JPH0115240B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a remote control circuit for remotely controlling a main body of equipment, and is intended to be applied to remote control of household boilers, water heaters, and the like.

Conventional configuration and its problems First, a conventional example will be explained with reference to FIG.

In the main body A, 1 is the main body of the water heater, and 2 is its heat source. 3 is a heat source control means, which is an electromagnetic valve or an electromagnetic pump constituting a heat source that provides thermal energy to water; 4 is a drive circuit thereof, which is composed of a transistor, a thyristor, etc. 5 is the main control means, which usually uses a microcomputer. 6 is a hot water temperature detection element that detects the hot water temperature. 7 is a power supply circuit that supplies power to the main body side and the remote control unit. 8 is a signal transmission line, and 8-a is a signal transmission line for transmitting a signal from the remote control section to the main control means. 8-b, 8-c, and 8-d send signals from the main control means, and 8-e and 8-f are power and ground wires.

In the remote control section B, numeral 9 denotes a receiving circuit that receives transmission signals from the main control means, and is usually composed of a microcomputer, a shift register circuit, etc. Reference numeral 10 denotes a display device that displays the operating status of the water heater. 11 is a switch, a hot water temperature setting volume, etc., and 12 is a transmitting circuit for sending a signal to the main control means, and a microcomputer, an analog switch, etc. are used.

Next, the operation will be explained.

A case where the receiving circuit 9 and the transmitting circuit 12 in the remote control section B use a shift register and an analog switch will be explained using FIG. 2.

A clock signal and a data signal are sent from the main control means 5 to the receiving circuit 9 of the remote control section B. The clock signal is a synchronizing signal when serially transmitting the data signal of the main terminal, and the data signal (lower) is a display signal and a channel signal of the transmitting circuit 12, respectively. When a series of data signals B is transmitted, a strobe signal 11 is transmitted from the main control means 5, and is latched and output from the output side of the receiving circuit 9 for the first time. When the display signal is transferred as data, the display 10 lights up and the channel signal is sent to the transmission circuit 12, which sequentially selects the signal channels of the key and hot water temperature setting volume and transmits them to the main control means 5 in a time-division manner. . In the main control means 5, the heat source control means 3 is activated by a signal from the remote control section B.

When the heat source section 3 is movable and some abnormality occurs during operation, the operation is immediately stopped and a display signal indicating the abnormal condition is transmitted and displayed on the display 10. If the display 10 is a numeric display or the like, it will be easier for users and service personnel to specifically specify the location of the failure.

However, the water heater 1 is installed outdoors, and the remote control unit B is installed in a place away from the equipment, such as in the kitchen. The signal transmission line 8 is wired, and when it is installed, it may be stopped by biting the insulating vinyl, or due to changes in environmental conditions, the attachment part may corrode or
Sand, soil, etc. accumulate on the fixed portion of the signal transmission line, causing poor contact, or the signal transmission line 8 is often cut due to external force, causing poor connection. The main control means cannot take any measures against these, and the user is not aware of them.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the above-mentioned problems and provide an easy-to-use remote control circuit with a simple configuration and at a low cost.

Composition of the Invention The present invention comprises a main control means of a device, a remote control section for remotely controlling the device, a signal transmission line connecting the main control means and the remote control section, and receiving various status signals from the main control means. A signal receiving circuit, a startup circuit that outputs a reception status holding signal to the signal receiving circuit for a certain period of time after power is turned on, and a signal that is output only when the signal is normally received from the signal receiving circuit, and which detects and converts the level of the signal. A conversion circuit that gives priority to the output of the starting circuit over the conversion circuit in the case of a poor connection of the signal transmission line and puts the signal reception circuit in a state where it cannot receive data, and a display that displays various status signals of the equipment and a connection failure of the signal transmission line. have.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 3, components with the same numbers as those in FIG. 1 have the same functions. A display driver 13 has a decoding function for the display 10.

Further, a signal current is supplied to the display driver 13 by resistors 14, 15, 16, and 17.

