JP2011214774A - Centralized controller for air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a centralized controller for an air conditioner capable of grasping operating conditions of a plurality of indoor units by using the one centralized controller and suppressing a program and the capacity of data of each indoor unit by limiting to minimized set items such as temperature and wind quantity to reduce the price.SOLUTION: The centralized controller for the air conditioner comprises a full-dot liquid crystal panel and an operation panel where operation bottoms are arranged, and includes a multimode in which an indoor unit information display column of the full-dot liquid crystal panel is divided to produce display columns for displaying the individual operating states of the respective indoor units; and a single mode which is switched from a screen of the multimode by selecting and determining one or a plurality of indoor units by the operation of the operation panel and in which the display column displaying the operating state of the one or the plurality of indoor units is expanded to the entire indoor unit information display column and is displayed.

Description

  The present invention relates to a centralized controller that controls two or more air conditioners using a single controller installed on a wall surface or the like.

  The air conditioner has a controller for controlling the operation and setting of the indoor unit. For example, in the case of a medium-scale air conditioning system having about 2 to 10 indoor units, in addition to the wireless local remote controller for each indoor unit. In addition, a central controller of about 12 cm × 12 cm is often installed attached to the wall surface.

  For example, in the case of a centralized controller 51a that controls two indoor units, as shown in FIG. 5, a segment display liquid crystal panel 52 in which a segment 54 having a fixed character shape is arranged on a display surface, and a micro switch or a surface switch. There is a combination with an operation panel 53 on which operation buttons are arranged. The centralized controller 51a using the segment display liquid crystal panel 52 displays information by switching between display and non-display of the segment 54 set in advance, and the indoor panel is turned on / off or cooled by the operation panel 53.・ Switching heating, setting temperature, and other operations.

  For example, in the case of a centralized controller 51b that controls about 10 indoor units, as shown in FIG. 6, LEDs 55 and on / off buttons 56 corresponding to each indoor unit are arranged in a matrix. Some of them only performed simple operations.

Since the centralized controller 51a shown in FIG. 4 has only a fixed number of segments, it cannot control more indoor units, and in order to increase the number of indoor units, only the necessary number of controllers 51a are required. Since there is a limit to the size of the display surface of the segment display liquid crystal panel 52 that can be displayed, there is a problem that only 3 to 4 indoor units can be controlled by one centralized controller. there were.
The centralized controller 51b shown in FIG. 5 has a problem that it can only control and confirm the on / off of the indoor unit, and cannot make detailed settings such as temperature, air volume, and wind direction.

In order to connect 10 indoor units and perform all controls for all indoor units, the capacity of the control program and the data of each indoor unit increases, and the size of the controller itself increases and becomes expensive. There was a problem.
Furthermore, since these displays and buttons are fixed in these centralized controllers 51a and 51b, anyone can operate in a place where an unspecified number of people come in and out, and there are management problems such as misoperation and mischief. It was.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems. For example, in a medium-scale air conditioning system of about 2 to 10 units, the operation status of each indoor unit can be grasped by one centralized controller, and the temperature and The minimum setting items such as airflow, etc., which are limited to a few problems even if a large number of unspecified people change their settings, and limit the items that can be set to limit the data capacity of programs and indoor units. It provides a centralized controller for air conditioners that reduces costs and reduces costs.

  Claim 1 of the present invention is a centralized controller for controlling a plurality of indoor units, comprising a full dot liquid crystal panel and an operation panel in which buttons for operation are arranged, and an indoor unit information display field of the full dot liquid crystal panel. Is switched by selecting and determining one or a plurality of indoor units by operating the operation panel from the multi-mode screen. A centralized controller for an air conditioner having a single mode in which a display field for displaying an operation state of one or a plurality of units is displayed in an enlarged manner in the entire indoor unit information display field.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the centralized controller for an air conditioner according to the first aspect, the screen displayed in the single mode is an enlarged display column for displaying the operation state of each indoor unit displayed in the multi mode. To do.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the centralized controller of the air conditioner according to the first aspect, the items displayed in the single mode are limited to the temperature and the air volume.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the multi mode, the status of all connected indoor units can be displayed, and the operation status can be grasped at a glance. In the single mode, the setting screen is displayed. Since this area is enlarged and displayed, it is easy to see and operate. In addition, since the multi-mode individual display field and the single mode setting screen can be reduced or enlarged as desired, the most appropriate individual display field can be selected according to the number of connected indoor units. Have

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the setting screen displayed in the single mode has an effect that the individual display field displayed in the multi mode is enlarged and displayed, so that it is easy to perceive and operate easily. In addition, since there is no need to separately display programs and data on the screen, the capacity of the program can be reduced.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the number of setting items to be displayed in the single mode is limited, the capacity of the control program and the data of each indoor unit can be kept small, and the controller can be kept at a low price. It has the effect. Further, when only the minimum necessary setting items are displayed, it is possible to reduce operations due to erroneous operations and mischief.

