JP2009146827A - Dc receptacle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a DC receptacle for supplying a certain DC voltage to a DC equipment. <P>SOLUTION: The DC receptacle 1 includes an input terminal part 2 to which a DC power supply line Wdc from a distribution panel is connected, a plug connection part 3 to which a plug 102a of a DC equipment 102 operating by receiving DC power is connected detachably, an input voltage detection circuit 4 which detects the voltage value of an input voltage Vin input to the input terminal part 2, a DC-DC converter 5 which converts the voltage value of the DC power input to the input terminal part 2 and supplies to the plug connection part 3, and a control circuit 6 which controls output of the DC-DC converter 5 based on the detection voltage of the input voltage detection circuit 4 so that the output voltage Vout of the DC-DC converter 5 may be a prescribed voltage value (for example, an applicable voltage of the DC equipment 102). DC power of a certain voltage is supplied from the DC-DC converter 5 to the DC equipment 102 through the plug connection part 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a DC outlet.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an AC outlet is provided in which a plug of a load device is detachably connected, and operating power is supplied to the load device via the plug (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Recently, the introduction of fuel cells and solar power generation equipment to homes is progressing. In such homes, direct current power generated by fuel cells and solar power generation equipment is connected to direct current outlets installed in each room. The introduction of a DC power distribution system in which a DC device that operates by receiving DC power supply is connected to the DC outlet is used.
JP-A-5-207626

  In the above-mentioned DC distribution system, if the wiring length from the distribution board that distributes the DC power supply to each room to the DC outlet is long, the DC voltage output from the DC outlet may drop due to the voltage drop in the DC power supply line If the supply voltage from the DC outlet is lower than the minimum operating voltage of the DC device, the DC device may not operate normally.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a DC outlet capable of supplying a constant DC voltage to a DC device.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is directed to a plug connection portion to which a plug of a DC device that operates by receiving supply of DC power is detachably connected, and to the DC device via the plug connection portion. A power supply circuit unit that supplies electric power and a voltage control unit that controls the output voltage of the power supply circuit unit to be constant are provided.

  The invention of claim 2 is the invention of claim 1, further comprising an input terminal portion to which a power supply line from an external DC power supply is connected, and the power supply circuit portion determines the voltage value of the DC power input to the input terminal portion. It is characterized by comprising a DC-DC converter that converts and supplies it to the plug connection.

  According to the first aspect of the invention, since the DC power having a constant voltage value is supplied from the power supply circuit unit to the DC device via the plug connection unit, the DC device can be operated normally.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, as in the first aspect of the present invention, since the DC power having a constant voltage value is supplied from the DC-DC converter to the direct current device via the plug connecting portion, the direct current device is normally operated. It can be operated.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The DC outlet 1 of the present embodiment is used in a DC power distribution system described later, and a plug of a DC device 102 that operates by receiving supply of DC power is detachably connected to the connected DC device 102. In contrast, DC power is supplied.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a DC outlet 1 according to this embodiment. An input terminal 2 to which a DC power supply line Wdc from a distribution board 110, which will be described later, is connected, and a DC device 102 that operates by receiving supply of DC power. A plug connecting portion 3 to which the plug 102a is detachably connected, an input voltage detecting circuit 4 for detecting a voltage value of the DC voltage Vin inputted to the input terminal portion 2, and a DC power inputted to the input terminal portion 2. The output voltage Vout of the DC-DC converter 5 is a predetermined voltage based on the detected voltage of the DC-DC converter 5 (power supply circuit unit) that converts the voltage value of the input voltage and supplies it to the plug connection unit 3 A control circuit 6 (voltage control unit) that controls the output of the DC-DC converter 5 to have a voltage value (constant voltage) is provided. Note that the control circuit 6 is preset with an appropriate voltage of the DC device 102 connected to the DC outlet 1 as a predetermined voltage value, and the output voltage Vout of the DC-DC converter 5 is set to an appropriate voltage of the DC device 102. It is controlled to match.

