JPH0733188Y2 - Obstacle detection device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to an obstacle detection device, and in particular, when an obstacle is detected, power is supplied from a battery for a predetermined time and the obstacle is supplied while the power is supplied. The present invention relates to an obstacle detection device that outputs a detection signal.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, an obstacle detection device is used to detect an object (obstacle) that obstructs or blocks the operation of the device and stop the device or cause the device to perform an avoidance motion or the like. This obstacle detection device, a detection unit for detecting an obstacle,
It is composed of an output unit that outputs an obstacle detection signal while power is being supplied, and a power supply circuit that supplies power to the output unit for a predetermined time when an obstacle is detected by the detection unit.
Dry batteries are used as the power source in this power circuit.
Since power is consumed when power is constantly supplied to the output unit, power is supplied to the output unit for a predetermined time only when an obstacle is detected by the detection unit. The signal output from the output unit is received by the receiving unit, and it is determined from the received signal whether or not an obstacle is present.

However, in the conventional obstacle detection device, since a dry battery is used as a power source, even if the detection unit detects an obstacle when the voltage of the dry battery drops below a predetermined value, no signal is output from the output unit. However, there is a problem that proper operation cannot be performed when an obstacle exists. For this reason, in the past, the voltage of the dry battery was detected, and when the obstacle was detected when the voltage fell below a predetermined value, a discrimination signal that encoded the pulse train was output, and the code was decoded on the receiving side and the voltage was set to the predetermined value. It is determined whether or not the following has occurred, and the voltage drop is displayed.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

However, in the case of the conventional pulse train system, a large amount of data can be transmitted by the discrimination signal, but on the other hand, a decoder is required to create a coded predetermined pulse train,
Also, an encoder is required to decode the discrimination signal. Therefore, there is a problem that the circuit becomes complicated and the cost becomes high. In addition, the operating voltage of the integrated circuit (IC) that composes the decoder and encoder is generally 5V or more, and if you want to operate it with a low voltage of 1.5V to 3V with a dry battery, you can easily use an IC that can be used. If it is not available, on the other hand, if the pulse train method is used without using an IC, the circuit shape and power consumption will increase, which is not practical.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an obstacle detecting device for determining a voltage drop of a battery without transmitting a large amount of information.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a detection unit for detecting an obstacle, an output unit which is supplied with power from a battery for a predetermined time and outputs a signal when the detection unit detects the obstacle, and an output unit. Judgment means for judging whether or not there is an obstacle based on the signal output from the detection circuit, a detection circuit for detecting the voltage of the battery, and the output section when the voltage becomes a predetermined value or less. A switching circuit that switches so that power is supplied from the battery for a time longer than the predetermined time, a time counting circuit that measures the time when the output unit outputs a signal, and a time measured by the time counting circuit is longer than the predetermined time. And a display unit that displays that the voltage has become equal to or lower than a predetermined value when the result of the determination by the determination unit is longer than a predetermined time. Including It is configured.

[Operation] According to the present invention, when an obstacle is detected by the detection unit, power is supplied from the battery for a predetermined time, a signal is output from the output unit, and the obstacle is detected based on the signal output from the output unit. It is determined whether or not exists. The detection circuit detects the voltage of the battery, and the switching circuit performs switching so that power is supplied to the output section for a time longer than the predetermined time when the voltage of the battery becomes a predetermined value or less.
Therefore, when an obstacle is detected by the detection unit when the voltage is below the predetermined value, a signal is output from the output unit for a longer time than when the obstacle is detected when the battery voltage exceeds the predetermined value. It will be done. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether the voltage of the battery has become equal to or lower than the predetermined value by determining whether the time measured by the time counting circuit has become equal to or longer than the predetermined time. Therefore, the time counting circuit measures the time during which the output section outputs the signal, and the display means displays that the voltage has become equal to or lower than the predetermined value based on the time measured by the time measuring circuit.
As described above, according to the present invention, the output time of the signal output from the output unit is changed when the detection unit detects an obstacle depending on whether the battery voltage is equal to or lower than a predetermined value or exceeds the predetermined value. It is possible to display a decrease in battery voltage without using a digitized signal.

[Effect of device]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the voltage of the battery is equal to or lower than the predetermined value, the time for outputting the signal is longer than that in the normal case when the obstacle is detected. It is possible to easily determine the consumption of the battery without outputting the above.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
2 and 3 show the present invention applied to an obstacle detecting device for an electric shutter, which is attached to an electric shutter and transmits an obstacle detection signal to a receiving portion using infrared rays. The shutter curtain 10 is configured such that both sides thereof are guided by metal guide rails 21 having a substantially U-shaped cross section that are hung from the lintel portion 16 to the floor surface 17 so as to move up and down. The upper end portion of the shutter curtain 10 is attached to the winding shutter 23, and the shutter curtain 23 is wound or rewound by rotating the winding shutter 23 by a motor 22 via a chain 25. The tar curtain 10 can be moved up and down.

