JP7040751B2 - Switchgear - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a device for opening and closing a roll-up blind (curtain) called a roll screen.

Patent Document 1 describes to provide a roll screen device capable of reliably performing an automatic lowering operation and a positioning operation of a screen. This roll screen device includes a screen, a take-up pipe to which the upper side of the screen is attached, a weight body attached to the lower side of the screen to extend the screen downward, an operation chain, and first and second. A clutch unit is provided between the support portion, the first support portion, and one end of the take-up pipe, and the operation chain is hung from both sides. The clutch unit has a pipe rotating body that rotates integrally with the take-up pipe, a drive rotating body that is rotated by engaging with an operation chain, and a driven rotating body that can be disengaged from the drive rotating body. ..

There is known a blind in which a screen is suspended from a support member and a ball chain capable of operating the screen is hung from the support member. Such a roll-up screen (blind, curtain) is called a roll screen, and is sometimes called a roll blind or a roll curtain.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-160591

Roll screens with a built-in drive device are known, but there is a demand for a device that can be retrofitted and can be remotely raised and lowered without changing the structure of the manual roll screen.

One aspect of the present invention is a switchgear that is detachably attached while being suspended from a chain that operates a roll-up blind. The switchgear has a sprocket that engages the chain, a drive unit that rotationally drives the sprocket, and a weight that sets the center of gravity of the switchgear vertically below the sprocket. This switchgear can be attached to a chain (ball chain) for manually operating a roll-up blind (roll screen) by suspending (hanging) it via a sprocket that drives the chain. be. Therefore, a device that automatically opens and closes the roll screen without changing the structure of the roll screen can be easily attached later.

The switchgear may include a control unit that receives a signal for controlling the drive unit via radio. The roll screen can be opened and closed remotely via a dedicated operation terminal or an application (application) running on a general-purpose terminal such as a smartphone. Further, the switchgear may have a control unit that outputs a signal for controlling the drive unit in conjunction with a detection result of at least one of light, sound, temperature, and time. The weight may include a battery for the drive unit.

The switchgear sprocket is engaged with the U-shaped portion of the lower end of the chain, and the control unit receives when the load of the drive unit reaches a first load for raising the switchgear itself along the chain. It includes a first function of stopping the drive unit. This switchgear hangs from the ball chain and rotates the ball chain by the force (load) of the sprocket that opposes its own weight. Therefore, when the screen reaches the winding limit or the winding limit and the raising / lowering roller (pipe, support member) stops, the ball chain does not rotate. Therefore, when the sprocket is further rotated, the sprocket tries to make the switchgear climb along the ball chain. Therefore, the weight of the switchgear is applied to the sprocket as a load, and the limit of opening and closing of the roll screen can be detected by detecting the load of the sprocket.

Further, the control unit stores the first rotation angle at which the load of the drive unit reaches the first load for each rotation direction of the sprocket, and the drive unit before the rotation angle of the sprocket reaches the first rotation angle. It may include a second function of controlling the speed of the. By stopping the sprocket or reducing the rotation speed before the roll screen is completely raised or lowered, the load on the mechanism for raising and lowering the roll screen such as the ball chain and the roller for raising and lowering can be reduced.

The figure which shows the state which the switchgear is attached to the roll screen. FIG. 2A is a view showing the appearance of the switchgear, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the switchgear. The flowchart which shows an example of the control of a switchgear.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which the opening / closing device 10 is attached to the roll screen 1 which is a roll-up blind. The roll screen 1 is a cloth screen (blind, curtain) 2 extending downward (vertically downward) from the winding roller 9 and a roller 9 for rotating and driving the screen 2 to wind up or down. Includes a chain (ball chain) 3. The switchgear 10 has a housing 17 having a built-in drive mechanism and the like, and a sprocket 11 provided so as to be exposed to the outside of the housing 17. The switchgear 10 is suspended (hanged) from the lower end of the ball chain 3 by attaching the sprocket 11 to the U-shaped portion of the lower end of the ball chain 3 so as to engage (engage). , Can be detachably attached to the roll screen 1.