Reference numeral 18 is a backup power source, 18-a is a battery, etc., and 19-b is a diode or the like to prevent current from flowing from the normal power source. Reference numeral 19 denotes an abnormality detection circuit having functions of receiving signals from the main control means 5 and detecting failures.

FIG. 4 shows an example of this.

Reference numeral 19-a denotes a signal receiving circuit consisting of a microcomputer, a shift register, a latch circuit, etc. FIG. 4 shows an example of a shift register and a latch circuit. Reference numeral 19-b is a starting circuit for the receiving circuit 19-a, which has a time element and gradually becomes a "low" level, causing the receiving circuit 19-a to become inactive.

19-c is a conversion circuit that converts the output signal of the receiving circuit 19-a into a DC level. resistance 20,2
1, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27 supply signal current for the display 10.

When the signal received from the signal transmission line 8 is output from its output, it is input to the conversion circuit 19-c.
Conversion circuit 1 until the signal of starting circuit 19-b goes down.
A signal is output from the output of 9-c, and the receiving circuit 19
-a maintains the operating state. Now, if a clock signal, data signal, or strobe signal cannot be received from the signal transmission line 8 due to a poor signal line connection, no signal is output from the output of the receiving circuit 19-a, and the output of the conversion circuit 19-c is a “low” level. Therefore, the starting circuit 19-a becomes "low" level after a certain period of time, and the receiving circuit 1
9-a will no longer work. That is, the transmitting circuit 19-a
The output section of is in a high impedance state. A resistor 14,1 is connected to the input terminal of the display driver 13.
5, 16, and 17 are connected so that drive current can be supplied from the power supply, and the display 10 displays a connection failure of the signal transmission line 8.

Further, if the power line 8-e or the ground line 8-f has a poor connection, the backup power source 18 is activated to supply power to the entire remote control section B and maintain the display.

With this configuration, display unit 1 can be used even under normal conditions.
0 can also be used to display abnormal connections or poor connections.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the remote control circuit of the present invention, the main control means for controlling a device, the remote control section for remotely controlling the device, and the signal transmission for connecting the main control means and the remote control section. a signal receiving circuit that receives a signal from the main control means;
A starting circuit that outputs a reset signal after keeping the signal receiving circuit in a state where it can receive signals for a certain period of time, and a starting circuit that detects the output signal from the signal receiving circuit when the signal transmission line is connected normally and outputs a reset signal from the output signal of the starting circuit. It consists of a conversion circuit that outputs with priority, and a display that displays the transmitted signal from the main control means, and when a connection failure occurs in the signal transmission line, the function of the remote control unit is immediately stopped, and a display is displayed so that the user can Additionally, it was possible to quickly alert service personnel to the location of the failure, resulting in a highly practical effect.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a conventional remote control circuit diagram.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of its operation, FIG. 3 is a remote control circuit of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an abnormality detection circuit diagram of the same circuit. 5... Main control means, 8... Signal transmission line, 10...
...Display unit, 18...Backup power supply, 19...
Abnormality detection circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Main control means that controls the entire device,
a remote control unit that remotely controls the device; a signal transmission line connecting the main control unit and the remote control unit; and a signal receiving circuit that receives various status control signals transmitted from the main control unit via the signal transmission line. , a startup circuit having a time delay element that outputs a holding signal that makes the signal receiving circuit ready for reception after the power is turned on, and outputs a reset signal that makes the signal receiving circuit unable to receive after a certain period of time; When the signal receiving circuit normally receives various status signals from the control means, it detects the receivable signal output from the signal receiving circuit and converts the level, and if it can be normally received via the signal transmission line, the output signal of the starting circuit a conversion circuit that outputs a holding signal to the signal receiving circuit with higher priority, and gives priority to a reset signal of the starting circuit when a receivable signal is no longer output from the signal receiving circuit due to a connection failure of the signal transmission line, and a device; a remote control circuit comprising: an indicator that displays various status signals of the signal transmission line and indicates that the signal reception circuit is unable to receive data due to a connection failure of the signal transmission line;