JP2012042186A - Remote controller of air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote controller of an air conditioner improved in operability.SOLUTION: The remote controller of the air conditioner includes a setting screen for inputting running operation setting of the air conditioner, a selection screen for selecting setting items by a cursor key and a determination key, and a setting adjustment screen for adjusting the setting items selected by the selection screen. A transition key is provided to transit from the setting adjustment screen to a different setting adjustment screen, and the setting items of the different setting adjustment screen of the transition target are displayed. Thus, operability is improved.

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote controller for an air conditioner for performing operations related to the operation of the air conditioner.

  The remote controller of a conventional air conditioner includes keys for switching operation modes (cooling, heating, dehumidification), temperature setting, air volume setting, timer setting, operation / stop, etc. Some have a liquid crystal display for displaying operation mode, set temperature, wind direction setting, and the like.

  Furthermore, the function of the air conditioner has been enhanced with the ability to set a one-week operation schedule. Therefore, the conventional remote controller tends to increase the number of keys each time these functions increase, and as the number of keys increases, the keys cannot be arranged or the keys cannot be arranged depending on the size of the limited remote controller. There is a problem that the operability is deteriorated due to the necessity of reducing the size of the device, and the operation becomes complicated. In addition, since the display content of the conventional liquid crystal display unit is fixed, the display content is limited, it is difficult to cope with complicated function settings, and the design of the liquid crystal display unit must be changed for each model.

In order to solve the above-described problem, in Patent Document 1, a dot matrix display type liquid crystal panel is used as a liquid crystal display unit, and a screen can be freely displayed, so that a menu screen for selecting setting items, and a selection are displayed. There has been proposed a remote controller that displays the setting screen of the set items in a hierarchical manner. The remote controller includes a cursor (cross) key for moving a cursor for selecting a setting item displayed on the screen, a determination key for selecting the selected setting item, and a cancel key for returning to the previous screen. The operability is improved without increasing the number of keys.

JP 2008-196782 A

However, according to the remote controller described in Patent Document 1, when the setting of the item displayed on the setting screen is completed and the next setting item is moved, the setting item is selected after returning to the upper menu screen. The operation was troublesome. In particular, in the case of a remote controller capable of centrally controlling indoor units installed one by one in a plurality of rooms, for example, when setting the operation mode and temperature for each room, Each time, the room to be set is selected by returning to the upper level, and the operation mode and temperature are set, and the operation is troublesome.
An object of the present invention is to provide a remote controller which solves the above-described problems and further improves operability.

In order to solve the above problems, a display unit for displaying a setting screen for inputting the operation setting of the air conditioner, a menu key for displaying the setting item of the operation setting, and a display on the setting screen In the remote controller of the air conditioner comprising a cursor key for moving the cursor that has been moved and a determination key for selecting the setting item indicated by the cursor key, the setting screen includes the cursor key and The selection key includes a selection screen for selecting the setting item and a setting adjustment screen for adjusting the setting item selected on the selection screen. The setting adjustment screen is provided in the remote controller. Transition to a different setting adjustment screen by pressing the transition key, and transition when the transition key is pressed A remote controller of an air conditioner and displaying the setting items in the setting adjustment screen made.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the remote controller of the air conditioner, the setting screen for inputting the operation setting of the air conditioner is the same as the selection screen for selecting the setting item with the cursor key and the enter key. A setting adjustment screen for adjusting the setting item selected on the selection screen, the setting adjustment screen transitions to a different setting adjustment screen by pressing a transition key provided on the remote controller, By displaying the setting items of the different setting adjustment screens that transition when the transition key is pressed, it is only necessary to perform one operation with the transition keys to switch from the screen on which the setting adjustment has been performed to another setting adjustment screen. . In addition, since setting items on different setting adjustment screens that are switched by pressing the transition key are displayed, the operability for the user is improved.

