JPH06292260A - Lighting control system and dimmer control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a lighting control system and a dimmer control method by which the increase in a dimmer data arithmetic operation load on a main control panel is prevented even when the dimmer object load is increased and diversified direction of lighting of each load is executed. CONSTITUTION:A main control section 11 uses only dimmer data obtained by special dimmer data in a special dimmer data storage section 14 at a special kind dimmer arithmetic operation section 15 to apply dimmer control of a load 3 and also applies dimmer control of a load 3 by using the dimmer data obtained from the special kind dimmer arithmetic operation section 15 and the dimmer data sent from the main control panel 2 received at its transmission control section 13. Thus, even when number of dimmer object loads increases, the increase in dimmer data arithmetic operation loads of the main control panel 2 is prevented and diversified direction of lighting of each load is executed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lighting control system in which a dimming control panel performs on / off and dimming control of each load (lamp) based on dimming data sent from a main operation panel onto a transmission line. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a lighting control system of this type has a structure as shown in FIG. The main operation panel 2 sends out dimming data for performing on / off control and dimming control of each load 3 onto the transmission line 4. Dimming control panel 1 is transmission line 4
The dimming data for the above self address is taken in, and the dimming data is converted into a dimming signal and output to a dimmer (not shown) to control dimming of each connected load 3. . In addition to the normal on / off control and simple dimming control, the main operation panel 2 raises or lowers the brightness of, for example, a plurality of loads arranged on a plane in order, and switches the brightness for each row. After calculating the special dimming control data for performing special light effects such as different clicks or random changes, the special dimming data obtained by this calculation is used for each transmission control panel 1 using a high-speed transmission method. The signal is constantly and cyclically transmitted via the transmission line 4. On the other hand, dimming control panel 1
Converts the special dimming data into a dimming signal and outputs the dimming signal to the dimmer, thereby changing the dimming level of each load according to the special dimming data, thereby producing a light with a complicated pattern. Was going on.

However, when the light control target load for producing such a complicated light effect increases, the amount of calculation for obtaining special light control data on the main operation panel 2 increases, and the calculation result is obtained. It takes too much time, and the load on the main operation panel 2 due to this calculation increases, so that other processing cannot be performed. In addition, since a large amount of special dimming data must be cyclically transmitted to the dimming control panel 1 via the transmission line 4, a faster dimming data transmission system is required, and the system Had the drawback of becoming expensive. Therefore, each dimming control panel 1 is provided with a storage means for pre-storing the special dimming data sent from the main operation panel 2, and when the dimming start data is received from the main operation panel 2, the storage means is provided. A system for performing dimming control of each load by performing simple arithmetic processing on the special dimming data stored in, converting this to a dimming signal, and outputting this dimming signal to a dimmer. There is.
In such a system, the main operation panel 2 calculates the special dimming data once, and after sending a part or all of the calculated data to the dimming control panel 1, dimming only the dimming start data. Since it only needs to be sent to the control panel 1, the arithmetic processing load on the main operation panel 2 can be reduced, and since it is not necessary to transmit the dimming data cyclically at all times, many high-speed transmission methods of the conventional type can be used. Special dimming control of the load can be performed.

However, in a system in which the dimming control panel 1 is provided with a storage means for storing special dimming data sent from the main operating panel 2, the dimming control panel 1 is operated from the main operating panel 2. When the dimming start data is received, the stored special dimming data is simply calculated and converted into a dimming signal. Therefore, in the above system, only the effect corresponding to the special dimming data stored in the storage means can be obtained, and the dimming data stored in the storage means can be changed from the main operation panel 2 through the transmission line 4. Since it is carried out through the above, the control operation of the other dimming control board 1 is affected, and there is a drawback that it cannot be carried out easily.

[0005]

In the conventional lighting control system, in order to perform complicated dimming control of the load, special dimming control data of each load is calculated by the main operation panel, and the calculation result is calculated at high speed. Depending on the transmission method, it is sent to the dimming control panel via the transmission line, but with this, the load of the dimming target increases,
Since the amount of calculation on the main operation panel increases and the calculation results are delayed, it is necessary to install a higher-speed calculation processing unit and also a method for transmitting special dimming data obtained by calculation. However, there is a drawback that the system becomes expensive because a higher speed is required.

