JP3603210B2 - Wireless transmitter - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to a configuration of a transmission unit of an intrusion alarm system that detects a human motion and issues an alarm signal, and particularly relates to a technique for reducing power consumption in the transmission unit.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, a sensor unit that detects the passage of a person or the movement of a person in a specific area, a transmission unit that transmits a detection signal output from the sensor unit to another place by radio waves, and a transmission unit that is emitted from the transmission unit There has been an intrusion alarm system called a wireless sensor system having a receiving unit for receiving a radio wave.
Such a system includes a wireless transmitter with a sensor function in which a sensor unit and a radio wave transmitting unit are integrated, and a controller unit having a function of receiving a radio wave, a reporting function, an alarm function, and the like. This is generally used, and wiring work between the transmission unit and the controller unit is unnecessary, so that it is frequently used. The wireless transmitter with a sensor function is driven by a battery, and can function continuously for one to two years or more with one battery change.
Power is consumed by both the sensor unit and the radio wave transmission unit, but in order to minimize power consumption in the sensor unit, a passive infrared detection system using a pyroelectric infrared detection element is adopted as the sensor unit. Often do.
The radio wave transmitting unit transmits a radio wave at a predetermined output intensity for a certain period of time in accordance with a detection signal from the sensor unit, and the power consumed increases or decreases depending on the number of times of transmitting the radio wave.
[0003]
The intrusion alarm system monitors unmanned factories, offices, general houses, and the like, and the operation of the system is stopped during the time when people enter and leave. The suspension of the system is realized so that the receiver does not receive the transmitted radio wave. However, even during the suspension period of the system, the transmission unit continues to send a detection signal each time the sensor unit detects a human movement. For this reason, when there are many people who move in and out and move around, the detection signal is continuously sent many times, and the battery consumption during this period has shortened the battery life.
Conventionally, in order to avoid this problem, once the radio wave is transmitted, the transmission of the radio wave is forcibly stopped for a certain period of time (for example, two minutes) to extend the battery life.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in such a simple system in which the transmission operation is forcibly stopped for a certain period of time, it is determined whether the sensor unit has issued the detection signal only once or two or three times continuously. There was an inconvenience that it could not be determined on the side. To alleviate this inconvenience, a method of stopping the transmission for a certain period after a certain number of transmission operations may be considered. In this case, however, there remains a problem that the battery life is shorter than when the number of transmissions is limited to one. .
The present invention has been made in order to solve such a conventional problem, and provides a wireless transmitter with a sensor function that achieves both the extension of battery life and the appropriate timing of transmission of a detection signal to a receiving unit. It is what we are going to offer.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve this object, the present invention is configured as follows.
A radio wave transmitting unit that receives a detection signal from the sensor unit and transmits the signal on a radio signal, operates after transmitting the radio wave, and measures time until a new detection signal from the sensor unit is received thereafter. It has an accumulation timer and a counting circuit that increases the count value as the measurement time of the accumulation timer increases. Further, each time a detection signal is input from the sensor unit, the count value of the counting circuit is reduced, and the counting circuit counts. The control unit includes a regulation timer that starts measuring time after the value becomes zero, and controls a radio wave transmission while monitoring the input state of the detection signal from the sensor unit, the count value of the counting circuit, and the state of the regulation timer. A configuration is provided.
[0006]
[Action]
According to the wireless transmitter with the sensor function of the present invention having such a configuration, for example, if no detection signal has been sent from the sensor unit for more than 8 minutes in the past, the count value of four times is added to the counting circuit. Is stored, and when a detection signal is input from the sensor unit in this state, the radio wave transmitting unit operates continuously up to four times, whereby the sensor unit on the receiving unit side is operated at least four times. It can be known that the detection signal is continuously generated. After that, even if the detection signal is input for the fifth time or later, the transmission of the radio wave based on the detection signal is restricted by the transmission unit, and the battery consumption of the transmission unit is prevented as before. .
[0007]
【Example】
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of a wireless sensor system including a transmission unit according to the present invention.