It is an example of the schematic of the air conditioner which concerns on this invention. It is an external view of the remote controller of the air conditioner which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block block diagram of the remote controller of an air conditioner. It is a screen transition diagram of the display screen of the remote controller. It is a figure which shows the screen which is displaying the operating condition of an air conditioner. It is a figure which shows the display screen of a setting menu. It is a figure which shows the room selection screen in the initial screen of driving | operation setting. It is a figure which shows cursor movement on the room selection screen in the initial screen of driving | operation setting. It is a figure which shows the screen which displays the item of the driving | operation setting 1, and the stored setting value. It is a figure which shows the explanatory screen for switching the operation mode of the driving | operation setting 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the screen which switched the operation mode of the driving | operation setting 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the explanatory screen when a sending key is pressed down. It is a figure which shows the explanatory screen when a sending key is pressed down. It is a figure which shows the room selection screen in the initial screen of a schedule timer setting. It is a figure which shows a cursor movement on the room selection screen in the initial screen of a schedule timer setting. It is a figure which shows the description screen of a day selection of a schedule timer setting. It is a figure which shows the description screen of a day selection of a schedule timer setting. It is a figure which shows the description screen of a day selection of a schedule timer setting. It is a figure which shows the description screen of the time setting of a schedule timer setting. It is a figure which shows the description screen of the time setting of a schedule timer setting. It is the figure which expanded the time setting part of a schedule timer setting. It is the figure which expanded the time setting part of a schedule timer setting. It is a figure which shows the explanatory screen at the time of the feed key being pressed at the time of schedule timer setting. It is a figure which shows the initial screen of a function setting. It is a figure which shows the screen which moved the cursor to the outdoor unit silent mode of function setting. It is a figure which shows the explanatory screen which selects the outdoor unit silent mode of a function setting. It is a figure which shows the setting screen of a holiday setting.

1 Remote Controller 2 Display 3 Operation Key 4 Run / Stop Key 5 Menu Key 6 Cursor Key 6u Up Key 6d Down Key 6l Left Key 6r Right Key 7 Enter Key 8 Cancel Key 9 Feed Key 10 Return Key 11 Control Unit 14 storage unit 15 communication unit 16 timer clock 50 air conditioner 51 indoor unit 52 outdoor unit 53 communication line

A display unit for displaying a setting screen for inputting operation settings of the air conditioner, a menu key for displaying setting items of the operation setting, and a cursor displayed on the setting screen In the remote controller of the air conditioner provided with the cursor key and the determination key for selecting the setting item instructed by the cursor key, the setting screen is set by the cursor key and the determination key. And a setting adjustment screen for adjusting the setting item selected on the selection screen, and the setting adjustment screen is obtained by pressing a transition key provided on the remote controller. The transition to a different setting adjustment screen and the transition of the different setting adjustment screen when the transition key is pressed A remote controller of an air conditioner and displaying a constant item.
Details will be described below.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an example of an air conditioner used in the remote controller of the present invention. The air conditioner 50 includes an indoor unit 51 installed in each room, and an outdoor unit 52 connected to each indoor unit via a refrigerant pipe and a communication line, and each indoor unit 51 via the communication line 53. Or the remote controller 1 which sets the operation mode of an outdoor unit, setting temperature, etc. is connected. Each room is provided with a simple remote controller (not shown) for setting necessary minimum functions such as operation / stop, operation mode, and temperature setting for use by the user of the room.
In FIG. 1, as an example in which an indoor unit is installed in each room, the name of the indoor unit is a room name. However, the same applies when a plurality of indoor units are installed on a wide floor. In this case, the name of the indoor unit is called the first unit, the second unit, etc. instead of the room name.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the remote controller 1 according to the present invention. The remote controller 1 includes a display unit 2 using a liquid crystal panel using a dot matrix display method for displaying an operation state of the air conditioner or a setting screen for setting a setting item for operation, and a setting. An operation key unit 3 for operating the remote controller, such as setting items, is arranged.

The operation key unit 3 includes an operation / stop key 4 for operating or stopping the air conditioner, a menu key 5 for displaying a setting menu for setting, and a cursor on a setting item displayed on the display unit 2. Up cursor (6u) for moving, down key (6d), four cursor keys 6 of left key (6l) and right key (6r), enter key 7 for selecting a setting item where the cursor is located, Cancel key 8 to cancel the item selected with the enter key and return to the screen before selection, transition key send key 9 and return key 10 for transitioning the setting adjustment screen of each setting item to the setting adjustment screen of another setting item Is arranged.
The cursor keys of the up key (6u) and the down key (6d) are used to change the temperature, operation mode, and the like in addition to the up / down movement operation of the cursor in the screen. Yes. As a result, the number of operation keys is kept to the minimum necessary number.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the remote controller. The remote controller 1 includes a control unit 11, a display unit 2, an operation key unit 3, a storage unit 14, a communication unit 15, and a timer clock 16.