FIG. 2A shows the switchgear 10 extracted, and FIG. 2B shows a schematic configuration of the switchgear 10 using a cross section. The switchgear 10 includes a sprocket 11 in which a plurality of balls 3a are engaged with a ball chain 3 connected by a wire 3b, and a housing 17 connected to the sprocket 11 via a drive shaft 12. The housing 17 includes a drive unit 13 that rotationally drives the sprocket 11 via a drive shaft 12, a control unit 20 that controls the drive unit 13, and a battery (battery) that serves as a power source for driving the drive unit 13 and the control unit 20. ) 16 and a weight (weight) 15. An example of the drive unit 13 is a geared motor, and the built-in stepping motor can rotate the sprocket 11 in a predetermined direction by a predetermined angle (rotation angle). Further, torque monitoring and torque control can be performed by performing current monitoring or current control.

The weight 15 is arranged together with the battery 16 so that the center of gravity 19 of the switchgear 10 is set below the vertical direction 18 of the sprocket 11. By setting the center of gravity 19 in the vertical direction 18 of the sprocket 11, the opening / closing device 10 can be stably attached to the ball chain 3, and by rotationally driving the sprocket 11, the ball chain 3 can be moved up and down to open / close the screen 2. ..

Further, the weight 15 includes a function of determining the own weight W of the switchgear 10 together with the battery 16. The weight W of the switchgear 10 operates (drives) the ball chain 3 with the switchgear 10 as an anchor while the sprocket 11 is suspended from the ball chain 3 within a range that can be comfortably suspended from the ball chain 3. It is set in a range sufficient to do so. For example, the weight W of the switchgear 10 is preferably 1 kg or more and 3 kg or less, and may be 1.5 kg or more and 2.5 kg or less.

The sprocket 11 is a gear having a tooth shape that matches the pitch of the balls 3a of the ball chain 3, and the diameter is preferably 5 cm or more and 15 cm or less, and may be 8 cm or more and 12 cm or less. The sprocket 11 may be provided with a portion or a plate that guides the movement of the ball chain 3 around (around) the sprocket 11 so that the ball chain 3 does not easily come off the sprocket 11.

The control unit 20 may be a microcomputer including a CPU, a memory, and a short-range wireless communication function. The control unit 20 moves and rolls the sprocket 11 by the wireless communication function 21, the function (first function) 22 for initializing the movement of the switchgear 10, and the signal (command) received via the wireless communication function 21. It includes a function (second function) 23 for opening and closing the screen 1 (screen 2).

An example of the wireless communication function 21 is Bluetooth (registered trademark), may be WiFi (registered trademark), may be a wireless LAN, may be an infrared communication unit, or the like. The control unit 20 can open and close the roll screen 1 by communicating with a terminal such as a smart phone (not shown) and receiving a signal from the smart phone via the wireless communication function 21. Therefore, the user can download a predetermined application to the smartphone and remotely open and close the roll screen 1 via the opening / closing device 10 by the application.

The control unit 20 further includes an automatic control function 24 that autonomously opens and closes the roll screen 1. The automatic control function 24 outputs a signal for controlling the drive unit 13 in conjunction with the detection result of the sensor 25 that detects at least one of light, sound, and temperature. An example of the automatic control function 24 is to judge day and night based on the outdoor brightness, the light intensity of a predetermined wavelength, the ratio of indoor / outdoor brightness, etc. in combination with the illuminance sensor 25, and to judge the glare of the west sun. It is a function to open and close the roll screen 1 by squeezing. Another example of the automatic control function 24 is a function of opening and closing the roll screen 1 at a preset time by a timer. The automatic control function 24 may have a function of opening and closing the roll screen 1 according to the room temperature in conjunction with the temperature sensor. The automatic control function 24 may have a control function linked to the air conditioning system. Further, the automatic control function 24 may have a function of recognizing voice or other sounds by the sensor 25 and controlling the roll screen 1.

