodiment of the present invention in more detail, a portable device with an infrared remote control function according to the first embodiment of the present invention and a method for measuring the amount of electric power used by an electrical product using the portable device are as follows: This will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a portable device with an infrared remote control function according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure for measuring the amount of power used by an electrical product using the portable device. 3 and 4 are diagrams for explaining a method of sending a power ON / OFF control signal and measuring a power ON time and a standby time. 5 and 6 are diagrams showing examples of screen configurations displayed on the display unit of the mobile device.

  First, the configuration of the portable device with the infrared remote control function of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The control unit 104 calls the remote control data corresponding to the input from the key operation unit 105 from the memory 106 and sends it to the infrared remote control circuit 101. The infrared remote control circuit 101 controls the control signal (power ON / OFF) according to the control data. Control signal) is transmitted as an infrared signal. Further, the control unit 104 refers to the time measuring unit 108 to store the transmission time of the power ON / OFF control signal for each electric product in the memory 106 and based on the stored transmission time of the power ON / OFF control signal. Then, the power ON time and standby time (power OFF time) of each electrical product are calculated. Further, at this time, the display unit 102 displays a state of whether the electric appliance being controlled is controlled to be turned on or is turned off (standby state). Furthermore, various information such as the accumulated results of the power ON time and standby time, the rated power and standby power input from the key operation unit 105, the electricity charge per unit power amount, and the used electric energy and electricity calculated from the information. The usage fee is stored in the memory 106, and information such as the calculated electricity usage fee is displayed on the display unit 102. The external battery 107 supplies power to the portable device 100, and the wireless unit 103 converts non-voice information such as voice information of the mobile phone and mail into a radio signal and communicates with the base station.

  Next, the operation of the mobile device 100 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2 and the timing chart of FIG. In general, in the remote control of an electric product, the signal for turning on the power and the signal for turning it off are common. Therefore, the time when the first power ON / OFF control signal is sent after setting the remote control mode is set as the power ON time. Next, the time when the power ON / OFF control signal is sent is determined as the power OFF time, and when the power ON / OFF control signal is sent after that, the power ON / OFF is sequentially determined. And

  First, in step S201, it is confirmed that the power of the electrical product controlled by the mobile device 100 is turned off, and the mobile device 100 is set to the remote control mode. Here, since the initial state is the power-off state, it is confirmed that the power supply of the electrical product is turned off. However, the initial state may be the power-on state.

  Next, in step S202, when the user operates the key operation unit 105 of the portable device 100 and presses a key assigned to the power ON / OFF control, the control unit 104 calls remote control control data from the memory 106. The infrared remote control circuit 101 transmits a power ON / OFF control signal (power ON / OFF control signal 1 in FIG. 4) corresponding to the control data as an infrared signal. In step S203, the control unit 104 acquires the current time from the time measuring unit 108, and stores the time at which the power ON / OFF control signal is transmitted in the memory 106 as the power ON time.

  At this time, the state determined on the portable device 100 side may be displayed on the display unit 102 as to whether the electrical product currently being controlled is in a power-on state or a power-off state (standby state). FIG. 5 shows an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 102 of the portable device 100. The remote control function of each key is displayed on the lower side of the figure, and the power supply state of the electrical product being controlled (in the figure, on the upper right). (Power ON state) is displayed. If the actual state of the electrical product is different from the state displayed on the display unit 102, a correction button is provided so that the user can correct the state to the correct state from the key operation unit 105. You can also. Thereby, the accuracy of counting the power ON time and the power OFF time can be improved.

  Next, when the electric product is turned off after a predetermined time has elapsed, when the user presses a predetermined key of the key operation unit 105 in step S204, the control unit 104 receives the remote control control data from the memory 106. Called and sent to the infrared remote control circuit 101. The infrared remote control circuit 101 sends a power ON / OFF control signal (power ON / OFF control signal 2 in FIG. 4) corresponding to the control data as an infrared signal. In step S205, the control unit 104 acquires the current time from the time measuring unit 108, and stores the time when the power ON / OFF control signal is transmitted in the memory 106 as the power OFF time.

