JP4295563B2 - Current display device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a current display device that detects a current flowing through an electric circuit and notifies the user of overuse of electricity before a breaker operates due to overuse of electricity in a house or the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, the amount of electricity used can be determined based on the amount of current, for example, as shown in Patent Document 1, for example, the current supplied to a dwelling unit is monitored, and the current is distributed and supplied to a branch circuit to which a load device is connected. There is a home monitoring system in which a distribution board for connecting to a home information board to which various security sensors such as a fire detector are connected is connected via a signal line. In the housing information panel, the current current consumption is displayed as a percentage (%) with respect to the rated current, and when the value exceeds 100%, the LED blinks or “too much electricity is used” depending on the stage. A voice message such as “Masu” is output to encourage residents to refrain from using electricity. A housing information board is installed in a place that is easily visible to residents, such as living and dining, to make it easier to inform current residents of current usage information.
[0003]
The outline will be described with reference to FIG. 6 (FIG. 1 of Patent Document 1). A current sensor and an alarm signal generating portion are provided in the distribution board. The alarm is performed on a housing information panel installed at another location, and the alarm signal is transmitted from the distribution panel to the housing information panel via a wired signal line L2. In this case, unlike the distribution board, the house information panel is installed in a room where there are many people at all times, such as in the living room, so there is a high possibility that the alarm can be recognized.
[0004]
However, since the alarm signal is transmitted from the distribution board to the information distribution board via a wired signal line, wiring work at the time of installation is necessary, and the burden of introduction cost to the user is large. In addition, anyway, when installing at the time of new construction, there was a problem that the installation to the existing house was very difficult due to the wiring work.
[0005]
In addition, because it is installed and installed as a house monitoring system, including fire sensors, the equipment becomes large, the initial cost at the time of introduction is high, and it is not suitable for cases where it is easy to know the overuse of current.
[0006]
In addition, once the information distribution board is installed, the location cannot be easily moved due to wiring reasons. This is a problem in that when a user uses a load device in a place where an audio alarm cannot be heard unlike an installed room, the alarm does not reach even if electricity is excessively used.
[0007]
Therefore, in order to solve these problems, as in Patent Document 2, it is possible to obtain information on the amount of electricity used and warnings at the place where the appliance is temporarily used, as much as possible in the dwelling unit. Inventions aimed at preventing power outages have been made.
[0008]
According to FIG. 7 (FIG. 1 of Patent Document 2), this device is used in combination with a breaker that automatically cuts off the electric circuit when the rated current is exceeded, and sets a monitoring current according to the rated current of the breaker. A device composed of a master unit and a slave unit for detecting a conduction current of the main unit and displaying information of a breaker conduction current margin with respect to the monitoring current, wherein the master unit includes a conduction current detection unit, a signal processing unit, and a wireless transmission unit The slave unit includes a wireless receiver, a signal processor, and an information display unit, and the master unit or slave unit sets a monitoring current level according to the rated current of the breaker, and the monitoring current level Means for calculating the state of current used, and the power of the slave unit is supplied from the outlet on the load side of the breaker via a plug provided in the slave unit or supplied from the battery Can be moved A current display device characterized by the.
[0009]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-11-225438 (FIG. 1)
[Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-337220 (FIG. 1)
[0010]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the current display device of Patent Document 2 describes that the display means (alarm means) is based on a lamp or sound, but the details are not touched and it is more sure to inform that the current is being used excessively. There is a need to provide concrete means that can. In addition, there is a demand that if the usage state of electricity is displayed anyway, it is only necessary to confirm that the user has forgotten to turn off electricity when going out.
[0011]
In addition, since communication is used between the master unit and the slave unit, an antenna is required for both the master unit and the slave unit. However, the biggest feature of the slave unit is that it can be moved easily. Therefore, it is not desirable that the antenna protrudes outside the slave unit from the standpoint of appearance and handling. In addition, reception may become unstable depending on the location, and information may not be transmitted successfully.