  2 shows a DC voltage value and plug connection at a midpoint position of the DC power supply line Wdc from the distribution board 110 (position P1 in the figure) to the input terminal portion 2 of the DC outlet 1 (position P2 in the figure). DC voltage values at the output end (position P3 in the figure) of the unit 3 are shown. When the wiring length from the distribution board 110 to the DC outlet 1 is increased, the DC outlet is caused by the voltage drop in the DC power supply line Wdc. In some cases, the input voltage Vin to 1 gradually decreases and falls below the normal operating voltage ΔV 1 of the DC device 102 connected to the DC outlet 1. When the input voltage Vin falls below the normal operating voltage ΔV1 of the DC device 102, the output voltage Vout becomes a voltage V2 lower than the normal operating voltage ΔV1 in the DC outlet 1 that does not include the DC-DC converter 30. Even if the DC device 102 is connected to the plug connection unit 3, the DC device 102 may not operate normally. On the other hand, in the DC outlet 1 of the present embodiment, the input voltage detection circuit 4 detects the DC voltage value input to the input terminal unit 2, and the control circuit 6 uses the DC-DC converter based on the detection result. 5 is controlled, and the operation of the DC-DC converter 5 is controlled so that the output voltage of the DC-DC converter 5 becomes a predetermined voltage (for example, the suitable voltage V1 of the DC device 102). An appropriate voltage V1 can be supplied to the DC device 102 connected to the power supply device 102 to operate normally.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the body 10 of the DC outlet 1 of the present embodiment has a front surface opened using a thermosetting synthetic resin (for example, urea resin) having excellent tracking resistance. A body 11 formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape and a cover 12 formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape whose rear surface is opened using a synthetic resin having elasticity and excellent tracking resistance (for example, polybutylene terephthalate = PBT). It is formed by bonding. The container 10 has a prescribed unit dimension to be described later. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, the vertical and horizontal directions are defined in the direction shown in FIG. 3A, and the front in FIG. Therefore, the lower side in FIG. 3B is the rear side.

  A pair of assembly claws 13 project from the left and right end faces of the body 11. On the other hand, shoulders 14 project from the left and right ends of the cover 12, and assembly pieces 15 project from the rear edge of each shoulder 14 toward the body 11. Each assembly piece 15 is formed with a pair of engagement holes 16 for engaging with the assembly claws 13 provided in the body 11 in an uneven manner. At the front end of the assembly claw 13, a guide surface 13a that is inclined so as to reduce the amount of protrusion from the body 11 toward the front is formed. Therefore, when the cover 12 is assembled to the body 11, the assembly piece 15 is bent along the guide surface 13 a, and finally the engagement hole 16 provided in the assembly piece 15 is fitted to the assembly claw 13, thereby The cover 12 is joined. Thus, since the assembly piece 15 needs to be bent, the cover 12 is formed of a synthetic resin having elasticity.

  Inside the body 11, a blade receiving member 20a for a positive electrode and a blade receiving member 20b for a negative electrode are accommodated. Each blade receiving member 20a, 20b is formed in the same shape, and includes a pair of spring pieces 21 facing each other and a connecting piece 22 that continuously joins the base portions of both spring pieces 21 together.

  The left and right ends of the internal space of the body 11 accommodate a substantially H-shaped terminal plate 23 in which intermediate portions of strip-shaped terminal pieces 23a and 23a are connected by connecting pieces 23b. Here, the input terminal portion 2 is constituted by the terminal piece 23a of each terminal plate 23, and the plug connecting portion is formed by the spring pieces 21 and 21 of the blade receiving members 20a and 20b and the insertion portion 18 (insertion ports 18a and 18b) described later. 3 is configured. Then, on the bottom side inside the body 11, the blade receiving members 20a and 20b and the terminal plates 23 and 23 are electrically connected to each other, and the printed wiring board on which the circuit elements described in FIG. (Not shown) is stored.

