JPH06221653A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow data to be written in an EEPROM, which is built in the control system of an air conditioner, even after it is assembled into a product and a microcomputer to be used regardless of need or needlessness of the EEPROM. CONSTITUTION:When key switches 17 equipped on an indoor unit A or a wireless remote controller 18 are operated to set correction data, the correction data are written in an EEPROM 12 according to a data correction program of a microcomputer C. In addition, the microcomputer C judges whether or not the EEPRON 12 exists, and only when the EEPRON 12 exists, the correction data are read in.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner used in general homes and offices, and in particular, can efficiently perform a process related to rewriting control data set in a control system of a compressor and an indoor convection fan. The present invention relates to such an air conditioner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a home air conditioner or the like, a compressor or an indoor convection fan in each operation mode of heating, cooling, dehumidifying, and blowing is provided in order to realize comfort in accordance with various needs of users. Drive control of all is performed based on a command of a microcomputer built in the main body of the apparatus, but in recent years, control of wind speed and flow mode of an indoor convection fan, room temperature adjustment, etc. More diverse and complex,
In order to deal with such an actual situation, conventionally, measures have been taken to improve the control accuracy.

That is, a ROM or the like built in a microcomputer has been used as a memory for storing the basic control data in each of the above operation modes, but the device was actually operated based on the data written in the memory. In this case, the measured value of the air volume of the indoor convection fan or the temperature of the blown air often does not match the set value.

Therefore, depending on the model, in addition to the above memory, an electrically rewritable external storage element, EEP
By mounting the ROM on a circuit board or by configuring the memory itself with an EEPROM and correcting the correction data for control stored in the EEPROM based on the actual measurement values of the temperature and the air volume, a higher precision is achieved. It is possible to control.

By the way, in the conventional manufacturing process, EE
When the PROM is mounted on the board, correction data is written using a special writing device for each individual component of the EEPROM, and then each component is mounted on the circuit board. This is because the above-described writing device has a structure in which writing can be performed only in a single component state.

[0006]

However, conventionally, as described above, correction data must be written in the EEPROM before the EEPROM is mounted on the circuit board as described above, so that the manufacturing process up to the mounting is troublesome. I needed it.

In addition, when the EEPROM is mounted on the substrate and then operated using the correction data stored in the EEPROM, and when an error occurs between the measured value and E,
It is necessary to change the data content of EPROM again,
In such a case, it is necessary to go through the troublesome and troublesome process of once removing the EEPROM part from the circuit board and then performing the rewriting using the above-mentioned writing device. As described above, conventionally, the process of writing and rewriting the correction data in the EEPROM requires a great deal of time, which is a bottleneck in improving the manufacturing efficiency.

Further, in the case where the EEPROM is provided separately from the memory built in the microcomputer, the EEPROM parts are useless if the data content of the memory does not need to be changed by the correction data of the EEPROM. However, even in a product in which such an EEPROM component has been conventionally unnecessary, the component is shipped without being removed, so that the cost is increased.

In the present invention, the control system has the EEPR as described above.
In an air conditioner provided with a rewritable storage element such as an OM, data can be easily written in the storage element even after the product is in a product state, and an external storage element is not required. The purpose is to prevent any problem in the control operation of the microcomputer even if the element is removed from the circuit.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, in the air conditioner of the present invention, as a control system for the compressor and the indoor convection fan provided in the main body of the apparatus, a microcomputer and the control of the compressor and fan are provided. And a storage element that stores the necessary data and that is electrically rewritable, and a microcomputer controls the compressor and fan in each operation mode of heating, cooling, dehumidification, and blowing, and the storage element The microcomputer is configured to provide the data necessary for the control to the microcomputer.

In such a structure, in the first structure of the present invention, a key switch is attached to the main body of the apparatus, and the key switch can be used to set data for correcting the data in the storage element. In addition, the set correction data can be input to the microcomputer.

Further, in the second configuration of the present invention, a wireless remote control device is provided, and the wireless remote control device enables the setting operation of the data for correcting the data in the storage element, and the setting. The corrected data thus obtained can be transmitted to the microcomputer.

The correction data input by the key switch or received from the wireless remote control device is written in the storage element based on the data correction program set in the microcomputer.

In a third configuration of the present invention, the microcomputer stores memory means for storing control data for the compressor and fan, data for correcting the control data, and the correction data. Means for determining whether or not an electrically rewritable external storage element for supplying the microcomputer to the microcomputer is present on the control circuit, and a means for reading correction data of the external storage element. After reading the use data, the correction data is read via the read means only when the external storage element is present, based on the information of the determination means.

