JP2015226456A - Electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic apparatus which manages electricity charges.SOLUTION: An electronic apparatus includes: a calculation part 12 which calculates set power consumption based on an electricity unit price, operation predicted time, and a set amount; and a control part 11 in which, when electricity charges during a prescribed period exceed the set amount, the set amount is reduced by the difference, and, when the calculation part calculates the set power consumption based on the electricity unit price, the operation predicted time, and the newly set amount, operation control of the apparatus is performed based on lower power consumption than the set power consumption.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device capable of managing an electricity bill.

  In recent years, power saving measures have been requested in public places and households due to the relationship between power supply and demand. Particularly in each home, power saving measures are taken by turning off unnecessary lighting or adjusting the set temperature of the air conditioner. In addition, since an increase in power consumption leads to an increase in electricity charges, it is desirable in each home to reduce electricity consumption and save electricity charges by saving electricity.

  In Patent Document 1, when the user has set brightness / power control in a time zone where the power rate is high and in a low time zone, brightness / power control set according to the time zone is performed. In addition, the power rate is calculated based on the used time zone and the accumulated usage time and displayed on the screen.

JP 2010-91643 A

  According to Patent Document 1, video is displayed in each time zone with arbitrary brightness and power control set by the user, so that it has a certain effect as a power saving measure, but manages the final amount of electricity bill is not.

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device capable of managing an electricity bill.

  In order to achieve the above object, an electronic device according to the present invention includes a calculation unit that calculates a set power consumption based on a unit price of electricity, a scheduled operation time, and a set amount, and a power consumption that is lower than the set power consumption. And a control unit for performing the operation control.

  Further, in the electronic device having the above-described configuration, when the electricity charge in a predetermined period exceeds the set amount, the set amount is reduced by the difference, and the calculation unit calculates the electricity cost unit price, the scheduled operation time, and a new set amount. It is desirable to calculate the set power consumption based on the above.

  Further, in the electronic device having the above configuration, when the operation time in a predetermined period exceeds the operation scheduled time, the time difference and the operation scheduled time are increased, and the calculation unit calculates the electricity unit price and the new operation scheduled time. It is desirable to calculate the set power consumption based on the set amount.

  Further, in the electronic device having the above-described configuration, when the control unit receives an instruction regarding the operation of the own device with power consumption lower than the set power consumption, the operation control of the own device is performed with power consumption lower than the set power consumption. It is desirable to do.

  In the electronic apparatus having the above-described configuration, it is preferable that the control unit controls the operation of the own device with power consumption lower than the set power consumption by restricting at least one of the functions of the own device.

  The electronic device having the above-described configuration preferably includes a video display unit including a backlight and an audio output unit, and the functions preferably include a duty ratio adjustment function of the backlight and an output volume adjustment function of the audio output unit. .

  According to the present invention, based on the electricity unit price, the scheduled operation time, and the set amount, the set power consumption is calculated so that the electricity rate is equal to or less than the set amount. Control is performed. Accordingly, it is possible to manage electricity charges and take power saving measures accordingly.

The block diagram which shows schematic structure of the video display apparatus of one Embodiment. Figure showing an example of the electricity unit price setting screen The figure which shows an example of the setting screen of scheduled operation time A figure showing an example of the setting amount setting screen 1st flowchart which shows an example of the process which the control part of a video display apparatus performs Figure showing an example of the correspondence table between duty ratio and power consumption 2nd flowchart which shows an example of the process which the control part of a video display apparatus performs Third flowchart showing an example of processing executed by the control unit of the video display device

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, in this embodiment, a video display device is illustrated as an example of the electronic apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a video display apparatus according to the present embodiment. The tuner 2 acquires an output signal of the antenna 1 (hereinafter, “output signal of the antenna 1” may be referred to as “broadcast signal”). The tuner 2 multiplies the broadcast signal by a local oscillation signal having a frequency corresponding to the selected channel and converts the frequency into a baseband signal.

  The demodulator 3 demodulates the output signal of the tuner 2 and outputs a demodulated signal.

  The error correction unit 4 performs error correction as necessary on the output signal of the demodulator 3. The demultiplexing unit 5 separates and decodes the output signal of the error correction unit 4 into audio data (audio signal), video data (video signal), and EPG data, and each of them is sent to the audio decoder 6, the video decoder 8, and a control unit 11 described later. Supply.

  The audio decoder 6 decodes the input audio data by, for example, the MPEG system and outputs the decoded audio data to an audio output unit (for example, a speaker) 7. The video decoder 8 decodes the input video data by, for example, the MPEG system and supplies it to the video processing unit 9.

