JP2012124732A - Household electrical appliance - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a household electrical appliance comprised of a load control side controller and a display operation side controller such as a switch, capable of preventing fluctuations in load control timing due to the generation of radio processing when radio communication means is connected to the load control side controller.SOLUTION: The present invention includes: a first controller comprised of load control means 14 controlling the energization of a load actuator by phase timing based on a zero cross pulse of a commercial power supply and main control means 13 and a second controller comprised of display operation means 5 for processing a signal from an I/O device and main control means 4. Radio communication means 6 is configured not to affect the energization control timing of the load control means 14 by being connected with the main control means 4 of the second controller.

Description

  The present invention minimizes the influence of a shift in the timing of load control of a motor, etc., or a decrease in communication quality due to a communication error, when a home appliance is equipped with a wireless communication means for remote control or visualization of power consumption. It is related with the mounting structure of the radio | wireless communication means which can be suppressed to.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in home appliances, it is common to configure a control unit from a plurality of controller boards. This configuration distributes processing to each controller board and simplifies the structure of the control software, thereby making development more efficient, and even if the layout of display components such as LED layouts changes from model to model. We do not have to redesign the whole.

  As an example of such home appliances, a method of configuring a control part of a washing machine from two controller boards has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In Patent Document 1, a load-side controller that controls a device side with a large load that applies a commercial power supply such as a relay control of a motor or a solenoid valve, and a relatively low-voltage DC power supply such as an LED or a switch input are used. The display operation side controller to be controlled is configured separately.

  With the above configuration, even if the switch or display design changes due to a model change and the LED layout changes for each model, the load-side controller with little change in control content is shared, and only the display-operation side controller is redesigned It realizes the design and manufacturing merits that can be done.

  In recent years, environmentally-friendly energy-saving home appliances and the like are becoming widespread, and in such home appliances, a net home appliance system configured to include wireless communication means on the home appliance side has come to be commercialized.

  In addition, in some internet home appliance systems that have been commercialized in recent years, the “visualization” function that home appliances transmit and display the power consumption of their own devices to external PCs, TVs, and energy-saving controller devices In addition, it has a configuration with a “demacher control” function that remotely controls home appliances from the energy-saving controller so that they can perform energy-saving operation.

  Usually, in home appliances, load actuators such as motors consume much more power than display operation devices such as LEDs and switches. For this reason, in the application of wireless communication functions in energy-related fields such as “visualization” of power consumption and energy-saving control such as “Demacon control”, the load side equipped with load control means to directly control the load actuator It is common to provide wireless communication means in the controller.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-24179

However, since the configuration in which the load-side controller includes the wireless communication unit causes a shift in the control timing of an actuator such as a load-side motor, there is a concern that the control program may become complicated.

  This is because the wireless communication means generally needs to perform processing to generate an interrupt to the controller when receiving a radio wave having a certain level of synchronization signal and transfer the received data to the RAM or the home appliance controller. There is.

  On the other hand, actuators such as motors for home appliances are generally controlled so that the applied power is exactly constant by energizing for a certain period of time from zero cross timing when the phase of the power frequency of the commercial power supply is 0, 180 degrees. Is going.

  For this reason, priority is given to the interruption processing of the wireless communication means, and accordingly, the energization processing at the zero cross timing is shifted, and as a result, the applied power varies, and the problem such as greatly affecting the finish of washing, cooking, etc. occurs. Become.

  Conversely, if load control at the zero cross timing is prioritized over the interrupt processing of the wireless communication means, the data received by the wireless communication means cannot be transferred to the RAM, etc. A problem that may cause a communication error occurs.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, a home appliance that is controlled by a plurality of controllers includes a load control unit that performs energization control of a load actuator at a phase timing based on a zero cross pulse of a commercial power supply, and a main control unit. The wireless communication means communicates with the main controller of the second controller, comprising a first controller, a display controller for processing signals from the input / output device, and a second controller having a main controller. The structure is as follows.

  As a result, even when the home appliance that performs energization control of the load actuator is provided with wireless communication means, or when processing of the wireless communication means is performed at an arbitrary timing, the energization control of the load actuator is performed at a stable timing. be able to. As a result, the power applied to the load actuator is stabilized, and the wireless communication means can be provided without affecting the finish such as washing and cooking.