[0015]

According to the first and second configurations of the present invention, when the correction data is set by operating the key switch attached to the apparatus body or the wireless remote control device, the correction data is stored in the microcomputer. It is written in the storage element based on the data correction program.
Therefore, when the memory element is already mounted on the circuit board and the device is completed as a product, the correction data can be written in the memory element, and when the data in the memory element needs to be rewritten, Also, various data can be easily input to the element in the mounted state without removing the element from the substrate.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the presence / absence of the external storage element is determined by the determination means in the microcomputer, and when the element is present, the correction data is read by the reading means. Then, the control data of the memory is corrected by the correction data, and the operation is performed based on the corrected control data. Conversely, when the element does not exist, the control of the memory is directly performed without passing through the reading means. It is driven based on data.

Therefore, in an apparatus in which correction data is not stored in the external storage element and the element is not required at all, it is possible to use a common microcomputer without mounting the external storage element to which data is not input on the circuit. Can be controlled.

[0018]

1 to 6 show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a home air conditioner. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration thereof, and the air conditioner shown in FIG. 1 is configured so that it can be operated in each operation mode of heating, cooling, dehumidifying, and blowing. In FIG. 1, A is an indoor unit as an apparatus main body, B is an outdoor unit, and C is a control microcomputer. The indoor heat exchanger 1 is provided on the indoor unit A side. Further, a compressor 2, a four-way valve 3, an outdoor heat exchanger 4 and an expansion valve 5 are provided on the outdoor unit B side.

In these constructions, a refrigeration cycle is constructed by connecting in the order of compressor 2-> four-way valve 3-> outdoor heat exchanger 4-> expansion valve 5-> indoor heat exchanger 1-> four-way valve 3-> compressor 2. For example, in the heating operation mode, the refrigerant circulates according to the solid arrow and in the cooling operation mode according to the broken arrow to heat or cool the room. Fans 6 and 7 are disposed in the vicinity of the indoor heat exchanger 1 and the outdoor heat exchanger 4, and the fans 6 and 7 are rotationally driven to perform heat exchange.

Of these, the drive motor 8 for the indoor convection fan 6 is connected to the motor drive circuit 9, and the compressor 2 is connected to the compressor drive circuit 10. Then, the microcomputer C controls the outputs of the motor drive circuit 9 and the compressor drive circuit 10 based on a switch input from an operation unit (not shown) and a sensor input such as an indoor temperature, whereby the indoor convection fan 6 is controlled. Rotational speed control, output control of the compressor 2, and operation control of the entire air conditioner are performed.

FIG. 2 shows a control system and a correction data input system of the apparatus. The control system 11 includes the microcomputer C and an EEP as a rewritable external storage element.
The ROM 12 is provided. Reference numeral 13 denotes a ROM as a memory means built in the microcomputer C,
Data for controlling the compressor 2 and the indoor convection fan 6 is stored in M13. Reference numeral 14 denotes a CPU, and a data input test program as a data correction program is set in the CPU 14 when the microcomputer C is developed. Reference numeral 15 is an I / O interface.

The EEPROM 12 stores data for correcting the control data of the ROM 13, and in this embodiment, the data stored in the EEPROM 12 can be rewritten by operating the correction data input system 16. I am configuring. The correction data input system 16 is composed of a key switch 17 arranged at a proper place in the indoor unit A and a wireless remote control device (hereinafter, abbreviated as remote controller) 18.

In the present embodiment, the key switch 17 and the remote controller 18 are arranged in parallel, but both 17 and 18 are common in that they perform an operation for rewriting the correction data of the EEPROM 12. In fact, it can be said that it is sufficient to provide either one.

As the key switch 17, it is possible to use an existing key switch for switching the existing operation mode, wind speed, wind direction, temperature, etc. In this case, the key switch 17 is used.
A key for data entry will be assigned to each existing key of. By using this key switch 17, the EEPROM 1
When rewriting the wind speed correction data of the indoor convection fan 6 written in No. 2, each key of the key switch 17 functions as the operation feed key 17a, the correction plus key 17b, and the correction minus key 17c.

Each time the operation feed key 17a is pressed, heating is performed.
Each of the operation modes of cooling, dehumidifying, and air blowing functions to be switched to a forward feed, and the correction plus key 17b functions to increase the rotation speed of the indoor convection fan 6 by a predetermined rotation speed each time it is pressed, Reverse correction minus key 17
c functions to decrease the rotation speed of the fan 6 by the predetermined rotation speed.

When inputting the correction data using the above keys 17a to 17c, in the flow chart of FIG.
First, in step # 11, the operation is performed in the mode of the data input test program. When the operation feed key 17a is operated in step # 12, the key input is input to the CPU 14 through the I / O interface 15, and the CPU 14
Then, based on the key input signal, the RO corresponding to the driving state
The control data of M13 is read and EEPR
The correction data is also read from the OM 12.

