JPH0650594A - Operation controller for air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent missetting of address from occurring by a method wherein an address setting signal from a remote controller reaches only to a signal indoor control unit. CONSTITUTION:An indoor control unit and a remote controller 3 are connected through a wireless wire. The remote controller 3 is provided with an address setting switch 51 to input address data of an address to be set in the indoor control unit, and with a light emitting circuit 7 to output a control signal in the form of light signal. The remote controller 3 is also provided with an address setting means 42 which receives the address data from the address setting switch 51 and outputs an address formation signal to the light emitting circuit 7, causing it to output an address setting signal. The remote controller 3 is further provided with a light emitting amount decreasing circuit 8 which, when the address setting means 42 outputs the address formation signal, decreases an amount of light to be emitted which means the address setting signal outputted by the light emitting circuit 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an operation control device for an air conditioner equipped with a wireless controller, and more particularly to address setting measures between the controller and the air conditioning control unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an operation control device for an air conditioner includes a wireless remote controller as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-256141, and an information signal from the remote controller is provided. The indoor control unit receives the control signal, the indoor control unit outputs a control signal such as an air conditioning load, and controls the indoor fan to control the air conditioning operation. When only one indoor control unit is installed in the room, the air conditioning operation is accurately controlled based on the information signal from the remote controller. However, when a plurality of indoor control units are installed in the room, operating one remote controller may also operate an indoor control unit other than the indoor control unit to be operated.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, addresses are set in the indoor control unit (a, a, ...) And the remote controller (b), and the indoor control unit (a) has the same address. Only the information signal from the remote controller (b) is received to control the air conditioning operation such as operation stop.

[0004]

In the operation control device for the air conditioner described above, the address of the indoor control unit (a, a, ...) Can be set by the remote controller (b) so that the address can be set easily. Is considered to be. However, if the same optical signal as that used during normal operation is used as it is for this address setting, the same address is set for all of the plurality of indoor control units (a, a, ...) As shown in FIG. There is a problem that That is, the optical signal emitted by the remote controller (b) is set to have a predetermined reach and a predetermined directivity range.
When three indoor control units (a, a, ...) are placed close to each other, when an address setting signal is output from the remote control (b) to set an address for one indoor control unit (a), the remote control The address setting signal from (b) also reaches another indoor control unit (a, a, ...), and the other indoor control unit (a, a, ...) also takes in the address setting signal and sets the same address. Will be done. As a result, there is a problem that an erroneous address setting occurs and accurate operation control cannot be performed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to prevent an erroneous address setting by allowing an address setting signal from a controller to reach only one air conditioning control unit. It is a thing.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the means taken by the present invention is to reduce the light emission amount or the directivity range of the address setting signal output from the controller.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the measures taken by the invention according to claim 1 are as follows: First, the air conditioning control unit (2)
It is premised on the operation control device of the air conditioner in which the controller and the controller (3) are wirelessly connected to each other to control the air conditioning operation. Then, the controller (3) is provided with an input means (51) for inputting address data of an address set in the air conditioning control unit (2), a light emitting means (7) for outputting a control signal as an optical signal, and the above input. Address setting means (42) is provided for receiving address data from the means (51) and outputting an address generation signal to the light emitting means (7) so that the light emitting means (7) outputs the address setting signal. ing. In addition, to the controller (3), when the address setting means (42) outputs an address generation signal, the light emission amount lowering means (8) for lowering the light emission amount of the address setting signal output by the light emitting means (7). ) Is provided.

Further, the means taken by the invention according to claim 2 is such that when the address setting means (42) outputs an address generation signal instead of the light emission amount lowering means (8) in the invention of claim 1, the light emission is performed. The directivity range lowering means (9) for reducing the directivity range of the address setting signal output from the means (7) is provided. Further, the means taken by the invention according to claim 3 is configured such that the pointing range lowering means (9) in the invention of claim 2 is provided in the invention of claim 1.

