JPH07287672A - Equipment controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an equipment controller which can store the normal control data as far as possible in an EEPROM while refreshing the EEPROM holding the control data on an equipment and also can perform the normal control of operations of the equipment by means of a microcomputer. CONSTITUTION:An EEPROM 2 contains the storage parts A1 to A3 which store the same control data and a storage part 3 which stores the numbers of parts A1 to A3 to be refreshed. In a refreshment mode, a microcomputer 1 continuously reads the data in order out of the parts A1 to A3 until the satisfactory control data are obtained. Then the microcomputer 1 writes the obtained satisfactory control data in one of parts A1 to A3 that is pointed by the number of the part 3. This number of the part 3 is changed for each refreshment so that the parts A1 to A3 are refreshed in order.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device control device for controlling various devices such as combustion devices by using a microcomputer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in combustion equipment, it is known that combustion of a burner is controlled by a microcomputer through a solenoid valve, a proportional valve, etc.
The microcomputer controls the combustion of the burner by controlling the opening / closing of the solenoid valve, the opening of the proportional valve, etc. according to a program stored in advance in memory and various control data. In this case, the program and various control data are
Since it is important for performing predetermined control, it is basically stored and held in a read-only non-volatile memory such as a mask ROM so as not to be destroyed by a power failure or disturbance. Among the control data, it may be necessary to set or adjust the control data for each product depending on the type of fuel to be used, variations in component characteristics of each product, and the like.

Therefore, in this type of device, for example, an electrically writable nonvolatile memory (so-called EE) is used.
PROM) for storing the control data as described above or the control data for adjusting the reference control data in the EEPROM when the product is shipped,
It is known that control is performed by a microcomputer using control data stored and held in the EEPROM.

The control data stored and stored in the EEPROM is not lost even when the power supply is stopped due to a power failure or the like, and the contents are generally changed during the use of the device. Because it is not necessary,
Normally, rewriting or the like is not performed after the data is stored and held in the EEPROM when the product is shipped.

However, the EEPROM generally has a shorter period in which data can be stored and held than a mask ROM or the like, and the period is usually about 10 years. Also, EEP
Since the ROM is writable, the mask RO
Compared to M and the like, it is more likely to be affected by disturbance noise and the like, and the stored data may be destroyed by the disturbance noise and the like.

Therefore, it is preferable that the control data stored and held in the EEPROM as described above be appropriately updated (so-called refresh) even after the product is provided to the user. For example, the one disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 3859/1993 is known as a method for performing the above.

In the device disclosed in this publication, every time the power of the device is turned on, the data stored and held in the EEPROM is read out, temporarily stored and held in the RAM, and the data is again written in the EEPROM, whereby the EE
The PROM data is refreshed. Then, in order to prevent an error at the time of reading the data of the EEPROM, the reading is performed twice in succession, and the read data are collated with each other. If the data do not match, a read error is generated. The above-mentioned data reading is repeated as the occurrence. Further, in order to prevent an error at the time of writing the data of the EEPROM, after writing the data from the RAM to the EEPROM, the data is re-written to the EEPROM.
The data is read out from the RAM and collated with the data in the RAM. If they do not coincide with each other, it is considered that a write error has occurred and the above-described data writing is repeated.

However, in such a case, although it is possible to refresh the data of the EEPROM, read the data at the time of refreshing, or prevent an error at the time of writing, the EEPROM is
If the data stored and held in the OM is abnormal due to disturbance noise or the like, the data cannot be restored to the original normal data even if no read error or write error occurs. It becomes impossible to store and retain normal data in the EEPROM. Then, in such a case, in the case of the above-mentioned publication, although the data read from the EEPROM is logically collated to eliminate the abnormal data that causes an abnormality in the operation of the device, Since it is not possible to restore the normal data, it was not possible to perform the normal control that should be performed originally.

Further, the EEPROM is generally limited in the number of times data can be read and written without any trouble, and in particular, the limit number of times of writing is smaller than the limit number of times of reading. Therefore, in the case of the above publication, when an error occurs during reading or writing,
The number of times to repeat it is limited, and the number of times to repeat writing is relatively small. However, even if the number of write repetitions is limited to a small number as described above, if a write error occurs continuously, the EEPROM may be refreshed several times during one refresh.
Since the writing to the EEPROM is performed, there is an inconvenience that the life of the EEPROM is shortened.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims at improvement of such a device control device, and more specifically, of an electrically writable non-volatile storage means for storing and holding device control data. An object of the present invention is to provide a device control device capable of storing and holding, as much as possible normal control data in a non-volatile storage means while refreshing, and performing normal operation control of a device by a microcomputer. .