The sensor unit 1 and the transmission unit 2 are integrated into a wireless transmitter with a sensor function as a whole, and a radio wave emitted from the transmitter and containing information indicating that a human body has been detected is received at a remote location. The configuration reaches the section 3.
The sensor unit 1 is constituted by a passive infrared detector (often called a passive sensor) using a pyroelectric infrared detection element. The sensor section 1 has a sensitivity enough to cover a detection area having a size of 70 m ² or more, and can detect a movement of a human who has entered the detection area with high sensitivity.
[0008]
The detection signal output from the sensor unit 1 is sent to the transmission unit 2 as a pulse signal having a pulse width of about several seconds. The transmission unit 2 includes a control unit 21, a counting circuit 22, an accumulation timer 23, a regulation timer 24, a radio wave transmission unit 25, and a time setting input unit 26, receives an input signal from the sensor unit 1, and The radio wave transmitting section 25 emits a radio wave including a predetermined code signal. The operations of the sensor unit 1 and the transmitting unit 2 are covered by electric power supplied from a battery (not shown).
[0009]
The receiving unit 3 receives a radio wave emitted from the wireless transmitter with a sensor function, reads a predetermined code signal included therein, and sends a signal through an alarm device (not shown) or a telephone line according to the content of the signal. Send a signal to a device or the like. The operation of each unit constituting the transmission unit 2 will be described in detail below. The control unit 21 controls the entire transmission unit, and finally determines whether to transmit the radio wave from the radio wave transmission unit 25 or limit the transmission of the radio wave when there is an input signal from the sensor unit. I do. The counting circuit 22 counts from 0 to 4, increases or decreases the count value based on a command from the control unit 21, and stores the numerical value. The accumulation timer 23 starts measurement of time (hereinafter, referred to as a set) and stops measurement of time (hereinafter, referred to as a reset) based on a command from the control unit 21. The control unit 21 resets the accumulation timer 23 in synchronization with the rise of the pulse signal sent to the radio wave transmission unit 25, and sets the accumulation timer 23 in synchronization with the fall. The restriction timer 24 is set by the control unit 21 and thereafter is automatically reset after a lapse of a time t set in the restriction timer itself.
[0010]
Time setting input unit 26, the value of time t with regulated timer 24 is for inputting from the outside, 2 minutes in this example, 5 minutes, one of the three ways of 15 minutes time Only you can select and enter. The count value of the counting circuit 22 is 4 immediately after the power is turned on, and thereafter, the count value is decreased by 1 according to the fall of the pulse signal input from the sensor unit 1. When the accumulation timer 23 measures the elapse of the time t, the count increases by one count. Subsequently, each time the accumulation timer 23 measures the elapse of the time t, the count increases by one count. Repeat this up to a maximum of 4 counts. The control unit 21 constantly monitors the count value of the counting circuit 22. If the count value is not 0, the control unit 21 sends a signal to the radio wave transmitting unit 25 every time a pulse signal is input from the sensor unit 1, and the radio wave is transmitted from the radio wave transmitting unit 25. Fired.
[0011]
FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 are time charts showing the operation of each component of the transmission unit. (A) is a pulse signal input from the sensor unit 1, (b) is a count value of the counting circuit 22, (c) is a state of the accumulation timer 23, (d) is a state of the regulation timer 24, and (e) is a radio wave. The output signal of the sending unit 25 is shown. FIG. 2 shows a case where five pulse signals are input after the power is turned on. Each time one pulse signal is input, the count value of the counting circuit decreases. When the fifth pulse is input, the count value shown in (b) is 0, and the count value is shown in (e). There is no output from the radio wave transmitter. As shown in (d), the regulation timer is set when the count value of the counting circuit becomes 0, and is reset after the time t has elapsed. The accumulation timer shown in (c) remains set after four consecutive signal outputs from the radio wave transmitting unit, increases the count value of the counting circuit by one after the lapse of time t, and thereafter increases by one every time t. It is rising at a time.