As a result, the operation state is changed in step # 13, the control data in the ROM 13 is corrected by the correction data in the EEPROM 12, and the corrected control output causes the fan drive motor 8 to drive the motor drive circuit 9 in step # 14. Is driven to rotate at a fan speed during strong wind heating.

Next, in step # 15, the actual rotation speed of the indoor convection fan 6 rotating according to the corrected control data is checked by using a separately prepared measuring device (not shown), Correction with 16 Plus key 1
7b or the correction minus key 17c is pressed, and this key operation is repeated until the actual rotation number and the data value match, thereby determining the final constant.

Until the final constant is determined, the correction signal increased / decreased by a predetermined number of revolutions by the operation of the correction keys 17b and 17c is I / O interface 15 each time.
The data input to the CPU 14 via the CPU and converted based on the test mode program of the CPU 14 is EEP.
It is written in the ROM 12, and at the same time, the rotation speed of the fan 6 is also increased or decreased.

When the fan speed data in the strong wind condition in the heating operation mode is corrected by the operation of the key switch 17 as described above, the process then returns to step # 12, and the operation feed key 17a is used to shift to the next fan speed. A final constant corresponding to the fan speed in the operating state at that time is determined through a process similar to steps # 13 to # 16. In the above-described manner, the correction value corresponding to the fan rotation speed in each operation state is stored in the EEPROM 12
However, if no correction is necessary, the data input operation by the key switch 17 is not necessary.

Next, using the remote controller 18, the EEPR
A case of rewriting the wind speed correction data of the indoor convection fan 6 written in the OM 12 will be described. FIG. 4 shows an example of the configuration of the remote controller 18 that is capable of transmitting and receiving data by remote control signals. In this figure,
Reference numeral 19 is a display section showing a correction value, and 18a to 18f are keys for inputting data.

These keys 18a to 18f have the same function as that of the key switch 17. That is, 1
8a is a driving key, 18b is a + correction key, and 18c is-.
A correction key, 18d is a 100 key for increasing / decreasing the fan rotation speed by 100 rotations, 18e is a 10 key for increasing / decreasing the rotation speed by 10 rotations each, and 18f is a 1 key for performing fine adjustment for each rotation. -Correction key 1
Both 8c also have a function of transmitting the correction data at the same time as setting the correction value.

The signals generated by the operation of these six types of keys are, as shown in FIG. 5, operation feed data (A).
And + correction data (B) and-correction data (C) convenience 3
There are different types, and these signals output from the remote controller 18 are input to the microcomputer C via the receiving circuit 20 of the control system 11. In this case, it is preferable that the format is completely different from the normal remote control signal.

Using the remote controller 18 having the above structure, the EEPR
When rewriting the wind speed correction data of the indoor convection fan 6 written in the OM 12, first, the key switch 1 is used.
Operate in the same test mode as in 7. in this case,
When the operation feed key 18a is operated, the key input is input to the microcomputer C via the receiving circuit 20,
In the CPU 14 of the microcomputer C, the ROM 1 is read based on the driving data (A) generated by the key input.
The control data of No. 3 is corrected by the correction data of the EEPROM 12, and the indoor convection fan is driven by the fan speed at the time of strong heating air, for example.

Next, the actual rotational speed of the indoor convection fan 6 rotating in accordance with the corrected control data is checked using a separately prepared measuring device (not shown), and the numerical value to be corrected is set to 100 keys. 18d, 10 key 18e, 1
It is set by appropriately operating the key 18f, and thereafter, the data (B) or (C) is transmitted by the + correction key 18b and the −correction key 18c. In this case, for example, in the case shown in FIG. 4, the 10 key 18e is pressed twice to obtain a value of 20, and the 1 key 18f is pressed 8 times to obtain a value of 8,
Pressing the + correction key 18b causes + as correction data (B)
A numerical value of 28 is set, and at the same time, it is transmitted to the receiving circuit 20.

The correction data (B) or (C) received by the receiving circuit 20 is input to the CPU 14 through the I / O interface 15, and the data converted based on the test mode program of the CPU 14 is EEPRO.
It is written in M12, and at the same time, the rotation speed of the fan 6 is also increased or decreased.

When the fan speed data in the strong wind mode in the heating operation mode is corrected by the above operation of the remote controller 18, the operation feed key 18a is used again to shift to the next fan speed, and through the same process as above, The final constant corresponding to the fan speed in that case is determined.

By the way, the RO of the microcomputer C
If the control data stored in M13 does not need to be corrected at all, the correction data has not been input at all.
It is costly to produce the PROM 12 while leaving it on the circuit board. Therefore, in this embodiment, a means for determining whether or not the EEPROM 12 exists on the circuit board is provided, and the presence or absence of the EEPROM 12 can be confirmed by this determining means. If the EEPROM 12 is unnecessary, the following processing is performed. The cost is reduced by removing the EEPROM 12 from the circuit board by the process.

