JPH0260274B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a time management method for a control device that performs air conditioning control based on time.

[Prior art]

Generally, an air conditioning control device receives various basic data from a higher-level device such as a central management device, and performs control calculations based on this data.
The control timing is determined based on time data provided from the host device, and control operations are performed according to the season, time of day, etc.

In addition, the control device has a built-in clock circuit configured in software as a countermeasure in the event of a failure in the host device, and if data is not provided from the host device, the clock circuit is Control is performed based on the clock value of the circuit.

However, when the control device stops operating due to a power outage or a failure, the time value of the clock circuit becomes unspecified, and when operation resumes, the time value must be calibrated, resulting in a disadvantage that operation is troublesome. There is.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention has the purpose of fundamentally solving such drawbacks of the conventional technology, and in addition to separately providing a clock device backed up by an uninterruptible power supply, the present invention provides time data from a host device to each time of the clock circuit and clock device. Calibrate the time value, and when time data is not received, calibrate the time value of the clock device using the time value of the clock circuit, and when the control device resumes operation after stopping operation, calibrate the time value of the clock device. The present invention provides an extremely effective time management method that calibrates the time value of a clock circuit.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, details of the present invention will be explained with reference to figures showing examples.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the operating status of the control device, and if the “command data received?” 101 periodically given from the host device is YES, the year, month, day, and Time data such as hours, minutes, days of the week, and holidays, and basic data used for air conditioning control such as cooling period, heating period, intermediate period, control mode, etc. are stored in RAM (Random Access Memory.
“Storing command data to RAM” to each address inside
The data is updated and stored in step 102, and the time value of the clock circuit is updated and calibrated using the time data.

Next, when the clock circuit inside the control device measures the time, "1 second elapsed?" 111 turns out to be YES.
“INC: 1 second・CLK _S →CLK _H ” 112,
After registering the clock value CLK _S in RAM for 1 second, it is given to a separately provided clock device, and the clock value is
CLK _H is updated and calibrated, and in the same way, in response to “1 minute elapsed?” 113 YES, “INC: 1 minute
CLK _S → CLK _H ” 114, “One hour has passed? ”115
“INC: 1 o’clock・CLK _S →CLK _H ” in response to YES
116, and then "1 day has passed?" 117 YES "INC: 1 day・CLK _S → CLK _H " 118 is performed sequentially, and 1 second is counted by the clock circuit.
Each time a minute, an hour, or a day passes, the clock value CLK _S in the RAM is registered, and the clock device's clock value CLK _H is calibrated based on the contents, and the control device is activated due to a power outage or failure. Step 101 and subsequent steps are repeated on the premise that no error occurs and the "operation stop?" 121 is NO.

Therefore, each time step 101 becomes YES, the time value CLK _S of the clock circuit is calibrated with the time data from the host device, and the time value of the host device and the control device is always in minutes in this example. In addition, the clock values of the control device and the clock device match in seconds.

However, the calibration in step 112 may be omitted depending on the conditions without any particular problem.

Also, for some reason, step 101 may be
Even if it remains NO, the clock circuit continues to measure time, and from step 111 onwards, the time value CLK _S is changed.
CLK _H matches and is registered in seconds.

Regarding the above, if step 121 is YES,
Although there is a risk that each data in RAM may become unspecified, there is RAM _B backed up by an uninterruptible power supply in the control device, and important data such as basic data is stored in this. This saves important data, and since the clock device is also backed up, timekeeping can continue normally.

Therefore, after step 121 becomes YES, if the control device returns YES to "Resume operation?" 122 due to recovery from a power outage or removal of a failure, etc.
“CLK _H →CLK _S ” 123 indicates the time value of the clock device.
CLK _H is stored in RAM as CLK _S of the clock circuit, thereby automatically calibrating the time value CLK _S , and important data is stored in RAM by "RAM _B → RAM" 124.

Therefore, the control device can restart the control operation under the same conditions as before the operation was stopped, and in particular, the need to manually calibrate and initialize the time value CLK _S is eliminated.

