JPH0757879A - Lighting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the function of a lighting system without increasing the memory capacity of a CPU part by, when a remote control signal of dimming, memory or reproduction is received, controlling the lighting system to respective corresponding prescribed dimming levels. CONSTITUTION:A remote control signal for dimming operation is transmitted from a remote control transmitting part 1, and this is received by a remote control signal receiving part 2. A signal is then inputted from a CPU part 6 to a lighting control part 4, and lighting loads 3a-3n of the designated content is dimmed. When memory operation is conducted from the transmitting part 1, and the present dimming state is written in an nonvolatile memory 5 through the RAM 10 of the CPU part 6. When scene reproducing operation is conducted from the transmitting part 1, the content of the corresponding scene is read from the memory 5 to the RAM 10, and the signal is inputted to the lighting control part 4 to dim the loads 3a-3n. In the case of the remote control signal of dimming, the dimming level of the control part 4 is controlled. Thus, the content of the scene is stored in the memory 5, and only the designated scene is read to the CPU part 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lighting device for controlling lighting states of a plurality of lighting loads.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional lighting device that controls the lighting of a plurality of lighting loads and switches the lighting conditions to create an atmosphere by combining the dimming conditions controls the individual lighting loads by a remote control. When the dimming level is determined by the up or dimming down dimming operation and the dimming level is determined for each of multiple lighting loads, the whole is stored as a scene in the storage unit as one lighting state, and the scene playback button is also pressed. A desired illumination state is reproduced from a plurality of scenes stored by pressing the storage unit.

In this case, since each state of the scene cannot be changed by turning on / off the power switch, the contents of the scene are backed up even after the power is turned off. This is realized by holding a memory with a backup battery and using a non-volatile memory. Further, in recent years, an EEPROM "electrically erasable memory element" is often used as a non-volatile memory due to the deterioration of batteries and environmental problems.

Such an illuminating device will be described with reference to FIG. That is, when a remote control signal for dimming is received from the remote control transmission unit 1 to the remote control signal reception unit 2, the CPU unit 6 having a storage operation function such as a microcomputer.
A signal is input to. The CPU unit 6 has a RAM 10 and a ROM, and stores necessary contents. CPU part 6
From the above, a signal designating a dimming level is input to the lighting control unit 4, and a plurality of lighting loads 3a to 3n are dimmed according to the contents thereof. Further, when a remote control signal for a scene storage operation by the remote control transmission unit 1 is input to the remote control signal reception unit 2, the current dimming state of the lighting loads 3a to 3n is shown in FIG. When a remote control signal for scene reproduction is input to the remote control signal receiving section 2, the RAM is written to the RAM.
10 is read out to control the dimming state of the lighting loads 3a to 3n. Reference numeral 7 is a control power supply, and 8 is a power supply synchronization signal detection unit of an AC power supply for detecting power off.

FIG. 6 is an operation diagram (PAD chart) of a conventional example.
Is. That is, the operation of the conventional lighting device will be described in detail. Usually, an initialization process 20 such as initialization of a CPU port and the like is performed when the power is turned on, that is, the power is turned on. Next, scene 1 from the non-volatile memory 5
~ All the data of the scene m is read out to the RAM 10 as shown in FIG. When this ends, the main loop 21 is reached. First, in step 21, it is confirmed whether there is a change request for the dimming level for all the lighting loads 3a to 3n, and if there is a change request, the dimming level is set. This dimming level outputs the power supply synchronization signal of the power supply synchronization signal detection unit, that is, the duty signal (phase control signal) synchronized with the pulse generated at the zero cross point of the commercial power supply frequency,
The illumination control unit 4 automatically controls the illumination loads 3a to 3n by phase control or the like.