At the lower end of the shutter curtain 10, a seat plate switch 12 and a seat plate switch 12 which are turned on when an obstacle or the like comes into contact with the shutter curtain 12.
A transmitter 14 equipped with a light emitting unit 40 that emits infrared light when is turned on is attached. A power supply circuit 36 including batteries such as a dry battery and a storage battery is connected to the transmitter 14. A light receiving portion 19 is attached to the lintel portion 16, and the light receiving portion 19 is connected via a receiver 18 to a control circuit 20 to which a motor 22 for opening and closing the shutter curtain is connected. The control circuit 20 is connected to a display 34 composed of a red lamp or the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, the power supply circuit 36 includes a battery B, a voltage detection circuit 24 for detecting the voltage of the battery B, and a power supply switch circuit 26 for supplying the power of the battery B to the transmitter 14 for a predetermined time. I have it. The seat switch 12 is connected to the power switch circuit 26. The control circuit 20 also includes a battery consumption detection circuit 28 composed of a counter, a motor 22 and a shutter control circuit 30 connected to the display 34.

Next, a detailed circuit of the power switch circuit 26 will be described with reference to FIG. The emitter of the transistor T2 is connected to the ground end of a battery B whose one end is grounded. The collector of the transistor T2 is connected to the transmitter 14. A resistor R3 is connected between the emitter and the base of the transistor T3. The base of the transistor T2 is a resistor R2,
It is grounded via a resistor R and a contact S of the seat plate switch 12. A capacitor C1 arranged in parallel with the resistor R,
A switching switch 38 arranged in series is connected to C2 and capacitors C1 and C2. This switching switch 38 can be configured by a relay that is switched by the output of the voltage detection circuit 24. Also, the capacitance of the capacitor C1 is
It is set smaller than the capacity of C2.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. The voltage detection circuit 24 detects the voltage of the battery B, and when the voltage of the battery B exceeds a predetermined value, the contact of the switching switch 38 is brought into contact with the capacitor C1 side. In this state, when the seat plate switch 12 comes into contact with the obstacle and the contact S is closed, the battery B
From the resistor R3, the resistor R2, the capacitor C1 and the contact S to the capacitor C1
A base current flows through T2, turning on the transistor T2. As a result, power is supplied from the battery B to the transmitter 14 via the transistor T2, and the light emitting section emits light. Capacitor
When C2 is in the fully charged state, the charging current stops flowing, so that the transistor T2 is turned off, which stops the power supply to the transmitter 14. When the contact S is opened by removing an obstacle in this state, the electric charge accumulated in the capacitor C1 is discharged through the resistor R.

On the other hand, when the voltage of the battery B becomes less than the predetermined value, the voltage detection circuit 24 switches the switching switch 38 to bring the contact into contact with the capacitor C2 side. When the contact S is closed in this state, a charging current flows through the capacitor C2 in the same manner as above, the transistor T2 is turned on, and the battery B causes the transmitter 14
Is powered. At this time, since the capacitance of the capacitor C2 is larger than the capacitance of the capacitor C1, the output time of the signal output from the transmitter 14 becomes longer than when the capacitor C1 is used.