It is another object of the present invention to provide a device control device capable of preventing the non-volatile storage means from being shortened in life by reducing the reading and writing of control data at the time of refreshing the non-volatile storage means.

[0012]

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides an electrically writable non-volatile storage means for storing and holding control data in advance, and an operation of an apparatus using the control data. In a device control device including a microcomputer for controlling, a plurality of control data storage units in which the same control data are written in advance, and among the plurality of control data storage units,
The nonvolatile data storage unit is provided with an instruction data storage unit in which instruction data indicating a control data storage unit to update the control data is written in advance, and sequentially from the plurality of control data storage units at a predetermined timing. When the control data is read, the read / judgment means for judging whether the read control data is good or bad, and performing the reading and judgment until good control data is obtained, and when the good control data is obtained, A control data updating unit for writing the good control data to the control data storage unit indicated by the instruction data of the instruction data storage unit to update the data in the control data storage unit; and the control data storage unit When the data of the control data is updated, the instruction data indicating the control data storage unit is changed to instruction data indicating another control data storage unit and the instruction data is changed. The instruction data changing means for writing in the data storage unit, characterized in that provided in the microcomputer.

Further, predetermined check data is written together with the control data in each of the control data storage sections, and the reading / judging means of the microcomputer is
The quality of the control data is determined by determining the quality of the check data.

Further, when it is determined that the control data read from the control data storage unit is good, the microcomputer includes a RAM for storing and holding the good control data, and the RAM has the RAM. The operation control of the device is performed using the stored control data.

Further, the predetermined timing is at the start of power supply to the microcomputer.

Further, the microcomputer is characterized in that when the control data in all the control data storage sections is judged to be defective, the microcomputer prohibits the operation of the device.

[0017]

According to the present invention, when updating (refreshing) the control data stored and held in the non-volatile storage means, the same control data is written in advance from the plurality of control data storage sections. The reading / judging means of the microcomputer sequentially reads the control data and judges the quality of the control data, and the reading and judgment are performed until good control data is obtained.

In this case, since the same good control data is initially written in the plurality of control data storage units, the control data in one control data storage unit is abnormal. Or, even if a read error of the control data occurs, basically, good control data is read out from any one of the other control data storage units, and accordingly, the above-described read-out is performed. -By making a judgment, good control data can be obtained.

When good control data is obtained in this way, the control data updating means of the micro-computer is indicated by the instruction data stored and held in the instruction data storage section of the nonvolatile storage means. The good control data is written in the other control data storage unit, whereby the control data in the control data storage unit is updated (refreshed) with the good control data.
Further, the instruction data changing means changes the instruction data to
The instruction data indicating another control data storage section different from the updated control data storage section is changed and written in the instruction data storage section. As a result, when the control data is updated (refreshed) next time, the control data storage unit different from this time is updated. When updating the control data in this way, erroneous control data may be written due to a write error when writing the control data. Is performed for one control data storage unit, it is considered that good control data is stored and held in any one of the other control data storage units. By carrying out various updates, good control data will eventually be written.
This is true even if the control data stored and held in each control data storage unit becomes abnormal due to disturbance noise or the like, as long as the control data in one control data storage unit is good. is there.

In addition, at the time of one update (refresh), the control data of each control data storage unit is read or written only once, so the number of times of reading or writing the control data of the non-volatile storage means is small. As a result, it is possible to suppress the decrease in the life of the nonvolatile storage means.

In the present invention, when the predetermined check data is written together with the control data in each control data storage unit, generally, if the control data is good, the check data is also good, Also,
If the control data is defective, it is considered that the check data is also defective. Therefore, by determining the quality of the check data, it is possible to easily determine the quality of the control data.

Further, when it is determined that the control data read from the control data storage unit is good, and if a RAM for storing and holding the good control data is provided, the control stored and held in the RAM is provided. By controlling the device using the operation data, it is possible to perform normal control of the device, and at the time of controlling the device, it is not necessary to read the control data from the non-volatile storage means at any time. Therefore, the number of times of reading the control data from the non-volatile storage means is reduced, and it is possible to prevent the life of the non-volatile storage means from being shortened.

Further, by setting the predetermined timing for performing the updating as the start of power supply to the microcomputer, the updating of the control data in the non-volatile storage means can be suppressed as much as necessary, and the non-volatile storage can be suppressed. It is possible to suppress the decrease in the life of the means.