  According to the present invention, the home appliance having the wireless communication means of the present invention can be provided with the wireless communication means without communication errors and variations in applied power, so that the network with the energy saving function and the remote control function can be provided. It can be widely used as a home appliance.

The figure which shows an example of the control block diagram of the household appliances provided with the wireless communication means in Embodiment 1 of this invention The graph figure which shows an example in the case of performing electricity supply control on the basis of zero crossing timing with the conventional household appliances in Embodiment 1 of this invention The graph figure which shows an example when the electricity supply control timing varies by connecting the radio | wireless communication means in Embodiment 1 of this invention to a load side controller. The circuit diagram which shows an example of the circuit of the front operation side controller of the conventional household appliances in Embodiment 1 of this invention The graph figure which shows an example of the scanning circuit which performs display operation control in Embodiment 1 of this invention The graph figure which shows an example when the display operation control timing varies by connecting the radio | wireless communication means in Embodiment 1 of this invention to a display side controller.

  A first aspect of the present invention is a first controller including a load control unit and a main control unit that perform energization control of a load actuator at a phase timing based on a zero cross pulse of a commercial power supply in a home electric appliance that is controlled by a plurality of controllers. And a second controller having a display control means for processing a signal from the input / output device and a main control means, and the wireless communication means is directly connected to the main control means of the second controller by wire. It is what.

  Thereby, even when a wireless communication unit is provided, it is possible to provide a home appliance having a control function that can perform stable control without variation in the energization control of the load actuator of the first controller on the load side.

  In the second invention, the home electric appliance in the first invention is a washing machine. The load control means of the first controller controls at least the motor circuit, and the display operation means of the second controller The switch panel is configured to be controlled.

  Thereby, even when a wireless communication means is provided in the washing machine, it is possible to provide a washing machine of stable quality in which the power applied to a load such as a motor is changed and the finish of washing and dehydration does not vary.

  In the third invention, the home electric appliance in the first invention is a hot water supply device, in which the main controller of the first controller constitutes a control means related to the hot water supply operation, and the second controller controls the remote controller. It constitutes a means.

  As a result, even in a fuel cell unit or the like that is linked to a heat pump water heater or a hot water storage tank, it is possible to provide a stable quality water heater that does not vary such as boiling of water, timing of hot water filling, etc. being advanced or delayed.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the home appliance in the first aspect of the invention is an air conditioner, wherein the first controller constitutes at least an outdoor unit control means, and the second controller is an indoor unit control means. Is configured.

  As a result, even when wireless communication means are provided in the air conditioner, stable quality is maintained without causing delays in changing operating conditions or variations in cooling effectiveness due to instability of compressor control. An air conditioner can be provided.

  In the fifth invention, the home appliance in the first invention is an IH cooker, in which the load controller of the first controller controls at least the inverter circuit of the overheating coil, and the second controller The display operation means is configured to control the front switch panel of the IH device.

  Thereby, even when a wireless communication means is provided in the IH cooker, it is possible to provide a stable quality IH cooker that does not have a problem that the cooking finish changes due to variations in heating output.

  Still another embodiment of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to implement the functions of the home appliance or the home appliance provided with the wireless communication means. As described above, since it is a program, it is possible to easily change or distribute the air direction of the air flow control device.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a home appliance provided with wireless communication means according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In the first embodiment, a washing / drying machine 1 will be described as an example of home appliances. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the washing / drying machine 1 surrounded by a broken line, and the control means is composed of two controller boards. The main control means 4 and 13 which also serve as the wired communication means of each controller are provided, and the main control means 4 and 13 perform wired communication between the controllers.

  Of the two controllers, the second controller 3 (hereinafter referred to as the display-side controller 3) includes LEDs 7 to 9, switches (hereinafter referred to as SW) 10 to 12 and the like from the display operation means 5 and the wireless communication means 6. Constitute. The wireless communication means 6 and the main control means 4 are connected by wire. In this case, the main control unit 4 and the wireless communication unit 6 may be configured on the same substrate and connected by wiring on the substrate.

