JP3148278B2 - Centralized control type air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a centralized control type air conditioner in which a plurality of indoor units can be collectively controlled by one centralized controller.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the recent development of microcomputers and applied technologies of data transmission, in the field of air conditioners, systems for centrally managing a plurality of air conditioners have been increasingly employed. I have. FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of an air conditioner employing such a centralized management system.

In FIG. 1, a centralized controller CC is capable of constantly transmitting and receiving data signals to and from a plurality of indoor units R _{1 to} R ₄ . Centralized control can be performed.

[0004] Then, each of the indoor units R ₁ to R ₄ are connected to the wired remote control RC ₁ to RC _4, transmission and reception of even data signals between them is adapted to be performed. Therefore, a user in the room where each indoor unit is installed can control the indoor unit using these wired remote controllers.

The centralized controller CC is usually installed in a building where the indoor units R _{1 to} R ₄ are installed.
Recently, the use of an information network such as a LAN has made it possible to install the device at a considerably distant place.

When it is known in advance that no user is present in the room where the indoor units R _{1 to} R ₄ are installed, the indoor unit and the remote controller in that room are locked as unusable. May be performed.

For example, if it is known in advance that there is no user in the room where the indoor unit R ₁ is installed, the centralized controller CC outputs a forced command to the indoor unit R _{1 and 1} is forcibly stopped. Further, the indoor unit R ₁ outputs an operation prohibition command to the remote controller RC ₁ , and locks the operation prohibition command in an inoperable state.

[0008] Then, upon entering the user in the room where the indoor unit R ₁ is installed, as the central controller CC unlocks outputs a cancellation command to the indoor unit R _1, indoor unit R ₁ also outputs a release command to remote controller RC ₁ to release its lock.

[0009]

[SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, in a state where the indoor unit R ₁ and the remote controller RC ₁ as described above is locked, is a failure in the transmission system between the central controller CC and an indoor unit R ₁ When generated, the response to a command from the central controller CC can not unlock the indoor unit R ₁ and the remote controller RC _1, they will be directly locked state continues.

Therefore, in such a case, the indoor unit R ₁
In order to start the operation, by the maintenance personnel, etc. to turn off the power of the indoor unit R ₁ went to bother the scene, it had to release the lock state of the indoor unit R ₁ and the remote controller RC _1.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when the indoor unit and its wired remote controller are locked, even if a failure occurs in these transmission systems, the locked state is quickly changed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a centralized control type air conditioner that can be released and started to operate by using a wired remote controller.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a centralized controller collectively manages and controls a plurality of indoor units to which a wired remote controller is connected. If this centralized controller outputs a forced operation stop command to one of the indoor units, the indoor unit continues its operation stop state and operates the wired remote controller. In the centralized control type air conditioner that outputs an operation prohibition command for prohibiting the operation, the indoor unit is in an operation stop state based on a compulsory command from the centralized controller, and data to be sent from the centralized controller. If there is no signal input for a predetermined time or longer, a controller that determines that an abnormality has occurred in the transmission system with the centralized controller. In the case where the transmission system abnormality judgment circuit, wherein the controller transmits system abnormality determination circuit has determined that an abnormality,
A forced command canceling circuit for canceling the self-operation stop state and outputting a cancel command for canceling the operation prohibition command for the wired remote controller.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the wired remote controller is arranged so that, when a data signal to be transmitted from the indoor unit has not been input for a predetermined time or more, the indoor remote unit A receiving-side transmission-system abnormality determining circuit that determines that an abnormality has occurred in the receiving-side transmission system between, and when the receiving-side transmission-system abnormality determining circuit determines that an abnormality has occurred,
An operation prohibition command canceling circuit for canceling the operation prohibition command input from the indoor unit.

[0014]

In the first invention, when the centralized controller outputs a forced command to a certain indoor unit, the indoor unit continues its operation stop state and outputs an operation prohibition command to the wired remote controller. To lock it in an inoperable state.

[0015] Between the centralized controller and each indoor unit,
Regardless of the operation state of each indoor unit, data signals are always transmitted and received, and the locked indoor unit receives a data signal from the centralized controller every predetermined cycle.

Therefore, when the locked indoor unit does not input the data signal from the centralized controller for a predetermined time or more, it is considered that a failure has occurred in the transmission system between the indoor unit and the centralized controller. The controller transmission system abnormality determination circuit performs such determination.

When the controller transmission system abnormality determination circuit determines that an abnormality has occurred, the compulsory command release circuit outputs a release command. According to the release command, the locked state of the indoor unit and the wired remote controller that have been locked until then is released. . Therefore, thereafter, the indoor unit can be operated by the operation of the wired common.