[0009]

With the above construction, in the invention according to claim 1,
The light emitting means (7) of the controller (3) outputs data signals such as air conditioning operation and set temperature as optical signals. The air conditioning control unit (2) receives the data signal from the controller (3), and the air conditioning control unit (2) controls the air conditioning operation. When setting the address to the air conditioning control unit (2) from the controller (3), input the address data from the input means (51) to the controller (3).
The address setting means (42) receives the address data to generate an address generation signal, and the light emitting means (7) receives the address generation signal and outputs the address setting signal. At that time, when the address setting means (42) outputs an address generation signal, the light emission amount lowering means (8) causes the light emitting means (7)
The light emitting means (7) outputs the address setting signal with a low light emitting amount. As a result, the reaching distance of the address setting signal decreases, and only the air conditioning control unit (2) that sets the address receives the address setting signal.

Further, in the invention according to claim 2, when the address setting means (42) outputs the address generation signal, the directivity range lowering means (9) reduces the directivity range of the light emitting means (7) to emit the light. The means (7) outputs the address setting signal in a narrow directivity range. As a result, only the air conditioning control unit (2) that sets the address will receive the address setting signal. In the invention according to claim 3, when the address setting means (42) outputs an address generation signal,
The light emission amount lowering means (8) lowers the light emitting amount of the light emitting means (7), and at the same time, the pointing range lowering means (9) reduces the pointing range of the light emitting means (7), and the light emitting means (7) is lowered. The address setting signal is output in a narrow directional range with a light emission amount. As a result, the air conditioning control unit that sets the address
Only (2) will receive the address setting signal.

[0011]

Therefore, according to the invention of claim 1,
When setting the address, the light emission means (7) is set to a low light emission amount, which reduces the reach of the address setting signal and brings the controller (3) closer to the air conditioning control unit (2). Only 2) will take in the address setting signal. As a result, each air conditioning control unit
Each air conditioning control unit (2)
Since it is possible to set different addresses to
It is possible to prevent erroneous setting of the address. Moreover, the light emission amount of the normal data signal does not decrease, and the air conditioning operation with good operability can be performed.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the directivity range of the light emitting means (7) is narrowed, the address setting is performed even if the controller (3) and the air conditioning control unit (2) are separated. Only the air conditioning control unit (2) that operates
Since it is possible to set different addresses to
It is possible to prevent erroneous setting of the address.

According to the third aspect of the invention, since the light emitting amount of the light emitting means (7) is reduced and the directivity range is narrowed, the air conditioning control unit (2) for more reliable address setting. Since only the address setting signal is taken in, and different addresses can be set reliably for each air conditioning control unit (2), it is possible to more reliably prevent erroneous address setting.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 2 and 3, (1) is an outdoor control unit that controls an outdoor unit of the multi-type air conditioner, and (2) is an indoor control unit that controls an indoor unit. A remote control (3) is wirelessly connected to each unit (2). The outdoor control unit (1) is connected to each indoor control unit (2)
It is connected via 1) and controls the capacity of the compressor. Although not shown, the indoor control unit (2) is an air conditioning control unit equipped with a CPU, etc., and is connected to the outdoor control unit (1) to control data such as an abnormal signal and a wind direction signal of the indoor unit. Outdoor control unit (1)
Is being exchanged with. Further, the indoor control unit is provided with a light receiving section (21) for receiving a control signal of an optical signal output from the remote controller (3).

On the other hand, the remote controller (3) is a controller having a CPU (4) as shown in FIG.
The first input port P2 of the PU (4) has an address input circuit (5) having an address setting switch (51), and the second input port P3 has an operation input circuit (5) having an operation switch (61). 6)
And the address input circuit (5)
The power source (31) is connected to the operation input circuit (6) through the resistor (32). The address setting switch (51) above
The indoor control unit (2) constitutes input means for inputting address data of an address to be set, and the operation switch (61) is constituted so as to input control data such as operation data and set temperature data. When each switch is turned on, each input port becomes "Low" and each data is taken in by the CPU (4).