  The first controller 2 (hereinafter referred to as the load-side controller 2) distributes the power from the commercial power source to the motor 17 and the electromagnetic valve 18 and the like, and has a low voltage necessary for the microcomputer to operate. Power supply means 16 for converting to a DC power supply is provided. Further, the main control unit includes load control means 14 and 15 that operate by energizing a load such as the motor 17 and the electromagnetic valve 18 for a predetermined time.

  2 and 3 are examples of graphs when the motor 17 is controlled by applying a constant power to the motor 17 by the main control unit 13 and the load control unit 14 of FIG. FIG. 2 is an example of a graph showing an example of control when there is no deviation in normal energization timing. On the other hand, FIG. 3 is a graph showing an example of a case where a deviation in energization timing predicted as a problem occurs when the wireless communication means is connected to the main control means 13 of the load-side controller.

  In the graphs of FIGS. 2 and 3, the vertical axis represents voltage and the horizontal axis represents time, and the curve in the graph represents the voltage waveform of a commercial power supply (AC power supply). Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 2, when the motor 17 or the like is energized for a certain period of time with a switch element such as a triac or thyristor by the load control means 14 or the like, the electric power corresponding to the size of the thin shaded area in FIG. And so on. Although the current waveform is not shown in FIG. 2, in reality, a current having a certain phase difference from the voltage waveform flows through the load, and the area of the thin halftone dot portion of FIG. 2 and the area of the energization period in the current waveform Electric power corresponding to the product is applied.

  For this reason, as shown in FIG. 2, even if energization is performed for a certain energization period Δt, the applied power changes depending on which phase of the voltage waveform the energization starts. For example, in the case of the washing / drying machine according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, if the power applied to the motor varies, the stirring power and dehydration power to the clothing cannot be controlled as designed, and the clothing may be damaged. It may also lead to problems such as dehydration power and insufficient cleaning.

  Therefore, in general home appliances, as shown in FIG. 2, by detecting a predetermined phase time point such as a time point when the phase of the voltage waveform becomes 0, 180 degrees (hereinafter, zero cross timing) and starting energization, Control is performed so that the applied power does not vary.

  On the other hand, it is generally necessary for the wireless communication means to perform processing for generating an interrupt to the controller when receiving a radio wave having a certain level of synchronization signal and transferring the received data to the RAM or the home appliance controller. is there.

Therefore, when the wireless communication means 6 is connected to the main control means 13 of the load-side controller 2, the following problems occur as an example.

  For example, since an interrupt signal for requesting transfer of the wireless communication means 6 is generated at an arbitrary timing, when priority is given to interrupt processing of the wireless communication means 6 over load-side start-up processing as shown in FIG. In addition, the time required for the main control means 4 to process the interrupt signal of the wireless communication means 6, for example, Δt1 and Δt2 in FIG. However, the applied power varies (as shown by the difference in the areas of the thin shaded portions in FIGS. 2 and 3).

  Therefore, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the configuration in which the wireless communication unit 6 is connected to the main control unit 4 of the display-side controller 3 causes the power applied to the load to vary due to the processing of the wireless communication unit 6. Is a solution. As a result, it is possible to provide home appliances with stable performance such as washing performance of the washing dryer and finishing of cooking.

  Next, with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6, an example will be described that shows that in the configuration in which the wireless communication unit 6 is connected to the display-side controller 3, the processing of the wireless communication unit 6 can be performed with priority.

  FIG. 4 shows an example in which the microcomputer of the display-side controller 3 is configured to control LEDs and switches (hereinafter, SW). In general home appliances, home appliances are configured with a scan circuit for the purpose of saving the number of ports (number of signals) required by the microcomputer. , Tr2) and a transistor 3 (hereinafter referred to as Tr3) are sequentially supplied with time-division signals (hereinafter referred to as scan signals). For example, during the period in which Tr1 is energized, the output signal for turning off / on LED1 is connected to port 1 of the microcomputer, and only the input signal for pressing SW1 is connected to port 2. The same applies to Tr2 and Tr3 during energization. As a result, the configuration of three LEDs and three SWs requires six ports, whereas the scan signal output ports so1, so2, and so3 are three ports, and Lo4 and Si5 are a total of five ports. In FIG. 4, for simplicity of explanation, the case of three LEDs and three SWs is shown. However, as the number of LEDs and SWs increases, the effect of reducing the number of ports increases.