[0012]
In addition, depending on the outlet to which the slave unit is connected, a terminal for connecting the grounding wire may be provided on the surface, and application to such an outlet has not been assumed.
[0013]
In order to solve the above-described problems in the current display device composed of a parent device and a child device, the present invention ensures that information on overuse of electricity can be recognized by the user, except for overuse of electricity. The purpose is to make it possible to check forgetting to cut when going out, to provide a device with a handset that has a good appearance and good handling, and to be applicable to an outlet with a grounding terminal protruding on the surface. It is said.
[0014]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the object, the invention of claim 1 monitors the current flowing in the electric circuit by the master unit arranged on the distribution board, and inserts the information on the current use current into the outlet to wirelessly use the slave unit. In the current display device that transmits and displays / warns information on the current use current on the slave unit side, the slave unit is supplied with power from the outlet via a plug provided on the slave unit, and the master unit A radio signal receiving antenna for receiving information on the current use current transmitted from the machine is provided inside the main unit so as not to protrude outside the slave unit, and a signal processing unit for signal processing the received information on the current use current Based on the information on the current use current, an information display unit composed of a plurality of light emitting elements provided so as to be visible from the outside of the slave unit is driven, and the current use current ratio is displayed stepwise and in advance. Set Provides a current display device, characterized in that configured to alert the overuse of the electrical voice by the voice generator when the current exceeds the monitoring current level is used. As a result, the user can be more surely notified of an overuse alarm of electricity.
[0015]
The invention according to claim 2, stepwise representation of the current used by said plurality of light emitting element, by the signal processing unit, the information of the currently used current corresponds to a standby power of the load device, against the monitoring current level the When the current current ratio is about 5% out of 20% , the low current area can be reduced by turning on the forgetting prevention means that is provided so that it can be seen from the outside of the slave unit and is composed of light emitting elements. The current display device according to claim 1, wherein the current display device can be displayed in more detail to confirm that electricity has been forgotten to be turned off. This makes it possible to check forgetting to turn off electricity when going out.
[0016]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the slave unit is provided with a radio signal reception state display means for displaying whether or not the information on the current use current transmitted from the master unit can be properly received by the signal receiving antenna. A current display device characterized by the above is provided. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the antenna from obstructing the external appearance and handling of the slave unit.
[0017]
The invention of claim 4 provides a current display device characterized in that a recess is provided in the vicinity of the plug of the slave unit so as to enclose the ground terminal on the outlet side . As a result, the slave unit can be used at the best position in the reception state, and information on overuse of electricity can be reliably transmitted to the user.
[0020]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a current display device of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a distribution board, 2 is a main breaker, and in some cases, a current limiter (referred to as a limiter) is provided on the power source side of the main breaker. A branch breaker 3 connected to the load side of the main breaker 2 is not shown, but there are a plurality of branch breakers. 6 is an outlet provided on the load side of the branch breaker 3. Reference numeral 401 denotes a current sensor which is a current detection unit, and can be installed on either the power source side or the load side of the breaker 2 as long as the current passing through the main breaker 2 can be detected. In this embodiment, since the main breaker is for single-phase three-wire wiring, two current sensors are provided. However, in the case of the single-phase two-wire type, only one current sensor is required.
[0021]
Reference numeral 4 denotes a master unit of the current display device, which includes a sensor signal processing unit 402, a current level setting unit 403, and a wireless transmission unit 404. The current level setting unit 403 is configured so that a plurality of monitoring currents can be manually set with a rotary switch. However, the current level setting unit 403 may be previously fixed to one value at the time of manufacture. The base unit 4 is installed in the distribution board 1.
[0022]
100 is a block diagram of the main body of the current display device. The wireless receiver 101, the signal processor 102, the information display unit 103, the sound generator 104, the power plug unit 105, the outlet unit 106, the conductor 107, and the power unit 108 are shown. And an antenna unit 113 connected to the wireless reception unit 101. The power of the main unit 4 is supplied from the distribution board, and the power of the main unit 100 is supplied from the outlet 6 at an arbitrary position.
