JP2011124109A - Energy saving lighting control system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inexpensively provide a lighting control system reducing a cost of a single luminaire, reducing a construction cost by simplifying a construction for installing the luminaire, and apparently contributing to energy saving by performing a precise dimming control to reduce an effect of sensing received from a surrounding fluorescence device. <P>SOLUTION: A single total illumination area equipped with a large number of luminaires is divided into a plurality of unit dimming control areas, a unit dimming control area selected from the plurality of unit dimming control areas is a representative unit dimming control area, a representative illuminance sensor is arranged only in the representative unit dimming control area, and a control unit controlling illuminance of all the luminaires in the total illumination area generates a dimming signal based on an illuminance signal from the representative illuminance sensor and outputs the generated dimming signal to all the luminaires in the total illumination area, thereby unifying the illuminance of the corresponding luminaire to perform the dimming control to a set illuminance. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an energy-saving lighting control system that automatically performs dimming output control for deterioration of lighting accompanying aging of a lighting fixture in a relatively large place such as an office office space.

In general, the illuminance of a fluorescent lamp decreases with the lapse of lighting time due to a decrease in the amount of emitted light and a decrease in the efficiency of the lamp due to the dirt of the lamp. For this reason, in consideration of the average life of the fluorescent lamp, the illuminance is set to be considerably brighter than the design illuminance at the time of initial lighting so that the design illuminance can be maintained even at the end of the life.
Therefore, at the time of initial lighting, the illuminance of the fluorescent lamp is considerably brighter than the design illuminance, and extra brightness is generated, so that useless energy is consumed.

  In order to save energy, if the initial illuminance correction is performed by the lighting control device, the brightness of the fluorescent lamp is always kept at the design illuminance, and extra brightness occurs at the time of initial lighting as when the initial illuminance correction is not performed. Therefore, energy saving can be realized.

As a device equipped with such a lighting control device, there is known a lighting device that automatically adjusts the light control level with respect to the cumulative lighting time of the lighting device to keep the illuminance constant.
This luminaire operates with the lamp 1, the electronic ballast 2 that turns on the lamp 1 when the input power source P is input, and outputs the dimming signal Sb that operates by the input power source P and controls the dimming of the ballast 2. And a reset switch 9 that outputs a reset signal Sa to the dimming control unit 4 (Patent Document 1).

On the other hand, an illumination control system that adjusts light based on the output of an illuminance sensor is generally employed (Patent Document 2).
In this general lighting control system, the dimming section, which is the range that one illuminance sensor is responsible for, is often set wider than the lighting section range that is on / off controlled by a wall switch or the like.

Japanese Patent No. 4259140 JP-A-11-74087

  As shown in FIG. 9, the lighting fixture of Patent Document 1 is a unit in which a control unit unit and a lighting fixture unit are integrated, and the control CPU of the control unit unit is turned on in a cumulative time with a usage time measurement timer set. When the time is measured, a dimming signal is generated and output to the dimming circuit, and the dimming circuit turns on the luminaire with a light amount corresponding to the dimming signal.

  The control unit, which is a dimming control unit of this lighting fixture, can automatically adjust the dimming level and keep the illuminance constant, but has a dimming control portion for each lighting fixture. If the price of a lighting fixture is high and it is necessary to install a lighting fixture in a relatively large place such as an office work space, it is necessary to install a large number of lighting fixtures, which is not appropriate because it increases the initial cost. In addition, each lighting fixture is accompanied by operations such as setting a timer, which increases the construction cost.

  In the illumination control system that performs dimming based on the output of the illuminance sensor of Patent Document 2, the range of the dimming section is often set wider than the range of the lighting section. If the lighting section, especially the lighting section where the illuminance sensor is installed, is turned off, the detection value of the illuminance sensor is affected by the turn-off, and the illuminance output of other lighting sections in the dimming section is excessive. An event occurs, resulting in a waste of energy.