[0012]
FIG. 3 shows a case where a pulse signal is continuously input from the sensor unit even after the lapse of the regulation timer time t. During the time when the regulation timer is set, no radio wave transmission is performed.
FIG. 4 shows the operation when a pulse signal is input from the sensor unit 1 to the extent that the count value of the counting circuit does not reach 0, and once when the accumulation timer measures the elapse of the time t, once, and thereafter. This indicates that the count number of the counting circuit increases once each time the elapsed time t is measured. The regulation timer shown in (d) is not set because the count value of the counting circuit shown in (b) is not 0. In the present embodiment, the count value of the counting circuit immediately after the power is turned on is 4, but this count value may be set to 0. In this case, when the accumulation timer measures the elapse of the time 4t after the power is turned on, it becomes the same as the initial value of the present embodiment.
[0013]
As described above, the transmission unit of the present invention employs a regulation timer as a means for regulating continuous radio wave transmission, and delays the set timing according to past radio wave transmission states. In the present embodiment, the past radio wave transmission state is recognized by the control unit that monitors the state by using the accumulation timer as the time measuring means and the counting circuit as the counting means whose count value increases according to the elapsed time. Although the form of causing the movement is adopted, other means may be used as long as the same movement is realized. For example, an equivalent operation can be realized by control using a computer program.
Although the count value of the counting circuit is fixed to a maximum of 4 in this embodiment, this maximum value may be set to a larger value or may be changed by an external operation.
[0014]
【The invention's effect】
According to the wireless transmitter of the present invention, the continuous signal input from the sensor unit is ignored during the operation of the restriction timer, and the battery can be prevented from being consumed during the operation. When used as a transmitter with a sensor function in a wireless sensor system, a continuous signal input from the sensor unit generated during operation of the system becomes a continuous transmission output as it is in accordance with the count value of the counter circuit. The receiving unit receiving the information can know that the sensor unit continuously outputs the detection signal by the movement of the intruder or the like.
[0015]
Conventionally, the regulation timer works as soon as the detection signal is input to the transmission unit once, and transmission is performed only once, so whether the signal output from the sensor unit is single or continuous is determined by the reception unit side. I couldn't know. Even if there is, transmission is performed unconditionally up to a certain number of times irrespective of the past transmission state, so that the effect of preventing battery consumption cannot be expected.
According to the present invention, the conflicting problems can be solved at once, and the reliability of information transmission and the prolongation of the battery life can be realized at the same time. Further, in the system using the transmission unit of the present invention, the signal output is continuously output only by waiting for a predetermined time to elapse, so that the operation check operation at the time of installation of the system and after the installation is also required. It became easier to do.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of a wireless sensor system including a transmission unit according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a time chart showing the operation of each component of the transmission unit when five pulse signals are input after the power is turned on.
FIG. 3 is a time chart showing the operation of each component of the transmission unit when a pulse signal is continuously input after the power is turned on.
FIG. 4 is a time chart showing the operation of each component of the transmission unit when a pulse signal is input such that the count value of the counting circuit does not reach 0 after power-on.
[Explanation of symbols]
1. 1. Sensor unit Transmission unit 3. Receiver 21. Control unit 22. Counting circuit 23. Accumulation timer 24. Regulation timer 25. Radio wave transmitting unit 26. Time setting input section

Claims (1)

A wireless transmitter that uses a battery as a power source and transmits a detection signal output from a sensor unit that detects human movement by a radio signal , wherein the transmitter includes a control unit, an accumulation timer, a counting circuit, and a radio transmission unit. And a regulation timer, wherein the control unit resets the accumulation timer in synchronization with the rise of the pulse signal sent to the radio wave transmission unit, sets the accumulation timer in synchronization with the fall, and counts the time elapsed by the accumulation timer. The count value of the counting circuit is increased in response to the detection signal, and the count value of the counting circuit is decreased each time the detection signal output from the sensor section is input . When the count value falls below a certain value, the regulation timer is activated. is operated, wireless transmitter, characterized in that during its operation period is intended to stop the output of the pulse signal to the radio transmission section.

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