In addition, when it is determined that all the control data in the control data storage unit are defective in the above update, the operation of the device is prohibited, so that
When the control data in all the control data storage units becomes defective, the abnormal operation of the device is avoided.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a device control apparatus of this embodiment, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view for explaining data stored and held in an EEPROM provided in the apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an operation of the apparatus of FIG. It is a flow chart for explaining.

Referring to FIG. 1, a device control device of the present embodiment is a device for controlling a combustion device such as a water heater and a fan heater, and 1 is a microcomputer and 2 is electrically writable. As a non-volatile storage means
It is a PROM.

The EEPROM 2 includes, for example, three control data storage units A1, A2 and A3 and an instruction data storage unit 3. Control data storage units A1, A2, A3
Is a portion for storing and holding control data necessary for the microcomputer 1 to control the operation of the combustion equipment, and the same control data is stored and held at the time of shipment of the combustion equipment. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, in each control data storage unit A1, A2, A3, together with control data, start word data, end word data, and sum data indicating the sum of bit values of those data are controlled. It is stored and held as check data for determining the quality of the work data. Here, the start word data and the end word data are predetermined fixed data.

Further, the instruction data storage unit 3 has one control data storage unit A1 or A2 to be refreshed when the control data is updated (refreshed) described later.
Alternatively, the instruction data indicating the address of A3 is stored and held, and the instruction data indicating, for example, the control data storage unit A1 is stored and held at the time of shipment of the combustion device.
In the following description, the instruction data will be generically referred to by using the symbol N, and the values of the instruction data N indicating the addresses of the control data storage units A1, A2, A3 will be "1", "2",
This will be described as "3".

The microcomputer 1 includes a CPU and RA.
It is configured by using M, ROM, etc., and its functional configuration is EEPRO at the time of refreshing described later.
Read / write control unit 4 for exchanging data with M2, and control data storage units A1 and A of EEPROM 2
2, a RAM 5 for storing and holding the control data read by the read / write control unit 4 from A3; a data check unit 6 for judging the quality of the read control data;
An instruction data changing unit 7 that appropriately changes the instruction data N of the instruction data storage unit 3 of the EPROM 2 via the read / write control unit 4, and a power supply detection that detects when power is supplied to the microcomputer 1. The unit 8 and the operation control unit 9 that controls the operation of the combustion device are provided.

Here, in accordance with the configuration of the present invention, reading / reading
The write control unit 4 and the data check unit 6 configure the read / determination unit 10, the read / write control unit 4 configures the control data updating unit 11, and the read / write control unit 4 and the instruction data change unit. Reference numeral 7 constitutes the instruction data changing means 12.

Next, the operation of the device control apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

In the device control apparatus of the present embodiment, every time the microcomputer 1 is supplied with power, the control data in the control data storage sections A1 to A3 of the EEPROM 2 is updated (refreshed) as follows. Done.

That is, referring to FIG. 3, when the power supply of the combustion apparatus of this embodiment is turned on and power supply to the microcomputer 1 (hereinafter, simply referred to as the microcomputer 1) and the EEPROM 2 is started (YES in STEP 1), this is This is detected by the power supply detection unit 8 of the microcomputer 1, and at this time, the microcomputer 1 is first initialized (STEP 2).

Next, the read / write controller 4 of the microcomputer 1
Are the three control data storage units A1 to A1 of the EEPROM 2.
Of the A3, the control data stored and held in the storage unit A1 is read out together with the check data and stored in the RAM 5 (STEP3).

The storage unit A1 stored in the RAM 5
The quality of the control data is checked by the data check unit 6 of the microcomputer 1 (STEP 4). in this case,
The data check unit 6 determines the quality of the control data by determining the quality of the check data read together with the control data. That is, the data check unit 6
Indicates whether or not the start word data and the end word data (see FIG. 2) are predetermined data, and further, the sum which is a sum of bit values of the word data and control data. It is inspected whether or not the data satisfies a predetermined condition, and if the inspection result is good, it is determined that the control data is good. By making such a judgment,
The quality of the control data can be determined relatively easily. In this determination, if the control data or check data in the storage unit A1 is abnormal due to disturbance noise or the like, or if a read error occurs when reading the control data, the data check unit 6 determines that the control data is defective.

Here, if it is determined in STEP4 that the control data in the storage unit A1 is good, a refresh process and the like (processes after STEP10), which will be described later, are performed. When it is determined that the control data of A1 is defective, the read / write control unit 4 of the microcomputer 1 further reads the control data of the control data storage unit A2 together with the check data, and reads it out from the RAM 5 It is newly stored in (STEP 5). And R
The quality of the control data newly stored in the AM 5 is judged by the data check unit 6 in exactly the same manner as in STEP 4 (STEP 6). Further, when it is determined in STEP 6 that the control data in the storage unit A2 is defective, the read / write control unit 4 of the microcomputer 1
Further reads the control data from the control data storage unit A3 together with the check data and newly stores it in the RAM 5 (STEP 7), and the data check unit 6 determines whether the control data newly stored in the RAM 5 is good or bad. ST
The determination is made in the same manner as in the case of EP4 (STEP8).