  Further, a lock spring 24 is disposed inside the body 11 so as to face the terminal pieces 23 a of the terminal plates 23. The locking spring 24 is formed by bending one end portion of the belt plate into a J shape to form a contact piece 25 and bending the other end portion into an S shape to form a locking piece 26. The contact piece 25 and the locking piece 26 are accommodated in the body 11 so as to face the terminal piece 23a. A release button 27 for releasing the connection state of the electric wires is housed so as to face the lock pieces 26 of the two lock springs 24.

  An electric wire insertion opening (not shown) is opened on the bottom surface of the body 11 so that an electric wire can be introduced between the terminal piece 23a and the lock spring 24. When the core wire from which the wire constituting the DC power supply line Wdc is peeled is introduced into the body 11 through the wire insertion port, the core wire of the wire is inserted between the lock spring 24 and the terminal piece 23a. The electric wire is sandwiched between the terminal piece 23a by the spring force of the piece 25 and the locking piece 26, and the electric wire cannot be pulled out by the locking piece 26 biting into the electric wire. On the other hand, when releasing the connection state of the electric wire, the release button is inserted by inserting the tip of a tool such as a flat-blade screwdriver from an operation hole (not shown) opened in the bottom surface of the body 11 at a portion corresponding to the release button 27. When 27 is pushed, the lock button 26 is bent in the direction away from the electric wire by the release button 27, so that the locked state of the electric wire is released and the electric wire can be easily pulled out.

  On the other hand, the front wall of the cover 12 is formed with one insertion portion 18 into which a pair of plug blades 102b provided on the plug 102a of the DC device 102 are inserted and removed. The blade receiving members 20a and 20b have a pair of insertion openings 18a and 18b that open at portions corresponding to the spring pieces 21 and 21, respectively. The insertion openings 18a and 18b have different lengths on the positive electrode side and the negative electrode side to prevent erroneous connection. Further, a partition plate (not shown) provided between the blade receiving members 20 a and 20 b housed in the body 11 protrudes from the back surface of the front wall of the cover 12.

  In addition, in this embodiment, although the insertion part 18 of the plug connection part 3 is comprised by the insertion ports 18a and 18b in which a pair of parallel plug blades are inserted, the structure of the plug connection part 3 is limited to said structure. It is not intended. For example, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), it may be a plug connecting portion 3 having insertion holes 18a and 18b into which round pin-shaped contact pins are inserted, or as shown in FIG. The plug connecting portion 3 having the plug-in portion 18 having a compliant shape may be used, and the present invention can be applied to the DC outlet 1 having the plug connecting portion 3 having various forms.

  The above-described container 10 is attached to a conventionally known plate used when, for example, an embedded wiring device is attached to a construction surface, and the shoulder 14 provided on both sides of the cover 12 is attached to the plate. A pair of attachment claws 19 are provided in a protruding manner for coupling. An inclined surface 19 a is formed at the front end portion of the mounting claw 19 so as to decrease the amount of protrusion from the shoulder portion 14 toward the front. The container body 10 of the present embodiment is formed in such a size that it can be attached to the above-mentioned standardized plate in a short width direction and can be attached up to three pieces. One piece is called module size. The size of the container 10 is not limited to the size of one module, and may be formed in a size of two modules or three modules.

  By the way, the DC outlet 1 demonstrated by this embodiment is used for the DC distribution system shown below. Here, a description will be given assuming a detached house as a building to which the present invention is applied, but this does not preclude applying the technical idea of the present invention to an apartment house. As shown in FIG. 6, the house H is provided with a DC power supply unit 101 that outputs DC power and a DC device 102 as a load driven by the DC power, and an output end of the DC power supply unit 101. DC power is supplied to the DC device 102 through the DC power supply line Wdc connected to the. A current flowing through the DC power supply line Wdc is monitored between the DC power supply unit 101 and the DC device 102, and when an abnormality is detected, power is supplied from the DC power supply unit 101 to the DC device 102 on the DC power supply line Wdc. A DC breaker 114 is provided for limiting or blocking the current.