Further, the smartphone application that controls the switchgear 10 may include a function of linking with other applications. For example, if the wake-up time or the like is set by another application of the smartphone, a command to open / close the roll screen 1 may be automatically transmitted to the opening / closing device 10 at the set time.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the operation of the switchgear 10 by a flowchart. In step 51, the wireless communication function 21 receives a communication (command) from the smart phone. If the command is the initial setting in step 52, the initial setting of the switchgear 10 is performed by the first function 22 in step 53. In the initial setting, for example, the raising / lowering direction (opening / closing direction) of the sprocket 11 and the fully open / fully closed position (rotation angle, rotation speed) of the roll screen 1 can be set. The raising / lowering direction of the screen 2 may change depending on the position where either the left or right chain 3 is provided, or the user may manually set the screen 2 in the smartphone application.

The user may manually set the fully open / fully closed position (such as the total rotation angle of the sprocket 11) in the application. In this example, the load (torque) of the drive unit 13 can increase the own weight W by utilizing the fact that the opening / closing device 10 is a device that operates the ball chain 3 using the own weight W as a weight (anchor). When the value (first load) is reached, the first function 22 of the control unit 20 stops the drive unit 13 and raises the stopped position (overload position, rotation angle, first rotation angle). It is stored in the memory as a limit value (fully open position or fully closed position) in the (open direction) or down direction (closed direction). For example, in FIG. 2A, the overload position when the sprocket 11 is rotated counterclockwise 5 is stored as the fully open position, and the overload position when the sprocket 11 is rotated clockwise 6 is set as the fully closed position. Remember.

Upon receiving a command to raise (open) the screen 2 from the smartphone in step 54, the opening / closing function (second function) 23 of the control unit 20 opens the sprocket 11 via the drive unit 13 in step 55. Rotate in the direction to the fully open position or the upper limit position in front of it. The upper limit position is preferably a position (rotation angle) immediately before the position (fully open position) where the drive unit 13 is overloaded so that the rotation mechanism of the roll screen 1 is not overloaded. The opening / closing function 23 reduces the rotation speed of the motor from a position (rotation angle) to some extent before the fully open position to accurately control the stop position, and reduces the load of the rotation mechanism of the roll screen 1 or the impact at the time of stop. be able to.

Upon receiving a command to lower (close) the screen 2 from the smartphone in step 56, the opening / closing function 23 of the control unit 20 closes the sprocket 11 in the closing direction via the drive unit 13 in step 57. It rotates to the lower limit position before that. As with the upper limit position, the lower limit position is preferably the position (rotation angle) immediately before the position (fully closed position) where the drive unit 13 is overloaded so that the rotation mechanism of the roll screen 1 is not overloaded. ..

As shown above, the opening / closing device 10 of the present invention can be attached so as to be suspended from the chain 3 of the roll screen 1, and then the opening / closing of the roll screen 1 is remotely operated by the smartphone application. be able to. Therefore, with this switchgear 10, it can be attached to the existing roll screen 1 for remote control, a remote function can be added to the manual type roll screen 1, and the roll screen can be used in high places on walls and ceilings and inaccessible windows. It is possible to attach 1 and open and close it remotely.

1 roll screen, 10 switchgear, 11 sprocket

Claims (5)

A switchgear that is detachably attached while suspended from a chain that operates a roll-up blind.
A sprocket that engages with the U-shaped portion of the lower end of the chain,
A drive unit that rotationally drives the sprocket,
A weight that sets the center of gravity of the switchgear vertically below the sprocket ,
A switchgear having a control unit including a first function of stopping the drive unit when the load of the drive unit reaches a first load for raising the switchgear itself along the chain . In claim 1,
The weight is a switchgear including a battery for the drive unit. In claim 1 or 2,
The control unit is a switchgear including a function of receiving a signal for controlling the drive unit via radio. In claim 1 or 2,
The control unit is a switchgear including a function of outputting a signal for controlling the drive unit in conjunction with a detection result of at least one of light, sound, temperature, and time. In any of claims 1 to 4 ,
The control unit stores the first rotation angle at which the load of the drive unit reaches the first load for each rotation direction of the sprocket, and the rotation angle of the sprocket reaches the first rotation angle. An opening / closing device that previously comprises a second function of controlling the speed of the drive unit.

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