JP7374559B2 - Air conditioning control device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an air conditioning control device that instructs an air conditioner having a cooling function to operate.

Conventionally, when the temperature around the LCD monitor reaches a set temperature, the power for the backlight of the LCD monitor is turned off, and the backlight is turned on again after waiting for the temperature to drop, and the user wants to obtain the information they absolutely need. In some cases, an in-vehicle display device is known that displays necessary information by turning on a backlight for a certain period of time when the user presses a predetermined operation key (for example, Patent Document 1 reference.).

Utility Model Publication No. 6-973

By the way, some recent vehicle-mounted devices use a touch panel to operate various devices including an air conditioner (air conditioner). With such in-vehicle devices, when the backlight is turned off, the touch panel becomes unusable, making it impossible to control the air conditioning, which causes problems such as not being able to start the air conditioner when getting into a parked vehicle under the scorching sun. there were. This problem cannot be solved by the in-vehicle display device disclosed in Patent Document 1 mentioned above. For example, if a predetermined operation key is implemented using a touch panel, this operation key cannot be operated when the backlight is not lit, so there is no trigger to turn on the backlight. In addition, in recent years, as touch panels and the liquid crystal display devices that are combined with them have expanded in area, they are increasingly being used for video display, and higher resolution is progressing. Although many dedicated graphic chips have come into general use, the configuration of Patent Document 1 mentioned above does not take any measures against the heat generated by such graphic chips.

The present invention was created in view of these points, and its purpose is to provide an air conditioning control device that is capable of controlling air conditioning using a touch panel even in high-temperature environments, and is capable of lowering the temperature of its own device. Our goal is to provide the following.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an air conditioning control device of the present invention includes an operation screen processing means for creating an operation screen for operating an air conditioner having a cooling function, and a liquid crystal display that is illuminated by a backlight and displays the operation screen. a device, a position detection means for detecting the operation position on the operation screen using a touch panel placed over the screen of the liquid crystal display device, a temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the backlight, and a temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the backlight; The control means turns off the backlight when the temperature exceeds a reference value, and temporarily turns on the backlight when the position detection means detects contact with the touch panel.

By turning off the backlight in a high-temperature environment where the backlight temperature exceeds a reference value, it is possible to lower the temperature of the device itself. In addition, by temporarily turning on the backlight when a touch is detected on the touch panel when the light is off, the amount of heat generated by the backlight can be suppressed while allowing the user to operate the air conditioner (air conditioning control) using the operation screen. It becomes possible.

Further, it is desirable that the above-described control means repeatedly turn off and turn on the backlight when the temperature detected by the temperature detection means exceeds a reference value. Thereby, an operation that was not completed during temporary lighting can be completed during the next lighting.

Further, the above-mentioned control means stops the operation of the operation screen processing means when the backlight is turned off. Generally, the amount of heat generated by the operation screen processing means that creates the operation screen is large, so by stopping the operation of this operation screen processing means in conjunction with turning off the backlight, the temperature of the own device can be further reduced. can be achieved.

Furthermore, the detection operation by the position detection means described above is performed in conjunction with the operation screen processing means, and when the operation screen processing means is stopped by the control means, the operation screen processing means The apparatus further includes a switching means for switching from the control means to the control means. This makes it possible to detect the presence or absence of contact using the touch panel even when the operation screen is in a non-display state when the backlight is turned off.

Further, it is desirable that the control means described above dims the brightness of the backlight when the backlight is turned on, the larger the difference between the temperature detected by the temperature detection means and the reference value. Further, it is preferable that the control means described above shortens the lighting time of the backlight as the difference between the temperature detected by the temperature detection means and the reference value becomes larger. Thereby, the higher the temperature, the more it becomes possible to suppress the self-heating of the device itself, and the effect of temperature reduction can be enhanced.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioning control device according to an embodiment. It is a figure showing an example of an operation screen. It is a figure which shows the relationship between temperature T and the lighting state of a backlight at the time of abnormality. It is a flowchart which shows the operation procedure which reduces temperature in the case of an abnormality. It is a flowchart which shows the operation procedure which reduces temperature in the case of an abnormality.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An air conditioning control device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioning control device according to an embodiment. The air conditioning control device 100 shown in FIG. 1 is installed at a predetermined position in a vehicle, for example, and allows a user to issue various operation instructions to an air conditioner (air conditioner) having a cooling function, and displays a predetermined operation screen. At the same time, the content of the operation is specified by detecting the position on the operation screen using the touch panel.