Next, in step 23, it is checked whether or not there is an EEPROM write request to the non-volatile memory 5, and if "YES", write is performed. Further, in step 24, a timer for power-off detection started in synchronization with the power-supply synchronizing signal is monitored, and in step 25, it is determined whether the power-supply synchronizing signal is input within a certain time, that is, power-off detection. According to the result, if the timer value becomes larger than a certain time, it is determined that the power failure is detected, that is, the power is turned off. In this case, no processing is performed, but if it is within the certain time, that is, the power failure is not detected, the remote control signal receiving unit 2 Interprets the content of the remote control signal received in step S1, and performs the processing according to the operation as follows.

For example, a key operation of the remote control transmission unit 1 is required to increase or decrease the dimming level of the designated lighting loads 3a to 3n in the dimming up process and the dimming down process. In the scene storage processing, the current dimming level of the lighting loads 3a to 3n is stored in the RAM 10.
At the same time as writing to the corresponding area above, a write request to the nonvolatile memory 5 is issued. Conversely, when playing a scene, R
The illumination loads 3a to 3n are read as target levels from the corresponding scene number areas on the AM 10 and the illumination loads 3a to 3n are dimmed via the illumination control unit 4.

[0008]

Due to the high functionality of the lighting device, the number of lighting loads increases and the number of scenes increases.
If a motor load that moves the lighting load is added to the lighting load,
The amount of memory used increases. On the other hand, the CPU of the lighting device
The unit 6 is a one-chip microcomputer, and the capacity of the ROM and the RAM 10 is limited, and the cost is increased by using the one having a large capacity.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an illuminating device which can be highly functionalized without increasing the memory capacity of the CPU section.

[0010]

An illumination device according to claim 1,
A remote control transmitting unit that outputs a remote control signal for dimming, storing, and reproducing, a remote control signal receiving unit that receives the remote control signal, a plurality of lighting loads, and a lighting control unit that dims these lighting loads, A non-volatile memory for storing the dimming level of the lighting load, and a RAM for storing the current dimming level of the lighting load; The dimming level of the illumination control unit is controlled, and the current dimming level is written to the nonvolatile memory when the remote control signal is stored. Further, when the remote control signal is the reproduction, the current dimming level is read from the nonvolatile memory and the illumination control unit And a CPU unit for controlling the dimming level.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the CPU section stores the current dimming state in the non-volatile memory when the lighting load is turned off, and the power is turned on again. At this time, the dimming data of the non-volatile memory is read to control the dimming level of the illumination control unit. The lighting device of claim 3 is the same as that of claim 2,
The non-volatile memory, the area for storing the dimming state at the time of power off is divided into a plurality of sub-areas, and each sub-area is further divided into a dimming data storage unit and a number-of-times storage unit for writing the number of writes, When the number of times of writing in one of the sub-areas reaches a predetermined maximum number, the dimming data is written in another sub-area.

[0012]

According to the illuminating device of the first aspect, when the remote control signal for dimming operation is transmitted from the remote control transmitting unit and is received by the remote control signal receiving unit, the CPU unit controls to dimm the illumination load with the designated contents. A signal is input to the lighting control unit, and the specified lighting load is dimmed. When a storage operation is performed from the remote control transmission unit, the current dimming state is written from the CPU unit into the non-volatile memory. Next, when a scene reproduction operation is performed from the remote control transmission unit, the contents of the designated scene are read from the non-volatile memory to the CPU unit, and a signal is input to the illumination control unit to dimm the illumination load. In this case, all the contents of the scene are stored in the non-volatile memory, and only the specified scene is read out to the CPU section at the time of reproduction so as to perform dimming. Therefore, high functionality is achieved without increasing the storage capacity of RAM. it can.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the CPU section stores the current dimming state in the non-volatile memory when the lighting load is turned off, and the power is turned on again. When the lighting control is performed, the dimming data of the non-volatile memory is read to control the dimming level of the lighting control unit. Therefore, in addition to the function of claim 1, the power is turned off, the lighting load is turned off, and the power is turned on again. When turned on, there is no need to perform the same operation as when the lamp was turned on. It is very unlikely that writing to the non-volatile memory by scene storage operation and writing to the non-volatile memory when the power is turned off occur at the same time, so it is possible to write to the non-volatile memory in a short time. There is no increase in the cost of capacitors for the power supply maintenance circuit.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the nonvolatile memory divides the area for storing the dimming state when the power is off into a plurality of sub-areas, and further adjusts each block. The optical data storage section and the write count storage section are divided, and the dimming data is written in another block when the write count reaches a predetermined maximum number. It is possible to apparently increase the number of writings when the power is off.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. That is, this lighting device includes a remote control transmission unit 1 that outputs a remote control signal for dimming, storage, and reproduction, a remote control signal reception unit 2 that receives the remote control signal, and a plurality of lighting loads 3a to 3n. Illumination control unit 4 for dimming illumination loads 3a to 3n, and illumination loads 3a to
It has a non-volatile memory 5 using an EEPROM that stores a 3n dimming level, a CPU unit 6 using a one-chip microcomputer, a control power supply 7, and a power supply synchronization signal detection unit 8.

