JP2501974B2 - Remote control device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention In the present invention, a main body device and a terminal device are provided with wireless communication means, respectively, and the main body device is provided with control means which operates based on a data signal from the terminal device. Remote control device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A remote control device as described above is, for example,
It is used to give a command from a terminal device provided in a kitchen or a bathroom to a water heater as a main body device installed outdoors. That is, the control data such as the start / stop of combustion and the change of the hot water supply temperature is transmitted from the terminal device to the water heater. Conventionally, the data signal transmitted from the terminal device to the water heater includes only the control data as described above except for the signal for synchronization (for example, JP-A-2-460).
98 gazette).

[0003]

In the above prior art, it is impossible to determine whether the data signal received by the main unit is a normal data signal or external noise. Therefore, the main body device may malfunction due to external noise. An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks and to obtain a highly reliable remote control device that is less likely to malfunction even when there is external noise.

[0004]

A remote control device according to the present invention.
The characteristic configuration of the device is that the main device and the terminal device are wireless
A communication means is provided, and the main device is connected to the terminal device.
Is provided with a control means that operates based on the data signal of
In the remote control device, the main device and the terminal device are
Setting means for setting the identification code is provided for each of the
The communication means sets the data signal by the setting means.
The control configured to include a defined identification code.
The means is such that the received identification code is the identification code of the main unit.
Operation based on the data signal
Configured to, communication means or said of the main unit
Of the communication means of the terminal device,
Communication means that it cannot receive its own identification code normally
The modulation frequency used based on the received information.
Switch to a different modulation frequency and repeat multiple times to respond
Configured to transmit a signal, transmits a data signal
The communication means on the side is the response signal while switching the modulation frequency.
To the modulation frequency at which the response signal was received normally.
Configured to transmit data signals
It

[0005]

[Function] The main device and the terminal device that make up the remote control device
By setting the same identification code for each, when the identification code received by the main body device matches the identification code of the main body device, it can be determined that the external noise is not affected. On the other hand, when the received identification code does not match the identification code of the main body device, it can be determined that it is affected by external noise. Then, the communication on the side that transmits the data signal
The communication means is affected by the influence of external noise as described above.
If you cannot successfully receive your own identification code,
Modulation frequency different from the modulation frequency used based on
Switch to wave number and repeat response multiple times to send response signal
Therefore, the communication means on the side of transmitting the data signal is
Do not receive the response signal while switching the tuning frequency.
It As a result, the modulation frequency is not affected by external noise.
Response signal is transmitted by and switching the modulation frequency
This ensures that the response signal will be at the appropriate modulation frequency.
It will be received normally and will not be affected by noise
Enables reliable transmission of data signals at the modulation frequency
Become.

[0006]

As a result , the main body device is affected by external noise.
The risk of malfunction can be reduced and external noise
Modulation that is immune to noise, even when present
It becomes possible to send and receive data signals at frequencies
The remote control device can be reliably
It has become possible to contribute to the improvement of sex.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a water heater 1 as a main body device for supplying water to a hot water tap or a bathtub, and two remote controllers M1 as terminal devices for giving commands to the water heater 1.
M2 is provided.

The water heater 1 is provided with a heat exchanger 2, a burner 3, a hot water temperature thermistor 4, an ignition plug 5, a hot water supply solenoid valve 6, a gas solenoid valve 7 and the like. In addition, the spark plug 5 is operated based on the data signals from the remote controllers M1 and M2.
And a control unit 10 as a control unit for controlling the operation of the solenoid valves 6 and 7, a communication unit 20 as a wireless communication unit, and
Code setting unit 3 as setting means for setting an identification code
0 is provided.

Each of the remote controllers M1 and M2 is provided with a communication section 20, a code setting section 30, and an operation display section 40 for performing operations such as starting and stopping combustion and changing the hot water supply temperature and displaying the operating status. There is. The same identification code is set to the water heater 1 and the remote controllers M1 and M2 at the time of shipment.

Next, the water heater 1 and the remote controller M
A method of communicating data between 1 and M2 will be described. First, the modulation method will be described. As shown in FIG. 7, the identification code set by the code setting unit 30, the water heater 1, and the remote controllers M1, M are included in one data signal.
It includes an address code for indicating which of the two is a transmitted data signal and control data. As shown in FIG. 6, frequency modulation (FSK) is first performed on the data signal. Further, amplitude modulation (AM) is performed on the frequency-modulated data signal with a sine wave of frequency F. Then, this amplitude-modulated data signal is transmitted. Naturally, on the receiving side, demodulation is performed by the reverse path to the above. By the way, the frequency F of amplitude modulation (demodulation) is configured to be freely changeable in each communication unit 20. ASK may be used instead of FSK, and FM is used instead of AM.
May be used.