In this way, the reading and judgment of the control data in STEPs 3 to 8 are carried out until the read data for control is judged by the data check unit 6 to be good. This is sequentially performed for A1 to A3.

In the determination of STEP8, the storage unit A
When it is determined that the control data of No. 3 is defective, that is, when the control data of all of the storage units A1 to A3 is determined to be defective, the microcomputer 1 determines that the combustion device of this embodiment is the same. Take measures to prohibit driving (STEP 9),
Subsequent processing is stopped.

If it is determined in any of STEPs 4, 6 and 8 that the control data read from any of the control data storage units A1, A2 and A3 is good, the microcomputer The read / write control unit 4 of
Next, the instruction data N in the instruction data storage unit 3 of the EEPROM 2 is read (STEP 10). Then, the read / write control unit 4 stores the good control data stored in the RAM 5 among the three control data storage units A1 to A3.
The control data storage unit A1 or A2 or A3 corresponding to the read value of the instruction data N is written together with the check data, whereby the control data storage unit A1, A2 or A3 corresponding to the value of the instruction data N is stored. Refresh (update) the control data (STEP 11 to 1)
5).

More specifically, when the instruction data N read in STEP 10 is N = 1 (STE
YES in P11), good control data is written from the RAM 5 to the control data storage unit A1, and the storage unit A1 is refreshed (STEP 12). When the instruction data N is N = 2 (N in STEP 11
O, and YES in STEP 13), good control data is written from the RAM 5 to the control data storage unit A2,
The storage unit A2 is refreshed (STEP 14).
If the instruction data N is N = 3 (STEP
(NO in 13), good control data is written from the RAM 5 to the control data storage unit A3, and the storage unit A3 is refreshed (STEP 15).

In this case, the value of the instruction data N in the instruction data storage unit 3 is initially set to N = 1 before the first power feeding to the microcomputer 1, but will be described below. As described above, every time the microcomputer 1 is supplied with power, the value of the instruction data N is sequentially changed as N = 1 → 2 → 3 → 1 → 2.

That is, the instruction data N read out in STEP 10 is transferred to the instruction data changing unit 7 of the microcomputer 1. At this time, the instruction data changing unit 7 indicates "1" when the value of the instruction data N is N = 1. 2 ", when N = 2, it is changed to" 3 ", and when N = 3, it is changed to" 1 "(STEPs 16 to 18), and the changed value of the instruction data N is set by the read / write control unit 4. The data is written in the instruction data storage unit 3 of the EEPROM 2 (STEP 19). Thus, the value of the instruction data N in the instruction data storage unit 3 is N = 1 → 2 → 3 → 1 → every time the microcomputer 1 is powered.
2 ... In this order, the control data in the control data storage units A1 to A3 are stored in the microcomputer 1
Each time the power is supplied to, refresh is performed in order.

Then, as described above, the instruction data storage unit 3
After the instruction data N is changed, the operation control mode is shifted to (STEP 20), and in this operation control mode, the operation control unit 9 of the microcomputer 1 controls the operation of the combustion equipment. In this case, the operation control unit 9 finally controls the operation of the combustion device using the good control data stored in the RAM 5.

In the device control apparatus of this embodiment, since the EEPROM 2 is provided with a plurality of control data storage units A1 to A3 in which the same control data is stored in advance, the storage units A1 to A3 are provided. In at least one of the storage units, the normal control data is stored and held in a good state without being affected by disturbance noise and the like, and the control data does not cause a read error or the like. It is considered that the data is read by the read / write control unit 4 of the microcomputer 1 in a good state and stored in the RAM 5. Therefore, basically, the above STEP3 ~ 8
By performing the processing up to, good control data can be obtained. Since the operation control of the combustion equipment is performed using the good control data obtained in this way, the combustion equipment can be reliably operated in a normal state. Further, in the unlikely event that the control data in all the storage units A1 to A3 is abnormal, the operation of the combustion equipment is prohibited, so that unexpected operation of the combustion equipment is surely avoided. .