Infrared rays are emitted from the light emitting section 40 in response to the signal output from the transmitter 14, and the emitted infrared rays are received by the light receiving section 19 and converted into electric signals, which are received by the receiver 18. Receiving machine
When receiving the signal, the output 18 outputs the received signal to the shutter control circuit 30, and outputs a pulse signal of a predetermined frequency to the battery consumption detection circuit 28 while the signal is being input. The battery consumption detection circuit 28 counts the number of pulses of this pulse signal to measure the time during which the signal is input, and when the number of pulses exceeds a predetermined value, a voltage drop signal is sent to the shutter control circuit 30. Output. The shutter control circuit 30 stops the motor 22 to stop the operation of the shutter curtain 10 when the received signal is input, or reverses the motor 22 to raise the shutter curtain 10 and raises the battery curtain detection circuit. When the voltage drop signal is input from 30, the display 34 is turned on to indicate that the battery voltage has dropped.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, the power switch circuit 26 shown in FIG. 5 is used in place of the power switch circuit. In the power switch circuit 26 of this embodiment, the emitter is connected to the battery B and the collector is the transmitter 14 as in the above embodiment.
A transistor T2 connected to. A resistor R3 is connected between the emitter and the base of the transistor T2, and the base of the transistor T2 is the resistor R2 and the capacitor C.
1, C2, the switching switch 38, the diode D and the contact S of the seat plate switch 12 are grounded. Capacitor C1,
A transistor T1 is connected in parallel with C2 and the switching switch 38. That is, the collector of the transistor T1 is connected to one end of the capacitor C1, and the emitter of the transistor T1 is in contact with the contact point between the switching switch 38 and the diode D. A resistor R1 is connected between the collector and the base of the transistor T1. The resistor R1 is used for supplying a base current to the transistor T1. Since the base current of a transistor is usually about several μA, the resistor R1
Is set to a large value (for example, 300KΩ). The base of the transistor T1 is connected between the diode D and the contact S. The capacity of the capacitor C2 is larger than that of the capacitor C1.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. The contact of the switching switch 38 is connected to the capacitor C1 side when the voltage of the battery D exceeds the predetermined value, and the contact of the switching switch 38 is connected to the capacitor C2 side when the voltage of the battery B is less than the predetermined value. It When the contact S is open, the emitter voltage is higher than the base voltage.
T2 is off and therefore transmitter 14 is not powered. When the contact S is closed, a charging current flows from the battery B through the resistor R3, the resistor R2, the capacitor C1 or C2, the diode D, and the contact S. As a result, charging of the capacitor C1 or C2 is started, a base current flows through the transistor T2, the transistor T2 is turned on, and power is supplied from the battery B to the transmitter 14 via the transistor T2. When the capacitor C1 or C2 is fully charged, the charging current stops flowing, so that the base current stops flowing in the transistor T2 and the transistor T2 turns off. As a result, the power supply to the transmitter 14 is stopped. At this time,
The power supply time to the transmitter 14 is longer when the capacitor C2 is used than when the capacitor C1 is used, as described above. The output time of the signal output from the transmitter 14 when the battery voltage is below a predetermined value and the output time of the signal output from the transmitter 14 when the battery voltage exceeds the predetermined value are the above. Since this is the same as the embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted.

In this state, a leakage current flows from the battery B through the resistor R3, the resistor R2, the resistor R1 and the contact S, but since the resistance value of the resistor R1 is extremely large, the magnitude of this leakage current is extremely small, and the battery B is consumed. Can be prevented. In the power switch circuit 26 shown in FIG. 4, a leakage current flows from the battery B through the resistor R3, the resistor R2, the resistor R and the contact S, but a relatively large leakage current is generated because the resistor R has a small value. The consumption of the flow battery B is larger than that in this embodiment.

When the contact S is opened in the above condition, the capacitor C1 or
A base current flows from C2 to the transistor T1 via the resistor R1, and the transistor T1 is turned on. As a result, the capacitor
The electric charge stored in C1 or C2 is discharged through the transistor T1. At this time, the diode D is in the cut-off state. Further, the time constant at this time is the product of the capacitance of the capacitor C1 or C2 and the on-resistance of the transistor T1. Since the on-resistance of this transistor T1 is extremely small, the time constant becomes extremely small, and discharge is performed extremely quickly. be able to.

According to the present embodiment, even when an obstacle comes into contact with the seat plate switch 12 a plurality of times in a short time, the discharge is performed rapidly, so that the obstacle detection signal can be reliably output.

In the above, the signal is transmitted from the transmitter to the receiver by infrared rays, but the signal may be transmitted using radio waves, ultrasonic waves, or the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the present invention applied to an electric shutter, FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is an embodiment of a power switch circuit. FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing another embodiment of the power switch circuit. 12 …… seat switch, 24 …… voltage detection circuit, 26 …… power switch circuit, 28 …… battery wear detection circuit, 34 ……
display.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A detection unit for detecting an obstacle, an output unit for supplying power from a battery for a predetermined time to output a signal when the detection unit detects the obstacle, and a signal output from the output unit. Judgment means for judging whether or not there is an obstacle based on the detection circuit, a detection circuit for detecting the voltage of the battery, and a time longer than the predetermined time for the output unit when the voltage becomes a predetermined value or less. A switching circuit that switches so that power is supplied from the battery, a timing circuit that clocks the time when the output unit outputs a signal, and a check whether the time measured by the timing circuit is longer than a predetermined time. An obstacle detection device comprising: a determination unit for determining; and a display unit for displaying that the voltage is equal to or lower than a predetermined value when the result of the determination by the determination unit is determined to be longer than a predetermined time.