The communication unit 15 is connected to each indoor unit 51 via the communication line 53 described above, and transmits setting item setting information for operation input from the operation key unit 3, or It exchanges data with indoor units, such as receiving data on operating conditions.

The display unit 2 is a dot matrix display type liquid crystal display unit, which is based on data input via each operation key or data received by the communication unit 15 from the indoor unit 51 through communication, or the like. 11 displays the display data subjected to data processing.

The operation key unit 3 includes the operation keys described with reference to FIG. 2 described above, and data input from each key is processed by the control unit 11.

The storage unit 14 stores data to be displayed on the display unit, setting values related to the operation of each indoor unit, and the like.

The timer clock 16 is a clock used for time management such as time setting.

FIG. 4 is a transition diagram of the display screen described below.
As a normal display screen, an operation mode screen described later is displayed, and when the menu key 5 is pressed, a setting menu screen for layer 1 described later is displayed. When a setting item is selected on the setting menu screen, a setting screen for each item of level 2 described later is displayed. Further, when details are selected on the setting screen for level 2, level 3, which will be described later, surrounded by a dotted line is displayed.

The present invention can switch to a setting screen for another item in the same hierarchy in one operation using the transition keys of the feed key 9 and the return key 10 in the hierarchy 2 or the hierarchy 3. Conventionally, since it has been necessary to return to a higher hierarchy and select another item, the operability for the user is improved.

5 to 16 are diagrams showing screens displayed on the display unit 2 by the key operation unit 3, and will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 5 shows the operation status of each indoor unit on a normal display screen. In the upper part 21 of the screen, “operation status” indicating the display mode of the currently displayed screen and “time” are displayed. FIG. 5 shows that the vehicle is operating in the “cooling” mode other than “room 6”. “Energy saving” represents an energy saving operation mode, “Silent” represents an outdoor unit silent mode, and “Schedule” represents that a schedule timer is set.

6 is a setting menu display screen when the menu key 5 of the remote controller 1 is pressed while the screen of FIG. 5 is displayed, and corresponds to the hierarchy 1 in FIG. The setting items displayed on the menu are “operation setting”, “function setting”, and “schedule”. Furthermore, if there is another setting item that cannot be displayed depending on the display area, the menu key may be pressed again to be displayed.
In FIG. 6, the menu is displayed together with the operation status screen, but the screen may be a setting menu display only screen.
The position of the cursor in FIG. 6 is in the “operation setting” position surrounded by a square frame. The square frame cursor is an example, and the color may be changed, or the character may be reversed by black and white reversal.

When the right key 6r of the cursor key is pressed on the display screen of FIG. 6, the cursor moves to “function setting” (not shown). In the screen of FIG. 6, when the determination key 7 is pressed, “operation setting” is selected, and the screen is changed to the initial screen of “operation setting” in FIG. 7A corresponding to level 2 in FIG. 4. Hereinafter, the “operation setting” will be described in detail.

FIG. 7A is a selection screen for selecting a room (indoor unit) for which operation setting is to be performed, and an operation state (operation / stop) for each room is displayed. The lower part 22 of the screen displays that the screen can be switched to a setting screen for “function setting” that changes when the feed key 9 is pressed and “schedule timer” that changes when the return key 10 is pressed. The position of the cursor in FIG. 7A is “all rooms”, and a mark representing the right key 6r of the cursor key is displayed. When “all rooms” is selected, the setting items can be set simultaneously for all rooms under the same conditions, and it is not necessary to set each room individually. When the right key 6r of the cursor key is pressed, the cursor moves to “room 1” as shown in FIG. Accordingly, a mark representing the down key 6d, the right key 6r, and the left key 6l in the direction in which the cursor can be moved is displayed.