The CPU (4) is connected to the light emitting circuit (7) at the first output port P0 and the light emitting amount reduction circuit (8) at the second output port P1, and the air conditioning control means ( Four
1) and address setting means (42) are provided. The air conditioning control means (41) receives the control data from the operation switch (61) and generates and outputs a control generation signal. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a manufacturing serial No. which is an operation command and an address signal. . And a set data such as set temperature and an error correction code are output from the first output port P0 to the light emitting circuit (7). When the address setting means (42) receives an address setting command signal, which is address data from the address setting switch (51), the light emitting circuit (7) outputs the address setting signal. It is configured to output the address generation signal to (7). Specifically, the address setting means
As shown in FIG. 5, reference numeral (42) designates the manufacturing serial No. preset in the remote controller (3) of its own as an address between the remote controller (3) and the indoor control unit (2). #
0 ","# 1 "or"# 2 "manufacturing serial No. is set to the address, and the address setting command and manufacturing serial N.
An address generation signal consisting of o. and an error correction code is output from the first output port P0 to the light emitting circuit (7), and a "Hi" drive signal is sent to the light emitting amount lowering circuit (8) secondly.
It is configured to output from the output port P1.

On the other hand, in the light emitting circuit (7), a resistor (72) from a power source (71), an NPN type transmission transistor (73), a resistor (74) and a light emitting element (75) are connected in series. It is connected to form a light emitting means, receives the generated signals from the air conditioning control means (41) and the address setting means (42), and outputs the control signals of the formats shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 as optical signals. It is configured to transmit to the indoor control unit (2).

The light emission amount lowering circuit (8) is a feature of the present invention, in which a resistor (81) and an NPN type lowering transistor (82) are connected in series to form a light amount reducing means. One end is connected between the transmitting transistor (73) and the resistor (74) in the light emitting circuit (7). The light emission amount lowering circuit (8) is provided with the address setting means.
When (42) outputs the drive signal, that is, the light emitting circuit
When the (7) outputs the address setting signal, the lowering transistor (82) is turned on to lower the light emission amount of the light emitting element (75).

Next, the transmission operation from the remote controller (3) to the indoor control unit (2) will be described. First, when control data such as an operation signal is input from the operation switch (61), the air-conditioning control means (41) receives the control data, generates a control generation signal corresponding to the control data, and outputs the first output port P0.
Output to the light emitting circuit (7). Then, the transmission transistor (73) is turned on in response to the control generation signal, and the light emitting element
(75) emits light toward the indoor control unit (2), outputs a control signal in the format shown in FIG. 4, and outputs the remote control (3).
The indoor control unit (2) will receive the control signal from. At that time, the second output port P1 of the CPU (4) is set to "L".
Since the low transistor (82) is kept off, the light emitting circuit (7) emits a normal amount of light and outputs a control signal because an "ow" state is maintained. An address is set in the control signal. Therefore, only the indoor control unit (2) with the same address fetches the control signal from the remote controller (3) and controls the operation and air conditioning operation such as set temperature.