  Next, in step S206, the control unit 104 calls the power-on time stored in step S203 and the power-off time stored in step S205 from the memory 106, and subtracts the power-on time from the power-off time. Time (power ON time 1 in FIG. 4) is calculated.

  Next, when the electrical product is turned on after a predetermined time has elapsed, when the user presses a predetermined key of the key operation unit 105 in step S207, the control unit 104 receives the remote control control data from the memory 106. Called and sent to the infrared remote control circuit 101. The infrared remote control circuit 101 sends a power ON / OFF control signal (power ON / OFF control signal 3 in FIG. 4) corresponding to the control data as an infrared signal. In step S208, the control unit 104 acquires the current time from the time measuring unit 108, and stores the time when the power ON / OFF control signal is transmitted in the memory 106 as the power ON time.

  Next, in step S209, the control unit 104 calls the power-off time stored in step S205 and the power-on time stored in step S208 from the memory 106, and subtracts the power-off time from the power-on time, thereby subtracting the power-off time. (Standby time 1 in FIG. 4) is calculated.

  Similarly, in the case where the power supply of the electrical product is turned off after a predetermined time has elapsed, the processes after step S204 are performed. Then, the power ON time and the power OFF time (standby time) determined by the above procedure are integrated over a preset period (for example, one month) and stored in the memory 106.

  Further, in step S210, the control unit 104 consumes by adding the product of the power ON time and the rated power and the product of the standby time and the standby power every predetermined time or when instructed by the user. The power amount is obtained and stored in the memory 106, and if necessary, the power ON time, the power OFF time, the power consumption amount, and the like are displayed on the display unit 102 in step S211. At this time, by inputting an electricity charge per unit electric energy in advance, an approximate electricity charge for a certain period of the electric product can be obtained, and a screen as shown in FIG. It is possible to display. Note that the rated power, standby power, and electricity charge per unit power amount are confirmed in advance from the product catalog of each electrical product, the manufacturer's home page, etc., input using the key operation unit 105, and stored in the memory 106. You can let it go.

  In the above flow, the infrared signal transmitted from the portable device 100 has been described as being correctly recognized by the electrical product side. However, when the infrared signal is not correctly recognized by the electrical product side, as shown in FIG. Since the power ON / OFF control signal may be sent again, the control unit 104 sets a predetermined time T from the first power ON / OFF control signal to the next power ON / OFF control signal. When it is T1 (for example, 3 seconds or less), it is possible to control so that the last input power ON / OFF control signal is validated as the determination of the power ON / OFF state change. By performing such control, the measurement accuracy of the power ON time and standby time can be further improved.

  In addition, the above procedure is a case where the electrical product is controlled only by the portable device 100 of the present embodiment. For example, the electrical product is turned on / off by another portable device or an infrared remote controller, When the power is turned ON / OFF by a timer or the like provided, the portable device 100 according to the present embodiment may be erroneously recognizing the power ON / OFF state of the electrical product. In such a case, a correction button may be provided in the key operation unit 105 of the portable device 100 so that the power ON / OFF state can be corrected. For example, after storing the power OFF time in step S205, when the power is turned ON by the electrical timer, when the correction button is pressed, the control unit 104 sets the current time in step S208 as the power ON time in the memory 106. It is also possible to control to store and execute the subsequent processing.

  As described above, by using the infrared remote control function of the portable device 100 to turn on / off the electrical product and perform other controls, the power on / off time, power consumption, and electricity charge of the electrical product can be easily achieved. You can know. If multiple electrical products can be controlled, the power ON time and standby time are aggregated for each electrical product, and the rated power and standby power are set so that the approximate power consumption and electrical power used It becomes possible to know the price.

