JP2008310642A - Control system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow mutual automatic control between a plurality of home appliances networked mutually via power line communication. <P>SOLUTION: This control system comprises a plurality of home appliances (for instance, a humidifier A and a dehumidifier B) networked mutually via power line communication so that information can be exchanged between control circuits held respectively by them. In this control system, control of each of the home appliances can be determined based on data held by the control circuit in each of the home appliances, and one home appliance (for instance, the dehumidifier B or the humidifier A) can be controlled from the other home appliance (for instance, the humidifier A or the dehumidifier B). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a home appliance control system, and more particularly to a control system using power line communication.

  Home appliances such as a humidifier, a dehumidifier, an electric rice cooker, an electric hot water storage container and the like are usually controlled to operate independently as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

JP 2001-259349 A.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-227809.

  However, the humidifier and the dehumidifier have mutually contradictory functions, and if they can be operated and controlled with each other, it will be extremely effective in maintaining the indoor humidity optimally. In the case of a hot water storage container, if both are operated at the same time from a place where power consumption is large, there is a possibility that the power will be over and the breaker will fall. Therefore, it is extremely effective for the user to prevent the power from being over by associating the two and controlling the operation.

  On the other hand, in recent years, a control system comprising a plurality of home appliances that are networked via power line communication and are connected so that information can be exchanged between control circuits owned by each has been developed. It is conceivable to use such a control system effectively.

  This invention is made | formed in view of said point, and it aims at enabling it to control mutually automatically between several household appliances networked via power line communication.

  In the present invention, as a first means for solving the above-described problems, a plurality of home appliances that are networked via power line communication and are connected so that information can be exchanged between the control circuits possessed by each network. The control system is configured so that each control can be determined based on data held by each control circuit.

  By configuring as described above, it becomes possible to control other home appliances from each home appliance, and a multifunctional operation is possible.

  In the present invention, as a second means for solving the above-mentioned problems, in the control system including the first means, the home appliance is operated in the room temperature, room humidity, and room air operated in the same room. It can also be a household electrical appliance that is driven based on information such as dirt, and when configured as such, it shares the temperature and humidity data of each household electrical appliance and the degree of dirtiness of the indoor air to suit the indoor environment. Since humidification, dehumidification, and air purification can be performed, a constant and stable humidity and air cleanliness can be maintained.

  In the invention of the present application, as a third means for solving the above problems, a personal computer capable of individually controlling the home appliances is provided in a control system including the first or second means. It is possible to select a home electric appliance connected by power line communication on the screen and change the internal data of the electric home appliance. In such a case, each home electric appliance is connected to a computer screen and keyboard, Control can be performed using an input device such as a mouse, and the control operation can be simplified.

  In the invention of the present application, as a fourth means for solving the above problems, in the control system including the first, second or third means, the home appliance can be directly connected to the manufacturer homepage, Operation means that can download the latest control program can also be provided. In such a configuration, simply by operating the operation means, the necessary data changes can be easily downloaded from the manufacturer's homepage, and the internal data of the home appliances. Can be changed.

  According to the first means of the present invention, in a control system consisting of a plurality of home appliances that are networked via power line communication and are connected so that information can be exchanged between the control circuits possessed by each, Since each control circuit is configured so that each control can be determined based on the data held by each control circuit, each home appliance can control other home appliances. There is an effect that it is possible to perform a proper operation.

  As in the second means of the present invention, in the control system provided with the first means, the household electrical appliance is operated based on information such as indoor temperature, indoor humidity, indoor air contamination, etc. operated in the same room. It can also be a household electrical appliance to be operated, and when configured as such, it shares the temperature and humidity data of each household electrical appliance and the degree of dirtiness of indoor air, humidifies and dehumidifies according to the indoor environment, Since the air can be cleaned, it is possible to maintain a constant and stable humidity and air cleanliness.

  As in the third means of the present invention, in the control system provided with the first or second means, a personal computer capable of individually controlling the home appliance is attached, and the power line communication power line is connected on the screen of the personal computer. Home appliances can be selected and the internal data of the home appliances can be changed. In such a case, each home appliance is connected to a personal computer screen and an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse. The control operation can be simplified.