  The DC power supply line Wdc is used as a DC power supply path and also as a communication path, and is connected to the DC power supply line Wdc by superimposing a communication signal for transmitting data on a DC voltage using a high-frequency carrier wave. Enables communication between devices. This technique is similar to a power line carrier technique in which a communication signal is superimposed on an AC voltage in a power line that supplies AC power.

  The DC power supply line Wdc is connected to the home server 116 via the DC power supply unit 101. The in-home server 116 is a main device for constructing a home communication network (hereinafter referred to as “home network”), and communicates with a subsystem constructed by the DC device 102 in the home network.

  In the example shown in the drawing, as an subsystem, an illumination system comprising an information equipment system K101 comprising an information-system DC device 102 such as a personal computer, a wireless access point, a router, and an IP telephone, and an illumination system DC equipment 102 such as a lighting fixture. K102, K105, entrance system K103 composed of DC device 102 for dealing with visitors, monitoring intruders, etc., and residential alarm system K104 composed of alarm DC device 102 such as a fire detector. Each subsystem constitutes a self-supporting distributed system, and can operate even with the subsystem alone.

  The above-described DC breaker 114 is provided in association with a subsystem. In the illustrated example, four DCs are associated with the information equipment system K101, the lighting system K102 and the entrance system K103, the house alarm system K104, and the lighting system K105. A breaker 114 is provided. When a plurality of subsystems are associated with one DC breaker 114, a connection box 121 that divides the system of the DC power supply line Wdc is provided for each subsystem. In the illustrated example, a connection box 121 is provided between the illumination system K102 and the entrance system K103.

  As the information equipment system K101, there is provided an information equipment system K101 composed of the DC equipment 102 connected to the DC outlet 1 arranged in advance in the house H (constructed during construction of the house H) in the form of a wall outlet or a floor outlet.

  The lighting systems K102 and K105 include a lighting system K102 composed of a lighting device (DC device 102) arranged in advance in the house H and a lighting device (DC device 102) connected to a hook ceiling 132 arranged in advance on the ceiling. An illumination system K105 is provided. At the time of interior construction of the house H, the contractor attaches the lighting fixture to the hook ceiling 132, or the householder himself attaches the lighting fixture.

  In addition to using an infrared remote control device, a control instruction for the lighting apparatus that is the DC device 102 constituting the lighting system K102 can be given using a communication signal from the switch 141 connected to the DC power supply line Wdc. That is, the switch 141 has a communication function together with the DC device 102. In addition, a control instruction may be given by a communication signal from another DC device 102 in the home network or the home server 116 regardless of the operation of the switch 141. The instructions to the lighting fixture include lighting, extinguishing, dimming, and blinking lighting.

  Arbitrary DC devices 102 can be connected to the DC outlet 1 and the hooking ceiling 132 described above, and DC power is output to the connected DC devices 102. Therefore, the DC outlet 1 and the hooking ceiling 132 are distinguished below. When it is not necessary, it is called “DC outlet”.

  These DC outlets have a plug-in connection port (for example, the plug-in portion 18) into which a contact (for example, the plug blade 102b in the above example) provided directly on the DC device 102 is inserted. A contact holder (for example, blade receiving members 20a, 20b) that directly contacts the contact inserted into the container is held by the container. That is, the direct current outlet supplies power in a contact manner. When the DC device 102 connected to the DC outlet has a communication function, a communication signal can be transmitted through the DC power supply line Wdc. A communication function is provided not only in the DC device 102 but also in the DC outlet.

  The home server 116 not only is connected to the home network, but also has a connection port connected to the wide area network NT that constructs the Internet. When the in-home server 116 is connected to the wide area network NT, it is possible to receive services from the center server 200 that is a computer server connected to the wide area network NT.

