JPH05276558A - Transmitter-receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To extend the service life of a battery by limiting the operating time of a reception section through the detection of surrounding lightness. CONSTITUTION:The system is provided with a remote control transmission section 7 and a remote control reception section 8 making radio wave transmission reception with a hot water supply equipment 1 and a battery power supply section 12 supplying power to the sections, and also with a lightness detection section 13 outputting a detection signal when surrounding of a remote controller gets dark. Through the constitution above, the power supply to the remote control reception section 8 is automatically stopped when getting dark thereby extending the service life of the battery.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transmitter / receiver for extending the life of a battery mounted on a wireless remote controller of an electric appliance or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional example of this type will be described with reference to FIG. 5 in the case of a water heater and its remote controller (hereinafter referred to as a remote controller). In the figure, the water heater 1 is installed outdoors and has a pipe 1A.
Hot water is discharged from the hot water supply port 1B via. The remote controller 18 is provided for each tap 1B. The control unit 4 provided inside the water heater 1 and the remote controller 18 installed in the room penetrate the wall 9 and are connected by the remote controller cable 19.
Power and control signals are transmitted between the remote controller 18 and the water heater 1 via the remote controller cable 19, and the remote controller 18
The operation of the water heater 1 is controlled by operating the.

As a wireless remote controller, there is one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 57-77671, which remotely controls a water heater by a wireless remote controller using radio waves and changes the state of the water heater wirelessly. Remote monitoring is done with a remote control.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional remote control cable system configuration, when installing a hot water supply device, a hole 9A is made in the wall 9 and a remote control cable 19 consisting of a signal wire of 2 to 8 cores is inserted, Water heater 1 and remote control 1
Had to connect 8. Therefore, there is a problem that a wall penetrating work is required, and a fear that a connection error occurs when wiring the remote control cable 19 and a mounting place are limited.

Further, in the configuration of the wireless remote controller of the water heater 1, the power source of the remote controller is an individual power source, and a commercial 100V power source cannot be used from the viewpoint of ensuring safety, especially in a bathroom or the like. Therefore, a battery power source was used. In addition, the water heater itself is located away from the remote control,
Therefore, in order to know the operating state of the water heater in real time, it is necessary to energize the receiving circuit constantly or intermittently so that the operating information can be received at any time. However, there is a problem in that the battery cannot be kept for a long time by the method of always energizing the remote control receiving unit which has a limited battery capacity and consumes a large amount of power.

The present invention solves the above problems by eliminating the work of drilling a wall for installing a remote controller and the work of connecting a cable, and automatically shuts off the power supply to the remote controller receiving circuit when it becomes dark. , Is intended to extend the battery life of the remote control.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a transmitting / receiving apparatus of the present invention comprises a transmitting section for transmitting a signal,
A receiving unit that receives signals, a battery power supply unit that supplies power to these, a brightness detection unit that outputs a detection signal when the surrounding brightness becomes darker than a preset brightness, and a detection signal from the brightness detection unit Is output, a power control unit for turning off the power of the receiving unit is provided.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the operation information from the transmission / reception device can be transmitted from the transmission section at any time, and when it is bright, the reception section can be supplied with power to receive the operation information. In addition, at night or the like, it is detected that no light enters the detection element of the brightness detection unit, and the power supply control unit automatically stops the power supply to the reception unit. That is, when there is no problem in practical use, the operation of the receiving unit that consumes the most power is stopped.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 1, 1 is a water heater, 1A is a pipe, 1
B is a hot water outlet, 2 is a hot water transmitter / receiver, 3 is a water heater antenna,
Reference numeral 4 denotes a control unit for controlling the hot water supply transmitter / receiver unit 2 and the operation of the entire hot water supply device 1. The water heater 1 is installed outdoors, on an outer wall, etc., and is supplied with electricity, gas, and water, and supplies hot and cold water to various parts of the house through a pipe 1A. Reference numeral 5 is a wireless remote controller installed corresponding to the outlet 1B on a wall such as a bath or kitchen, 6 is a remote controller antenna rod-shaped from the remote controller case, 7 is a remote controller transmitter, and 8 is a remote controller receiver. It is a department. The radio waves emitted from the water heater antenna 3 and the remote controller antenna 6 propagate through the wall 9 and propagate data between the water heater 1 and the wireless remote controller 5.