  The video processing unit 9 performs predetermined video processing on the video signal. Specifically, the input video signal is converted into a video signal in a format that can be displayed on the video display unit 10 and output to the video display unit 10. The video display unit 10 includes a video display element that adjusts the transmittance for each pixel by a video signal and a backlight that illuminates the video display element from the back, and adjusts the luminance of the backlight according to a duty ratio.

  The control unit 11 executes various functions provided in the video display device 100. The control unit 11 includes an electricity unit price setting unit 11a, an operation scheduled time setting unit 11b, and a set amount setting unit 11c. The electricity bill unit setting unit 11a sets the electricity bill unit price per kWh in each time zone where the electricity bill unit price is different. The electricity unit price may be set by the user, or may be set by acquiring the electricity unit price information of the area (the area where the video display device 100 is installed) from the Internet line or the like. When set by the user, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, various setting menus are displayed on the video display unit 10 by operating a remote controller or the like, and after selecting an “electricity unit price setting” item, the electricity unit price is set. Set.

  The scheduled operation time setting unit 11b sets the usage time per day of the video display device 100 in each time zone with different electricity unit prices. It is desirable that at least the initial setting of the scheduled operation time is set by the user. The set amount setting unit 11c sets a target electricity rate for a predetermined period (for example, one month). It is desirable that at least the initial setting of the set amount is set by the user. As with the electricity unit price setting, the user sets the scheduled operation time and the set amount after selecting the “estimated operation time” and “set amount setting” items from the various setting menus (FIGS. 3 and 4). reference). It should be noted that the scheduled operation time and the set amount may be set as a standard scheduled operation time and set amount as an initial setting, and may be changed when the user wants to change the setting.

  The calculation unit 12 acquires electricity unit price information, operation scheduled time information, and set amount information from the electricity unit price setting unit 11a, the scheduled operation time setting unit 11b, and the set amount setting unit 11c, respectively, and calculates the set power consumption. What is the set power consumption? When the video display device 100 is operated for the set scheduled operation time and the electricity charge in a predetermined period is set as the set amount, what power consumption should be used to operate the video display device 100? It is power consumption indicating whether it is good. In the present embodiment, the control unit 11 and the calculation unit 12 are described as separate components for simplification of description, but the control unit 11 may include the calculation unit 12.

  Next, an example of processing executed by the control unit 11 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a first flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed by the control unit 11. In step S11, the control unit 11 causes the electricity cost unit price setting unit 11a to set the electricity cost unit price. In step S12, the control unit 11 causes the operation scheduled time setting unit 11b to set the operation scheduled time. In step S13, the control unit 11 causes the set amount setting unit 11c to set the set amount. In this embodiment, the set amount setting is performed after the electricity unit price setting, but the set amount setting may be performed before the electricity unit price setting.

In step S14, the control unit 11 causes the calculation unit 12 to calculate the set power consumption. By the way, the following formula is established for the electricity bill.
Electricity charge = Electricity unit price x Operating time x Power consumption ... Formula (1)
With reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, in this embodiment, there are two time zones in which the electricity unit price is different, and the electricity rate (set amount) and operation time (operation scheduled time) are set by the user. Therefore, the variable is power consumption.

Therefore, the following formula is established for the set power consumption.
Set power consumption = Set amount / (Unit price of electricity in time zone A × Scheduled operation time in time zone A + Unit price of electricity in time zone B × Scheduled operation time in time zone B) Expression (2)
Then, it is possible to calculate the set power consumption based on the formula (2) and FIGS. 2 to 4, and when the month is 30 days, the set power consumption is as follows in this example.
Set power consumption (yen) = 200 yen / (19.41 (kWh) × 5 (hours) × 30 (days) +8.76 (kWh) × 3 (hours) × 30 (days)) × 1000≈54.06 W

  In step S15, the control unit 11 sets a duty ratio that causes the power consumption when the device is operated to be equal to or less than the set power consumption calculated in step S14, and displays the video on the video display unit 10. The backlight is driven at the duty ratio. For example, the control unit 11 has a correspondence table of duty ratios and power consumption as shown in FIG. 6 and sets a duty ratio that is equal to or lower than the set power consumption. Any duty ratio (any one of “Setting 1” to “Setting 3” in FIG. 6) that causes the power consumption to be equal to or lower than the set power consumption (54.06 W in this example) may be set. It is desirable to set the duty ratio capable of driving the backlight with the closest power consumption (“Setting 3” in FIG. 6). Thereby, it is possible to make the luminance as bright as possible while keeping the power consumption below the set power consumption.

  FIG. 6 is a correspondence table showing the relationship between the duty ratio and power consumption when a specific signal source (for example, color bar 1 kHz) is received at a predetermined volume.