Further, since the good control data obtained as described above is sequentially written in the control data storage units A1 to A3 each time the microcomputer 1 is supplied with power, it is assumed that Even if the control data stored in the control data storage unit is abnormal or its level is lowered, it can be refreshed with the normal control data. In this case, erroneous data may be written due to a write error or the like when writing to the control data storage units A1 to A3, but as long as the control data in the other control data storage units is good, Since it is refreshed with normal control data, there is no problem.

In addition, in one refresh process performed each time power is supplied to the microcomputer 1, the control data is read from each of the control data storage units A1 to A3 at most once, and the control data is read at most once. Writing is only to any one of the control data storage units A1 to A3,
Furthermore, since the operation control is performed using the good control data stored in the RAM 5 without reading the data from the EEPROM 2 during the operation of the combustion equipment, the number of times of reading and writing the data of the EEPROM 2 is small. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the life of the EEPROM 2 from being shortened.

In the present embodiment, the control apparatus for the combustion equipment has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the control data stored and held in the electrically writable non-volatile storage means is used to control the equipment. It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to various kinds of devices that perform control.

Further, in this embodiment, the number of the control data storage units A1 to A3 provided in the EEPROM 2 is three, but it goes without saying that more control data storage units may be provided.

[0049]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the electrically writable non-volatile storage means is provided with the plurality of control data storage portions and the instruction data storage portion, and the control data is stored. At the time of refreshing (updating) the storage section, the microcomputer sequentially reads the control data from the plurality of control data storage sections until the good control data is obtained, and the read good control data is read. The control data storage unit indicated by the instruction data in the instruction data storage unit is written, the control data storage unit is refreshed, and the instruction data in the instruction data storage unit is changed every time the refresh is performed. This causes an error in the control data in the control data storage unit due to a read error, write error, disturbance noise, etc. As much as possible control data can be stored and held in the non-volatile storage means while refreshing each control data storage section of the non-volatile storage means, whereby the operation control of the device by the microcomputer can be performed. Can be surely performed normally. In addition, since the number of times of reading and writing the data in the non-volatile storage means is small in one refresh process, it is possible to prevent the life of the non-volatile storage means from being shortened.

Further, by writing predetermined check data together with the control data in each control data storage unit, it is possible to determine whether the control data in each control data storage unit is good or bad. This can be easily performed by judging pass / fail.

Further, good control data obtained at the time of refreshing is stored and held in the RAM, and the operation of the device is controlled by using the control data stored and held in the RAM. The non-volatile storage means does not need to be read out at any time, and the refresh processing is stopped as necessary at the time of starting the power supply to the microcomputer. Can be accessed as little as possible, thus
It is possible to prevent the life of the non-volatile storage means from being shortened.

Further, in the above refresh, when it is determined that the control data in all the control data storage sections are defective, the operation of the device is prohibited so that the abnormal operation of the device is prevented. It can be avoided without fail.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of an example of a device control apparatus of the present invention.

2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining data stored and held in an EEPROM provided in the apparatus of FIG.

3 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the apparatus of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Microcomputer, 2 ... EEPROM (nonvolatile storage means), 3 ... instruction data storage part, 10 ... reading / judging means, 11 ... control data updating means, 12 ... instruction data changing means, A1 to A3 ... for control Data storage unit, 5 ... R
AM.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An equipment control device comprising an electrically writable non-volatile storage means for storing and holding control data in advance, and a microcomputer for controlling the operation of the equipment using the control data. A plurality of control data storage units in which the same control data is written in advance and instruction data indicating a control data storage unit of the plurality of control data storage units that should update the control data are stored in advance. The written instruction data storage unit is provided in the nonvolatile raw storage unit, the control data is sequentially read from the plurality of control data storage units at a predetermined timing, and the quality of the read control data is determined. A reading / determining means for performing reading and determination until good control data is obtained;
When good control data is obtained, the good control data is written in the control data storage section indicated by the instruction data in the instruction data storage section, and the data in the control data storage section is updated. When the data updating means and the data in the control data storage unit are updated, the instruction data indicating the control data storage unit is changed to instruction data indicating another control data storage unit to change the instruction data storage unit. And a command data changing unit for writing to the microcomputer. 2. A predetermined check data is written together with the control data in each of the control data storage sections,
2. The device control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reading / determination means of the microcomputer determines the quality of the control data by determining the quality of the check data. 3. When the control data read from the control data storage unit is judged to be good, the microcomputer comprises a RAM for storing and holding the good control data, and the RAM is provided in the RAM. The device control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein operation control of the device is performed using stored and held control data. 4. The device control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined timing is when power supply to the microcomputer is started. 5. The microcomputer according to claim 1, wherein when the control data in all the control data storage units is judged to be defective, the microcomputer prohibits the operation of the device. The device control device according to claim 1.