Therefore, the special dimming data transmitted from the main operation panel is stored in the dimming control panel, and each load is stored according to the dimming data obtained by performing a simple operation on the stored special dimming data. There is a method of dimming control. However, in this system, since only special dimming control of the load based on special dimming data stored in advance in the dimming control panel can be performed, there is a drawback that the light production becomes monotonous, and the dimming control is performed. Since the special dimming data stored in the control panel is changed from the main operation panel via the transmission line, the special dimming data stored in one dimming control panel can be changed to the other dimming control panel. However, it has a drawback that the special dimming data stored in the dimming control panel cannot be easily changed once.

Therefore, the present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks, prevents the increase of the light control data calculation load of the main operation panel even if the load of the light control increases, and variously produces the light of each load. It is an object of the present invention to provide a lighting control system and a dimming control method capable of performing the above.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a lighting control system in which a dimming control panel receives dimming data sent from a main operation panel onto a transmission line to perform dimming control of a connected load. Storage means for storing the dimming control data in the dimming control panel, computing means for computing the dimming data stored in the storing means to create more precise dimming data, and the main operation panel The light control data transmitted from the main operation panel according to the instruction transmitted from the main control panel and the light control data obtained by the calculation by the calculation means are combined, and the light is mixed by the combination means. It is configured to perform dimming control of the load based on dimming data.

[0009]

In the lighting control system of the present invention, the storage means of the dimming control panel stores dimming control data. The calculation means calculates the dimming data stored in the storage means to create more precise dimming data. The synthesizing unit synthesizes the dimming data sent from the main operating panel and the dimming data obtained by the arithmetic operation unit in accordance with the instruction sent from the main operating panel. The dimming control of the load is performed based on the dimming data combined by the combining unit. As a result, even if the number of dimming target loads increases, the dimming data creation load of the main operation panel is not increased, and the data transmission rate when transmitting the dimming data to the dimming control panel is higher than the current one. It is possible to eliminate the need to increase the speed and perform special dimming control with various loads.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a lighting control system of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes a dimming control panel, which is a main control unit 11 for performing selective switching of dimming data to be used and converting the dimming data into a dimming signal, a transmission line 4 and a transmission control unit 13.
, A transmission interface 12 for connecting the transmission lines 4, a transmission control unit 13 for controlling transmission / reception of signals to / from the transmission line 4, a special light control data storage unit 14 storing special light control data,
The special light control data and the special light control data 14 read out from the special light control data storage unit 14 are calculated to create the special light control data for more precise light control. Special light control that holds data that determines whether the load is controlled using the stored special light control data or whether the load is controlled using the special light control data sent from the main operation panel 2 Calculation switching unit 16, a dimming signal output interface unit 17 for outputting a dimming signal output from the main control unit 11 to the dimmer 18, a dimmer 18 for dimming and controlling the connected load 3, an operating power supply. It has a power supply unit 19 for supplying the above to each unit. Reference numeral 2 is a main operation panel, 3 is a load (lamp), and 4 is a transmission line.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The main control panel 2 transmits the dimming data in the format as shown in FIG.
Send to the top. The dimming data having such a format is received by the transmission control unit 13 through the transmission interface 12 of each dimming control board 1 connected to the transmission line 4. At this time, the transmission control unit 13 reads the load channel address part (see FIG. 2) of the dimming data received in step 301 of FIG. 3 and determines whether or not it matches the address of the load channel controlled by itself. If they do not match, the processing is terminated and the received dimming data is discarded. However, if they match, the received dimming data is sent to the main controller 11.
Pass to. The main control unit 11 checks the data held in the special light control calculation switching unit 16 in step 302,
Whether the dimming control is performed using the dimming data stored in the special dimming data storage unit 14, or the dimming data unit (see FIG. 2) of the dimming data received from the main operation panel 2 is used to load the light. It is determined whether or not the dimming control is performed. If the data in the special dimming data storage unit 14 is used, the process proceeds to step 307, and if the dimming data received from the main operation panel 2 is used, the process proceeds to step 303.