On the other hand, when installing the air conditioner,
When setting the address to the indoor control unit (2) from the remote controller (3), when the address setting switch (51) is turned on, the first input port P2 becomes "Low" and the address setting means (42) sets the address. The setting command signal will be taken in. Then, the address setting means (42) generates an address generation signal of the format shown in FIG. 5 based on the command signal and outputs it to the light emitting circuit (7). That is, remote control
An address generation signal is output using the manufacturing serial No. of (3) as an address. Simultaneously with the output of this address generation signal, a drive signal is output to the light emission amount lowering circuit (8) to bring the second output port P1 into the "Hi" state and the lowering transistor (82)
To turn on. When the reduction transistor (82) is turned on, the current flowing through the light emitting element (75) of the light emitting circuit (7) is reduced, and the light emission amount of the light emitting element (75) is reduced. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of indoor control units
When the address is set in the state where (2) is placed in close proximity, the light emission amount of the light emitting element (75) decreases and the reach of the address setting signal decreases. ), The remote controller (3) is brought close to the indoor control unit (2), and only one indoor control unit (2) takes in the address setting signal, and the other indoor control units (2) do not take in the address setting signal.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, since the light emitting element (75) is made to emit a small amount of light at the time of address setting, the remote controller (3) is brought close to the indoor control unit (2). Only unit (2) will take in the address setting signal. As a result, each indoor control unit
Each indoor control unit (2), even if (2) are placed in close proximity
Since it is possible to set different addresses to
It is possible to prevent erroneous setting of the address. Moreover, the light emission amount of the normal data signal does not decrease, and the air conditioning operation with good operability can be performed.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the invention according to claim 2, in which a directivity range lowering circuit (9) is provided instead of the light emission amount lowering circuit (8) in the previous embodiment. That is,
The light emitting circuit (7) is composed of a resistor (74) and a first light emitting element (75) connected in parallel with a resistor (76) and a second light emitting element (77). A pointing range lowering circuit (9) is provided. The pointing range lowering circuit (9) is the second circuit of the CPU (4).
The lowering transistor (91) connected to the output port P1 constitutes the pointing range lowering means.

On the other hand, the air conditioning control means (41) of the CPU (4)
Is configured to output a drive signal of "Hi" to the second output port P1 when outputting the control generation signal, and the address setting means (42) outputs the address generation signal to the second output port. It is configured to output a "Low" drive signal to P1. The pointing range lowering circuit (9) reduces the pointing range of the address setting signal by causing only the first light emitting element (75) to emit light when the address setting means (42) outputs the address generation signal. ing.

That is, when transmitting a control signal such as an operation signal, the air conditioning control means (41) outputs the control generation signal to the first output port P0 and the second output port P1.
Is set to the "Hi" state, and both the first light emitting element (75) and the second light emitting element (77) blink. On the other hand, when transmitting the address setting signal, the address setting means (42)
The address generation signal is output to the first output port P0, the second output port P1 is set to "Low" to turn off the lowering transistor (91), and only the first light emitting element (75) blinks. The light emitting element (77) is turned off. As a result, the directivity range of the address setting signal becomes smaller.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, when the address is set, only the first light emitting element (75) is driven to narrow the directivity range, so that the indoor control unit (2) which sets the address even from a long distance is set. Only)) takes in the address setting signal, and different addresses can be reliably set in each indoor control unit (2), so that erroneous address setting can be prevented.

Further, FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of the invention according to claim 3, which comprises a light emission amount lowering circuit (8) in the first embodiment and a pointing range lowering circuit (9) in the second embodiment. It is provided. That is, the light emitting circuit (7) includes the first light emitting element (7
5) and a second light emitting element (77), the second light emitting element
A directivity range lowering circuit (9) including a first lowering transistor (91) is provided on the (77) side, and the first lowering transistor (91), resistor (76) and second light emitting element (77) are provided. A light emission reduction circuit (8) is connected in parallel with. The light emission amount reduction circuit
(8) is a PNP type second lowering transistor (82) and a resistor
(81) and are connected in series.