[0023]
When the current level setting unit 403 can set a plurality of monitoring currents with a rotary switch or the like, it is first necessary to manually operate the current level setting unit 403 of the master unit 4 so that the monitoring current level matches the rated current of the main breaker 2 There is. A current sensor 401 outputs a signal having a magnitude corresponding to the energization current of each through circuit. The signal processing unit 402 calculates a ratio (%, etc.) of the current current to the monitoring current level, performs an extraction process of alarm value data (use current information) determined in advance for each ratio category, and performs the current use. Check if the current exceeds the rated current of the current limiter or breaker and is overused. Then, the alarm value data is transmitted to the wireless transmission unit 404 as usage current information, and the wireless transmission unit 404 transmits the data to the slave unit main body 100 as a wireless signal. The use current information is calculated by the total current of each phase when a limiter is provided on the power source side of the main breaker 2, and is calculated for each phase otherwise.
[0024]
The operation of the slave unit main body 100 will be summarized and described as follows. After receiving the radio signal (use current information) from the base unit by the antenna 113 and the radio reception unit 101, the slave unit main body 100 extracts the use current information by the signal processing unit 102 and determines in advance according to the use current information. The information display unit 103 and the voice generation unit 104 are driven according to the specified specifications (operation specifications will be described later).
[0025]
The information display unit 103 is composed of a plurality of LEDs. For example, the current use current ratio (%) with respect to the monitored current level is displayed in a light-emitting manner, and margin information such as how much current can be used is visually displayed.
[0026]
The sound generation unit 104 generates a sound alarm in response to an instruction from the signal processing unit 102 when the current use current ratio exceeds a set value. If the current current is excessively used with respect to the rated current of the main breaker, that is, 100% or more, a light emission display is performed with an LED, and an alarm such as “too much electricity is used” is issued from the sound generator. .
[0027]
2 and 3 show the appearance of the slave unit 100. FIG. Reference numeral 100 denotes a main body, 105 a power plug unit, 106 an outlet unit, 104 an audio generation unit, 103 an information display unit, 109 a reception sensitivity state display unit, and 113 indicated by a dotted line. The handset 100 can be used by being plugged into an outlet provided on a wall or the like, and has a size that fits in one hand so that it can be easily carried.
[0028]
The following description will be made with the outlet unit 106 side of the slave unit 100 as the front surface and the power plug unit 105 side as the rear surface. The positional relationship between the power plug unit 105 and the outlet unit 106 is such that a wall outlet or the like, and the power plug unit 105 and the outlet unit 106 are connected by a conductor 107 so as to be aligned in a substantially straight line. This is because, when connecting a load device to the slave unit 100, it is possible to connect with one hand without supporting the main body. In addition, the arrangement in a substantially straight line has the advantage that the length of the conductor 107 that electrically connects the power plug portion 105 and the outlet portion 106 can be shortened, and the main body can be made compact.
[0029]
Of course, the outlet portion 106 may be provided on the side surface or bottom surface of the main body to constitute the housing, but in that case, a moment is applied to the power plug portion 105 of the slave unit 100 when the plug of the load device is connected. Therefore, it is necessary to consider cases such as designing the housing in consideration of it, and supporting it with both hands when inserting it.
[0030]
An information display unit 103 that emits light in stages is provided on the front face of the slave unit 100. The information display unit 103 uses six LEDs to display the current usage state. As the amount of current used increases, the number of lights is increased step by step so that the level can be displayed.
[0031]
The handset can be carried around and sent / received by radio signals so that it can be used at the location of the desired outlet. A means for displaying whether or not the radio signal is properly received is a reception sensitivity state display means 160.
[0032]
The antenna unit 113 is disposed so as to be located closer to the front side when viewed from the back side.