When the enter key 7 is pressed on the display screen of FIG. 7B, the screen is switched to the “operation setting 1” screen of the room 1 as the hierarchy 3 as shown in FIG. The cursor position is in the “run / stop” setting item, and a mark representing the up key 6u / down key 6d of the cursor key is displayed. (Not shown).
In the lower part 22 of the screen, when the feed key 9 is pressed, it is displayed that the setting item “air volume / energy saving” in the “operation setting 2” is switched to the setting screen.
When the right key 6r of the cursor key is pressed, the cursor moves to “operation mode” as shown in FIG.

The “operation mode” has four modes of “cooling”, “dehumidification”, “air blowing”, and “heating”. When the upper key 6u of the cursor key is pressed, “cooling”, “dehumidification”, “air blowing”. , “Heating” and “cooling” are switched in this order. When the down key 6d of the cursor key is pressed, the switching is performed in the order of “cooling”, “heating”, “fan”, “dehumidification”, “cooling” in the reverse order of the upper key. FIG. 9B shows a screen when the mode is switched to the “dehumidification” mode.

When the feed key 9 is pressed in the state of FIG. 9B, the operation setting screen of “operation setting 2” is switched as shown in FIG. The “air volume” at the cursor includes “weak”, “medium”, and “strong” in addition to “automatic”. When the upper key 6u of the cursor key is pressed, “automatic”, “strong”, “medium”, “ The operation mode changes in the order of “Weak” and “Auto”. When the lower key 6d of the cursor key is pressed, the order is switched in the reverse order of the upper key.

In the lower part 22 of the screen shown in FIG. 10A, when the feed key 9 is pressed, the setting item “Operation / Mode” is displayed in “Operation setting 1” of “Room 2” and when the Return key 10 is pressed. / Temperature "setting screen is displayed. When the feed key is pressed, the screen is switched to the “operation setting 1” screen of the room 2 as shown in FIG. When the return key 10 is pressed in the state of FIG. 10B, the screen is switched to the “operation setting 1” screen of the room 1 as shown in FIG.
When the enter key 7 is pressed, the setting condition data is transmitted to the indoor unit 51 in the target room.
To return to the upper hierarchy screen of FIG. 7A, the cancel key 8 is pressed.

Next, “schedule”, that is, “schedule timer setting” will be described.
“Schedule timer setting” is a function that can set the operation time of the indoor unit according to the day of the week.
When the cursor is moved to “Schedule” with the right key 6r of the cursor key on the setting menu display screen of FIG. 6 and selected with the Enter key, the “schedule timer setting” screen shown in FIG. Switch to

FIG. 11A shows a room selection screen for setting the schedule timer of the indoor unit 51 of each room, and displays whether the “schedule timer” for each room is set or not set. The lower part 22 of the screen displays that the operation key can be switched to “operation setting” when the feed key 9 is pressed, and the “function setting” setting screen can be switched to when the return key 10 is pressed. The cursor position in FIG. 11A is “all rooms”, and when the right key 6r of the cursor key is pressed, the cursor moves to “room 1” as shown in FIG. 11B.

When the enter key is pressed on the display screen of FIG. 11B, the screen is switched to the “schedule timer setting” setting screen of the room 1 as the hierarchy 3 as shown in FIG. The position of the cursor is in the item of “invalid” 23 (in the figure, it is thicker than the other frames). “Invalid” disables the function of the “schedule timer”, and “valid” is changed to “valid” when the up key 6u or down key 6d of the cursor key is pressed, and the up and down keys 6u, 6d are further pressed. When it is done, it switches to “invalid” (not shown).
In the lower part 22 of the screen, it is displayed that when the feed key 9 is pressed, the screen switches to the “room 2” setting screen shown in FIG.

FIG. 12B shows the case where the setting of “schedule timer” is set to “valid” by the above operation and the cursor moves to the “month” position representing Monday when the right key 6r of the cursor key is pressed. It is a display screen. When the enter key 7 is pressed in FIG. 12B, the screen shown in FIG. On the screen, the set time for driving four times a day can be set.