  The present invention was created in order to solve the various problems described above, and reduces the cost of a lighting fixture alone, simplifies the lighting fixture installation work, reduces the construction cost, and reduces the number of lighting areas. If it is turned off in one or more of the areas, the signal level of the illuminance sensor will be low, preventing the lighting fixture from being corrected higher than the appropriate value to be corrected and received from the surrounding fluorescent fixtures. An object of the present invention is to provide an illumination control system capable of clearly contributing to energy saving by suppressing the influence of sensing and performing accurate dimming control at a low cost.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when it is determined that the built-in timer has counted the predetermined cumulative lighting time without inputting the illuminance signal at the present time, the dimming output value considering the maintenance rate is obtained, In an illuminance sensorless illumination control system including a control unit that outputs a light output value to a lighting fixture and controls the illuminance thereof,
One control unit is provided for each arbitrarily set dimming control area, and a plurality of lighting fixtures are provided in the dimming control area, and the control unit has one dimming control. The illumination sensorless illumination control system is characterized in that dimming control is performed by unifying the illuminance of a plurality of lighting fixtures arranged in the area.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the illumination sensorless illumination control system according to claim 1, wherein the dimming control area is the same as a lighting area that is turned on / off by a blinking switch such as a wall switch. It is a feature.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the illuminance sensorless illumination control system according to any one of the first to second aspects, the control unit counts a cumulative lighting time for which the dimming output should be changed. And a second timer for measuring the cumulative lighting time for which the illumination lamp should be replaced, and a first timer reset means for resetting the first timer each time the illuminance is changed, and every time the illumination lamp is replaced A second timer reset means for resetting the second timer every time is provided.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the illuminance sensorless illumination control system according to any one of the first to second aspects, the control unit includes a counter unit that increments the counter every time the illuminance changes. It is characterized by having.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the illuminance sensorless illumination control system according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein the control unit includes a cumulative lighting time changing unit, and each time the illuminance is changed, The cumulative lighting time of the timer is updated by the cumulative lighting time update means.

  The invention according to claim 6 is stored in the storage means when the control unit determines that the predetermined time has elapsed in the illuminance sensorless illumination control system according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The dimming output corresponding to the cumulative lighting time is obtained with reference to the cumulative lighting time / dimming output value correspondence table, and the obtained dimming output is output to all the lighting fixtures in the dimming control area. It is a feature.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the illuminance sensorless illumination control system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the control unit includes illumination lamp replacement detection means each time the illumination lamp is replaced. The timer is reset by the illumination lamp replacement detection means.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, one whole illumination area having a large number of lighting fixtures is divided into a plurality of unit dimming control areas, and unit dimming control selected from the plurality of unit dimming control areas. The area is a representative unit dimming control area, a representative illuminance sensor is disposed only in the representative unit dimming control area, and a control unit that controls the illuminance of all the lighting fixtures in the entire illumination area is from the representative illuminance sensor. A dimming signal is generated based on the illuminance signal, and the generated dimming signal is output to all the luminaires in the entire illumination area, and the illuminance of the luminaire is unified and set to the set illuminance. It was set as the lighting control system which controls light.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, one whole lighting area having a large number of lighting fixtures is divided into a plurality of unit dimming control areas, and unit dimming control selected from the plurality of unit dimming control areas. The area is a representative unit dimming control area, and the representative unit dimming control area is set to a range that is not affected by the illumination of lighting fixtures arranged in other unit dimming control areas, even if it is narrow, The sensor is arranged at substantially the center of the setting range, and the control unit is arranged in the representative unit dimming control area when it is determined that all the lighting fixtures in the representative unit dimming control area are in a lighting state. A dimming signal is generated based on the illuminance signal of the representative illuminance sensor, and the generated dimming signal is output to all the luminaires in the overall illumination lighting area to unify the illuminance of the luminaire. And an illumination control system for controlling the dimming of the set illuminance.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the illumination control system according to any one of the eighth to ninth aspects, the control unit has a predetermined condition that all lighting areas in each dimming control area are in a lighting state. It is characterized by reserving new dimming control until the time continues.

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the illumination control system according to any one of the eighth to tenth aspects, the control unit generates a dimming signal based on the illuminance signal from the representative illuminance sensor, and generates the dimming signal. The dimming signal is output to all the lighting fixtures in the representative unit dimming control area, and it is determined whether or not the illuminance of the representative unit dimming control area at this time has reached the predetermined illuminance. When it is determined that there is no light, a dimming signal is generated again based on the illuminance signal newly acquired from the representative illuminance sensor, and the regenerated dimming signal is output again to all the lighting fixtures in the representative unit dimming control area. This operation is repeated until it is determined that the predetermined illuminance has been reached, and a dimming signal when it is determined that the predetermined illuminance has been reached is output to all luminaires in the entire illumination area. It is characterized in that.