  In the above description, the power ON signal and the power OFF signal of the infrared remote controller are the same signal, but the present invention can also be applied to the case where these signals are different. In the above flow, the power ON time or the power OFF time is calculated individually after storing the power ON time or the power OFF time, but the power ON time or the power OFF time is not calculated each time. You may make it carry out at the time of calculation of an electricity bill. In the above flow, the power consumption amount in the power OFF state is also calculated in order to accurately calculate the power consumption amount. However, when the standby power is small, the calculation of the power consumption amount in the power OFF state may be omitted. .

  Next, a portable device with an infrared remote control function according to a second embodiment of the present invention and a method for measuring the amount of electric power used in an electrical product using the portable device will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a system using the portable device 100 with the infrared remote control function of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the system of this embodiment includes a mobile device 100 shown in the first embodiment, a base station 109 that receives information transmitted from the mobile device 100, and a computer such as a personal computer. The device 111 includes a communication network 110 such as the Internet that connects the base station 109 and the computer device 111.

  Although processing such as integration of power-on time and calculation of power consumption can be performed in the mobile device 100, the processing described in the present embodiment is performed in consideration of the size and cost of the mobile device 100. Can also be executed by the external computer device 111. When the mobile device 100 is a mobile phone, power consumption such as information for identifying an electrical product, the time when a power ON / OFF control signal is transmitted, and information indicating whether the power is on or off (standby) Information necessary for calculating the amount and the electricity charge is transmitted from the wireless unit 103 of the mobile device 100 to the computer device 111 connected to the communication network 110 via the base station 109. The computer device 111 uses the information transmitted from the portable device 100 and the pre-stored information such as the rated power and standby power for each electric product, the electricity charge per unit power, and the approximate power used within a certain period. The amount and electricity charge are calculated and displayed on the display means.

  By using such a system, the processing amount and information storage amount of the mobile device 100 can be reduced, so that the load on the mobile device 100 can be reduced. In addition to the calculated power consumption and electricity charges, the total power consumption and electricity charges can be calculated by taking into account information on other electrical products connected to the computer device 111 over the network. Therefore, it is possible to more effectively utilize the portable device with an infrared remote control function of the present invention and the method for measuring the amount of electric power used by an electric product using the portable device.

  In each of the above embodiments, the mobile device 100 of the present invention has been described as a mobile phone. However, the type of the mobile device 1 is not limited, and may be a mobile terminal device such as a PDA. Moreover, in the said Example, although the case where the signal which controls an electric product was transmitted as an infrared signal was shown, when an electric product is equipped with a wireless communication function, you may communicate using a radio | wireless or an electric product A signal indicating the power ON / OFF state may be transmitted from the side and received by the mobile device 100.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the portable apparatus which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. It is a flowchart figure which shows the measurement procedure of the electric energy used using the portable apparatus which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure explaining the method of sending out the power ON / OFF control signal using the portable apparatus which concerns on 1st Example of this invention, and measuring the power ON time and standby time. It is a figure explaining the other method of sending out a power ON / OFF control signal using the portable equipment concerning the 1st example of the present invention, and measuring power ON time and standby time. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen structure of the display part of the portable apparatus which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other example of a screen structure of the display part of the portable apparatus which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows typically the structure of the system containing the portable device which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Portable apparatus 101 Infrared remote control circuit 102 Display part 103 Radio | wireless part 104 Control part 105 Key operation part 106 Memory 107 External battery 108 Time measuring part 109 Base station 110 Communication network 111 Computer apparatus

Claims (12)