  As in the fourth means of the present invention, in the control system provided with the first, second or third means, the home appliance can be directly connected to the manufacturer homepage and the latest control program can be downloaded. Means can be provided, and in such a configuration, by simply operating the operation means, the necessary data change contents can be easily downloaded from the manufacturer homepage, and the internal data of the home appliance can be changed.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First Embodiment FIG. 1 shows a home electric appliance (for example, a humidifier A and a dehumidifier B operated in the same room) as an example of a control system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Yes.

  In this control system, each of the humidifier A and the dehumidifier B has a signal superimposed on the AC line C, assigned a protocol, and connected to each other by a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer) mounted on each. The other device can be controlled from each device.

  2 and 3 show the operation panel portions 1 and 2 in the humidifier A and the dehumidifier B, respectively.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 3 is an on / off key, 4 is an operation switching key, 5 is an energy saving / rapid speed switching key, 6 is an off-timer key, 7 is a water supply indicator, 8 is a strong operation indicator, and 9 is automatic. Operation indicator lamp, 10 is silent operation indicator lamp, 11 is moist operation indicator lamp, 12 is energy saving operation indicator lamp, 13 is fast sound and fast operation indicator lamp, 14 is 2-hour timer indicator lamp, 15 is 4-hour timer indicator lamp, 16A Is a download operation key that can be directly connected to the manufacturer's homepage and acts as an operation means for downloading the latest control program, and the off-timer key 6 also acts as a child lock key by long pressing.

  In FIG. 3, reference numeral 16B denotes a download operation key which can be directly connected to the manufacturer's homepage and acts as an operation means for downloading the latest control program, 17 is an on / off key, 18 is an off-timer key, 19 is Operation switch key, 20 is a rotary switch, 21 is a rotation angle setting key, 22 is a clothes drying / room mold guard key, 23 is a 1-hour timer indicator, 24 is a 3-hour timer indicator, 25 is a 6-hour timer indicator, 26 is a silent operation indicator lamp, 27 is a medium noise indicator lamp, 28 is an automatic operation indicator lamp, 29 is a 360 ° rotation indicator lamp, 30 is a spot indicator lamp, 31 is a rotation state indicator lamp, and 32 is a rotation angle setting indicator lamp. , 33 is a clothes drying selection indicator, 34 is a room mold guard selection indicator, 35 is a humidity 40% indicator, 36 is a humidity 60% indicator, and 37 is a humidity 80% indicator. 38 ion indicator, 39 is filled with water / tank without indicator.

  4 and 5 show connection diagrams of electrical elements in the humidifier A and the dehumidifier B. FIG. Here, the electrical elements that have already been described are only given reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  In FIG. 4, reference numeral 40A is a microcomputer functioning as a control unit, 41 is a float switch for a water tank, 42 is a humidity sensor, 43 is a temperature sensor, 44 is a fan motor for a blower, and 45 is a driving source for a humidifying element. A filter motor 46 is a heater for heating room air, and 47 is a power supply board.

  In FIG. 5, reference numeral 40B denotes a microcomputer that functions as a control unit, 48 denotes a humidity sensor, 49 denotes a position sensor that detects whether or not the louver reciprocally swung by the blowing direction setting means is at a reference position, and 50 denotes A float sensor for detecting the water level of the drain tank, 51 is a motor for a main fan, 52 is a motor for a dehumidification rotor, 53 is a motor for a regeneration fan, 54 is a regeneration heater, and 55 is a louver motor that functions as a blowing direction rotation motor, 56 is an ion generator.

