JP2012209765A - Electrical machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce electric current consumption by intermittently controlling a receiving circuit of a main body of an electrical machine and to reduce response time from when a remote control is operated until when the main body of the electrical machine accepts an operation and performs an instructed control, in the electrical machine comprising a wireless remote control and the main body of the electrical machine.SOLUTION: A remote control section detects an approximation of an operator to a wireless remote control by a person detection sensor section and transmits, to an indoor device, instruction data (short period instruction data) which shortens an intermittent receiving cycle of the indoor device, in advance of an operation of the operator. An indoor device control section which receives the instruction data shortens the intermittent receiving cycle of a radio wave transmission/reception section. The remote control section also detects the approximation of the operator to the wireless remote control by the person detection sensor and, when the operator moves away from the wireless remote control, transmits, to the indoor device, instruction data (long period instruction data) which lengthens the intermittent receiving cycle of the indoor device. The indoor device control section which receives the direction data lengthens the intermittent receiving cycle of the radio wave transmission/reception section.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric device using a wireless remote controller. More specifically, when the electric device main body side receives instruction data transmitted from the wireless remote controller and controls the electric device main body according to this instruction, the electric device main body side The present invention relates to a configuration that performs power saving by intermittently operating a receiving circuit.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are many systems that control electrical equipment using, for example, a remote controller using radio waves. In such a system, in order to wait for a transmission radio wave from a remote controller that does not know when it will come, it is necessary to continue the reception state in the electric device body. In general, constant power consumption is required while continuing this reception state, which has been a problem in terms of energy saving.

  In order to solve this, for example, there is a configuration in which the average power is reduced by performing intermittent reception in which a reception operation is performed for 80 milliseconds in a cycle of 0.5 seconds. Furthermore, when the remote control is frequently operated, intermittent reception is controlled to 0.5 second cycle, and when there is no remote control operation, the intermittent reception cycle is controlled to be longer than this, for example, 2 second cycle, Further, a configuration for reducing the average power is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  However, in the method of changing the intermittent reception cycle according to the frequency of operation of the remote controller, when the remote controller is not frequently operated, the intermittent reception is as long as, for example, 2 seconds. May wait up to 2 seconds. For this reason, in the remote control operation after the remote control operation has not been performed for a while, there has been a problem that the response from the operation of the remote control to the reception of the instructed control by the electric device main body is poor.

JP-A-4-192996 (2nd page, FIG. 2)

  The present invention solves the above-described problems, and in an electric device composed of a wireless remote controller and an electric device main body, the receiver circuit of the electric device main body is intermittently controlled to reduce current consumption, and the remote controller is operated. It is intended to shorten the response time from when the electric device main body accepts this until it performs the instructed control.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the invention according to claim 1 is an apparatus including a wireless remote controller including a human detection unit and a reception block for receiving an operation instruction signal transmitted from the wireless remote controller. An electrical device comprising a main body,
The electrical device main body periodically repeats on / off of power supplied to the reception block, and receives at least one of a first cycle and a second cycle shorter than the first cycle. There are two types of intermittent reception modes,
When the wireless remote controller detects the presence of a person by the human detection unit while the electrical apparatus main body is executing the intermittent reception mode, the wireless remote controller is configured to perform the intermittent reception mode at the second period with respect to the apparatus main body. The electrical apparatus main body that has transmitted the operation instruction signal for executing the operation and received the operation instruction signal executes the intermittent reception mode in the second period.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, when the wireless remote controller no longer detects the presence of a person by the human detection means while the electrical apparatus main body is executing the intermittent reception mode, the wireless remote controller The operation instruction signal for executing the intermittent reception mode in the first cycle is transmitted, and the electric device main body that has received the operation instruction signal executes the intermittent reception mode in the first cycle. .

  By using the above means, according to the electric device according to the present invention, the invention according to claim 1 is configured such that when a person is detected around the wireless remote controller, the receiving block of the electric device main body is set to the second prior to the operation of the person. Since the intermittent reception is performed in the cycle (short cycle), the operation instruction signal that is supposed to come next can be received earlier than in the case of intermittent reception in the first cycle (long cycle). The response from the start to the control of the electric device main body can be shortened.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, when a person is no longer detected in the vicinity of the wireless remote controller, the reception block of the electric device main body is intermittently received at the first cycle (long cycle), so the second cycle (short cycle). Thus, the power consumption of the reception block can be reduced as compared with the case where the intermittent reception is continued.