In portable devices with infrared remote control function,
For one or more electrical products that can be controlled by the portable device,
For each of the electrical products, the time when the power control signal for ON / OFF control of the power of the electrical product is transmitted is stored in the storage means, and based on the time, the time of the power ON state of the electrical product and the power Calculate the time of the OFF state, and based on the calculated time of the power ON state and the time of the power OFF state, and the rated power and standby power of the electrical product stored in the storage means in advance A portable device characterized by having a control means for calculating the power consumption. In portable devices with infrared remote control function,
For one or more electrical products that can be controlled by the portable device,
For each of the electrical products, the time when the power control signal for ON / OFF control of the power of the electrical product is transmitted is stored in the storage means, and based on the time, the time of the power ON state of the electrical product and the power Calculate the time of the OFF state, and based on the calculated time of the power ON state and the time of the power OFF state, and the power consumption and standby power of the electrical product stored in advance in the storage means And control means for calculating an electricity charge for the electric product based on the calculated power consumption and an electricity charge per unit power consumption stored in the storage means in advance. Portable device.   In the control means, when the next power supply control signal is sent before a predetermined time has passed after sending the power supply control signal, only the time when the subsequent power supply control signal is sent is stored in the storage means. The portable device according to claim 1, wherein control to be stored in the mobile device is performed.   In the control means, when a predetermined key is operated, the power state of the electric product recognized by the portable device is changed from the power ON state to the power OFF state or from the power OFF state to the power ON state. 4. The portable device according to claim 1, wherein control for changing is performed.   The control means displays on the display means at least one of a power state of the electric product recognized by the portable device, a time of the power on state, a time of the power off state, the power consumption, and the electric charge. The mobile device according to claim 1, wherein control is performed.   The control means uses at least one of the time when the power control signal is transmitted, the time when the power is turned on, the time when the power is turned off, the power consumption, and the electricity bill, using a communication means to establish a communication network. The mobile device according to claim 1, wherein control is performed to transmit to a computer device connected via the mobile device. A method for measuring the power consumption of an electrical product using a portable device having an infrared remote control function,
For one or more electrical products that can be controlled by the portable device,
A first step of storing, in each storage device, a time at which a power control signal for ON / OFF control of the power supply of the electrical product is transmitted for each electrical product;
A second step of calculating a power-on time and a power-off time of the electrical product based on the time;
The power consumption of the electrical product is calculated based on the calculated time of the power ON state and the time of the power OFF state, and the rated power and standby power of the electrical product stored in the storage means in advance. And a power consumption measuring method for an electric product using a portable device. A method for measuring the power consumption of an electrical product using a portable device having an infrared remote control function,
For one or more electrical products that can be controlled by the portable device,
A first step of storing, in each storage device, a time at which a power control signal for ON / OFF control of the power supply of the electrical product is transmitted for each electrical product;
A second step of calculating a power-on time and a power-off time of the electrical product based on the time;
The power consumption of the electrical product is calculated based on the calculated time of the power ON state and the time of the power OFF state, and the rated power and standby power of the electrical product stored in the storage means in advance. And the steps
And a fourth step of calculating an electricity charge for the electric product based on the calculated electricity consumption and the electricity charge per unit power consumption stored in the storage means in advance. A method for measuring power consumption of electrical products using equipment.   In the first step, when the next power control signal is transmitted before a predetermined time has elapsed after the power control signal is transmitted, only the time when the subsequent power control signal is transmitted. The method for measuring power consumption of an electrical product using a portable device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein   A step of changing the power state of the electrical product recognized by the portable device from a power ON state to a power OFF state or from a power OFF state to a power ON state when a predetermined key is operated; A method for measuring power consumption of an electrical product using the portable device according to any one of claims 7 to 9.   And displaying at least one of a power state of the electrical product recognized by the portable device, a time of the power-on state, a time of the power-off state, the power consumption, and the electricity charge on a display unit. A method for measuring power consumption of an electrical product using the portable device according to any one of claims 7 to 10.   At least one of the time when the power control signal is transmitted, the time when the power is turned on, the time when the power is turned off, the power consumption, and the electricity charge is connected via a communication network using communication means. The method for measuring power consumption of an electrical product using a portable device according to claim 7, further comprising a step of transmitting to a computer device.

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