Next, a data communication procedure will be described.
FIG. 4 shows a case where the identification code received by water heater 1 matches the identification code of water heater 1. That is, assuming that the modulation / demodulation frequency of the AM used at that time is F1, the identification code received by the water heater 1 matches the identification code of the water heater 1 unless it is affected by external noise. Therefore, the water heater 1 executes control according to the received control data, and transmits a response signal while keeping the modulation / demodulation frequency at F1. The remote controllers M1 and M2 can confirm that the water heater 1 normally receives the data signal by receiving the response signal. On the other hand, FIG. 5 shows a case where the identification code received by water heater 1 does not match the identification code of water heater 1. In other words, when the modulation / demodulation frequency used at that time is F1, it is affected by external noise,
When the identification code received by water heater 1 does not match the identification code of water heater 1, water heater 1 does not read the control data. Then, the response signal is transmitted by switching to a different modulation / demodulation frequency F2. Remote controller M1, M
By receiving this response signal, 2 confirms that the water heater 1 cannot normally receive the data signal.
Therefore, the modulation / demodulation frequency is set to F2 and the data signal is transmitted again. The change of the modulation / demodulation frequency is repeated until the identification code received by the water heater 1 matches the identification code of the water heater 1.

Next, the operation of the remote controllers M1 and M2 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, it is checked whether there is transmission data, that is, whether the operation display unit 40 has been operated. If there is transmission data, that data is transmitted (transmission processing). Then, it waits for a response from the water heater 1 (reception process). When receiving the response from the water heater 1, it checks whether the received identification code (ID code) matches its own identification code. If the identification codes match, the display is changed based on the received data.
If the identification codes do not match, the modulation / demodulation frequency is changed and the reception process is performed again. If normal reception is not possible at any modulation / demodulation frequency, error processing is performed.

Next, the operation of the water heater 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Normally, it waits for transmission from the remote controllers M1 and M2 (reception processing). When the transmissions from the remote controllers M1 and M2 are received, it is checked whether the received identification code matches its own identification code. If the identification codes match, control is executed based on the received data. If the identification codes do not match, the response signal is transmitted by switching to a different modulation / demodulation frequency (transmission processing). This transmission process is repeated N times. When the transmission process ends, the process moves to the reception process.

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a water heater, but it can also be applied to an air conditioner or the like. In the above embodiment, only the communication means 20 of the main body device 1 is configured to repeatedly transmit the data signal of the same content a plurality of times, and the terminal device M1,
Although only the communication means 20 of M2 was configured to receive while switching the modulation frequency, both communication means 20
May be configured as described above. In the above embodiment, the communication unit 20 is provided in the casing of the water heater 1, but the communication unit 20 is provided in a casing separate from the water heater 1, and the water heater 1 is provided.
The specific configuration of each unit can be changed in various ways such as connecting the communication unit 20 and the communication unit 20 by wire.

It should be noted that reference numerals are added to the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the overall configuration.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of control operation.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of control operation.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a communication procedure.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a communication procedure.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a data signal.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a data structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Main device 10 Control means 20 Communication means 30 Setting means M1, M2 Terminal device

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI Technical display location F24H 1/00 302 H04Q 9/14 J H04Q 9/14 F24D 17/00 B

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A main unit (1) and a terminal unit (M1),
A wireless communication means (20) is provided in each of (M2), and the terminal devices (M1), (M
Control means (1) operating based on a data signal from (2)
0) is provided, wherein the main device (1) and the terminal devices (M1), (M2) are provided.
Setting means (30) for setting an identification code is provided for each of the, and the communication means (20) is configured to include the identification code set by the setting means (30) in the data signal, control means (10) is configured to perform the operation based on the data signal when the identification code received matches the identification code of the main device (1), said main body communication means of the device (1) (20) or the terminal device
Of the communication means (20) of the devices (M1) and (M2), the data
The communication means (20) on the side receiving the data signal identifies itself.
When the code cannot be received normally, it is based on the received information.
The modulation frequency used by the
It is designed so that the response signal is transmitted repeatedly and repeatedly multiple times.
Made, the side of the communication means for transmitting data signals (20) is modulated circumferentially
The response signal is received while switching the wave number, and the response signal is received.
The data signal is transmitted at the modulation frequency that is normally received.
Remote control device configured as .