It is a perspective view which shows the Example of the air conditioner by this invention. It is a block diagram of the radio | wireless remote control by this invention. It is a block diagram of the air conditioner by this invention. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the principle of this invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating control of the wireless remote controller according to the present invention. It is a flowchart explaining control of the indoor unit by this invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail as examples based on the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a wireless remote controller 10 according to the present invention and an air conditioner 80 as an electric device controlled thereby. In FIG. 1, an indoor unit 20 (outdoor units are not shown) and a wireless remote controller 10 that gives instructions to the indoor unit 20 by radio waves are disposed in the same room. In this embodiment, an example will be described in which the wireless remote controller 10 and the indoor unit 20 communicate with each other using a full-duplex system that uses radio waves of a frequency exclusively for transmission. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A half-duplex method in which transmission is alternately performed using a frequency may be used.
Further, even if they are not communicable with each other, they may be transmitted in one direction from the remote controller to the electric device body, for example, as an infrared remote controller.

  The indoor unit 20 as an electric device main body includes a front panel 81 provided with a suction grille 87, an up / down wind direction plate 84 disposed at the air outlet 83, and a radio wave transmission / reception unit 21 disposed on the right side of the up / down wind direction plate 84. I have. The indoor unit 20 receives a radio signal transmitted from the wireless remote controller 10 by the radio transmission / reception unit 21 and performs an air conditioning operation corresponding to the radio signal.

  The wireless remote controller 10 includes a key input unit 12 for inputting a state of a key operated by a user, a display unit 11 for displaying the content operated by the key input unit 12 on a liquid crystal display panel, and the periphery ( And a human detection sensor unit 14 which is a human detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a person or a human hand within a radius of 10 to 20 cm.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the wireless remote controller 10 according to the present invention.
The wireless remote controller 10 transmits a key input unit 12 for inputting a state of a key operated by a user, operation instruction data including a radio signal to the indoor unit 20 according to the content operated by the key input unit 12, Radio wave transmission / reception unit 16 for receiving a reply (acknowledgment confirmation signal) from the machine 20, a human detection sensor unit 14 including a pyroelectric sensor, a display unit 11 for displaying various information on a liquid crystal display panel, and a key input unit 12 Is provided with a storage unit 13 that stores the set temperature instructed in (1) and a remote control unit 15 that is a control means for controlling these.

  The radio wave transmission / reception unit 16 is configured to be able to supply power independently to the internal transmission block 16b and the reception block 16a. The transmission block 16b is supplied with power while data is being transmitted, When the transmission is completed, the power supply is stopped. In addition, the reception block 16a is configured to receive power by supplying power to the reception block 16a only when designated by the remote control unit 15.

FIG. 3 shows a main block of the air conditioner 80. As shown in FIG. 3, the air conditioner 80 includes an indoor unit 20 and an outdoor unit 30.
The indoor unit 20 receives radio signal data transmitted from the wireless remote controller 10, transmits a radio signal to the wireless remote controller 10, a room temperature sensor 27 that detects the indoor temperature, and the room temperature sensor 27 A room temperature sensor input unit 25 for inputting a detection signal, a communication unit 22 for communicating with the outdoor unit 30, a blower fan motor 23, an up / down air direction plate stepping motor 24 for adjusting the angle of the up / down air direction plate 84, and various information And an indoor unit control unit 26 as a device control unit for controlling them.
In addition, the storage unit 28 supplies data such as the operation mode and set temperature of the air conditioner 80, the set air volume and direction, and the intermittent reception described later by supplying / cutting off power to the reception block 21a in the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21. The cycle time for performing is stored.