It is a front view of the centralized controller by this invention. The full dot liquid crystal panel display in each mode of the centralized controller of this invention is shown, (a) is a front view of monitor mode, (b) is a front view of operation mode. It is a figure which shows the display form of an individual display column, (a) is a front view in the state which displays that the indoor unit is drive | operating, (b) displays that the indoor unit is not drive | operating FIG. It is a front view which shows the centralized controller using the conventional segment display liquid crystal panel. FIG. 10 is a front view of a centralized controller in which about 10 conventional indoor units are simply operated by an on / off LED and an on / off button arranged in a matrix.

  In a centralized controller for controlling a plurality of indoor units, it consists of a full-dot liquid crystal panel and an operation panel on which buttons for operation are arranged. The indoor unit information display field of the full-dot liquid crystal panel is divided into individual indoor units. The multi-mode which is a display field for displaying the operation state of the unit, and switching by selecting and determining one or a plurality of indoor units by operating the operation panel from the multi-mode screen, the operation state of the one or a plurality of units And a single mode in which a display field for displaying is enlarged and displayed in the entire indoor unit information display field.

Next, the centralized controller 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The number of indoor units that can be operated by one outdoor unit is generally about 1 to 10 units. In the following embodiments, a case where a centralized controller used for nine air conditioning systems will be described.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a centralized controller 1 of the present invention installed on a wall surface. This centralized controller 1 has a full-dot display liquid crystal panel 3 arranged on the upper side of a housing 2 and is operated on the lower side. An operation panel 4 in which buttons are arranged is arranged.
The operation panel 4 includes a central SELECT button 5, upper and lower (∧∨) buttons 6 and 7 arranged above and below the SELECT button 5, left and right (<>) buttons 8 and 9 arranged on the left and right, and ALL / GROUP on the upper left. The button 10 includes a CANCEL button 11 at the lower left, an ON / OFF button 12 at the upper right, and a FUNCTION button 13.
Further, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the liquid crystal panel 3 includes a mode / clock display column 14 displayed in a strip shape at the top, an assist display column 16 displayed in a strip shape at the bottom, and a space between them. Information display column 29.

The centralized controller 1 has at least two modes: a monitor mode that only displays the operation status of the indoor unit, and an operation mode that can perform operations and change settings only for some items of the indoor unit. ing.
Hereinafter, the display of the liquid crystal panel 3 and the function of the operation panel 4 in each mode will be described.

(1) Monitor Mode On the liquid crystal screen 2 in the monitor mode, as shown in FIG. 2A, the characters “Monitor Mode” are displayed on the left side of the mode / clock display column 14 and the clock is displayed on the right side.

The operation state display column 19 is divided into 3 × 3 9 sections, one indoor unit is assigned to each divided column, and a reduced individual display column 15 is displayed. A display mode in which one indoor unit is assigned to each divided field is referred to as multi-mode in the present invention.
The individual display field 15 includes a display mode when the indoor unit is operating as shown in FIG. 3A and a display mode when the indoor unit is not operating as shown in FIG. There are two types of display forms.
As shown in FIG. 3A, the display mode when the indoor unit is in operation is an indoor unit that displays a character string (“Room1” in the example in the figure) indicating a location for identifying the indoor unit. Display column 18, operation display column 19 for displaying a symbol indicating whether the operation of the indoor unit is heating or cooling (symbol indicating heating in the example in the figure), a status display for displaying the temperature and air volume set for the indoor unit, and others It is divided into a column 20.
As shown in FIG. 3B, the display mode when the indoor unit is not in operation is an indoor unit display of a character string (“Office A” in the example of the figure) indicating a location for identifying the indoor unit. Column 18 is divided into a non-operation display column 25 that displays a character string ("OFF" in the example of the figure) indicating that the indoor unit is not in operation.

  When the indoor unit is not in operation, the background of the non-operation display column 25 is white (liquid crystal off), the displayed character is black (liquid crystal on), and when the indoor unit is in operation, the operation display By making the background of the column 19 and the status display column 20 black and the displayed character white and visually highlighting, it is possible to determine at a glance whether or not the individual indoor unit is operating. .

  The assist display column 16 displays buttons on the operation panel 4 that can be operated next. In the illustrated example, characters and character strings of “∧∨ <>”, “ALL / GROUP”, and “SELECT” are displayed. Up / down / left / right buttons 6 to 9, ALL / GROUP button 10 and SELECT button 5 are displayed. Is displayed.

(2) Operation Mode On the liquid crystal screen 2 in the operation mode, as shown in FIG. 2B, the characters “Operation Mode” are displayed on the left side of the mode / clock display column 14 and the clock is displayed on the right side.

In the information display column 29, the display area of the indoor unit selected in the monitor mode is expanded to the entire information display column 29, and items that can be operated as shown in FIG. In the example of b), only the temperature setting display field 22) is displayed. A display mode in which the display area of the indoor unit is expanded to the entire information display field 29 is referred to as a single mode in the present invention.
The assist display column 16 displays buttons on the operation panel 4 that can be operated next. In the example shown in the figure, character strings and characters of “Return: Cancel”, “Setting: ∧∨”, and “Select: <>” are displayed, and the Cancel button 11, the up and down buttons 6 and 7, and the left and right buttons 8, respectively. , 9 can be operated.