When the right key 6r of the cursor key is pressed in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 13C, the value “8” in the cursor in FIG. 13A can be up and down by using the cursor up key 6u and the down key 6d. When the right key 6r of the cursor key is pressed after the setting of “hour” is completed, the setting of “minute” is entered as shown in FIG. The setting of “minute” is set by increasing / decreasing the numerical value with the up key 6u and the down key 6d of the cursor in the same manner as the setting of “hour”. When the right key 6r of the cursor key is pressed after the setting is completed, the temperature setting is started, and the temperature numerical value can be set with the cursor up key 6u and the down key 6d.

FIG. 13B is a screen when the setting of the item number 1 is completed and the enter key 7 is pressed. The cursor may be moved by pressing the left key 6l of the cursor key. If further timer setting is required in addition to item number 1, when the lower key 6d of the cursor key is pressed, the operation moves to item number 2, and setting is performed in the same manner as item number 1 (not shown). When the enter key 7 is pressed while the cursor is at the item number position, the cursor returns to the “month” position and another day of the week can be selected. Furthermore, in order to return to FIG. 11A which is the upper hierarchy screen, the cancel key 8 is pressed.
When the schedule timer is set, the remote controller 1 performs operation control by transmitting operation or stop data when the operation start time or stop time of the indoor unit 51 in the target room is reached.

Next, “function setting” will be described.
When the cursor is moved to “function setting” with the right key 6r of the cursor key on the menu selection display screen of FIG. 6 and selected with the decision key 7, the screen is switched to the “function setting” screen as the hierarchy 2 shown in FIG.
“Function setting” includes setting items of “all-room energy saving mode”, “outdoor unit silent mode”, and “holiday setting”.
The “all-room energy-saving mode” is for enabling the “energy-saving mode” all at once so that the temperature is set in advance during cooling or heating, so that the rooms are not cooled or heated more than necessary. In the “outdoor unit silent mode”, the operation of the compressor of the outdoor unit 52 is controlled to suppress the operation noise. “Holiday setting” is set so that the air conditioner 50 is not operated on holidays when the air conditioner 50 is used in an office or the like.
The lower part 22 of the screen displays that “Schedule” is switched when the feed key 9 is pressed, and that the screen is switched to the “Function setting” setting screen when the return key 10 is pressed.

When the lower key 6d of the cursor key in FIG. 15 is pressed, the cursor moves to the “outdoor unit silent mode” as shown in FIG. 16A, and when the determination key 7 is pressed there, the cursor is moved to FIG. 16B. The screen switches to the “outdoor unit silent mode” setting screen as level 3 shown. In the lower part 22 of the screen, it is displayed that when the feed key 9 is pressed, the screen can be switched to the “holiday” setting screen.

The “outdoor unit silent mode” is a setting mode in which a timer can be set particularly for controlling driving sound at night, and the setting method is the same as the setting of the “schedule timer” described above.

When the feed key 9 is pressed on the screen of FIG. 16B, the screen switches to the “holiday setting” screen shown in FIG. That is, it is not necessary to press the enter key 7 or the cancel key 8 to return to the upper level screen shown in FIG. 16A and select “holiday setting”.

The “holiday setting” in FIG. 17 switches between “vacation” and blank when the up key 6u or down key 6d of the cursor key is pressed on the day of the week at the cursor.

As described above, when the setting of the item displayed on the setting adjustment screen is completed and the operation proceeds to the next setting item, conventionally, the setting item must be selected after returning to the upper setting menu screen. Although the operation is troublesome, the present invention can move to the next setting item with a dedicated key for the feed key and the return key, and display the setting item selected by the feed key or the return key on the screen. Improved operability.

Claims (1)

A display unit for displaying a setting screen for inputting operation setting of the air conditioner;
A menu key for displaying the setting items of the driving operation setting;
A cursor key for moving the cursor displayed on the setting screen;
In a remote controller of an air conditioner comprising a determination key for selecting the setting item indicated by the cursor key,
The setting screen includes a selection screen for selecting the setting item by the cursor key and the determination key, and a setting adjustment screen for adjusting the setting item selected on the selection screen,
The setting adjustment screen transitions to a different setting adjustment screen by pressing a transition key provided on the remote controller, and displays the setting items of the different setting adjustment screen that transition when the transition key is pressed. A remote controller for an air conditioner.

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