  In the present embodiment, the control unit 11 sets the duty ratio, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the control unit 11 selects one or a plurality of duty ratios whose power consumption is equal to or less than the set power consumption, and test-drives the backlight with the duty ratio (if a plurality of duty ratios are selected, a user request The backlight may be sequentially test-driven in accordance with the setting, and the duty ratio related to the determination instruction may be set based on the determination instruction of the user.

  According to the present embodiment, based on the electricity cost unit price, the scheduled operation time, and the set amount, the set power consumption at which the electricity rate is equal to or less than the set amount is calculated. Control is performed. Accordingly, it is possible to manage electricity charges and take power saving measures accordingly.

Second Embodiment
In the first embodiment, in order to set the electricity charge as the set amount, only the duty ratio (backlight brightness) is adjusted as a function of the video display device 100 capable of suppressing power consumption. When there are a plurality of functions that can be suppressed, the set amount may be realized by combining them. In the present embodiment, a case where the set amount is realized by combining the adjustment of the duty ratio and the adjustment of the sound volume as described above will be described as a function of the video display device 100 capable of suppressing power consumption.

  For example, the control unit 11 has a correspondence table showing the relationship between the duty ratio and the power consumption when a specific signal source is received for each of a plurality of sound volumes. Then, the control unit 11 specifies a duty ratio that causes the power consumption when the apparatus is operated to be equal to or less than the set power consumption, and drives the backlight with the duty ratio when displaying the video on the video display unit 10. To do.

  The duty ratio at which the control unit 11 sets the power consumption to be equal to or lower than the set power consumption is not limited. For example, the control unit 11 sets the duty ratio based on any of the following criteria. Note that the following criteria A to B are merely examples of criteria.

Criterion A: In the correspondence table associated with the sound volume closest to the current sound volume, a duty ratio capable of driving the backlight with power consumption closest to the set power consumption is set.
According to the standard, viewing at a volume closest to the current audio volume can be continued, and viewing is not hindered by making it difficult to hear audio. Note that the duty ratio may be set from the correspondence table associated with the sound volume that is higher than the current sound volume and closest to the current sound volume, and the current sound volume is maintained according to the standard. You can continue watching.

Criteria B: In the correspondence table associated with the highest sound volume, a duty ratio capable of driving the backlight with power consumption closest to the set power consumption is set.
According to the standard, it is possible to prevent viewing from being disturbed when a different user views. That is, when hearing is different depending on a person and a user who can hear the sound at a low volume and a user who cannot hear the sound unless the sound is high, the sound is heard at a low volume. If the sound volume is set on the basis of the hearing ability of the user who can hear the sound, viewing may be disturbed for other users. Therefore, in this standard, the duty ratio is set based on a correspondence table associated with the highest audio volume.

  According to the standards A and B, the duty ratio is set with the audio volume as the axis, but the duty ratio is set as the axis and the duty ratio not lower than the predetermined duty ratio is set so as not to exceed the set power consumption. The sound volume may be set. When there are a plurality of standards, by enabling the user to select which standard to realize the set amount of money, it is possible to apply an appropriate standard according to the usage status and usage status of each user. .

  Note that the sound volume is set by displaying a message such as “Please keep the volume below XX” on the video display unit 10 and / or outputting from the audio output unit 7 and operated by the user via the remote controller or the like. Is set by

  According to the present embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained. In addition, since it is possible to perform operation control of the apparatus by combining restrictions on a plurality of parameters (functions that consume power), it is possible to perform appropriate operation control according to the use state and use state of the user.

<Third Embodiment>
In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the scheduled operation time is a time for which the user is supposed to use the video display device 100, and the scheduled operation time is an operation schedule in which the actual operation time is set. It does not always coincide with time. If the actual operation time exceeds the scheduled operation time, the electricity charge may exceed the set amount. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the electricity charge exceeds the set amount in the past predetermined period, control is performed so that the future electricity rate does not exceed the set amount.

  In the present embodiment, an example of processing executed by the control unit 11 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a second flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed by the control unit 11.

  In step S <b> 21, the control unit 11 calculates an electricity bill for a past predetermined period (for example, the past month) based on the power consumption of the device, the electricity unit price, and the actual operation time. In step S22, the control unit 11 determines whether or not the electricity rate calculated in step S21 exceeds the set amount. If the electricity rate exceeds the set amount (Y in step S22), the process proceeds to step S23, and if the electricity rate does not exceed the set amount (N in step S22), the process proceeds to step S26.

