JP3096548B2 - Air conditioner and method and apparatus for testing connection terminal block - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner,
In particular, the present invention relates to an air conditioning system for centrally managing a plurality of air conditioners by a central management device, and a test method and a testing device for a connection terminal block provided at a connection point between the air conditioner of the air conditioning system and the central management device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a common outdoor unit and a common main controller are provided, a plurality of indoor units are connected, and the whole system is controlled by the main controller.
There is an air conditioning system of a centralized management system in which a sub controller provided in each indoor unit on each user side performs local control of the indoor unit.

In such a centralized cooling and heating system, a large-scale system such as a cooling and heating system in a building has a cost and an effective use of device resources, etc., in comparison with a cooling and heating individual management system which is individually managed. It was advantageous from a point of view.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional centralized control type cooling and heating system.

The conventional cooling / heating system 50 includes a plurality of indoor units 51-1 to 51-n and a plurality of indoor units 51-1 to 51-n.
, And each of the indoor units 51-1 to 51-n and the main controller 52 are separately connected via a multi-core communication line PLM.

Further, the main controller 52 is connected to a room temperature sensor 53 for monitoring the room temperature of the room where each of the indoor units 51-1 to 51-n is installed, via the same multi-core communication line PLM as described above. Had been monitored at room temperature.

Each of the indoor units 51-1 to 51-n includes a first room temperature sensor 54 for controlling an indoor unit body described later at room temperature.
A wired or wireless remote controller 56 having a second room temperature sensor 55 for locally controlling the indoor unit, and an output of one of the first room temperature sensor 54 and the second room temperature sensor 55 and a remote controller 56 And an indoor unit main body 57 that actually performs air conditioning based on the settings.

Next, the operation will be described.

When various settings are made by the remote controller 56, the indoor unit main body 57 becomes the first room temperature sensor 54.
Alternatively, air conditioning is performed by performing an operation based on a difference between the actual room temperature and the set room temperature based on any output of the second room temperature sensor 55.

In parallel with this, the indoor unit main body 57 transfers various data such as an operation state and a data setting state to the main controller 52 via a multi-core communication line PLM.

Thus, local control is performed by each indoor unit 5.
1-1 to 51-n, and control of an outdoor unit (not shown) is performed on the main controller 52 side, thereby improving the operation efficiency of the entire system.

[0012]

In the case where the above-mentioned conventional centralized air-conditioning system is actually constructed and the main controller 52 and each of the indoor units 51-1 to 51-n are connected by the communication line PLM, Usually connected via a connection terminal block (plate).

By the way, when installing in a high-rise building or the like as described above, the number of indoor units to be installed increases, so that a large number of indoor units are connected to one connection terminal block. There is a problem that it is very difficult to test whether or not signals are exchanged reliably.

Further, there is a problem in that it is very troublesome to judge the quality of the connection terminal block itself.

[0015] Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to provide a reliable connection between a main controller and an indoor unit constituting a cooling and heating system.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner that can be easily tested.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a test method and a test apparatus which can easily determine the quality of a connection terminal block itself.

[0017]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 provides n independently controllable n.
(N: an integer of 2 or more) air conditioners, and a central management device for centrally managing the n air conditioners, wherein the n air conditioners and the central management device establish communication lines. A state display capable of displaying a signal input / output state between the n air conditioners and the central management device, wherein the n air conditioners and the central management device are serially connected via the Connected through the circuit , this state table
The indicating circuit includes the n air conditioners and the central management device.
Displays the status of any of the signals being transferred between
Setting means for setting whether to indicate, and
Status display hand that displays the corresponding signal status based on the settings
And a step .

The invention according to claim 2 is an air conditioner.
N units, each connected to a relay circuit
Input terminals and n output terminals connected to an external circuit.
In the test method for a connection terminal block provided with the n input terminals,
Terminals and the n output terminals are electrically connected one by one.
And the relay circuit corresponding to each of the set of input / output terminals
Is turned on / off, and the output state of the output terminal is
-Whether or not it changes according to the on / off state of the circuit
To judge the quality of the connection terminal block.
You.

The invention according to claim 3 is an air conditioner.
N units, each connected to a relay circuit
Input terminals and n output terminals connected to an external circuit.
In the test equipment of the connection terminal block provided, n input terminals
And a connecting means for electrically connecting the n output terminals one set at a time.
And the relay circuit corresponding to each input / output terminal is turned on / off.
Relay circuit control means for turning off the relay circuit;
Check the output status of the output terminal corresponding to the input terminal that is turned off.
And a detecting means for detecting.

[0020]

[0021]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the n air conditioners and the central control device include: n air conditioners and the central control device.
Since they are connected via a state display circuit capable of displaying the signal input / output state between the devices, the signal input / output state between the two can be easily displayed. In addition, the setting means includes an air conditioner.
Of the signals transferred between the Waki and the central control unit,
Sets whether to display the status of the shift signal. This
The status display means displays the corresponding signal status based on this setting.
Is displayed.

