JP3281106B2 - Multi type air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention connects a plurality of chamber machine one outdoor unit, and connected via a communication network between the control device mounted respectively in the outdoor unit and the indoor units The present invention relates to a multi-type air conditioner.

[0002]

Conventionally, multi-type air conditioner that connects to connecting multiple chamber apparatus to one outdoor unit, and via a communication network between the control device mounted respectively in the outdoor unit and the indoor units In this multi-type air conditioner, it is necessary to set an address in each control device in order to establish communication, and in order to set this address,
Conventionally, an address setting switch is provided and set at an air conditioner installation site.

Generally, a multi-type air conditioner has an outdoor unit 1 as shown in FIG. 6, and a plurality of indoor units 2 a to 2 n are connected to the outdoor unit 1 via a communication network 5. Have been. The outdoor unit 1 has a control device 3, and the indoor units 2a to 2n have control devices 4a to 4n, respectively.

As shown in detail in FIG. 7, the control devices 3 and 4a to 4n are connected to a communication network 5 and perform a communication process, and a microcomputer 10 for performing control. And an address switch 12 for setting unique addresses 6, 7a to 7n for the control device.

Next, the operation will be described.

[0006] In order to implement operation control, at the time of construction before performing a trial operation at an air conditioner installation site, an address switch 1 is provided.
2, unique addresses 6, 7a to 7n are set. When the air conditioner is used, the control device 3 of the outdoor unit 1 operates the plurality of indoor units 2a to 2n according to preset addresses 7a to 7n of the control devices 4a to 4n of the plurality of indoor units 2a to 2n. Recognizing the situation, a plurality of indoor units 2a
Optimum control is performed depending on the driving conditions of ~ 2n.

As an automatic addressing method for an air-conditioning system, a method using simultaneous broadcasting as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H4-177044 has been proposed.

[0008]

As described above, in the conventional multi-type air conditioner, when installing the air conditioner, it is necessary to set the addresses 6, 7a to 7n of the control devices 3 and 4a to 4n. In addition, the setting must be performed by the address switch 12, which is a burden on the operator who performs the installation work. Further, a problem in which setting of the address switch 12 is forgotten or erroneous setting causes an obstacle to the operation of the air conditioner, and a great deal of labor is required to find out and repair which control device has an incorrect address. There was a point.

[0009] In the method using a broadcast as described in JP-A-4-177044, normally
Even if there is a control device that could not receive, the transmitting side can detect
There was a problem that it could not .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and automatically performs address setting.
An object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable multi-type air conditioner that eliminates address setting work at an installation site and does not cause an operation failure due to an address setting error.

[0011]

In a multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention, a plurality of indoor units are connected to one outdoor unit, and a control unit mounted on each of the outdoor unit and each indoor unit is provided. Connected via a communication network, the communication network of each indoor unit
In a multi-type air conditioner for setting an address on a network , each of the indoor units is connected to the outdoor unit and the network.
Communication means for performing communication via a click, address non
At the time of confirmation, set a temporary address common to other indoor units,
And protocol means for communicating over a network, said chamber
The external unit transmits the communication network to the indoor unit having the temporary address.
Transmission of a given address via the
If the response transmission succeeds before the internal device, the predetermined
Self address setting means for determining an address as a self address.

Further, a random number generating means is provided in each of the indoor units, and a plurality of indoor units are provided based on the random numbers generated by the random number generating means.
Shift the waiting time until the internal unit sends a response,
The feature is to avoid collision of response transmission by the indoor unit .

Further, a non-volatile memory for storing the self address determined by the self address setting means is provided.

Each of the indoor units has its own address and other information.
Detecting means for detecting the duplication of the address of the indoor unit,
If the detection means detects the duplicate address, the self-address setting means is characterized in that the back again tentative address the self address.

[0015]

According to the multi-type air conditioner of the present invention, an indoor unit whose address is undetermined waits at a common predetermined temporary address, and a plurality of indoor units whose addresses are undetermined are transferred from an outdoor unit to a temporary address. The indoor unit that first transmits a response to the address setting transmission acquires a predetermined address. As long as there are indoor units with undetermined addresses, the outdoor unit transmits addresses to the temporary address so that addresses do not overlap, and assigns unique addresses to all indoor units with undetermined addresses.