  The service provided by the center server 200 includes a service that enables monitoring and control of equipment (including mainly the DC equipment 102 but also other equipment having a communication function) connected to the home network through the wide area network NT. is there. This service makes it possible to monitor and control devices connected to the home network using a communication terminal (not shown) having a browser function such as a personal computer, Internet TV, or mobile phone.

  The in-home server 116 has both functions of communication with the center server 200 connected to the wide area network NT and communication with equipment connected to the home network, and identification information about equipment in the home network ( Here, it is assumed that an IP address is used).

  The home server 116 enables monitoring and control of home devices through the center server 200 from a communication terminal connected to the wide area network NT by using a communication function with the center server 200. The center server 200 mediates between home devices and communication terminals on the wide area network NT.

  When monitoring and controlling home devices from a communication terminal, monitoring and control requests are stored in the center server 200, and the home device periodically performs one-way polling communication to monitor from the communication terminal. And receive control requests. With this operation, it is possible to monitor and control devices in the house from the communication terminal.

  Further, when an event that should be notified to the communication terminal, such as a fire detection, occurs in the home device, the home device notifies the center server 200, and the center server 200 notifies the communication terminal by e-mail.

  An important function among the communication functions with the home network in the home server 116 is the detection and management of devices constituting the home network. The home server 116 automatically detects devices connected to the home network by applying UPnP (Universal Plug and Play). The home server 116 includes a display device 117 having a browser function, and displays a list of detected devices on the display device 117. The display device 117 has a configuration with a touch panel type or an operation unit, and can perform an operation of selecting desired contents from options displayed on the screen of the display device 117. Therefore, the user (contractor or householder) of the home server 116 can monitor or control the device on the screen of the display device 117. The display device 117 may be provided separately from the home server 116.

  The in-home server 116 manages information related to device connection, and grasps the type, function, and address of the device connected to the home network. Accordingly, the devices in the home network can be operated in conjunction with each other. Information on the connection of the device is automatically detected as described above. In order to operate the device in an interlocking manner, the device itself is automatically associated with the attribute held by the device itself, and the home server 116 is configured as a personal computer. It is also possible to connect various information terminals and use the browser function of the information terminals to associate devices.

  Each device holds the relationship of the interlocking operation of the devices. Therefore, the device can operate in an interlocked manner without passing through the home server 116. By associating the linked operations for each device, for example, by operating a switch that is a device, it is possible to turn on or off the lighting fixture that is the device. In many cases, the association of the interlocking operations is performed within the subsystem, but the association beyond the subsystem is also possible.

  By the way, the DC power supply unit 101 basically generates DC power by power conversion of an AC power supply AC supplied from outside the house like a commercial power supply. In the configuration shown in the figure, the AC power source AC is input to an AC / DC converter 112 including a switching power source through a main circuit breaker 111 attached to the distribution board 110 as an internal unit. The DC power output from the AC / DC converter 112 is connected to each DC breaker 114 through the cooperative control unit 113.

  The DC power supply unit 101 is provided with a secondary battery 162 in preparation for a period in which power is not supplied from the AC power supply AC (for example, a power failure period of the commercial power supply AC). It is also possible to use a solar cell 161 or a fuel cell 163 that generates DC power. The solar battery 161, the secondary battery 162, and the fuel battery 163 are distributed power supplies with respect to the main power supply including the AC / DC converter 112 that generates DC power from the AC power supply AC. In the illustrated example, the solar cell 161, the secondary battery 162, and the fuel cell 163 include a circuit unit that controls the output voltage, and the secondary battery 162 includes a circuit unit that controls charging as well as discharging.