In step S23, the control unit 11 causes the set amount setting unit 11c to reset the set amount. Specifically, an amount obtained by subtracting the amount that the electricity price exceeds the set amount for the past month from the set amount for the past month is set as a new set amount.
That is, the following formulas are established for the set amount for the past month, the electricity rate for the past month, and the new set amount to be reset.
New set amount = Set amount in the past month-(Electricity charge in the past month-Set amount in the past month) ... Formula (3)

  In step S24, the control unit 11 causes the calculation unit 12 to calculate the set power consumption. In the present embodiment, the calculation unit 12 calculates the set power consumption based on the electricity unit price, the scheduled operation time, and the new set amount set in step S23.

  In step S25, the control unit 11 sets a duty ratio so that the power consumption when the apparatus is operated is equal to or less than the set power consumption calculated in step S24, and when the video is displayed on the video display unit 10, The backlight is driven at the duty ratio. Note that, as shown in the second embodiment, the duty ratio may be set in combination with the limit of the sound volume.

  In step S <b> 26, the control unit 11 continues the operation control with the same operation control as the operation control of the apparatus in the past month. In the present embodiment, the operation control is maintained if the electricity rate does not exceed the set amount, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  Steps S23 to S25 are controls for decreasing the duty ratio in principle. However, if the electricity rate does not exceed the set amount, control for increasing the duty ratio may be performed. The calculation method of the duty ratio at that time can be performed by the same calculation method as steps S23 to S24. That is, set the duty ratio by calculating the set power consumption by setting the amount that the set amount in the past month exceeds the electricity charge to the set amount in the past month as the new set amount And it is sufficient. This control improves the viewing environment within the set amount intended by the user.

  According to the present embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained. In addition, when there is a difference between the set amount and the actual electricity rate, the duty ratio is reset to fill the difference.

<Fourth embodiment>
In the third embodiment, when the electricity rate exceeds the set amount in the past predetermined period, the set amount is reset. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The cause of the electricity charge exceeding the set amount is thought to be due to the fact that the operating time of the device in each time zone was longer than the scheduled operating time, so reset the scheduled operating time to match the actual operating time. It is good as well.

  In the present embodiment, an example of processing executed by the control unit 11 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a third flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed by the control unit 11. Steps S31 to S32 and S34 to S36 are the same as steps S21 to S22 and S24 to S26 in FIG.

  In step S33, the control unit 11 causes the scheduled operation time setting unit 11b to reset the scheduled operation time. Specifically, the actual operation time for each time zone in which the electricity bill unit price in the past month is different is set as the scheduled operation time in each time zone. For example, if the operation time of one month in the time zone A is 180 hours and the operation time of one month in the time zone B is 120 hours, the scheduled operation time per day is reset to 6 hours and 4 hours, respectively.

  According to the present embodiment, the same effects as those of the third embodiment can be obtained.

<Supplement>
In each of the above embodiments, the description has been made based on the video display device as an example of the electronic device. However, the electronic device is not limited to the video display device, and may be an electronic device having a function capable of suppressing power consumption. For example, the refrigerator may have a plurality of compartments such as a refrigerator compartment, a freezer compartment, a vegetable compartment, and the like, and the power consumption can be suppressed by adjusting the set temperature for each compartment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Antenna 2 Tuner 3 Demodulator 4 Error correction part 5 Demultiplexing part 6 Audio decoder 7 Audio output part 8 Video decoder 9 Video processing part 10 Video display part 11 Control part 11a Electricity unit price setting part 11b Scheduled operation time setting part 11c Setting Amount setting section 12 Calculation section

Claims (6)

A calculation unit for calculating the set power consumption based on the electricity bill unit price, the scheduled operation time, and the set amount;
A control unit for controlling the operation of the device with power consumption lower than the set power consumption;
Electronic equipment comprising.   When the electricity charge in a predetermined period exceeds the set amount, the set amount is reduced by the difference, and the calculation unit sets the set power consumption based on the electricity unit price, the scheduled operation time, and the new set amount. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is calculated.   When the operation time in a predetermined period exceeds the scheduled operation time, the time difference, the scheduled operation time is increased, and the calculation unit is configured to perform the calculation based on the unit price of electricity, a new scheduled operation time, and the set amount. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the set power consumption is calculated.   The said control part performs operation | movement control of an own machine by the power consumption lower than the said set power consumption, when the instruction | indication regarding the operation | movement of the own machine by the power consumption lower than the said set power consumption is received. 4. The electronic device according to any one of items 3.   The said control part restrict | limits at least 1 or more of the function with which an own machine is provided, The operation control of an own machine is performed by the power consumption lower than the said set power consumption. Electronics.   The electronic apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: a video display unit including a backlight and an audio output unit, wherein the functions include a duty ratio adjustment function of the backlight and an output volume adjustment function of the audio output unit.

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