[0022]

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the n input terminals and the n output terminals are electrically connected one by one, and
A relay circuit corresponding to each set of input / output terminals is turned on / off, and whether or not the output state of the output terminal is changed in accordance with the on / off state of the relay circuit, for example , a pair of on / off states By judging whether or not they correspond to each other, the quality of the connection terminal block can be easily judged.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the connection means electrically connects the n input terminals and the n output terminals one set at a time.

The relay circuit control means turns on / off the corresponding relay circuit for each input terminal.

Thus, the connection means detects whether the output state of the output terminal corresponding to the input terminal that turns on / off the relay circuit, for example , whether the on / off state corresponds to one-to-one. The quality of the connection terminal block can be easily determined.

[0027]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. First Embodiment FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a centralized management type cooling and heating system.

The air-conditioning system 1 can be roughly classified into a main controller 2 that functions as a central management device and controls the entire system 1 and is connected to the main controller 2 via a parallel communication line. The converted serial data is converted into parallel data and output to the main controller 2.
A serial / parallel conversion circuit 3 for converting parallel data output from the side into serial data and outputting the serial data to an indoor unit described later, and a two-wire communication line LM using a multiplex transmission system for the serial / parallel conversion circuit. And a plurality of indoor units 4-1 to 4-n serially connected via the control unit.

The main controller 2 includes a communication control board for performing various communication controls, a controller main body in which a control board for performing various controls is stored, a display section for displaying various setting data, an operation state of the controlled device, and the like. And a printer for printing out various data.

Various modes of each of the indoor units 4-1 to 4-n can be considered, and an example will be described.

The indoor unit 4-1 has a first room temperature sensor 20 for detecting the temperature of the room in which the indoor unit is installed, and a second room temperature sensor 21 for wired or wireless control of the indoor unit locally. Remote controller 22
And air conditioning is actually performed based on the output of either the first room temperature sensor 20 or the second room temperature sensor 21 and the setting of the remote controller 22 and is connected to the serial / parallel conversion circuit 3 via the communication line LM. And an indoor unit main body 23.

As shown in FIG. 2, the indoor unit main body 23 includes a CPU 25 for controlling the entire indoor unit main body 23, a ROM 26 for storing control programs and data, and a RAM 27 for temporarily storing various data. And an interface unit 28 for performing an interface operation with the outside.

As shown in FIG. 3, the serial / parallel conversion circuit 3 includes a CPU 10 for controlling the entire serial / parallel conversion circuit 3, a ROM 11 storing a control program, data, and the like, and temporarily storing various data. R to store
It comprises an AM 12 and an interface unit 13 for performing an interface operation with the outside.

The serial / parallel conversion circuit 3 is formed on a printed circuit board 30, and its back surface is formed as a connection terminal block 31, as shown in FIG.

More specifically, the connection terminal block 31 is provided with an input / output terminal board 33 provided with a plurality of input / output terminal groups 32 for connection to the main controller 2 and for displaying an operation state during normal operation. The same number of display lamps 34 as the number of input / output terminal groups 32 such as LEDs, a setting switch 35 composed of a dip switch for switching an operation mode, a display mode, and the like, and a communication terminal 3 to which a communication line LM is connected
6 is provided.

The setting switch 35 is composed of eight switches SW1 to SW8 as shown in FIG.
The switch SW5 is used to monitor the input / output signals.
To SW7.

FIG. 5B shows the relationship between the state of the switches SW5 to SW7 and the monitor display of the input / output signals. Note that, in FIG.
The S output is an answerback output. For example, in the case of SW5-OFF, SW6-ON, and SW7-OFF, a display lamp corresponding to a case where an alarm signal is output from the indoor unit to the main controller 2 will be turned on. In the case of SW5-ON, SW6-OFF, and SW7-ON, the corresponding display lamp is lit when a stop signal is input from the main controller 2 to the indoor unit.

Therefore, the input / output state of the signal can be easily grasped, and when a system abnormality such as an operation failure occurs, the cause thereof can be easily found. Second Embodiment Next, a test method for determining whether the connection terminal block itself is good or bad will be described.

As shown in FIG. 6, one input / output terminal group includes:
It consists of ten input / output terminals T1 to T10.

More specifically, the input / output terminal group includes an operation output terminal T1, an alarm output terminal T2, a common terminal T3, a COS output terminal T4, a common terminal T5, an operation input terminal T6, a stop input terminal T7, and a common terminal T8. , A common input terminal T9 and a common terminal T10.

In this case, the number of input terminals is 3, and
Since the number of output terminals is equal to three, the operation output terminal T1 and the operation input terminal T6 are connected by a connection line L1, the alarm output terminal T2 and the stop input terminal T7 are connected by a connection line L2, and the COS output terminal T4 and the centralized input terminal. T9 is connected by connection wiring L3.

Then, as shown in FIG. 6, each input / output terminal is connected to a corresponding common terminal by a connection wiring L.