  Next, dehumidification / humidification control using the control system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In step S1, a desired set humidity Ds is set. In step S2, the humidifier A is turned on and the dehumidifier B is turned off to perform a humidification operation. In step S3, the indoor humidity D is changed to the humidity of the humidifier A. It is detected by the sensor 42. In step S4, the detected humidity D and the set humidity Ds are compared. Here, while it is determined that D ≦ Ds + 5, the control returns to step S2, and the humidification operation is continued. However, if it is determined in step S4 that D> Ds + 5, the process proceeds to step S5, where the humidifier A is turned on. At the same time that the dehumidifier B is turned off, the dehumidifier B is turned on and the indoor dehumidifying operation is executed. The humidity sensor 48 of the dehumidifier B detects the indoor humidity D in step S6. In step S7, the detected humidity D and the set humidity Ds are compared. Here, while it is determined that D ≧ Ds−5, the control returns to step S5 and the dehumidifying operation is continued. However, if it is determined that D <Ds−5 in step S7, the process returns to step S2. Then, the humidifying operation is resumed, and then the control described above is executed.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, by controlling the operation of the humidifier A and the dehumidifier B, the temperature / humidity data is shared, and it can be humidified or dehumidified according to the indoor environment. A constant and stable humidity (that is, a range of set humidity Ds ± 5) can be maintained.

  By the way, in the present embodiment, the humidifier A and the dehumidifier B are provided with operation keys 16A and 16B for download which can be directly connected to the manufacturer's homepage and act as operation means for downloading the latest control program. Thus, by simply operating the download operation keys 16A and 16B, it is possible to easily download the necessary data change contents from the manufacturer homepage and change the internal data of the home appliance. Note that, instead of the download operation key, any of the existing keys may be used to cope with this by long pressing or the like.

  In the present embodiment, a humidifier and a dehumidifier operated in the same room are specific examples of home appliances, but specific examples of home appliances include indoor temperature, indoor humidity, and dirt in indoor air operated in the same room. It is also possible to adopt home appliances that are driven based on such information.

Second Embodiment FIG. 7 shows a control system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

  In this case, the electric rice cooker E and the personal computer PC are connected by an AC line C to constitute a control system. If it does in this way, rice cooking reservation can be performed on the screen of personal computer PC. That is, since a personal computer PC screen and input devices such as a keyboard K and a mouse M can be used, a simple reservation operation can be performed. A personal computer may be attached to the control system according to the first embodiment. Further, a mobile phone can be adopted instead of the personal computer C.

  Note that the control system of the present invention can also be applied to a case where a plurality of home appliances are connected to one breaker, and can also change the power of the home appliance according to the priority among the home appliances. For example, when multiple home appliances are an electric rice cooker and an electric pot, a control system may be constructed in which the electric rice cooker is given priority and the electric pot is not set to the boiling mode. When the rice cooker is started, a control system may be constructed in which an electric rice cooker is notified of power shortage.

  In addition, it may be possible to count the usage time of home appliances and the replacement period of consumables and send the information to the manufacturer at the user's will, and based on this information, prompt the replacement of periodic inspection information and replacement parts Information may be sent.

  Furthermore, the personal computer may be regarded as a server in the home, and home appliances in each room may be set through the personal computer, or information from each home appliance may be managed centrally.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it is of course possible to change the design as appropriate without departing from the scope of the invention.

It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the control system concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an enlarged front view of the operation panel part of the humidifier which comprises the control system concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an enlarged front view of the operation panel part of the dehumidifier which comprises the control system concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a connection diagram of the electric element of the humidifier which constitutes the control system concerning a 1st embodiment of the invention in this application. It is a connection diagram of the electrical element of the dehumidifier which comprises the control system concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the humidity control in the control system concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the control system concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

A is home appliance (humidifier)
B is home appliance (dehumidifier)
C for AC line E for household appliances (electric rice cooker)
PC is a personal computer

Claims (4)

  A control system consisting of a plurality of home appliances that are networked via power line communication and are connected to each other so that information can be exchanged between the respective control circuits. A control system configured to be able to determine each control based on data.   The control system according to claim 1, wherein the home electric appliance is an electric home appliance that is operated based on information such as indoor temperature, indoor humidity, and dirt of indoor air operated in the same room.   A personal computer capable of individually controlling the home appliance is attached, and a home appliance connected to a power line communication power line can be selected on the screen of the personal computer, and the internal data of the home appliance can be changed. Item 3. The control system according to any one of Items 1 and 2.   4. The control system according to claim 1, wherein the home appliance is provided with an operation unit that can be directly connected to a manufacturer homepage and that can download a latest control program. 5.

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