Next, the function of the buttons on the operation panel 4 will be described.
The SELECT button 5 has a function of determining a selected display or item. The up and down buttons 6 and 7 have a function as a cursor key for moving the selected display up and down and a function for changing the set value of the selected item up and down. The left and right buttons 8 and 9 have functions as cursor keys for moving the selected display to the left and right.
The ALL / GROUP button 10 has a function of selecting all indoor units or a plurality of indoor units grouped in advance in the monitor mode. For example, every time the button is pressed, all are selected → Group 1 Select → Select group 2 → Select group 3 → Select one unit.
The CANCEL button 11 has a function of returning the screen to the previous screen. The ON / OFF button 12 has a function of starting / stopping the operation of the selected indoor unit. The FUNCTION button 13 is set with any necessary functions according to the contents of the screen.

Next, the operation of the centralized controller 1 having the above configuration will be described.
When the power of the centralized controller 1 is turned on, the liquid crystal panel 4 displays a standby screen (not shown) and acquires data such as the operating state of the connected indoor units, the set temperature, the air volume, and the wind direction. When the data is acquired, the monitor mode screen in multi mode is displayed.
In the monitor mode, the screen shown in FIG. 2A is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 4, and the operation state and set temperature of each indoor unit are displayed.

  Here, an indoor unit to be set is selected by pressing any one of the up / down buttons 6, 7, left / right buttons 8, 9, and the ALL / GROUP button 10. The individual display column 17 for displaying the selected indoor unit displays that the indoor unit display column 18 is selected by being reversed in black and white.

When the SELECT button 5 is pressed while this indoor unit is selected, the single mode screen shown in FIG. 2B is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 4, and the mode is switched to the operation mode for operating the selected indoor unit.
In the operation mode, setting items are selected with the left and right buttons 6 and 7, but only one of the temperature setting display field 22 and the air volume setting display field 23 can be selected.
The selected item (display column) indicates that the item name column is highlighted and selected.

When the upper button 6 is pressed while the temperature setting display field 22 is selected, the set temperature increases by 1 ° C., and when the lower button 7 is pressed, the temperature decreases by 1 ° C. The lower limit of the temperature setting is limited to 18 ° C, and the upper limit is limited to 35 ° C.
When the air volume setting display field 23 is selected, pressing the up button 6 increases the air volume by one step, and pressing the down button 7 decreases it by one step.
When the CANCEL button 11 is pressed, the display on the liquid crystal panel 4 is switched to the monitor mode.

  Since one outdoor unit can be operated only in either heating or cooling, it is necessary to select and set all indoor units in order to set cooling or heating. In order to prevent the person from changing the setting of cooling / heating, the operation mode is disabled.

  In the above embodiment, the full dot liquid crystal panel and the button type operation panel are combined and operated by pressing the button. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the surface of the full dot liquid crystal panel is used. An operation panel on which a touch panel is placed may be used to operate by touching characters or characters displayed on the full-dot liquid crystal panel.

  In the above embodiment, the individual display field 17 in the monitor mode is divided into 9 × 3 × 3 × 3, but the present invention is not limited to this, and is divided into 4 × 2 × 2 × 2 or 2 × 2. X It can be set according to the number of indoor units to be connected, such as 6 divisions in the horizontal direction. This division number is not fixed as a specified value, but can be set according to the number of connected indoor units.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Centralized controller, 2 ... Housing | casing, 3 ... Liquid crystal panel of a full dot display, 4 ... Operation panel, 5 ... SELECT (decision) button, 6 ... Up (∧) button, 7 ... Down (∨) button, 8 ... Left (<) button, 9 ... Right (>) button, 10 ... ALL / GROUP button, 11 ... CANCEL button, 12 ... ON / OFF button, 13 ... FUNCTION button, 14 ... Mode / clock display field, 15 ... Each room Unit-specific operation status display column, 16 ... Assist display column, 17 ... Individual display column, 18 ... Indoor unit display column, 19 ... Operation display column, 20 ... Status display column, 22 ... Temperature setting display column, 23 ... Air volume setting Display field, 24 ... wind direction setting display field, 25 ... non-operation display field, 29 ... information display field.

Claims (3)

In a centralized controller for controlling multiple indoor units,
It consists of a full-dot LCD panel and an operation panel with buttons for operation.
Multi-mode as a display field for dividing the indoor unit information display field of the full-dot liquid crystal panel and displaying the operation state of each indoor unit individually;
The multi-mode screen is switched by selecting and determining one or a plurality of indoor units by operating the operation panel, and a display column for displaying the operation status of the one or a plurality of units is changed to the entire indoor unit information display column. A central controller for an air conditioner, characterized in that it has a single mode that is enlarged and displayed.   2. The centralized controller for an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the screen displayed in the single mode is an enlarged display of a display field for displaying the operation state of each indoor unit displayed in the multi mode.   The centralized controller for an air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the number of setting items displayed in a single mode is limited.

Images