  The invention according to claim 12 is the illumination control system according to claim 11, wherein at least two representative unit dimming control areas are selected from the unit dimming control areas, and the representative illuminance sensor is selected. Arranged in each representative unit dimming control area, the control unit generates one dimming signal based on an illuminance signal obtained by averaging a plurality of illuminance signals from each representative illuminance sensor, and each of the generated dimming signals is It outputs to all the lighting fixtures of a representative unit light control area.

  According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the illumination control system according to any one of the eighth to twelfth aspects, the entire illumination area is an area where the daylight is unavailable except the daylight available area. It is characterized by.

  According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the lighting control system according to any one of the eighth to thirteenth aspects, the human detection sensor is installed for each lighting area that is a section where the lighting fixture blinks, and the human detection sensor is provided. When a person is detected, the lighting fixture in the lighting area is turned on, and when the human detection sensor stops detecting a person, the lighting fixture in the lighting area is turned off / dimmed.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the cost of the lighting fixture alone is reduced, the lighting fixture installation work is simplified to reduce the construction cost, and the illumination lamp is provided without depending on the accumulated lighting time. Thus, it is possible to provide an illumination control system capable of accurately compensating for the degradation of illumination efficiency and controlling the dimming output.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 2, since the lighting area where the lighting time of each lighting fixture is the same is made into one control object, there is no dispersion | variation in lighting time between lighting fixtures, and uniform illumination intensity control between lighting areas Is possible.

  According to the invention of any one of claims 3 to 4, the burden on the control CPU can be reduced with a simple software configuration.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to arbitrarily change the cumulative lighting time of the next timer for obtaining an appropriate dimming output value by the cumulative lighting time changing means every time the illuminance is changed. , Precise illumination control can be performed.

  According to the sixth aspect of the invention, it is possible to quickly obtain an appropriate dimming output value while reducing the burden on the control CPU.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 7, the timer reset operation | work at the time of illumination lamp replacement | exchange can be simplified and it can be made maintenance-free.

According to the eighth aspect of the invention, since the representative illuminance sensor is arranged only in the representative unit dimming control area, it is not necessary to install the illuminance sensor for each of a large number of lighting areas. It is possible to provide a lighting control system at a low cost by significantly reducing the number of installations, reducing parts costs and construction costs.
In addition, the control unit can be simplified to suppress the occurrence of a failure and reduce maintenance costs.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, if the light is turned off in one or more of the plurality of lighting areas in the representative unit dimming control area, the signal level of the illuminance sensor is low, and the lighting fixture is corrected. It can be reliably prevented that the correction is made higher than the appropriate value to be performed.
As a result, it is possible to suppress the influence of sensing received from surrounding fluorescent devices and perform accurate dimming control, thereby clearly contributing to energy saving.

  According to the invention of claim 10, the new dimming control is reserved until the condition that all the lighting areas in each representative unit dimming control area are in the lighting state continues for a predetermined time. It is possible to realize stable light control by performing light control after waiting for the light output to stabilize.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 11, the illuminance signal of a representative illuminance sensor can be fed back and the appropriate value of a light control output can be calculated | required in a short time.

  According to the twelfth aspect of the invention, when the appropriate value of the dimming output is obtained in the eleventh aspect of the invention, one dimming signal is obtained based on the illuminance signal obtained by averaging a plurality of illuminance signals from each representative illuminance sensor. And the generated dimming signal is output to all the luminaires in each representative unit dimming control area, so that an appropriate value of the consistent dimming output can be quickly obtained.

  According to the invention of claim 13, since the entire illumination area to be controlled is limited to the daylight unusable area excluding the daylight usable area, disturbances such as sunlight and thunder are removed and stable. Illuminance control can be achieved.