  5 and 6 show examples of scan signals So1 to So3. FIG. 5 shows an example of a graph when the wireless communication means 6 is not connected. FIG. 6 shows main control of the wireless communication means 6. It is an example of the graph figure in the case of connecting to the means 4. 5 and 6, the vertical axis indicates the voltage signal state of the ports So1 to 3 (OFF level or ON level of Tr1 to Tr3), and the horizontal axis indicates time.

  As in FIG. 3, when the wireless communication means 6 is connected to the main control means 4 by wire and priority is given to the interrupt signal processing of the wireless communication means 6, for example, Δt3 in FIG. The energization of Tr2 with the So2 signal is prolonged for the time shown, and the energization time of Tr3 with the So3 signal is shortened. That is, in the case where both the LEDs 2 and 3 are lit, the LED 2 is lit longer for Δt3 hours, and the lighting of the LED3 is shorter for Δt3 hours.

  However, in general, the ON time of the scan signal is usually several milliseconds, whereas the human visual sensitivity is caused by a difference in lighting time of about 100 milliseconds or more due to an afterimage effect or the like. It is known that a change in turning on / off of an LED for several tens of microseconds to several milliseconds cannot be detected.

  As described above, the wireless communication means 6 is connected to the display-side controller side by utilizing the fact that the processing timing on the load side is strict and the tolerance of the processing timing on the display side is large. It is possible to provide a wireless communication means in the home appliance.

  Also, since the display controller is usually installed physically away from the load itself such as the motor than the load controller, the arrangement of the wireless communication means is also effective in reducing the effects of load switching noise. An effect is considered to occur.

  In addition, although the above description demonstrated as a washing-drying machine or a washing machine, if the controller which controls each stove is set as the load side and the controller which controls the general switch on the near side of the apparatus is set as the display operation side in the IH cooker. Similar effects can be provided. In the case of an air conditioner, the same applies if the indoor unit is on the display operation side and the outdoor unit is on the load side.

  Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to configurations other than when the controllers are in the same device. For example, in a heat pump water heater or the like, the same effect can be provided if the controller of the heat pump device or hot water storage tank is on the load side and the remote controller of the bath or kitchen is on the display operation side.

  The configuration in the first embodiment described above can be used in appropriate combination as necessary, and is not limited to the configuration of the embodiment itself.

  The sequence for controlling the signals shown in the graphs of FIGS. 3 and 6 may be realized by a computer program or a recording medium on which the computer program is recorded.

  As described above, the home electric appliance according to the present invention can be provided with wireless communication means without communication errors and variations in applied power, and thus widely used in network home electric appliances having an energy saving function and a remote control function. It is something that can be done.

1 Washing dryer (home appliance)
2 First controller (load-side controller)
3 Second controller (display-side controller)
4, 13 Main control means 5 Display operation means 14, 15 Load control means

Claims (5)

In household appliances controlled by multiple controllers,
Wireless communication means for performing wireless communication with an external communication terminal;
A first controller comprising a load control means for controlling energization of a load actuator at a phase timing based on a zero cross pulse of a commercial power supply, and a main control means;
A display operation means for processing a signal from the input / output device and a second controller having a main control means,
The second controller includes the wireless communication unit, and the wireless communication unit is directly connected to the main control unit by wire. The household electrical appliance according to claim 1 is a washing machine,
The load control means of the first controller controls at least the motor circuit;
A washing machine configured such that the display operation means of the second controller controls the switch panel. The household electrical appliance according to claim 1 is a hot water supply device,
The main control means of the first controller constitutes control means for hot water supply operation,
A hot water supply device in which the second controller constitutes a control means of a remote controller. The household electrical appliance according to claim 1 is an air conditioner,
The first controller constitutes at least an outdoor unit control means;
An air conditioner in which the second controller constitutes control means for the indoor unit. The home appliance according to claim 1 is an IH cooker,
The load control means of the first controller controls at least the inverter circuit;
An IH cooker configured such that the display operation means of the second controller controls the front switch panel.

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