In order to prevent the noise from the electric circuit and the interference from the electronic parts of the board, in this embodiment, the handset 100 is inserted into the outlet, and in this embodiment, the antenna is provided on the front side when viewed from the back side of the handset body 100. A portion 113 is provided. The antenna unit 113 is arranged on the same substrate as the LED used for the information display unit 103, and no other components are arranged around 10mm around the antenna unit, eliminating the influence of other electronic components on the substrate. is doing. At the same time, in order to eliminate the influence from the electric circuit, such as a wall outlet and a power plug part, an antenna part is arranged closer to the front side when viewed from the rear side. As a result, radio signals can be received without being affected by noise.
[0033]
As will be described later, when the current ratio is less than 20% of the rated current of the main switch installed in the circuit, it is set to turn on one LED with the lowest level and the main body is operating. As shown. That is, this LED is always lit while the main body is operating. The reception sensitivity state display means 109 also serves as a display for this LED, and when the reception sensitivity is good by the processing of the signal processing unit 102, the LED is always lit, but when the reception sensitivity is not appropriate, the LED is displayed. By blinking the LED, it indicates that the reception sensitivity is not good. That is, when the lowest LED among the LEDs of the information display unit 103 is blinking, this means that a wireless signal has not been received. Thus, in use, if the lowermost LED of the main body 100 is continuously lit, it can be easily recognized that the radio signal from the parent device 4 can be satisfactorily received. When it is blinking, it is moved to an outlet that can receive radio signals appropriately so that the LEDs are continuously lit.
[0034]
The sound generation unit 104 is for generating a predetermined sound, and uses a small speaker. The sound generation unit 104 is provided on the same back side as the power plug unit 105 of the slave unit main body 100. As a result, it is possible to generate sound without impairing the front design.
[0035]
Further, the back surface of the slave unit 100 is provided with a portion (111 in FIG. 3) that contacts a wall outlet and a recessed portion (110 in FIG. 3), and a speaker is provided in the recessed portion. Even when the connection terminal of the grounding electrode is provided so as to protrude from the outlet in the outlet with the grounding electrode, it is possible to insert the body 100 into the outlet by covering the connection terminal by avoiding the connection terminal. it can. Thereby, the variation of the outlet which can use the main body 100 can be expanded.
[0036]
In addition, the recessed portion plays the role of a horn, so that the sound generated from the speaker can be heard more clearly.
[0037]
Next, the operation of the LED of the information display unit 103 and the sound generation unit 104 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, in this embodiment, the light emitting means is composed of six LEDs, and the lighting / extinguishing control is performed from the signal processing unit 102 as follows according to the magnitude of the current ratio. Receive. Also, alarm value data is determined according to each current ratio category. A plurality of LEDs used are L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, and L6.
[0038]
First, when alarm value data 0 is received, it indicates that the current ratio is less than 20% and only L1 is lit. When the alarm value data 1 is received, it indicates that the current ratio is 20% or more and less than 40%, and L1 and L2 are turned on. When the alarm value data 2 is received, it indicates that the current ratio is 40% or more and less than 60%, and L1, L2, and L3 are turned on. When the alarm value data 3 is received, it indicates that the current ratio is 60% or more and less than 80%, and L1, L2, L3, and L4 are turned on. When the alarm value data 4 is received, it indicates that the current ratio is 80% or more and less than 100%, and L1, L2, L3, L4, and L5 are turned on. When the alarm value data 5 is received, the current ratio is 100% or more and less than 110%, and when the alarm value data 6 is received, the current ratio is 110% or more and less than 120%. When the alarm value data 7 is received, the current ratio is 120% or more. In these cases, all of L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, and L6 are turned on.
[0039]
When the alarm value data 4 or less is received, that is, when the current ratio is less than 100%, the signal processing unit 102 does not control the sound generation on the speaker. When alarm value data 5 or more is received, that is, when the current ratio is 100% or more, sound is generated.
[0040]
When the current ratio is 100% or more and less than 110%, a sound generation control signal is transmitted at intervals of 180 seconds. When the current ratio is 110% or more and less than 120%, a voice generation control signal is transmitted at intervals of 10 seconds. When the current ratio is 120% or more, a voice generation control signal is transmitted at intervals of 5 seconds.