According to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, when the human detection sensor is installed in each lighting area that is a section where the lighting fixture blinks, the output of the human detection sensor is sent to all the lighting fixtures in the representative unit dimming control area. Can be used as a signal for determining whether or not is in a lighting state.
In addition, the lighting fixtures are turned on / off and dimmed in detail based on the presence / absence of people, and the lighting fixtures are turned on only when there are people in the lighting area, thereby reducing unnecessary energy consumption caused by forgetting to turn off the lighting fixtures. In this way, energy conservation can be further ensured.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a lighting control system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart (part 1) of the illumination control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart (part 2) of the illumination control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart (part 3) of the illumination control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a lighting control system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the lighting control system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a dimming control area schematically showing a representative unit dimming control area in the overall illumination area and a lighting area in the area according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a representative unit dimming control area in which representative illuminance sensors are specifically arranged in the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of a lighting control system according to the first aspect of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a lighting control system according to a conventional invention of the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the illumination control system of the conventional invention. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram in which an illuminance sensor is installed for each lighting area that matches the dimming control area of the conventional invention. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram in which one representative illuminance sensor is installed in a plurality of lighting areas by improving the conventional invention.

The present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
The lighting control system shown in FIG. 1 is composed of one control unit and a plurality of lighting fixtures arranged for each arbitrarily set dimming control area, for example, for each section of 3.6 m × 7.2 m. Has been.

In the conventional example, as shown in FIG. 9, one control unit is provided for each lighting fixture, so that each lighting fixture has to be expensive.
In order to improve this point, the first embodiment is characterized by comprising one control unit and a plurality of lighting fixtures, and the illumination control system is provided with an illuminance sensor. However, only a plurality of lighting fixtures are disposed in the light control area.
For this reason, the illuminance signal at the present time from the illuminance sensor is not input to the control CPU of the control unit, but the time measurement data signal transmitted from the built-in usage time measurement timer is input.

When the timekeeping data signal is input, the control CPU compares the timekeeping data with the set time stored in the storage unit and determines that the lighting time of the lighting equipment has reached a predetermined time. In order to correct the decrease in illuminance due to, for example, every time a certain time elapses, a constant dimming rate increase stored in the storage means is added, or the cumulative lighting time / dimming output value stored in the storage means Referring to the correspondence table, obtain the dimming output value considering the maintenance rate, such as obtaining the dimming output corresponding to the cumulative lighting time, and send the PWM signal from the dimming circuit to the ballast receiver of the lighting fixture Output and control the illuminance to increase the illuminance of the fluorescent lamp as the illuminating lamp.
At this time, the control CPU outputs the same PWM signal to each ballast of a plurality of lighting fixtures arranged in the same dimming control area, and controls the dimming by unifying the illuminance of the plurality of lighting fixtures. To do.

In FIG. 2, the typical flowchart (the 1) of the illumination control system of Example 1 is shown.
When the luminaire is first installed in a building or the like and started (step 1), the second timer of the present invention is configured to measure the accumulated usage time until the fluorescent lamp which is the illuminating lamp is used and replaced. The timer 1 and the timer 2 constituting the first timer of the present invention, which measures a predetermined time for which the illuminance should be corrected, are reset and started (steps 2 and 3). It is checked whether or not a predetermined time to be stored has elapsed (step 4), and when it is determined that the predetermined time has not elapsed, an infinite loop is executed.
The control CPU stores a constant time and a constant dimming increase rate so that the constant dimming rate is increased when the timer 1 measures a certain time.

  When the control CPU determines that the predetermined time has elapsed, the dimming rate is increased by adding the above-mentioned constant dimming increase rate to the ballasts of a plurality of lighting fixtures, slightly more than the previous output. After outputting the same large PWM signal to increase the dimming rate (step 5), it is determined whether or not it is time to replace the fluorescent lamp (step 6).

  In Step 6, when it is determined that the time for replacing the fluorescent lamp has not been reached, the routine returns to between Step 2 and Step 3 to reset and start the timer 1 (Step 3).

  Next, when the control CPU determines that the accumulated lighting time of the fluorescent lamp has reached, for example, 12000 hours, which is the lifetime of the fluorescent lamp, the control CPU notifies the manager and prompts the administrator to replace the fluorescent lamp. Then, the administrator resets and starts the timer (step 2) and repeatedly executes the above-described cycle.