  Of the distributed power sources, the solar cell 161 and the fuel cell 163 are not necessarily provided, but the secondary battery 162 is preferably provided. The secondary battery 162 is charged in a timely manner by a main power source or other distributed power source, and the secondary battery 162 is discharged not only in a period in which power is not supplied from the AC power source AC but also in a timely manner as necessary. The cooperation control unit 113 performs charge / discharge of the secondary battery 162 and cooperation between the main power source and the distributed power source. That is, the cooperative control unit 113 functions as a DC power control unit that controls the distribution of power from the main power supply and the distributed power supply constituting the DC power supply unit 101 to the DC devices 102. Note that a configuration may be adopted in which the outputs of the solar cell 161, the secondary battery 162, and the fuel cell 163 are converted into AC power and used as input power of the AC / DC converter 112.

  Since the driving voltage of the DC device 102 is selected from a plurality of types of voltages depending on the device, the cooperative control unit 113 is provided with a DC / DC converter to convert the DC voltage obtained from the main power source and the distributed power source into the necessary voltage. Is desirable. Normally, one type of voltage is supplied to one subsystem (or DC device 102 connected to one DC breaker 114), but three or more wires are used for one subsystem. A plurality of types of voltages may be supplied. Alternatively, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the DC power supply line Wdc is a two-wire type and the voltage applied between the lines is changed with time. The DC / DC converter may be provided in a plurality of dispersed manners like the DC breaker.

  In the above configuration example, only one AC / DC converter 112 is illustrated, but a plurality of AC / DC converters 112 can be arranged in parallel, and when a plurality of AC / DC converters 112 are provided. It is desirable to increase or decrease the number of AC / DC converters 112 that are operated according to the magnitude of the load.

  The AC / DC converter 112, the cooperative control unit 113, the DC breaker 114, the solar cell 161, the secondary battery 162, and the fuel cell 163 described above are provided with a communication function, and include a main power source, a distributed power source, and a DC device 102. It is possible to perform cooperative operations that deal with the load status. The communication signal used for this communication is transmitted in the form of being superimposed on the DC voltage in the same manner as the communication signal used for the DC device 102.

  In the above example, the AC / DC converter 112 is arranged in the distribution board 110 in order to convert the AC power output from the main breaker 111 into DC power by the AC / DC converter 112. On the output side, a branch breaker (not shown) provided in the distribution board 110 branches the AC supply line into a plurality of systems, and an AC / DC converter is provided on the AC supply line of each system to convert it into DC power for each system. You may employ | adopt the structure to do.

  In this case, since the DC supply unit can be provided for each floor or room of the house H, the DC supply unit can be managed for each system, and the direct current to the DC device 102 using DC power can be managed. Since the distance of the feed line Wdc is reduced, power loss due to a voltage drop in the DC feed line Wdc can be reduced. Also, the main breaker 111 and the branch breaker are housed in the distribution board 110, and the AC / DC converter 112, the cooperative control unit 113, the DC breaker 114, and the home server 116 are housed in a separate board from the distribution board 110. Also good.

It is a schematic block diagram of the direct-current outlet of this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing explaining operation | movement same as the above. The same as above, (a) is a front view, (b) is a bottom view, and (c) is a left side view. It is an exploded perspective view same as the above. (A) (b) is a front view which shows the other structure of a plug connection part same as the above. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a DC power distribution system using a DC outlet according to the present embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 DC outlet 2 Input terminal part 3 Plug connection part 4 Input voltage detection circuit 5 DC-DC converter (power supply circuit part)
6 Control circuit (voltage controller)
102 DC equipment 102a Plug Vin Input voltage Vout Output voltage Wdc DC feed line

Claims (2)

  A plug connection part to which a plug of a DC device that operates by receiving supply of DC power is detachably connected, a power supply circuit part that supplies DC power to the DC device through the plug connection part, and an output voltage of the power supply circuit part A DC outlet comprising a voltage control unit for controlling the power supply constant.   A DC-DC converter including an input terminal portion to which a power supply line from an external DC power supply is connected, and the power supply circuit portion converts a voltage value of DC power input to the input terminal portion and supplies the voltage to the plug connection portion The DC outlet according to claim 1, comprising:

Images