[0041]
As described above, the signal processing unit 102 controls the lighting of the LEDs and the speaker of the sound generation unit 104. When the current ratio is greater than 100%, the control section is subdivided. This is because the main switch operates with a certain time limit when the current usage is 100% or more, and the current used is reduced within that time limit. It is because it aims at that.
[0042]
The main switch does not operate when the current ratio is 100%. However, when the current ratio is 120%, the main switch operates within a few minutes to a few hours, and when 200%, the main switch operates within a few tens of seconds to a few minutes. If the load ratio is further used when the current ratio exceeds 100%, the operation time of the main switch will be shortened drastically. To reduce the use of
[0043]
Note that when the current ratio becomes small and a predetermined time elapses, a control signal for generating sound is not transmitted. In this embodiment, 10 seconds are set. When the current ratio increases again and exceeds a predetermined ratio, the voice generation control signal is restarted. In this way, the use of multiple LEDs for step-by-step display of current usage status is cheaper and easier to understand visually than when a display device dedicated to graph display or numerical display is used. Can be displayed.
[0044]
As a second embodiment, FIG. 5 shows a case where a current use state information display unit 103 and a reception sensitivity state display unit 109 are provided separately, and the load device is forgotten to be turned off to save power, such as when going out. The figure shows the addition of forgetting to cut off display means 112 for displaying it. The main body 100 is provided with an information display section 103, a reception sensitivity state display means 109 below it, and a forgetting to cut display means 112 near the center of the main body.
[0045]
As in the case described above, the reception sensitivity state display means 109 is for indicating the reception state of current data transmitted from the parent device 4 and is constituted by an LED. When the reception state is good, the signal processing unit 102 transmits a control signal for performing continuous lighting display to the reception sensitivity state display unit 109, and the reception sensitivity state display unit 109 performs continuous lighting. If the reception status is not good, a blinking display is made to prompt the location to move. By providing it separately from the information display unit indicating the current usage state, the data reception state can be grasped more accurately. In this case, the bottom LED of the information display unit 103 is continuously lit.
[0046]
Further, the forgetting to cut off display means 112 is for displaying forgotten to turn off the load device by grasping in detail the low side of the current ratio, and is constituted by an LED. In this embodiment, in addition to the first embodiment, an area having a current ratio of less than 20% is divided into a plurality of areas, and display is performed when the area falls within a predetermined section. When the rated current of the main switch is 60 A, a current of 12 A flows when the current ratio is 20%. When the voltage is 100V, the power is 1200W. Similarly, when the rated current of the main switch is 30 A, the power is 600 W when the current ratio is 20%. Since standby power is generally about 5% of normal power consumption (several watts to several tens of watts), considering the standby power of multiple load devices, about 5% of the current ratio is 20%. The signal processing unit 102 calculates the received data, and turns on the forgetting to turn off display means 12 when the power is 30W to 60W or more. The threshold value of the power for lighting the forgetting to turn off display means is not limited to the above-described value, and may be set as appropriate using a changeover switch, a rotary switch, or the like. As a result, forgetting to switch off in the load device can be visually recognized, and it is possible to promote prevention of overuse of electricity.
[0047]
As a third embodiment, a case will be described in which the display of the information display unit 103 that emits light in stages is divided into three cases of turning off, blinking, and turning on.
[0048]
Similarly, the number of LEDs is six, and L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, and L6 are from the lowest current ratio. If the current ratio is less than 20% by calculating the received data, only L1 is turned on. Here, L1 may also serve as reception sensitivity state display means.