In the flowchart (No. 1) of the above-described embodiment, the description has been given of the case where two timers are provided. Hereinafter, the flowcharts of two modifications having one lighting time measurement timer will be described.
First, the flowchart (the 2) of the illumination control system of the modification 1 is shown in FIG.
When the lighting fixture is first installed in a building or the like and starts (step 11), the usage time measurement timer is reset and started (step 12), and the control CPU determines whether or not a predetermined time stored by itself has elapsed. Is checked (step 13), and when it is determined that the predetermined time has not elapsed, an infinite loop is executed.

  When the control CPU determines that the predetermined time has elapsed, the same PWM signal is output to the communication units of the ballasts of the plurality of lighting fixtures to increase the dimming rate (step 14). Next, it is determined whether or not it is time to replace the fluorescent lamp (step 15).

  When the control CPU determines in step 15 that the counter has not counted the set fluorescent lamp replacement count, which corresponds to about 12000 hours, which is the lifetime of the fluorescent lamp, it has reached the time to replace the fluorescent lamp. Therefore, after incrementing the counter by 1 (step 16), the process returns between step 11 and step 12 to reset and start the timer (step 12).

  Next, when the control CPU determines that the counter has counted the fluorescent lamp replacement count, the control CPU notifies the manager and prompts the administrator to replace the fluorescent lamp. Then, the administrator resets and starts the timer (step 12) and repeatedly executes the above-described cycle.

Next, a flowchart (No. 3) of the illumination control system of Modification 2 will be described with reference to FIG.
This flowchart (No. 3) has a step of rewriting and extending the total lighting time in Step 26 corresponding to Step 16 of the above-described flowchart (No. 2). This is different from the flowchart (part 2).

In the example of this flowchart (part 3), the time preset in the control CPU is the cumulative lighting time. Therefore, for example, when it is determined that the first cumulative lighting time has been reached, as in the case of Increase the dimming rate.
In step 25, when it is determined that the illumination lamp replacement is not detected, in step 26, the cumulative lighting time stored in the control CPU is rewritten, and the next check cumulative lighting time is updated.

Specifically, the cumulative lighting time is stored in advance in the control CPU, and each time it is determined that the cumulative lighting time has been reached, the previous cumulative lighting time stored in the control CPU is used as the next cumulative lighting time. The cumulative lighting time is extended and updated.
Thereby, in step 23 corresponding to step 13 of the flowchart (part 2), it is determined whether or not the cumulative lighting time has been reached. If it is determined that the time has been reached, the dimming output is increased to increase the dimming rate. Increase it.

  On the other hand, in step 25, when the illuminating lamp replacement detecting unit detects the replacement of the illuminating lamp, that is, whenever the illuminating lamp is replaced, the timer is automatically reset and restarted.

  In this software example, in order to maintain a predetermined illuminance, as the illuminance characteristics of the fluorescent lamp used, for example, the dimming output value of the fluorescent lamp is set to 70% when the cumulative usage time is 980 hours, If it is known in advance that the light should be dimmed to 73% at the time, the total accumulated usage time of 980 hours can be rewritten to 1630 hours, so the total usage time can be freely adjusted according to the dimming output. Since it can be set, precise dimming control can be performed.

  In the above-described embodiments and modifications of the lighting control system, if the dimming control area is the same as the lighting area that is turned on / off by the lighting switch linked with the wall switch or the human body detection sensor, the lighting time of each lighting fixture is Since the same lighting area is set as one control object, there is no variation in lighting time among lighting fixtures, and uniform illumination control can be performed between lighting areas.

  Further, in the software examples of the first embodiment and the first and second modifications, the system is configured to allow the administrator to perform timer reset when replacing the fluorescent lamp. However, the timer reset is automatically performed by providing an illumination lamp replacement detection unit. By doing so, maintenance can be simplified.

Furthermore, in the software of the first embodiment and the first and second modifications, as a method of obtaining the dimming output for increasing the dimming rate of the control CPU, the cumulative lighting time / dimming output value stored in the storage means is supported. If a method of obtaining a dimming output corresponding to the cumulative lighting time with reference to the table is adopted, an appropriate dimming output value can be quickly obtained by reducing the burden on the control CPU.
As described above, the invention for keeping the illuminance of the lighting fixture constant by performing the dimming control with the predetermined dimming output at the predetermined timing has been described. Hereinafter, the illuminance of the current lighting fixture is constantly measured. The invention for keeping the illuminance of the lighting fixture constant by performing dimming control so that the measured illuminance matches with the predetermined illuminance will be described.