In the second aspect, the receiving-side transmission-system abnormality determining circuit of the wired remote controller determines that an abnormality has occurred when no data signal has been input from the indoor unit for a predetermined time or more, and based on this determination. The operation prohibition command release circuit releases the operation prohibition command that was previously input from the indoor unit, so the lock state is released even if there is an error in the receiving transmission system and the wired remote control cannot receive the release command Yes, operation from a wired remote control is possible.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. However, the same components as those in FIG. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted. Also, although illustrated only 1 and the indoor unit R ₁ and the wired remote control RC ₁ in FIG. 2, the indoor unit R ₂ to R ₄ and the wired remote control RC ₂ to RC ₄ also has a similar structure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the first invention. In this figure, an indoor unit R ₁ transmits and receives a data signal to and from a centralized controller CC, and receives a signal from the transmitting and receiving circuit 1 to send a signal from the transmitting and receiving circuit 1 to a device such as an indoor fan (not shown). the operation control circuit 2 for outputting a control signal, the forced instruction detecting circuit 3 for detecting a force command signal from the output signal of the transceiver circuit 1, a timer T ₁ operated by the detection signal from the forced command detection circuit 3,
Based on the signal from the timer T ₁ and the transmission / reception circuit 1, the controller transmission system, ie, the centralized controller CC and the indoor unit R
A controller transmission system abnormality determination circuit 4 for determining the presence or absence of an abnormality in the transmission system between _1, the forced instruction release circuit 5 for outputting a release signal based on the abnormality discrimination signal from the controller transmission system abnormality judgment circuit 4, wired remote control RC It has a transceiver circuit 6 for transmitting and receiving data signals to and from the _1, a.

Next, the operation of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Various command signals from the centralized controller CC are input to the forced command detection circuit 3 via the transmission / reception circuit 1, and it is determined whether or not a forced command has been input (step 1).

[0022] If the force command is not input, the indoor unit R ₁ is subjected to normal operation. That is, the operation control circuit 2 uses the signal from the transmission / reception circuit 1 to
Outputs control signals for each device such as a four-way valve,
A signal notifying the control state is fed back to the centralized controller CC via the transmission / reception circuit 1, and a signal for displaying the control state is output to the wired remote controller RC ₁ via the transmission / reception circuit 6.

[0023] Then, to detect the force command is now forced command detection circuit 3, when the detection signal is sent to the timer T _1, set the timer T ₁ is performed (step 2), the count operation is started You.

The detection signal of the forced command detection circuit 3 is also sent to the operation control circuit 2 and the transmission / reception circuit 6, and the operation control circuit 2 outputs a stop signal to each device (step 3). circuit 6 outputs an operation inhibition signal to the wired remote control RC ₁ (step 4). As a result, the indoor unit R ₁ and the wired remote control RC ₁ are in a locked state, and it is impossible for a user in the room to operate the wired remote control RC ₁ to drive.

When the timer T ₁ starts counting, the controller transmission system abnormality determination circuit 4 checks whether a data signal has been sent from the centralized controller CC via the transmission / reception circuit 1 (step 5). in the case where not transmitted data signals be time T ₁ is elapsed (step 6), it is determined that an abnormality in the transmission system between the central controller CC and the indoor unit R ₁ has occurred, the abnormality discrimination signal Output to the compulsory command release circuit 5.

When the forced command canceling circuit 5 receives the abnormality determination signal, it outputs a canceling signal to the operation control circuit 2, and outputs the signal to the wired remote controller RC ₁ via the transmitting / receiving circuit 6.
Output to Thus, the forced command to the operation control circuit 2 is released, the operation stop state of the indoor unit R ₁ is canceled (step 7). In addition, wired remote control RC ₁
Is also released.

Therefore, when the indoor unit R ₁ and the wired remote controller RC ₁ are locked, even if an abnormality occurs in the transmission system between the centralized controller CC and the indoor unit R ₁ , these locked states are immediately set. Is automatically canceled, so users in the room can use the wired remote control RC.
It is possible to start the operation of the indoor unit R ₁ by operating _one.

By the way, when the wired remote control RC ₁ is locked in the non-state operation, the transmission system on the side sending the data signal to from the receiving side transmission system i.e. the indoor unit R ₁ to wired remote control RC ₁ abnormality occurs, thereby sometimes wired remote control RC ₁ becomes leave locked.