  The radio wave transmitting / receiving unit 21 is configured to be able to supply power independently to the internal transmission block 21b and the reception block 21a. The transmission block 21b is supplied with power while data is being transmitted, When the transmission is completed, the power supply is stopped. In addition, the reception block 21a is configured to receive power by supplying power to the reception block 21a only when there is a power supply instruction output from the indoor unit control unit 26. Specifically, the power supply instruction is an instruction signal for supplying / cutting off power to the receiving block 21a, but this signal itself may be used as the power supply. In FIG. 3, a signal line for instructing power supply is commonly described as a signal line between the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21 and the indoor unit control unit 26.

  The indoor unit 20 configured as described above receives an operation instruction radio signal transmitted from the wireless remote controller 10, and stores the contents of the operation instruction such as the operation mode and the set temperature instructed by the radio signal in the storage unit 28. At the same time, an instruction is given to the outdoor unit 30 so that the room temperature detected by the room temperature sensor 27 becomes the set temperature, and the air conditioning operation is performed.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention.
The feature of the present invention is that when there is no operation of the wireless remote controller 10 by the operator, the power supply time (receivable time) to the reception block 16a in the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21 of the indoor unit 20 and the subsequent power cut-off time (reception) When the time consisting of (stop time) is one cycle, the current consumption of the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21 is reduced on average by receiving intermittently at a long cycle, and when the operator tries to operate the remote control, By intermittently supplying power to the reception block 21a of the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21 of the indoor unit 20 in a short cycle, the data from the wireless remote controller 10 is quickly received and the air conditioner 80 is operated to shorten the operation response time. There is.

For this reason, the remote controller 15 detects the proximity of the operator to the wireless remote controller 10 by the human detection sensor 14, and indicates instruction data (short cycle) for shortening the intermittent reception cycle of the indoor unit 20 prior to the operation of the operator. Data) is transmitted to the indoor unit 20. The indoor unit control unit 26 that has received this shortens the intermittent reception cycle in the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21. In addition, the remote control controller 15 detects the proximity of the operator to the wireless remote controller 10 by the human detection sensor unit 14, and indicates instruction data that lengthens the intermittent reception cycle of the indoor unit 20 when the operator leaves the wireless remote controller 10. (Long cycle data) is transmitted to the indoor unit 20. The indoor unit control unit 26 that has received this lengthens the intermittent reception cycle in the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21.
As described above, the indoor unit control unit 26 performs intermittent reception in a long cycle intermittent reception mode in which intermittent reception operation is performed in a long cycle (first cycle) with a long intermittent reception cycle, and a shorter cycle (second cycle) than this. Two intermittent reception modes including a short-period intermittent reception mode in which the operation is performed are provided, and one of these modes is executed.

  4 (1) shows the proximity state of the person detected by the human detection sensor unit 14 of the wireless remote controller 10, FIG. 4 (2) shows the transmission data from the wireless remote controller 10, and FIG. 4 (3) shows the radio wave of the indoor unit 20. FIG. 4 (4) shows the transmission data transmitted from the indoor unit 20, and FIG. 5 (5) shows the radio wave transmission / reception unit 16 of the wireless remote controller 10. FIG. The state of whether or not reception is possible (power on / off to the reception block 16a) in FIG.

  When the human detection sensor unit 14 detects the proximity of the operator to the wireless remote controller 10 as shown in FIG. 4 (1), the remote controller 15 of the wireless remote controller 10 detects the indoor unit as shown in FIG. 4 (2). Short cycle instruction data for operating the reception block 21a in the 20 radio wave transmission / reception units 21 in the short cycle intermittent reception mode is repeatedly transmitted to the indoor unit 20 continuously. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 4 (5), an instruction to supply power to the reception block 16a of the radio wave transmission / reception unit 16 is output to enable reception.

  The indoor unit control unit 26 of the indoor unit 20 that has received the short cycle instruction data controls the intermittent reception cycle of the reception block 21a to be short, for example, a 0.5 second cycle, as shown in FIG. 4 (3). Then, as shown in FIG. 4 (4), reception confirmation data indicating that the short cycle instruction data has been received is transmitted from the indoor unit 20 to the wireless remote controller 10. Receiving this, the remote controller 15 stops transmission of the short cycle instruction data as shown in FIG. 4 (2) and turns on the power to the reception block 16a of the radio wave transmitter / receiver 16 as shown in FIG. 4 (5). A blocking instruction is output to disable reception.