A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the conventional example of the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, the entire interior zone other than the perimeter zone that is affected by disturbances such as sunlight and lightning is set as an illuminance control target. It is divided into broken lighting areas that are turned on and off, and at the same time, the same section as the lighting area is a solid light control area.
An illuminance sensor is provided for each dimming control area.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the dimming control system includes a control unit for each dimming control area, and each dimming control area is individually dimmed and controlled by the control unit.

  This dimming control system is controlled according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 11, and the control CPU executes an infinite loop as long as the current illuminance matches the set illuminance, and the current illuminance does not match the set illuminance. When it is determined, it is determined whether or not the current illuminance is lower than the set illuminance.If it is determined to be low, the dimming output is increased, and if it is determined to be high, the dimming output is decreased and the current illuminance is set again. Returning to the determination step of whether or not the above-mentioned routine is repeated, the above routine is repeatedly executed.

  Since this dimming control system performs dimming control independently for each dimming control area, accurate dimming control can be achieved, but a control unit and an illuminance sensor are provided for each dimming control area. Since it is necessary to dispose, the initial cost for constructing the dimming control system increases, and there are fears that the number of maintenance target devices increases, and the maintenance cost also increases.

  Therefore, in order to improve this point, the illuminance sensor and the control unit, for example, collect four lighting areas shown in FIG. 13 as one dimming control area, and control the representative illuminance sensor control for this dimming control area. When a light control system is to be assembled, when one of these four lighting areas is turned off, the representative illuminance sensor detects the dimmed illuminance that is not normal. There arises a disadvantage that the light control area is controlled to excessive illuminance.

  Embodiment 2 of the present invention intends to provide a dimming control system that contributes to high energy saving while reducing both the initial cost and the maintenance cost while eliminating this inconvenience.

  The dimming control system according to the second embodiment of the present invention is omitted in FIG. 5 and three lighting fixtures are shown. Actually, however, a number of lighting fixtures as shown in FIGS. One control unit for controlling them and at least two representative illuminance sensors coupled to the control unit so as to be communicable with each other.

The control unit includes a control CPU, a large number of dimming circuits that individually output PWM signals to a large number of individual lighting fixtures installed on a large area ceiling, and a communication unit that communicates with a representative illuminance sensor. Has been.
The control unit uses the interior zone shown in the left diagram of FIG. 12 as an overall illumination area for overall dimming control, and divides the area into a plurality of unit dimming control areas indicated by solid lines in FIGS. Illumination control is performed on the entire illumination area using a unit dimming control area selected from the unit dimming control areas as a representative unit dimming control area.

In this embodiment, the representative illuminance sensor is installed in two unit dimming control areas of the 72 unit dimming control areas, a place near the perimeter zone and a place farthest from the place.
The control CPU receives the illuminance signals from the two representative illuminance sensors at the communication unit, averages the two signals, and illuminates the representative unit dimming control area at that time (hereinafter referred to as “representative illuminance”). Confirm.

The operation of the control CPU, which is a feature of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIG.
The first feature of the present invention is that the control CPU determines whether or not all the lighting fixtures in the representative unit dimming control area are turned on (step 31).
For example, in the case where the representative unit dimming control area is divided into four lighting areas as shown in the right figure of FIG. 13, when the lower right lighting area is not lit, the representative illuminance and the set illuminance in step 34 are Do not determine whether they match.
That is, at this time, an infinite loop is executed and the process does not proceed to step 34.
This is because when all the lighting fixtures in the representative unit dimming control area are not turned on, the lighting fixtures are excessively illuminated as described above, and energy is wasted.
In addition, the signal that the lighting apparatus is being lit can be an ON operation signal of a lighting switch or a human detection signal of a human detection sensor.

When determining that all the lighting fixtures in the representative unit dimming control area are lit, the control CPU determines whether or not a lighting time has elapsed for a predetermined time (step 32). This determination is the second feature of the present invention.
With this configuration, the illuminance at the time when the illuminance of each instrument is unstable is cut to obtain an appropriate measured value of illuminance.