The air conditioning control device 100 includes an operation screen processing section 110, a display driver 112, a display panel 114, a backlight 116, a touch panel 118, a PWM signal generation section 120, a backlight driver 122, a position detection section 124, a switching section 126, and a temperature sensor 128. , and a control section 130.

The operation screen processing unit 110 creates an operation screen for the user to issue various operation instructions to the air conditioner, and also determines the operation content when an operation button included in this operation screen is pressed by the user. Perform the processing to do. This operation screen processing section 110 is realized using a dedicated graphics chip. Generally, such a graphic chip generates more heat than the control unit 130 and the like.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen. By pointing (pressing) various operation buttons included in this operation screen, the user can issue various operation instructions to the air conditioner.

The display driver 112 drives the display panel 114 based on the video signal output from the operation screen processing section 110, and displays an image of the operation screen indicated by this video signal. The display panel 114 is, for example, a color liquid crystal panel, and is assembled so as to face a backlight 116 that illuminates from the back. The backlight 116 is formed of, for example, an LED.

The touch panel 118 is arranged to overlap the surface of the display panel 114, and detects the position on the screen that a user's finger or the like touches. As the touch panel 118, a capacitive touch panel is used, for example, but a touch panel of another type (resistive film type, etc.) may also be used.

The PWM signal generation unit 120 generates a PWM signal for adjusting the brightness (brightness) of the backlight 116 by PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control of the drive voltage of the backlight 116. The backlight driver 122 drives the backlight 116 at a duty indicated by the PWM signal generated by the PWM signal generation section 120. The backlight 116 lights up brightest when the duty is 100%, becomes darker as the duty decreases, and turns off when the duty is 0%.

The position detection unit 124 is connected to the touch panel 118 and performs processing for detecting the position on the screen touched by the user's finger or the like. For example, in the case of a capacitive touch panel 118, the position detection unit 124 detects changes in capacitance between a plurality of electrodes that are orthogonal to each other, thereby detecting the position on the screen that the user's finger or the like touches. The location can be determined.

The switching unit 126 switches the connection destination that becomes the master of the position detection unit 124. During normal times (when the user issues operational instructions to the air conditioner using the displayed operation screen), the operation screen processing unit 110 issues various instructions to the position detection unit 124, and the position detection unit The position information on the screen detected by 124 is received. Thereby, the operation screen processing section 110 can determine which button (operation instruction content) included in the operation screen generated by itself has been pressed. During this normal time, the position detection section 124 is connected to the operation screen processing section 110 via the switching section 126. On the other hand, in the event of an abnormality in which the temperature of the backlight 116 constituted by LEDs exceeds the allowable range, the position detection section 124 is connected to the control section 130 via the switching section 126. Since the operation screen processing unit 110 (graphic chip) that performs processing such as creating an operation screen generates a large amount of heat compared to the control unit 130 and the like, in this embodiment, in the event of an abnormality, the operation screen processing unit 110 along with the backlight 116 By temporarily stopping the operation of the system, the temperature that has become excessive is lowered.

The temperature sensor 128 is arranged around the backlight 116 and detects the temperature of the backlight 116 (or the temperature around it that is linked to the temperature of the backlight 116).

The control unit 130 controls the entire air conditioning control device 100. This control unit 130 is connected to an air conditioner (not shown) via a communication terminal C, and the operation instruction content determined by the operation screen processing unit 110 through communication according to the CAN (Controller Area Network) protocol, for example. is sent to the air conditioner. Further, the control unit 130 instructs the duty of the PWM signal generated by the PWM signal generation unit 120. Furthermore, when the position detection unit 124 is connected via the switching unit 126, the control unit 130 determines whether or not the touch panel 118 is touched by the user. Note that at the time of this determination, since the operation screen processing unit 110 has stopped operating, nothing is displayed on the display panel 114.

The aforementioned operation screen processing section 110 serves as an operation screen processing means, the display panel 114 serves as a liquid crystal display device, the position detection section 124 serves as a position detection means, the temperature sensor 128 serves as a temperature detection means, and the control section 130 serves as a control means. handle.

The air conditioning control device 100 of this embodiment has such a configuration, and its operation will be described next.

In this embodiment, the case where the temperature T detected by the temperature sensor 128 is less than 100°C (reference value) is the normal state (when the user instructs the air conditioner to operate using the displayed operation screen). , 100° C. or more is considered to be an abnormal state, and when the abnormal state occurs, measures are taken to reduce the temperature, such as turning off the backlight 116 and stopping the operation of the operation screen processing unit 110.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the temperature T and the lighting state of the backlight 116 during abnormal conditions. As shown in FIG. 3, during normal conditions below 100° C., the backlight 116 is always on, and its brightness is not particularly limited.