  On the other hand, an operator close to the wireless remote controller 10 gives an instruction to the wireless remote controller 10 via the key input unit 12. The remote controller control unit 15 that has input this information stores the contents corresponding to the operation instructions in the storage unit 13 and outputs them to the display unit 11 for display, and at the same time, as shown in FIG. Transmission to the machine 20 is started. Since the subsequent operations of the wireless remote controller 10 and the indoor unit 20 are the same as those in the case of the transmission of the short cycle instruction data described above, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4 (1), when the operator who has finished operating the wireless remote controller 10 moves away from the wireless remote controller 10, the remote controller control unit 15 that has detected this by the human detection sensor unit 14 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, long-period instruction data for operating the reception block 21a in the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21 of the indoor unit 20 in the long-period intermittent reception mode is repeatedly transmitted to the indoor unit 20 continuously. The indoor unit control unit 26 of the indoor unit 20 that has received the long cycle instruction data controls the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21 to have a long intermittent reception cycle, for example, a 3-second cycle, as shown in FIG.

  As described above, when a person is detected in the vicinity of the wireless remote controller 10, the reception block 21a of the indoor unit 20 is intermittently received in a short cycle prior to the user's operation. The reception of the instruction signal for the operation that is expected to come next can be accelerated, and as a result, the response from the human operation to the start of control of the indoor unit 20 can be shortened.

  In addition, when a person is no longer detected around the wireless remote controller 10, the reception block 21a of the indoor unit 20 is intermittently received with a long period, so that the average power consumption of the reception block 21a can be reduced.

  Next, operations related to the wireless remote controller 10 will be described with reference to a flowchart representing processing of the remote controller 15 shown in FIG. ST shown in FIG. 5 represents a step, the number following this represents a step number, Y represents Yes, and N represents No.

  First, the remote control control unit 15 confirms whether or not there is a key operation via the key input unit 12 (ST1). When there is a key operation via the key input unit 12 (ST1-Y), the operated content, for example, information such as change of operation mode or change of set temperature is stored in the storage unit 13 and this information is stored. It is displayed on the display unit 11 (ST5). Next, transmission of data corresponding to the operated content is started to the indoor unit 20 (ST6). Then jump to ST1. At the start of transmission, power is automatically supplied to the transmission block 16b.

  On the other hand, when there is no key operation via the key input part 12 (ST1-N), it is confirmed whether the response data from the indoor unit 20 was received via the electromagnetic wave transmission / reception part 16 next (ST2). When the response data from the indoor unit 20 is received via the radio wave transmission / reception unit 16 (ST2-Y), it has been confirmed that the data from the wireless remote controller 10 has reached the indoor unit. The transmission operation is stopped (ST7). Then, power supply to the reception block 16a in the radio wave transmission / reception unit 16 of the wireless remote controller 10 is cut off (ST8). Then jump to ST1. When transmission is stopped, power supply to the transmission block 16b is automatically cut off.

On the other hand, when the response data from the indoor unit 20 is not received via the radio wave transmission / reception unit 16 (ST2-N), it is confirmed whether the operator has approached the wireless remote controller 10 (ST3). When the operator approaches the wireless remote controller 10 (ST3-Y), transmission of short cycle instruction data to the indoor unit 20 is started (ST9). Then jump to ST1. The case where the operator is close to the wireless remote controller 10 indicates the timing when the operator who is away from the wireless remote controller 10 approaches the wireless remote controller 10, and the state where the operator remains close to the wireless remote controller 10. I don't mean.

  On the other hand, when the operator is not close to the wireless remote controller 10 (ST3-N), it is next confirmed whether the operator has left the wireless remote controller 10 (ST4). When the operator leaves the wireless remote controller 10 (ST4-Y), transmission of long cycle instruction data to the indoor unit 20 is started (ST10). Then jump to ST1. Note that the state in which the operator is away from the wireless remote controller 10 indicates the timing at which the operator has moved away from the wireless remote controller 10 from the state in which the operator is in proximity to the wireless remote controller 10. Does not mean staying away from. If the operator is not away from the wireless remote controller 10 (ST4-N), the operator remains in proximity to the wireless remote controller 10 and jumps to ST1 without doing anything.