After the lighting state of all the lighting fixtures in the representative unit dimming control area continues for a predetermined time, the illuminance of the representative unit dimming control area, that is, the average illuminance (hereinafter, “representative illuminance”) of the two representative illuminance sensors in this embodiment. Is determined to be equal to the set illuminance (step 34).
When the representative illuminance does not match the set illuminance, the process proceeds to step 35, and it is determined whether or not the representative illuminance is lower than the set illuminance.

  When the representative illuminance is lower than the set illuminance, the control CPU outputs a PWM signal slightly larger than the current PWM signal output from the dimming circuit in the representative unit dimming control area (step 36). When higher, a so-called feedback method is executed in which a PWM signal that is slightly smaller than the current PWM signal output is output from the dimming circuit (step 37), and this operation is repeated until it matches the set illuminance.

  And when the representative illuminance of the representative unit dimming control area matches the set illuminance, it corresponds to all the luminaires in the entire illumination area based on the representative illuminance obtained by averaging the illuminance signals from the respective representative illuminance sensors A dimming signal is generated via a dimming circuit that outputs the generated dimming signal to each ballast of the corresponding lighting fixture, and the illuminance of the lighting fixture is unified with the set illuminance. Dimming control.

Thus, in the representative unit dimming control area, first, a dimming output value for matching with the set illuminance is searched and determined by the feedback method, and all lighting fixtures for which the determined dimming output value is controlled. The dimming control applied to is a third feature of the present invention.
When the dimming control for all the lighting fixtures is completed, the process returns to step 31 and step 32, and the above operation is repeated continuously.

In this embodiment, two representative illuminance sensors are provided for the entire illumination area, but three or four representative illuminance sensors may be provided.
As the number of representative illuminance sensors is increased, the accuracy of dimming control can be improved. However, it is necessary to consider in relation to the increase in the illuminance sensor equipment cost.
Moreover, it can also be set as the structure provided with one control unit with respect to one representative illumination intensity sensor. However, in this case, since the control unit and the representative illuminance sensor have a one-to-one correspondence, the dimming control accuracy is slightly lower than that of the present embodiment, but there is no problem.
Furthermore, when the number of installed lighting fixtures exceeds the number of control units that can be controlled, a plurality of control units may be provided according to the control capability. In this case, it is preferable to provide a general control unit that controls each control unit.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the representative unit dimming control area is divided into four lighting areas. However, it may not be divided into lighting areas.
In this case, naturally, it is not necessary to apply the invention according to claim 9 to the dimming control system to be constructed.
Furthermore, the representative unit dimming control area needs to ensure a range that is not affected by the illumination of the lighting fixtures arranged in other adjacent unit dimming control areas even if it is narrow.
In this specification, “a range that is not affected by the illumination of a lighting fixture arranged in another adjacent unit dimming control area even if it is narrow” means that the illuminance sensor installed in the range is an illumination in the adjacent range. In any case where the fixture is lit and extinguished, it is a range that is required to show the same illuminance detection value in the range, and the detection illumination is in a range that exceeds the detection range of the illuminance sensor. It means a range that varies depending on the arrangement height of the instrument.
For example, with the current average illuminance sensor capability, if the lighting fixtures are arranged at a standard ceiling height of 2.8 m, the lighting effect of the lighting fixtures is limited even if it is narrow. It has been found that it is appropriate to set the unacceptable range to 7.2 m square or more.

  In the case of constructing a personal dimming control system according to the present invention, when a human detection sensor detects a person, a human detection sensor is installed for each personal lighting area that is a section where a lighting fixture blinks. The lighting fixture in the lighting area is turned on, and when the human detection sensor no longer detects a person, the lighting fixture in the lighting area may be controlled to be turned off / off.

Claims (14)