When the operation proceeds to step 303, the main controller 1
1 checks the dimming control panel dimming control request unit and the special effect request calculation unit (see FIG. 2) of the dimming data received from the main operation panel 2 to determine whether the special effect is requested or not. If it is not requested, the process proceeds to step 304, and if it is requested, the process proceeds to step 305. In step 304,
The main control unit 11 converts the data in the dimming data portion (see FIG. 2) in the received dimming data into a dimming signal, and further, in step 306, the dimming signal is output to the dimming signal output interface unit 17. It outputs to the dimmer 18 via. As a result, the dimmer 18 performs dimming control of the connected load 3 according to the input dimming signal. On the other hand, the main control unit 11 calculates the data in the special dimming data storage unit 14 in step 305 by the special dimming calculation unit 15 and the dimming data unit of the received dimming data (see FIG. (See 2) and after converting the combined result into a dimming signal, this is output to the dimmer 18 via the dimming signal output interface unit 17 in step 306. As a result, the dimmer 18 performs dimming control of the connected load 3 according to the input dimming signal.

By the way, by the judgment at step 302,
When the process proceeds to step 307, the main control unit 11 calculates the special dimming data stored in the special dimming data storage unit 14 by the special dimming calculation unit 15 to obtain more precise dimming data. After converting to dimming signal, step 3
At 06, the dimming signal is output to the dimmer 18 via the dimming signal output interface unit 17. As a result, the dimmer 18 performs dimming control of the connected load 3 according to the dimming signal.

Next, a supplementary description of the above-mentioned operation of the dimming control panel 1 will be added. A specific example when the special light control calculator 15 calculates the special light control data stored in the special light control data storage unit 14 is as described below, for example. That is, when the special dimming data storage unit 14 gives a dimming level and a time required to reach the dimming level, the special dimming calculation unit 15 exists during the time until the given level is reached. A plurality of dimming levels to be calculated are calculated using a function or the like, and the calculation result is given to the main controller 11 as dimming data. Further, to the dimming data received from the main operation panel 2, the dimming data read out from the special dimming data storage unit 14 and the data obtained by performing the calculation by the special dimming calculation unit 15 are added to newly add a complicated data. A specific example of creating dimming data is as follows. That is, the dimming data received from the main operation panel 2 is only the dimming level of the load, and the dimming data for cyclically changing the dimming level within ± 5% around the dimming level is the center. The main control unit 11 obtains the dimming data that cyclically changes the brightness within a range of ± 5% around the dimming level of 20% as a result by synthesizing the two from the special dimming calculation unit 15. It is created and converted into a dimming signal and output to the dimmer 18 via the dimming signal output interface 17.

In step 302, the main control unit 11 checks the data set in the special light control calculation switching unit 16, and uses the light control data transmitted from the main operation panel 2. It is determined whether to perform dimming control or to perform dimming control of the load using the dimming data stored in the special dimming data storage unit 14 without using the sent dimming data. However, if the data portion for instructing the switching is attached to a part of the dimming data sent from the main operation panel 2, the above-mentioned switching is performed by the instruction of the main operation panel 2. You can also Further, it is assumed that the special light control data storage unit 14 is a ROM and is set in the light control panel 1 in advance. Data for determining whether to use the dimming data from the main operation panel 2 or to use the dimming data stored in the special dimming data storage unit 14 is not shown by the operator in the special dimming data calculation unit 16. It is assumed that it has been set in advance from the operation unit or the like.

According to the present embodiment, when the dimming control of the load 3 is performed using only the special dimming data in the dimming control panel 1, the main operation panel 2 creates the dimming start data, Since this need only be sent to the dimming control panel 1 via the transmission line 4, the load on the main operation panel 2 will not be increased even if the load for dimming increases, and the transmission speed of the dimming start data will also increase. The current one can perform sufficiently smooth control. Also, the main operation panel 2
When performing the special dimming control of the load 3 using the dimming data sent from the device and the special dimming data in the dimming control panel 1,
Even if the dimming data sent from the main operation panel 2 is simplified, the lighting effects of the load 3 can be varied, and even if the load to be dimmed increases, the dimming data of the main operation panel 2 It is possible to prevent an increase in the load of arithmetic processing, and it is possible to perform a sufficiently smooth control of the transmission speed of the dimming data with the existing one. Therefore, even if the load for dimming is increased, it is possible to perform various effects of the light of each load without increasing the calculation capability of the main operation panel 2 or further increasing the transmission speed of the dimming data. . Further, since the special light control data storage unit 14 is a ROM, it is possible to easily change the special light control data stored in the light control panel 1 by changing the ROM. Also in this example, the special dimming data storage unit 14 may be a rewritable non-volatile memory, and the dimming data sent from the main operation panel 2 may be received and stored by the transmission control unit 13. .