That is, when transmitting a control signal such as an operation signal, the air conditioning control means (41) sends the control generation signal to the first control signal.
The first light emitting element (75) and the second light emitting element are output to the output port P0 and the second output port P1 is set to the "Hi" state.
(77) will blink together. At this time, since the second lowering transistor (82) remains in the off state, the light emission amount of both light emitting elements (75) does not decrease. On the other hand, when transmitting the address setting signal, the address setting means (4
2) outputs the address generation signal to the first output port P0 and sets the second output port P1 to the "Low" state to make the first
The lowering transistor (91) is turned off, the second lowering transistor (82) is turned on, only the first light emitting element (75) is blinked, and the second light emitting element (77) is turned off. The current flowing through the first light emitting element (75) is reduced. As a result, the directivity range of the address setting signal becomes smaller, the amount of light emission becomes smaller, and the reach becomes shorter.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, the first light emitting device is
Since the light emission amount of (75) is reduced and the directivity range of the address setting signal is narrowed, only the indoor control unit (2) that more reliably sets the address receives the address setting signal. Since different addresses can be reliably set in the indoor control unit (2), erroneous address settings can be prevented more reliably.

In this embodiment, the manufacturing serial No. of the remote controller (3) is used as an address, but it goes without saying that other addresses may be used in the present invention. Also,
The pointing range lowering circuit (9) may have a number other than the number of light emitted from the light emitting elements (75, 77), and may be a lens, for example.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control system diagram of the air conditioner.

FIG. 3 is a control circuit diagram of a remote controller.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a control signal.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an address setting signal.

FIG. 6 is a layout diagram of an indoor control unit and a remote controller when an address is set.

FIG. 7 is a control circuit diagram of a remote controller showing a second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a control circuit diagram of a remote controller showing a third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a layout diagram of a conventional indoor control unit and a remote controller during address setting.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 outdoor control unit 2 indoor control unit 3 remote controller (controller) 4 CPU 7 light emitting circuit (light emitting means) 8 light emitting amount reduction circuit (light emitting amount lowering means) 9 pointing range lowering circuit (pointing range lowering means) 41 Air-conditioning control means 42 Address setting means 51 Address setting switch (input means) 61 Operation switch 75, 77 Light emitting element 82, 91 Lowering transistor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioning control unit (2) and a controller
In the operation control device of the air conditioner that is wirelessly connected to (3) to control the air conditioning operation, the controller (3) has input means for inputting address data of an address set in the air conditioning control unit (2). (51), a light emitting means (7) for outputting a control signal as an optical signal, and the light emitting means (7) for receiving the address data from the input means (51) so that the light emitting means (7) outputs an address setting signal. Address setting means (42) for outputting an address generation signal to the light emitting means (7), and the light emission amount of the address setting signal output by the light emitting means (7) when the address setting means (42) outputs the address generation signal. An operation control device for an air conditioner, comprising: a light emission amount lowering means (8) for lowering the temperature. 2. An air conditioning control unit (2) and a controller
In the operation control device of the air conditioner that is wirelessly connected to (3) to control the air conditioning operation, the controller (3) has input means for inputting address data of an address set in the air conditioning control unit (2). (51), a light emitting means (7) for outputting a control signal as an optical signal, and the light emitting means (7) for receiving the address data from the input means (51) so that the light emitting means (7) outputs an address setting signal. Address setting means (42) for outputting an address generation signal to the light emitting means (7), and a directivity range of the address setting signal output by the light emitting means (7) when the address setting means (42) outputs the address generation signal. An operation control device for an air conditioner, comprising: a directivity range lowering means (9) for reducing 3. An air conditioning control unit (2) and a controller
In the operation control device of the air conditioner that is wirelessly connected to (3) to control the air conditioning operation, the controller (3) has input means for inputting address data of an address set in the air conditioning control unit (2). (51), a light emitting means (7) for outputting a control signal as an optical signal, and the light emitting means (7) for receiving the address data from the input means (51) so that the light emitting means (7) outputs an address setting signal. Address setting means (42) for outputting an address generation signal to the light emitting means (7), and the light emission amount of the address setting signal output by the light emitting means (7) when the address setting means (42) outputs the address generation signal. And a pointing range lowering means (9) for reducing the pointing range of the address setting signal output by the light emitting means (7) when the address setting signal outputs an address generation signal. Is equipped with An operation control device for an air conditioner, which is characterized in that