On the other hand, when the temperature T exceeds 100°C, the degree of restriction increases in proportion to the extent to which the temperature T exceeds 100°C. in particular,
100°C≦T<110°C: Lighting time t is not limited, PWM duty is 50%
110°C≦T<115°C: Lighting time t is 60 seconds, PWM duty is 30%
115°C≦T<120°C: Lighting time t is 10 seconds, PWM duty is 20%
120°C≦T: Lighting time t is 3 seconds, PWM duty is 10%
This limits the lighting time and brightness (PWM duty).

FIGS. 4 and 5 are flowcharts illustrating the operation procedure for reducing the temperature in an abnormal situation. In parallel with the display operation of the operation screen by the operation screen processing unit 110 (step 100), the control unit 130 determines whether the temperature T of the backlight 116 detected by the temperature sensor 128 is less than 100°C (step 102). If the temperature is less than 100°C, an affirmative determination is made and the process returns to step 100 to continue displaying the operation screen.

Further, if the temperature T is 100°C or higher, a negative determination is made in the determination at step 102. Next, the control unit 130 sends an instruction to the PWM signal generation unit 120 to set the duty of the PWM signal to 0% and turn off the backlight 116 (step 104), and also sends an instruction to the operation screen processing unit 110 to turn off the backlight 116. The operation is stopped (step 106). Further, the control unit 130 sends an instruction to the switching unit 126 to switch the connection destination of the position detection unit 124 from the operation screen processing unit 110 to the control unit 130 (step 108). Through the operations in steps 104 and 106, the backlight 116 and the operation screen processing unit 110, which generate a large amount of heat, stop operating, and the temperature rise due to self-heating of the air conditioning control device 100 itself is suppressed.

Next, the control unit 130 monitors the position detection unit 124 and determines whether contact of the user's finger on the touch panel 118 is detected (step 110). If there is no contact, a negative judgment will be made. Next, the control unit 130 determines whether the temperature T has become less than 100°C (step 112). If the temperature is maintained at 100° C. or higher, a negative determination is made, and the process returns to step 110 to repeat the user's finger contact determination.

Further, when the temperature T decreases to less than 100° C. as a result of the backlight 116 and the operation screen processing section 110 stopping operating, an affirmative determination is made in step 112. In this case, in order to return to the normal state from the abnormal state, the control unit 130 sends an instruction to the PWM signal generation unit 120 to turn on the backlight 116 (step 114), and also causes the operation screen processing unit 110 to turn on the backlight 116 (step 114). to enable the operation (step 116). Further, the control unit 130 sends an instruction to the switching unit 126 to switch the connection destination of the position detection unit 124 from the control unit 130 to the operation screen processing unit 110 (step 118). Thereafter, the process returns to step 100 and the display operation of the operation screen is restarted.

Furthermore, when the operation of the backlight 116 and the operation screen processing unit 110 is stopped, if contact of the user's finger on the touch panel 118 is detected, an affirmative determination is made in step 110. Next, the control unit 130 sends an instruction to the PWM signal generation unit 120 to turn on the backlight 116 at a PWM duty (FIG. 3) corresponding to the temperature T at that time (step 120), and the operation screen processing unit 110 to enable the operation (step 122). Further, the control unit 130 sends an instruction to the switching unit 126 to switch the connection destination of the position detection unit 124 from the control unit 130 to the operation screen processing unit 110 (step 124). Through these operations, the operation screen display operation is restarted (step 126). The user can use this displayed operation screen (FIG. 2) to give instructions for starting the air conditioner, adjusting the temperature, etc.

Next, the control unit 130 determines whether a lighting time t (FIG. 3) of the backlight 116 corresponding to the temperature T has elapsed since the operation screen display operation was restarted (step 128). If the time has not elapsed, a negative determination is made and the process returns to step 126 to continue displaying the operation screen.

Further, when the lighting time t of the backlight 116 has elapsed, an affirmative determination is made in step 128. Next, the control unit 130 sends an instruction to the PWM signal generation unit 120 to set the duty of the PWM signal to 0% and turn off the backlight 116 (step 130), and also sends an instruction to the operation screen processing unit 110 to turn off the backlight 116. The operation is stopped (step 132). Furthermore, the control unit 130 sends an instruction to the switching unit 126 to switch the connection destination of the position detection unit 124 from the operation screen processing unit 110 to the control unit 130 (step 134). Through the operations in steps 130 and 132, the operations of the backlight 116 and the operation screen processing section 110, which generate a large amount of heat, are stopped again.