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. Also in this example, the dimming control panel 1 takes in the dimming data sent from the main operation panel 2 onto the transmission line 4, and dimming controls the load 3. The wall switch 5 is for designating a range of load for dimming control. The wall switch 5 of this example is provided with a switch indicated by a in addition to the normal switch. When this switch a is pressed, only the switch on / off command from the wall switch 5 having this switch a is subsequently issued to the main operation panel 2 The switch ON / OFF command from the other wall switch 5 is ignored.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the processing of the main operation panel 2 when setting the data for activating a specific wall switch. In step 501, the main operation panel 2 is set to the transmission line 4
When the data is received from the device, the process proceeds to step 502, it is determined whether the data is data for setting the priority of the wall switch 5, and if so, the process proceeds to step 503.
Otherwise, go to step 504. Step 50
At 3, the main operation panel 2 sets the data for validating only the switch operation from the wall switch 5 which has sent the data in the internal memory and ends the processing. On the other hand, if the process proceeds to step 504, the main operation panel 2 performs a process according to the type of the received data.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the processing when switch on / off data is received from the wall switch 5 of the main operation panel 2 shown in FIG. When the main operation panel 2 receives the switch on / off data from the wall switch 5 in step 601, the process proceeds to step 602, and whether the operation of the wall switch 5 that has sent the data is valid or not is stored in the internal memory described above. The data is checked and judged. If it is not valid, the process is ended, and if it is valid, the process proceeds to step 603. In step 603, the main operation panel 2 performs control according to the received on / off data of the switch.

According to this embodiment, when the switch of a certain wall switch 5 is turned on and off to determine the control range of the load 3, etc., if the switch a of this wall switch 5 is pushed,
Since only the operation instruction from the wall switch 5 is effective, it is possible to prevent the control range of the load 3 from being disturbed by inadvertently pressing another wall switch 5 in another room or the like. .

[0021]

As described above, according to the illumination control system and the dimming control method of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the dimming data calculation load of the main operation panel from increasing even if the dimming target load increases. You can create a variety of light effects.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a lighting control system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a format example of dimming data transmitted from the main operation panel shown in FIG.

3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the dimming control panel shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing of the main operation panel shown in FIG. 4 when setting data for enabling a specific wall switch.

6 is a flowchart showing a process when switch on / off data is received from a wall switch of the main operation panel shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional lighting control system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Dimming control panel 2 ... Main operation panel 3 ... Load 4 ... Transmission line 11 ... Main control unit 12 ... Transmission interface 13 ... Transmission control unit 14 ... Special dimming data storage unit 15 ... Special dimming calculation unit 16 ... Special type Dimming calculation switching unit 17 ... Dimming signal output interface unit 18 ... Dimmer

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Hiroshi Nishinami 1-4-2, Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo Inside Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corporation (72) Hiroyuki Masuda 1-4-2, Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corporation

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A lighting control system in which a dimming control panel takes in dimming data sent from a main operation panel onto a transmission line and controls dimming of a load connected thereto, wherein the dimming control panel is dimming control. A storage unit for storing the light control data, and a calculation unit for performing a calculation on the dimming data stored in the storage unit to create more precise dimming data, and an instruction set by an operator in advance, Alternatively, according to an instruction transmitted from the main operation panel, the dimming data stored in the storage means is calculated by the arithmetic means without using the dimming data transmitted from the main operation panel. An illumination control system, which performs dimming control of the load based on the dimming data. 2. A lighting control system, wherein a dimming control panel takes in dimming data sent from a main operation panel onto a transmission line, and performs dimming control of a load connected to the dimming control panel. A storage unit for storing the light control data, a calculation unit for performing a calculation on the dimming data stored in the storage unit to create more precise dimming data, and an instruction transmitted from the main operation panel. A dimming data sent from the main operation panel and a synthesizing unit for synthesizing the dimming data obtained by calculation by the calculating unit, and based on the dimming data synthesized by the synthesizing unit, A lighting control system, which performs dimming control of the load. 3. A lighting control system in which a dimming control panel takes in dimming data sent from a main operation panel onto a transmission line to control dimming of a connected load, and the dimming control panel is internally provided. The load is dimmed based on the dimming data obtained by combining the stored dimming data with the dimming data obtained from the calculation and the dimming data sent from the main operation panel. A dimming control method characterized by controlling.