[0016]

【Example】

Embodiment 1 FIG. Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 6, the multi-type air conditioner has an outdoor unit 1, and a plurality of indoor units 2a to 2n are connected to the outdoor unit 1 via a communication network 5. . The outdoor unit 1 has a control device 3, and the indoor units 2a to 2n have control devices 4a to 4n, respectively.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of control devices 4a to 4n of indoor units 2a to 2n of a multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the control devices 4a to 4n are connected to a CSMA / CD connected to a communication network 5.
A communication processing unit 11 as a communication means of the (winning by collision detection) method, and an address switch 12 for setting a unique address for each of the control devices 3, 4a, 4b
And A control microcomputer 10 is connected to the communication processing unit 11 and the address switch 12. The control microcomputer 10 includes a detection unit 14 for detecting an address duplication, and an indoor unit having an undetermined address until the address is determined. Is a protocol means 15 for performing communication at a predetermined common temporary address (M), and an outdoor unit transmits a predetermined address (N) to the indoor unit of the temporary address (M) via the communication network, The self-address setting unit 16 determines the address received by the outdoor unit that has first transmitted a response to the outdoor unit among the received indoor units as a self-address, and the random number generation unit 17 that generates a random number. .

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The control unit 3 of the outdoor unit 1 sequentially performs transmission to the address areas (1 to 50) of the indoor unit, and determines whether or not there is a response communication from the indoor unit at each address (step 1). . Then, the responding indoor unit is registered as having already determined the address (step 2). on the other hand,
The indoor unit control devices 4a and 4b whose addresses have not been determined are:
In step 12, a random number is generated by the random number generator 16 using the temporary address M (M> 50) as its own address, and the process stands by. It should be noted that the address M is common to the control devices of the indoor units whose addresses have not been determined, and has the same value.
Until the self-address is determined in the following procedure, communication processing is performed with this temporary address M. The random number is a value that differs for each control unit of the indoor unit. Here, the random number X of the control device 4a of the indoor unit 2a is smaller than the random number Y of the control device 4b of the indoor unit 2b (X <Y).

Then, the control device 3 of the outdoor unit 1 transmits a transmission for setting the minimum address value (N1) other than the address of the indoor unit registered in step 2 to the address M which is the temporary address in step 3. Do. For this transmission,
The control unit 4 of the indoor unit that has been waiting at the temporary address (M)
In steps a and 4b, the minimum address value (N1) is received in step 13 by the protocol means 15, and in step 14, a response transmission is awaited based on the random number generated in step 12 above. In the example described above, since the random number X of the control device 4a of the indoor unit 2a is smaller than the random number Y of the control device 4b of the indoor unit 2b, the control device 4a of the indoor unit 2a transmits a response first in step 15. Do.

Further, the control device 4a of the indoor unit 2a confirms that the transmission was successful in step 16, and then in step 17 the address N1 received from the control device 3 of the outdoor unit 1 in step 13 described above. The own address is set by the own address setting means 16. Further, the control device 4b of the indoor unit 2b detects the address duplication of the temporary address M by the transmission of the control device 4a of the indoor unit 2a while waiting for the response transmission in step 18 by the detection means 14, and in step 19, Then, the address N1 received from the control device 3 of the outdoor unit 1 is rejected, and the waiting response transmission is stopped.

On the other hand, the control device 3 of the outdoor unit 1 receives a response in step 4 to the transmission to the temporary address M performed in step 3 described above, and determines the address of the indoor unit of the address N1 in step 5. Then, in Step 6, the minimum address N2 other than the addresses registered in Steps 2 and 5 is set to the temporary address M in Step 6.
To the indoor unit. Control unit 4a of indoor unit 2a
Since the address has already been determined to be N1, the transmission in step 6 is not received, and the control device 4b of the indoor unit 2b receives it (step 20). Then, the control device 4b of the indoor unit 2b waits again for a response transmission based on the random number Y in step 21. Since there is no detection of the address duplication of the temporary address M during the standby, the controller 4b transmits the response in step 22.
In step 23, the success of the response transmission is confirmed.
In step 4, the address N2 is determined as the self address.

Further, the control device 3 of the outdoor unit 1 receives the response transmission in step 22 in step 7, and registers the indoor unit of the address N2 as determined in step 8.
Further, the control device 3 of the outdoor unit 1 similarly transmits to the tentative address M in step 9 to set an address N3 that does not overlap with the registered address. However, at this time, there is no indoor unit with the temporary address M, and no response is transmitted from any of the indoor units. Therefore, it is determined that there is no response in step 10 and the automatic address setting is completed in step 11.