When it is determined that the built-in timer has counted the predetermined cumulative lighting time without inputting the illuminance signal at the present time, the dimming output value considering the maintenance rate is obtained and the dimming output value is output to the lighting fixture. In an illuminance sensorless lighting control system equipped with a control unit for controlling the illuminance,
The control unit is disposed for each dimming control area set arbitrarily, and a plurality of lighting fixtures are disposed in the dimming control area.
The illuminance sensorless illumination control system characterized in that the control unit unifies the illuminance of a plurality of lighting fixtures arranged in one dimming control area and performs dimming control.   The illuminance sensorless illumination control system according to claim 1, wherein the dimming control area is the same as a lighting area that is turned on / off by a blinking switch such as a wall switch.   The control unit includes a first timer for measuring a cumulative lighting time for which the dimming output is to be changed, a second timer for measuring a cumulative lighting time for which the illumination lamp is to be changed, and the first timer each time the illuminance is changed. The first timer reset means for resetting a timer, and the second timer reset means for resetting the second timer each time the illumination lamp is replaced. Illuminance sensorless lighting control system described in the above.   The illuminance sensorless illumination control system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit includes a counter unit that increments a counter each time the illuminance is changed.   3. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit includes a cumulative lighting time changing unit, and the cumulative lighting time of the timer is updated by the cumulative lighting time updating unit every time the illuminance is changed. Illuminance sensorless illumination control system described in any one of the above.   When the control unit determines that the predetermined time has elapsed, the control unit refers to the accumulated lighting time / dimming output value correspondence table stored in the storage means to obtain the dimming output corresponding to the accumulated lighting time, The illuminance sensorless illumination control system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a light output is output to all the lighting fixtures in the dimming control area.   7. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit includes an illumination lamp replacement detection unit, and the timer is reset by the illumination lamp replacement detection unit each time the illumination lamp is replaced. Illuminance sensorless lighting control system described. One overall illumination area having a large number of lighting fixtures is divided into a plurality of unit dimming control areas, and a unit dimming control area selected from the plurality of unit dimming control areas is a representative unit dimming control area And
A representative illuminance sensor is arranged only in the representative unit dimming control area,
The control unit that controls the illuminance of all the luminaires in the entire illumination area generates a dimming signal based on the illuminance signal from the representative illuminance sensor, and the generated dimming signal is used for all of the entire illumination area. An illumination control system that outputs to a luminaire and performs dimming control to the illuminance set by unifying the illuminance of the luminaire. One overall illumination area having a large number of lighting fixtures is divided into a plurality of unit dimming control areas, and a unit dimming control area selected from the plurality of unit dimming control areas is a representative unit dimming control area And
The representative unit dimming control area is set to a range that is not affected by the illumination of the lighting fixtures arranged in other unit dimming control areas adjacent to each other even if narrow,
The representative illuminance sensor is arranged at substantially the center of the set range
When the control unit determines that all the luminaires in the representative unit dimming control area are in the lighting state, the control unit performs dimming based on the illuminance signal of the representative illuminance sensor disposed in the representative unit dimming control area. An illumination control system that generates an optical signal, outputs the generated dimming signal to all the luminaires in the overall illumination lighting area, and performs dimming control to an illuminance set by unifying the illuminance of the luminaire.   The control unit reserves a new dimming control until a condition that all the lighting areas in the representative unit dimming control areas are in a lighting state continues for a predetermined time. Item 10. The lighting control system according to any one of Items 9 to 9. The control unit is
A dimming signal is generated based on the illuminance signal from the representative illuminance sensor, and the generated dimming signal is output to all the lighting fixtures in the representative unit dimming control area. When it is determined whether or not the illuminance has reached a predetermined illuminance and it is determined that the predetermined illuminance has not been reached, a dimming signal is generated again based on the illuminance signal newly acquired from the representative illuminance sensor, and this The operation of outputting the generated dimming signal again to all the lighting fixtures in the representative unit dimming control area is repeatedly executed until it is determined that the predetermined illuminance is reached,
The dimming signal when it is determined that the predetermined illuminance has been reached is output to all the luminaires in the entire illumination area. Lighting control system. The representative unit dimming control area is selected from at least two of the unit dimming control areas,
The representative illuminance sensor is disposed in each selected representative unit dimming control area,
The control unit generates a dimming signal based on an illuminance signal obtained by averaging a plurality of illuminance signals from the representative illuminance sensors, and the generated dimming signal is transmitted to all the representative unit dimming control areas. The lighting control system according to claim 11, wherein the lighting control system outputs to a lighting fixture.   The illumination control system according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein the entire illumination area is an area where daylight is not available except for an area where daylight is available.   A human detection sensor is installed in each lighting area that is a section that blinks a lighting fixture. When the human detection sensor detects a person, the lighting fixture in the lighting area is turned on, and the human detection sensor no longer detects a person. The lighting control system according to any one of claims 8 to 13, wherein the lighting fixture in the lighting area is controlled to be extinguished and dimmed.

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