Figure 2 is a block diagram of the control device, centered around the processor (hereinafter referred to as CPU) 11, and the ROM
(Read Only Memory.) 12, RAM 13, RAM _B 15 backed up by battery 14, interface (hereinafter referred to as I/F) 16 for transmitting and receiving with a host device (not shown in the figure), I/F 1 for input/output
7. Output I/F 18, keyboard (hereinafter referred to as
KB) 19 and a display device (hereinafter referred to as DP) 20 such as a cathode ray tube display (hereinafter referred to as DP) 20 are arranged around the I/F 21 for connection, and a frequency stable oscillator (hereinafter referred to as DP)
CPU based on clock pulses from OSC) 22
11 performs control operations.

In addition, a clock device 32 backed up by a battery 31 as an uninterruptible power source is separately provided, and this also has its own crystal oscillator, etc., and measures the time by counting the output of this. After setting the obtained time value to a register etc., set the year,
The month, day, hour, minute, and second are displayed 33 to 35 by a liquid crystal display or the like.

Note that the CPU 11 executes instructions in the ROM 12, accesses necessary data to the RAM 13, and also stores important data in RAM _B 15 while performing control operations, and sends clock pulses from the OSC 22 to the CPU 11. A clock circuit configured by software uses a counter inside and a predetermined address in RAM 13 to count and record the time value.
The time is measured by sequentially updating and storing it in a predetermined address in the RAM 13, and based on the measured value, control signals are sent to the I/F 17 in response to detection outputs from various sensors provided via the I/F 17.
18 to control each part of the air conditioning equipment such as the actuator and motor, while storing the command data via the I/F 16 in the RAM 13 and RAM _B 15, and transmitting the time value to the clock device 32, It is set in the register and calibrated.

In addition, the CPU 11 responds to the operation of the KB 19, making it possible to update data in the RAM 13 and RAM _B 15, and also to update the data in the DP 20.
The data is sent to and displayed accordingly.

Regarding the above, after the CPU 11 stops operating,
When the operation is resumed, the contents of the register of the clock device 32 are stored in the RAM 13 as a clock value, and the contents of the RAM _B 15 are also stored in the RAM 13, as shown in FIG.

Therefore, if the control operations of the control device and important times always match those of the host device, and if time data from the host device cannot be received, high stability
The clock circuit continues to measure time based on the OSC 22, and even if the control device stops operating, the clock device 32 continues to measure time. Even when the control operation is restarted, the control operation is restarted based on the time value of the clock device 32, thereby realizing high reliability and labor saving in time management.

However, although it is most convenient to use batteries 14 and 31, it is also possible to use non-volatile memory for RAM _B 15 and use an emergency power supply system instead of battery 31. , month, day, etc. may also be registered, or a calendar table may be stored in the ROM 12, and the year, month, day, day of the week, etc. may be determined by comparison with this table. The time data may be simply given as a second pulse, a minute pulse, an hour pulse, or a pulse with an arbitrarily determined predetermined synchronization, and the calibration may be performed accordingly.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the time management of the control device is automated, and high reliability and labor saving are achieved, so that remarkable effects can be obtained in terms of time management of the air conditioning control device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures show an embodiment of the present invention, with FIG. 1 being a flowchart of the control operation, and FIG. 2 being a block diagram of the control device. 11...CPU, 12...ROM, 13,15...
...RAM, 14,31...Battery, 16-18...
I/F, 22...OSC, 32...Clock device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a control device that has an internal clock circuit and performs air conditioning control based on the time value of the clock circuit, a separate clock device backed up by an uninterruptible power supply is installed, and time data from the host device is and calibrates the time value of the clock circuit using the time data, and also calibrates the time value of the clock device, and when time data cannot be received from the host device, the time value of the clock circuit is used to calibrate the time value of the clock circuit. Time management characterized in that the time value of the clock device is calibrated, and when the control device resumes operation after stopping the operation, the time value of the clock circuit is calibrated using the time value of the clock device. Method.