As shown in FIG. 2, the EEPROM 12 has a C
PU14 and port P1 of I / O interface 15,
Several communication lines L1 and L2 indicated by solid lines are connected via P2. The communication lines L1 and L2 are connected to the power supply 23 via the current limiting resistors 21 and 22, respectively. However, when no correction data is stored in the EEPROM 12 and the EEPROM 12 is unnecessary, the EEPROM 12 is used. , And then connect all these communication lines L1 and L2 to G as indicated by the broken line.
Connect to ND level 24. However, EEPROM1
When 2 exists, it is necessary to prevent the level of the communication lines L1 and L2 from becoming GND24.

Then, when the power supply 23 is turned on, the input levels of the ports P1 and P2 of the I / O interface 15 are determined. That is, when determining the necessity of data correction depending on the presence / absence of the EEPROM 12, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, the power supply 23 is turned on in step # 21, and the port P1 is set in step # 22.
The input level of P2 is determined and the presence or absence of the EEPROM 12 is checked.

Then, in step # 23, the control data in the ROM 13 of the microcomputer C is referred to, and in step #
If the correction data of the EEPROM 12 exists at 24, the process proceeds to step # 25 to read the correction data of the EEPROM 12 and correct the control data of the ROM 13.

In step # 24, the EEPROM 12
If the correction data of No. does not exist, it is determined that the control data of the ROM 13 is not changed, and the process proceeds to step # 26 to use the control data. Similarly, ROM1
When referring to the control data of No. 3, the data is not read from the EEPROM 12. As described above, in this embodiment, the common microcomputer C can be used regardless of the presence or absence of the EEPROM 12.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, the data stored in the storage element can be rewritten by appropriately operating the key switch or the wireless remote control device, so that the air conditioner product is completed. Even after that, data input for correcting the control data of the microcomputer can be easily and efficiently performed, and data can be input to the memory element in the manufacturing process as compared with the conventional configuration in which the data can be input only in a single component state. The efficiency is dramatically improved and the convenience of rewriting data becomes excellent.

According to the third aspect, since a common microcomputer can be used regardless of the presence or absence of an external storage element for giving data to the microcomputer, it is necessary to standardize the control system of products of different models. For those that do not require an external storage element, it is possible to reduce the cost by removing the element from the circuit, and the external storage element is not required to be commercialized as it is, although it is a conventional equipment. It is not necessary to prepare a microcomputer having different control data for products of different models for each model.

As described above, according to the present invention, in realizing the manufacturing efficiency and the cost reduction, the excellent effects which have not been seen in the past can be exhibited.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a refrigeration cycle of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a control system.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an outline of a rewriting procedure when a key switch is used.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing an example of a wireless remote control device.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a data format of a wireless remote control device.

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart for determining the presence / absence of an EEPROM.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Compressor 6 Indoor convection fan 12 EEPROM 13 ROM 17 Key switch 18 Wireless remote control device A Indoor unit C Microcomputer

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A microcomputer for controlling a compressor and an indoor convection fan provided in the apparatus main body in each of heating, cooling, dehumidifying, and air blowing operation modes, and data necessary for controlling the compressor and the indoor convection fan are stored. In addition, an electrically rewritable storage element that gives the data to the microcomputer, and data that is attached to the main body of the apparatus and can be used to correct the data in the storage element, and can be set. A key switch capable of inputting the corrected correction data to the microcomputer, the correction data input by the key switch,
An air conditioner, which is configured to be writable in the storage element based on a data correction program set in the microcomputer. 2. A microcomputer for controlling a compressor and an indoor convection fan provided in the apparatus main body in each of heating, cooling, dehumidifying and blowing modes of operation, and data necessary for controlling the compressor and the indoor convection fan. In addition, an electrically rewritable storage element that gives the data to the microcomputer, and a data setting operation for correcting the data in the storage element are possible, and the set correction data is stored. A wireless remote control device capable of transmitting to the microcomputer, and the correction data received from the wireless remote control device can be written to the storage element based on a data correction program set in the microcomputer. Air conditioning equipment characterized by Place 3. An air conditioner having a microcomputer for controlling a compressor and an indoor convection fan provided in the apparatus main body in each of heating, cooling, dehumidifying, and blowing modes of operation, wherein the microcomputer includes the compressor and the indoor There is a memory means in which control data for the convection fan is stored, and an electrically rewritable external storage element that stores data for correcting the control data and provides the correction data to the microcomputer. And a means for determining whether or not, and a means for reading the correction data of the external storage element are provided, and after the reading of the control data, based on the information of the determination means, when the external storage element exists Only, it is configured to read the correction data via the reading means. An air conditioning apparatus characterized by.