With the above configuration, the wireless remote controller 5
When is operated, the operation content is immediately converted into operation information, and a bucket signal is generated by adding a synchronization signal, destination and destination information, transmission control information for controlling transmission / reception, etc. Radio waves are transmitted to the water heater 1 via the remote control antenna 6. The transmitted bucket signal is received by the hot water supply transmitter / receiver 2, and the controller 4 operates the water heater 1 based on the operation information. Similarly, the operating state of water heater 1 is generated as a bucket signal, and when the state changes or periodically, it is transmitted from hot water transmitter / receiver 2 to wireless remote controller 5 as a radio wave via water heater antenna 3. The bucket signal is received by the remote controller receiver 8 and conveys the operating state.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the water heater and the wireless remote controller of the embodiment. The wireless remote controller 5 includes a remote controller antenna 6, a remote controller transmitter 7, a remote controller receiver 8, an operation unit 10, a display unit 11, and a battery power supply unit 1.
2, brightness detection unit 13, power supply control unit 14, light blocking unit 15
Composed of. The remote control antenna 6 is composed of a rod antenna extended from the remote control case or a pattern antenna on a circuit board provided in the remote control case. The remote control transmission unit 7 transmits a bucket signal including operation information using a VHF or UHF band radio wave as a carrier wave, and is supplied with power only while transmitting the bucket signal. The remote control receiving unit 8 is supplied with power continuously or intermittently and receives a bucket signal including operation information from the water heater 1.
The operation information of the received bucket signal is sent to the display unit 11 and displayed. The operation unit 10 is provided with operation keys on the surface of the remote control case, generates operation information according to the operation content, and wirelessly transmits it from the remote control transmission unit 7 to the water heater 1.
The display unit 11 displays the display data on the liquid crystal screen in the form of characters or pictures to notify the operating state of the water heater. In addition, a liquid crystal backlight is not provided to prolong the battery life. The battery power supply unit 12 is composed of a dry battery and a voltage stabilizing circuit, and supplies power to each unit of the remote controller. Brightness detector 13
Operates at regular intervals, detects the brightness with a Cds cell or the like, converts it into a voltage with a detection circuit, and outputs a detection signal when it becomes dark compared with a preset comparison voltage. The power supply control unit 14 turns on / off the power supply of the remote control transmission unit 7 and the remote control reception unit 8 with a switch element such as a transistor, and when a detection signal from the brightness detection unit 13 is input, the battery power supply unit 1
The power of the remote control receiver 8 supplied from 2 is turned off. Figure 3
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the light blocking unit 15. The liquid crystal display surface of the display unit 11 and the detection element 16 of the brightness detection unit 13 are invisible because they are simultaneously covered by a lid-like cover 17 when not in use. By opening the cover 17 at the time of use, it becomes possible for light to enter the detection element 16, and when the brightness exceeds the set value, power is intermittently supplied to the remote control receiver 8 in the remote control, and operation information can be received. Next, it is displayed on the display unit 11.

FIG. 4 is a timing diagram of the detection signal and the power supply of the remote control receiver 8. When the detection signal from the brightness detection unit 13 is not input, the power source of the remote control reception unit 8 is T
The radio waves from the water heater 1 are supplied every hour and
If it is determined that there is no time until the time has passed, the power supply is immediately stopped. When the synchronization signal added before the bucket signal is detected within the time T2, the power supply is continued until the reception of the bucket signal is completed. When the detection signal from the brightness detection unit 13 is input, the power supply of the remote control reception unit 8 is not supplied regardless of the presence or absence of radio waves.

In the above structure, the power of the remote control receiver can be arbitrarily turned on and off by opening and closing the cover during the daytime or during illumination, and at night, the power of the remote control receiver can be automatically turned off regardless of the opening and closing. Further, since it is not necessary to use the remote controller in the dark, it is practically no problem that the operating state of the water heater cannot be displayed by turning off the power of the remote controller receiver when it becomes dark. Therefore, to extend the battery life of the wireless remote control,
The operating time of the remote control receiving unit that consumes the most power can be shortened without any special operation.

[0014]

As described above, according to the transmitting / receiving device of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

When the transmitter / receiver is not used, such as at night, when it becomes dark, the power supply to the receiver is automatically stopped, so that the transmitter / receiver can be prevented from forgetting to turn off the power and the battery life can be extended.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view illustrating a transmitter / receiver according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the device.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a light blocking unit in the device.

FIG. 4 is a timing diagram of a detection signal and a power supply of a remote control receiver in the same device.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view illustrating a conventional transceiver.

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 Remote Control Transmission Section 8 Remote Control Reception Section 12 Battery Power Supply Section 13 Brightness Detection Section 14 Power Supply Control Section 15 Light Blocking Section

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Masahiro Yamamoto 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A transmitter for transmitting a signal, a receiver for receiving the signal, a battery power supply for supplying power to the transmitter and the receiver, and ambient brightness lower than a preset brightness. Then, a transmitter / receiver comprising a brightness detection unit that outputs a detection signal and a power supply control unit that turns off the power of the reception unit when the detection signal is output.