Each output terminal is connected to a CPU 10 of a serial / parallel circuit via a relay circuit.
Each input terminal is connected to the CPU 10 via a photocoupler PC.

Here, focusing on the connected operation output terminal T1 and operation input terminal T6, a closed circuit as shown in FIG. 7 is formed.

Therefore, when the CPU 10 is controlled to close the relay circuit, the operation output terminal T1
The current flows to the low potential side via the connection wiring L1, the operation input terminal T6, and the light emitting diode LD of the photocoupler PC, and the light emitting diode LD emits light and the current flows to the CPU 10.

That is, T2, T4 are connected to each output terminal T1.
The CPU 10 turns on / off the relay circuit corresponding to the input by software, and the corresponding input terminals T6, T7, T9
If the photocoupler connected to is turned on / off, it is determined that the photocoupler is normal.

FIG. 8 shows a processing flowchart of the CPU 10 during the test.

First, the CPU 10 turns on / off the relay circuit corresponding to the operation output terminal T1 and detects whether the photocoupler corresponding to the operation input terminal T6 is on / off (step S1). If it is off, the process moves to step S2. If abnormal, the process of step S1 is repeated.

Next, the CPU 10 turns on / off the relay circuit corresponding to the alarm output terminal T2, detects whether the photocoupler corresponding to the stop input terminal T7 is on / off (step S2), and turns on normally. If so, the process proceeds to step S3. If abnormal, the process of step S2 is repeated again.

Subsequently, the CPU 10 sets the COS output terminal T
4 is turned on / off, and it is detected whether the photocoupler corresponding to the centralized input terminal T9 is on / off (step S3). If the photocoupler is on / off normally, step S3 is performed. And the display lamp is turned on (step S4), and the process ends. If abnormal, the process of step S3 is repeated.

Therefore, if the input / output terminal group operates normally, the display lamp is turned on, and otherwise, the display lamp is not turned on. Therefore, the defective input / output terminal group can be easily identified. Can be.

In the above description, the display lamp is lit only when all the terminals are normal. However, the normal lighting state of the display lamp (blinking number per unit time, etc.)
, It is possible to detect which input / output terminal pair is the above.

[0053]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to display a signal input / output state between the n air conditioners and the central control device. In addition, n air conditioners and a central pipe
Easily display the input / output status of desired signals between processing devices
be able to.

[0054]

According to the second and third aspects of the present invention, the quality of the connection terminal block can be easily and reliably determined with a simple preparation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a cooling and heating system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an indoor unit main body.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a serial / parallel conversion circuit.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view showing a specific example of a serial / parallel conversion circuit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a setting switch.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a connection state of input / output terminals.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a test method.

FIG. 8 is a processing flowchart in a test.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional cooling and heating system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air-conditioning system 2 Main controller 3 Serial / parallel conversion circuit 4-1 to 4-n Indoor unit 10 CPU 11 ROM 12 RAM 13 Interface unit 20 First room temperature sensor 21 Second room temperature sensor 22 Remote controller 23 Indoor unit main body 25 CPU 26 ROM 27 RAM 28 Interface unit 30 Printed circuit board 31 Connection terminal block 32 I / O terminal group 33 I / O terminal board 34 Indicator lamp 35 Setting switch 36 Communication terminal PC Photocoupler LD Light emitting diode LM Communication line T1 Operation output terminal T2 Alarm output terminal T3 , T5, T8, T10 Common terminal T4 COS output terminal T6 Operation input terminal T7 Stop input terminal T9 Centralized input terminal

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Akihiro Kazama 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-2-176339 (JP, A) 1955-96859 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F24F 11/02 F24F 1/00 401

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An air conditioner comprising: n (n: an integer of 2 or more) independently controllable air conditioners; and a central management device for centrally managing the n air conditioners. An air conditioner in which the air conditioner and the central management device are serially connected via a communication line, wherein the n air conditioners and the central management device are the n air conditioners and the central management device. It is connected via a status display circuit capable of displaying a signal output state between, the state
The display circuit includes the n air conditioners and the central management device.
Status of any of the signals being transferred between
Setting means for setting whether to display, and the setting means
Status display that displays the corresponding signal status based on the settings of
An air conditioning apparatus characterized in that it comprises a means. 2. An air conditioner, each of which is
Connected to the n input terminals connected to the
Test method for connection terminal block with n output terminals connected
, Wherein the n input terminals and the n output terminals are
Before being electrically connected and corresponding to each set of input / output terminals
Turn on / off the relay circuit and output the output
State changes according to the on / off state of the relay circuit.
Whether the connection terminal block is good
A method for testing a connection terminal block, comprising determining whether or not the connection terminal block is present. 3. An air conditioner, wherein each of the
Connected to the n input terminals connected to the
Test apparatus for connecting terminal block with n output terminals connected
, Wherein the n input terminals and the n output terminals are
Turning on / off the connection means for electrical connection and the relay circuit corresponding to each of the input / output terminals;
Relay circuit control means for turning on and off the relay circuit.
And a detecting means for detecting an output state of the output terminal .