  Next, an operation related to the indoor unit will be described with reference to a flowchart showing processing of the indoor unit control unit 26 shown in FIG. ST shown in FIG. 6 represents a step, the number following this represents a step number, Y represents Yes, and N represents No.

  First, the indoor unit control unit 26 starts intermittent reception of the reception block 21a in the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21 of the indoor unit 20 by specifying a long cycle (ST21). Then, it is confirmed whether there is data transmitted from the wireless remote controller 10 and received by the radio wave transmitter / receiver 21 (ST22). When there is no data transmitted from the wireless remote controller 10 and received by the radio wave transmitter / receiver 21 (ST22-N), the normal air-conditioning operation is continued or the operation is stopped according to the current state of the indoor unit (ST28). ). Then jump to ST22.

  On the other hand, when there is data transmitted from the wireless remote controller 10 and received by the radio wave transmitting / receiving unit 21 (ST22-Y), it is confirmed whether the data received by the radio wave transmitting / receiving unit 21 is a short cycle instruction (ST23). When the data received by the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21 is a short cycle instruction (ST23-Y), intermittent reception is started with the reception block 21a of the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21 of the indoor unit 20 as a short cycle (0.5 second interval) (ST29). ). Then, response data (reception confirmation) for the received data is transmitted to the wireless remote controller 10 (ST27). Then jump to ST22.

  On the other hand, when the data received by the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21 is not a short cycle instruction (ST23-N), it is confirmed whether the data received by the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21 is a long cycle instruction (ST24). When the data received by the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21 is a long cycle instruction (ST24-Y), intermittent reception is started with the reception block 21a of the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21 of the indoor unit 20 as a long cycle (3-second interval) (ST30). Then jump to ST27.

  If the data received by the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21 is not a long cycle instruction (ST24-N), it is confirmed whether the data received by the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21 is an operation instruction (ST25). If the data received by the radio wave transmission / reception unit 21 is not an operation instruction (ST25-N), it is invalid data and is ignored and jumps to ST22. When the data received by the radio wave transmitting / receiving unit 21 is an operation instruction (ST25-Y), the air conditioning operation is started according to the received operation instruction data (ST26). Then jump to ST27.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Wireless remote control 11 Display part 12 Key input part 13 Memory | storage part 14 Human detection sensor part (human detection means)
15 Remote control unit 16 Radio wave transmission / reception unit 16a Reception block 16b Transmission block 20 Indoor unit (electric equipment body)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 Radio wave transmission / reception part 21a Reception block 21b Transmission block 22 Communication part 23 Blower fan motor 24 Stepping motor for up-and-down wind direction plates 25 Room temperature sensor input part 26 Indoor unit control part (equipment control part)
27 Room temperature sensor 28 Storage unit 30 Outdoor unit (electric equipment body)
80 Air conditioner 81 Front panel 83 Air outlet 84 Vertical wind direction plate 87 Suction grill

Claims (2)

An electric device comprising a wireless remote controller provided with human detection means and a device main body provided with a receiving block for receiving an operation instruction signal transmitted from the wireless remote controller,
The electrical device main body periodically repeats on / off of power supplied to the reception block, and receives at least one of a first cycle and a second cycle shorter than the first cycle. There are two types of intermittent reception modes,
When the wireless remote controller detects the presence of a person by the human detection unit while the electrical apparatus main body is executing the intermittent reception mode, the wireless remote controller is configured to perform the intermittent reception mode at the second period with respect to the apparatus main body. The electric device main body that transmits the operation instruction signal for executing the operation and receives the operation instruction signal executes the intermittent reception mode in the second period.   When the wireless remote controller no longer detects the presence of a person by the human detection means while the electrical device main body is executing the intermittent reception mode, the wireless remote control is intermittently in the first cycle with respect to the device main body. The electrical apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation instruction signal for executing the reception mode is transmitted, and the electric apparatus main body that has received the operation instruction signal executes the intermittent reception mode at the first period.

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