The second invention is intended to unlock this case, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a wired remote control RC ₁ having the function of the release.

In this figure, a wired remote control RC
₁ includes a transceiver circuit 7 for transmitting and receiving data signals to and from the indoor unit R _1, operation control circuit outputs a display signal such as a display unit receiving a signal from the transmitting and receiving circuit 7 with respect to (not shown) 8 An operation prohibition command detection circuit 9 for detecting an operation prohibition command signal from an output signal of the transmission / reception circuit 7, and a timer T operated by a detection signal from the operation prohibition command detection circuit 9.
₂ , the timer T ₂ and the signal from the transmission / reception circuit 7, the reception-side transmission system, that is, the transmission / reception circuit 7 determines whether there is an abnormality in the transmission system on the side receiving the data signal from the indoor unit R _1. It has a transmission system abnormality determination circuit 10 and an operation prohibition command release circuit 11 that outputs a release signal based on the abnormality determination signal from the reception side transmission system abnormality determination circuit 10.

Next, the operation of FIG. 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Various signals from the indoor unit R ₁ is input to the operation prohibition instruction detecting circuit 9 through the transmitting and receiving circuit 7, whether the input of the operation prohibition instruction is determined (step 101).

[0032] When the operation prohibition command is not input, the wired remote control RC ₁ has a operable state, the operation control circuit 8 based on the input signal from the operation button (not shown), a transceiver circuit 7 and to be able to output a control command to the indoor unit R ₁ through.

[0033] And now the operation prohibition command detecting circuit 9 detects an operation prohibition command, when the detected signal is sent to the timer T _2, sets the timer T ₂ is performed (step 102), its counting operation Be started.

The detection signal from the operation prohibition command circuit 9 is also sent to the operation control circuit 8, and the operation control circuit 8
Stops outputting the control signal (step 103). As a result, a state in which the wired remote control RC ₁ is locked, a user who is in the room will not be able to its operation.

When the timer T ₂ starts counting, the receiving-side transmission-system abnormality determining circuit 10 checks whether or not a data signal is transmitted from the indoor unit R ₁ via the transmitting / receiving circuit 7 (step 104). ), if not sent the data signals with time T ₂ (step 105)
, It is determined that an abnormality has occurred in the receiving-side transmission system of the wired remote controller RC ₁ , and an abnormality determination signal is output to the operation prohibition command cancel circuit 11.

The operation prohibition command release circuit 11 outputs the release signal to the operation control circuit 8 upon input of the abnormality determination signal. Thus, the operation prohibition command to the operation control circuit 8 is released, operation restrictions of wired remote control RC ₁ is released (step 106).

Therefore, when the wired remote control RC ₁ is locked, the wired remote control RC ₁
Even failure of a transmission system occurs, this locked state is released immediately automatically, the user in the room can be used without hindrance wired remote RC _1.

Next, the related technology of the indoor unit and the wired remote controller to which the present invention is applied will be described. Generally, an external device such as a humidifier is often connected as an option to the indoor unit.If such an external device fails, the failure indication depends on the display means of the external device itself. As a result, users often could not immediately notice the failure.

There is also an air conditioner in which the indoor unit and the wired remote controller are not provided with a display means for displaying an abnormality of the external device, and instead, the operation of the indoor unit is stopped when a failure occurs. In such a configuration, the reason why the operation is stopped is not known, so that it takes a long time to take an appropriate action.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example suitable for dealing with such a case. In this figure,
When a failure occurs in the humidifier 101 as an external device, the contact 103 constituting the external abnormality input circuit 102 is operated by the failure signal.

A voltage of 5 V is applied to the external abnormality input circuit 102 via the external abnormality input terminal 104, and a voltage signal of 0 V or 5 V is input to the operation control circuit 2. ing. The operation control circuit 2 has a mode signal corresponding to the on / off state of a mode changeover switch 105 for selecting a mode in which an abnormality is displayed when an external device fails or a mode in which the air conditioner is stopped to perform a stop display. Is entered. The operation control circuit 2 outputs a control signal to each device such as a compressor and a blower via a control signal output circuit 12.

[0042] Inside the wired remote control RC ₁ door 13, the display unit 14 is provided for displaying an abnormality display or stopping of the air conditioner according to an external apparatus abnormality of the external device, also other various operation buttons Is provided with a check button 15.

Next, the operation of FIG. 6 will be described. When the mode changeover switch 105 is turned off as shown in the figure (this case is referred to as “external abnormality display mode”), when the contact 103 is turned on by a failure signal of the humidifier 101, a voltage of 5 V is generated as an abnormality signal. Although the signal is input to the operation control circuit 2, only the abnormality display signal is transmitted to the wired remote controller RC ₁ via the transmission / reception circuit 6 without transmitting the operation stop signal to the control signal output circuit 12.