[0049]
Next, when the current ratio is 20% or more and less than 30%, L1 is turned on and L2 is blinked. Next, when the current ratio is 30% or more and less than 40%, L1 and L2 are turned on. Next, when the current ratio is 40% or more and less than 50%, L1 and L2 are turned on and L3 is blinked. Next, when the current ratio is 50% or more and less than 60%, L1, L2, and L3 are turned on. Next, when the current ratio is 60% or more and less than 70%, L1, L2, and L3 are turned on and L4 is blinked. Next, when the current ratio is 70% or more and less than 80%, L1, L2, L3, and L4 are turned on. Next, when the current ratio is 80% or more and less than 90%, L1, L2, L3, and L4 are turned on and L5 is blinked. When the current ratio is 90% or more and less than 100%, L1, L2, L3, L4, and L5 are turned on. When the current ratio is 100% or more and less than 110%, L1, L2, L3, L4, and L5 are turned on and L6 is blinked. At the same time, a voice is issued every 180 seconds. In the case of 110% or more and less than 120%, all of L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, and L6 are turned on. At the same time, voice alerts are made every 10 seconds. In the case of 120% or more, all of L1, L2, L3, L4, L5 and L6 are turned on. At the same time, a voice alert is issued every 5 seconds.
[0050]
In this way, by properly using the three cases of extinguishing, flashing, and lighting, it is possible to grasp the state of the current used at a lower cost and more precisely without increasing the number of display means provided in the main body. By changing the interval of the blinking time, the meaning may be increased and more expressions may be performed.
[0051]
Further, the apparatus of the present invention is not only applied to the main breaker or the current limiter but may be applied to the branch breaker.
[0052]
【effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, in the current display device composed of the master unit and the slave unit, information on overuse of electricity can be surely recognized by the user, and in addition to overuse of electricity, confirmation of forgetting to turn off when going out is also confirmed. It is possible to provide a device equipped with a slave unit that has a good appearance and is easy to handle, and can be applied to an outlet having a ground terminal protruding on the surface.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an external view of a slave unit.
FIG. 3 is an external view of a slave unit.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an LED lighting state.
FIG. 5 is a diagram of a second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram of a conventional example.
FIG. 7 is a diagram of a conventional example.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Distribution board 2 Main breaker 3 Branch breaker 4 Master unit 401 Current sensor 402 Signal processing unit 403 Current level setting unit 404 Wireless transmission unit 6 Outlet 100 Slave unit 101 Wireless reception unit 102 Signal processing unit 103 Information display unit 104 Sound generation Part 105 Power plug part 106 Outlet part 107 Conductor 108 Power supply part 109 Receiving sensitivity state display means 110 Recessed part 111 Contact part 112 Forgetting to cut off display means 113 Antenna part

Claims (4)

The current flowing in the electric circuit is monitored by the main unit installed on the distribution board, the information on the current use is plugged into the outlet and wirelessly transmitted to the used sub unit, and the current use current information is transmitted on the side of the sub unit. For current display devices that display and warn
The slave is
The power of the slave unit is supplied from the outlet through a plug provided in the slave unit,
A radio signal receiving antenna that receives information on the current usage current transmitted from the master unit is provided inside the main unit so as not to protrude outside the main unit.
A signal processing unit that performs signal processing on the received information on the current use current,
Based on the information of the current working current,
The information display unit consisting of a plurality of light emitting elements provided so as to be visible from the outside of the slave unit is driven to display the current use current ratio step by step and the current exceeding the preset monitoring current level. current display device characterized by configured to alert the overuse of the electrical voice by the voice generating means when it is used. The stepwise display of the current used by the light emitting elements is
By the signal processing unit, the information of the currently used current corresponds to a standby power of the load device, when the ratio of the currently used current pair to monitor current levels of about 5% of 20%, child device body By turning on a forgetting-off prevention means that is provided so as to be visible from the outside and is configured by a light-emitting element, a region with a small current can be displayed in more detail, and forgetting to turn off electricity can be confirmed. Item 2. The current display device according to Item 1. Claim The handset, which by the signal receiving antenna, wherein the information of the currently used current to be transmitted is provided with a reception status display means of a radio signal indicating whether suitably be received from the base unit The current display device according to claim 1 or 2 . The current display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a recess is provided in the vicinity of the plug of the slave unit so as to enclose the ground terminal on the outlet side.

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