Embodiment 2 FIG. In the operation shown in FIG.
The control devices 4a and 4b a and 2b determine the response transmission standby time using a random number in step 14,
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a random number may not be used as in the operation shown in FIG. In this case, the control devices 4a, 4b of the indoor units 2a, 2b respond to the transmission of the address setting to the temporary address M in step 3 from the control device 3 of the outdoor unit 1.
Since the difference in the waiting time until the response transmission is not actively provided, the probability of collision increases, but measures to be taken in the event of a collision and the control devices of multiple indoor units are determined at the same address are taken. If you do, there will be no problems.

As a countermeasure, as shown in FIG. 5, even if the address Nn is determined as its own address in step 50, address duplication is always monitored in step 51, and if address duplication is detected, step 52 is executed. In step 53, the self address is returned to the temporary address M, and
Transmits an address setting request to the control device 3 of the outdoor unit 1. Then, in response to this transmission, the control device 3 of the outdoor unit 1 performs the address setting again according to the procedure shown in FIG. 2 described above, and sets a new address of the control device of the indoor unit that has returned to the temporary address.

Embodiment 3 FIG. The indoor unit control device automatically sets a unique self-address according to the above procedure, but the address determined by the indoor unit control device is lost due to a power failure or the like, and the above-described processing is performed each time the power failure is restored. Must be done. In addition, since the address may change every time a power failure occurs, as shown in FIG. 4, the nonvolatile memory 13 is mounted on the control devices 4a to 4n of the indoor units, and the determined address is stored in the nonvolatile memory 13. With such a configuration, it is not necessary to perform the address setting process every time the power is restored, and the indoor unit control devices 4a to 4a to
4n can keep the once determined address continuously.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
An indoor unit whose address is undetermined waits at a common predetermined temporary address, and first responds to a transmission for setting an address to a temporary address from an outdoor unit among a plurality of indoor units whose addresses are undetermined. The transmitted outdoor unit acquires a predetermined address, and the outdoor unit transmits the address so that the address does not overlap with the temporary address as long as there is an indoor unit with an undetermined address. The machine is configured to assign addresses that do not overlap, so address setting is performed automatically, eliminating the need for address setting work at the installation site, thereby improving maintainability and address setting errors. Therefore, high reliability can be obtained without driving trouble due to the above.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows indoor units 2a to 2 of a multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of n control devices 4a to 4n.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control device of an indoor unit including a nonvolatile memory according to the invention of claim 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a general multi-type air conditioner.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a control device for an outdoor unit or an indoor unit of a conventional multi-type air conditioner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Outdoor unit 2a-2n Indoor unit 3, 4a-4n Controller 5 Communication network 10 Control microcomputer 11 Communication processing unit 12 Address switch 13 Non-volatile memory 14 Detecting means 15 Protocol means 16 Self-address setting means 17 Random number generating means

Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-1-141440 (JP, A) JP-A-6-177894 (JP, A) JP-A-4-177045 (JP, A) JP-A-5-63709 (JP) JP-A-4-123547 (JP, A) JP-A-4-177044 (JP, A) JP-A-3-62755 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB Name) H04Q 9/00-9/16 H04L 12/40

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] A plurality of indoor units are connected to one outdoor unit, and a control device mounted on each of the outdoor unit and each indoor unit is connected via a communication network .
In the multi-type air conditioner for setting an address on a communication network , each of the indoor units communicates with the outdoor unit via the network.
Temporary address of a communication unit, the address is common to other indoor unit when the unconfirmed
Protocol means for setting a network and performing communication on the network, and the outdoor unit transmits the communication network to the indoor unit having the temporary address.
For the transmission of a predetermined address through the network,
If the response transmission is successful before other indoor units,
And a self-address setting means for determining a predetermined address as a self-address. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein each of the indoor units includes a random number generating unit, and the plurality of indoor units are configured based on a random number generated by the random number generating unit.
2. The multi-type air conditioner according to claim 1 , wherein a standby time until response transmission is performed is shifted to avoid collision of response transmission by a plurality of indoor units. 3. The multi-type air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising a nonvolatile memory for storing a self address determined by said self address setting means. 4. Each indoor unit has its own address and other indoor units.
A detection means for detecting a duplicate address of the machine, when the detecting means detects the duplication of addresses, multi according to claim 1, wherein said self-address setting means and returning again tentative address the self address Type air conditioner.