That is, normally, the failure of the humidifier 101 is not abnormal enough to stop the operation of the air conditioner.
Compressor, although the blower and the like is operated continuously as it is, the user who is in the room by pressing the check button 15 of the wired remote control RC _1, can be confirmed by the display of the display unit 14 the presence or absence of abnormality. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example at this time.

When the mode changeover switch 105 is manually turned on (this case is referred to as “external abnormal stop mode”), a 5 V voltage signal is input to the operation control circuit 2 as described above. However, in this case, the operation control circuit 2 outputs an operation stop signal to the control signal output circuit 12 and outputs an abnormality display signal to the transmission / reception circuit 6.

Therefore, the operation of the air conditioner is stopped, and the user can know why the operation has stopped by pressing the check button 15 and looking at the display unit 14. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example at this time.

Next, a modification of FIG. 6 will be described with reference to FIG. This modification is a mode change switch 1 shown in FIG.
05 is deleted and an abnormal input circuit 106 is used in place of the abnormal input circuit 102.

The abnormal input circuit 106 comprises a series connection of a contact 107 and a resistor r ₁ , and a contact 108 connected in parallel to the connection. When the contact 107 is on, it is referred to as “external abnormality display mode”, and when the contact 108 is on, it is referred to as “external abnormality stop mode”. The abnormal input circuit 106 is configured to turn on one of the contacts 107 and 108 in response to the input of the failure signal from the humidifier 101.
Can be selected according to the content of the abnormality. Alternatively, it may be set in advance so that only one of them is turned on.

Next, the operation of FIG. 9 will be described. In normal operation, the voltage signal input to the operation control circuit 2 is 0 V. However, when the contact 107 is turned on by a failure signal from the humidifier 101, the operation control circuit 2 applies a voltage of 5 V to the resistor r. A voltage signal having a value divided by ₁ and r ₂ is input. When the contact 108 is turned on, a voltage signal of 5 V is input to the operation control circuit 2.

The operation control circuit 2 discriminates the input of each such voltage signal and performs one of the operations in each mode.

According to such a configuration, since the mode switching is performed on the external device side, the mode switching can be easily performed as compared with the mode switching on the indoor unit side.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a signal to be input to the indoor unit or the wired remote controller is not input for a predetermined time or more, there is provided a means for outputting a command for releasing these locked states. Even if a failure occurs in these transmission systems when the indoor unit and its wired remote controller are locked by a forced command from the centralized controller, the locked state is immediately released and the wired The operation can be started by using the remote control.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of an embodiment of the first invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main part of an embodiment of the second invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an apparatus according to the present invention and a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an apparatus relating to the related art of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of the wired remote controller in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of the wired remote controller in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a modification of FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

CC Centralized controller R _{1 to} R ₄ Indoor unit RC _{1 to} RC ₄ Wired remote controller 3 Forced command detection circuit 4 Controller transmission system abnormality determination circuit 5 Forced command release circuit 9 Operation inhibition command detection circuit 10 Reception side transmission system abnormality determination circuit 11 Operation Prohibition command release circuit

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A centralized controller can centrally control and control a plurality of indoor units to which a wired remote controller is connected, and the centralized controller can stop operation of any of the indoor units. When the forced command is output, the indoor unit continues its own operation stop state, and in the centralized control type air conditioner, which outputs an operation prohibition command for prohibiting operation of the wired remote controller, The indoor unit is in an operation stop state based on a forcible command from the centralized controller, and when there is no input of a data signal to be sent from the centralized controller for a predetermined time or more, transmission between the indoor unit and the centralized controller is performed. The controller transmission system abnormality determination circuit that determines that an error has occurred in the And a forced command canceling circuit that outputs a canceling command for canceling the self-operation stop state and canceling the operation prohibition command for the wired remote controller when the self-operation stop state is determined. Air conditioner. 2. The centralized control type air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the wired remote controller is connected to the indoor unit when a data signal to be sent from the indoor unit is not input for a predetermined time or more. A receiving-side transmission-system abnormality determining circuit that determines that an abnormality has occurred in the receiving-side transmission system, and an operation prohibition command input from the indoor unit when the receiving-side transmission-system abnormality determining circuit determines that an abnormality has occurred. A centralized control type air conditioner, comprising: an operation prohibition command canceling circuit for canceling.