Next, the control unit 130 determines whether a predetermined time has elapsed since the backlight 116 and the operation screen processing unit 110 stopped operating (step 136). This predetermined time may be the same as the lighting time t (FIG. 3) of the backlight 116 corresponding to the temperature T, or may be a fixed time that is not related to the temperature T. If the time has not elapsed, a negative determination is made and this determination is repeated. Furthermore, if the predetermined time has elapsed, an affirmative determination is made in step 136. In this case, the process returns to step 110 and the user's finger contact determination is repeated.

In this way, in the air conditioning control device 100 of this embodiment, by turning off the backlight 116 in a high temperature environment where the temperature of the backlight 116 exceeds the reference value, it is possible to lower the temperature of the device itself. In addition, by temporarily turning on the backlight 116 when a touch is detected on the touch panel 118 when the light is turned off, the amount of heat generated by the backlight 116 can be suppressed while the user operates the air conditioner using the operation screen (the air conditioner control) becomes possible.

Further, by repeatedly turning off and turning on the backlight 116 when the detected temperature exceeds the reference value, an operation that was not completed when the backlight was temporarily turned on can be completed when the backlight is turned on the next time.

Further, when the backlight 116 is turned off, the operation of the operation screen processing section 110 is also stopped. Generally, the amount of heat generated by the operation screen processing section 110, which performs the process of creating an operation screen, is large, so by stopping the operation of the operation screen processing section 110 at the same time as the backlight 116 is turned off, the self-device can be further improved. Temperature reduction can be achieved.

The detection operation by the position detection unit 124 is performed in conjunction with the operation screen processing unit 110 (under the control of the operation screen processing unit 110), and when the operation screen processing unit 110 stops operating, the detection operation by the position detection unit 124 is performed in conjunction with the operation screen processing unit 110. The cooperation destination of the detection operation is switched from the operation screen processing unit 110 to the control unit 130. Thereby, even when the operation screen is in a non-display state when the backlight 116 is turned off, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of a touch using the touch panel 118.

Furthermore, the larger the difference between the temperature T of the backlight 116 and the reference value, the darker the brightness when the backlight 116 is turned on (reducing the PWM duty) and the shorter the lighting time of the backlight 116. The higher the temperature T is, the more self-heating of the device itself can be suppressed, and the temperature reduction effect can be enhanced.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, in the embodiment described above, the operation of the backlight 116 and the operation screen processing unit 110 is stopped, but only the backlight 116, which generates more heat, may be turned off. Furthermore, when the backlight 116 is turned on when the temperature T exceeds the reference value, the lighting time t and the brightness (PWM duty) are changed at the same time according to the temperature T, but only one of them is changed. It's okay.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the air conditioning control device 100 that controls an air conditioner installed in a vehicle has been described, but the present invention is also applicable to controlling an air conditioner used indoors or outdoors other than in a vehicle. be able to.

As described above, according to the present invention, by turning off the backlight in a high-temperature environment where the temperature of the backlight exceeds a reference value, it is possible to lower the temperature of the device itself. In addition, by temporarily turning on the backlight when a touch is detected on the touch panel when the light is off, the amount of heat generated by the backlight can be suppressed while allowing the user to operate the air conditioner (air conditioning control) using the operation screen. It becomes possible.

100 Air conditioning control device 110 Operation screen processing section 112 Display driver 114 Display panel 116 Backlight 118 Touch panel 120 PWM signal generation section 122 Backlight driver 124 Position detection section 126 Switching section 128 Temperature sensor 130 Control section

Claims (4)

an operation screen processing means for creating an operation screen for operating an air conditioner having a cooling function;
a liquid crystal display device that is illuminated by a backlight and displays the operation screen;
position detection means for detecting an operation position within the operation screen using a touch panel placed over the screen of the liquid crystal display device;
temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the backlight;
When the temperature detected by the temperature detection means exceeds a reference value, the backlight is turned off, and when the position detection means detects a touch on the touch panel, the backlight is temporarily turned off. control means for performing;
The control means stops the operation of the operation screen processing means when the backlight is turned off,
The detection operation by the position detection means is performed in conjunction with the operation screen processing means,
The air conditioning control device further comprises a switching means for switching a detection operation by the position detection means from the operation screen processing means to the control means when the control means stops the operation of the operation screen processing means. . The air conditioning control device according to claim 1, wherein the control means repeatedly turns off and on the backlight when the temperature detected by the temperature detection means exceeds a reference value. The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the control means dims the brightness of the backlight when the backlight is turned on, the larger the difference between the temperature detected by the temperature detection means and the reference value. Control device. 3. The air conditioning control device according to claim 1 , wherein the control means shortens the lighting time of the backlight as the difference between the temperature detected by the temperature detection means and the reference value becomes larger.

Images