The configuration of this embodiment is basically the same as that of the conventional example, but the contents processed by the CPU section 6 are different. That is, the CPU section 6 has a RAM 10 for storing the current dimming levels of the lighting loads 3a to 3n, and receives a remote control signal from the remote control signal receiving section 2 to control the lighting control section 4 when the remote control signal for dimming is received. The light control level is controlled, the current light control level is written to the nonvolatile memory 5 when the remote control signal is stored, and the current light control level is read from the non-volatile memory 5 to the RAM 10 when the memory signal is reproduced, and the light control level of the illumination control unit 4 is read. To control.

Comparing the chart for explaining the operation shown in FIG. 2 with FIG. 6, step 23 ′ is provided between step 23 and step 24, and the remote controller transmission unit 1 requests the EEPROM read of the nonvolatile memory 5. The difference is that the presence / absence is judged and the scene of the non-volatile memory 5 is read when there is a request, and the other points are the same as in FIG. More specifically, the writing to the non-volatile memory 5 is the same as the conventional one, but the read timing is different,
Instead of interpreting the remote control signal and reading it from the RAM 10 after receiving the scene playback key of the remote control transmission unit 1,
The read request is issued from the non-volatile memory 5 and read out to the RAM 10 of the main routine.

Therefore, in this embodiment, when the remote control signal of the dimming operation is transmitted from the remote control transmitting unit 1 and is received by the remote control signal receiving unit 2, the lighting loads 3a to 3n having the designated contents are dimmed. Thus, a signal is input from the CPU section 6 to the illumination control section 4, and the designated illumination loads 3a to 3n are dimmed. When a storage operation is performed from the remote control transmission unit 1, the current dimming state is written in the nonvolatile memory 5 via the RAM 10 of the CPU unit 6. Next, when a scene reproduction operation is performed from the remote control transmission unit 1, the content of the corresponding scene is read from the non-volatile memory 5 to the RAM 10, a signal is input to the illumination control unit 4, and the illumination loads 3a to 3n are dimmed. .

According to this embodiment, since all the contents of the scene are stored in the non-volatile memory 5 and only the designated scene is read out to the CPU section 6 for reproduction at the time of reproduction, the storage capacity of the RAM 10 is reduced. Higher functionality can be achieved without increasing. That is, in the conventional example, the nonvolatile memory 5
Since the RAM 10 had the same information as that written in, the target level was set as it is, but in this embodiment, the target value is set after it is read from the non-volatile memory 5 and read. This embodiment takes a little longer to read, but there is no problem in operation. As a result, the image of the RAM 10 is as shown in FIG. 3, and there is an advantage that the memory usage amount is much smaller than that in FIG. 7 showing the conventional example.

A second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. That is, this lighting device is the same as the CP in the first embodiment.
When the U unit 6 powers off the lighting loads 3a to 3n, the current dimming state is stored in the non-volatile memory 5, and when the power is turned on again, the dimming data in the non-volatile memory 5 is read to read the lighting control unit. It controls the dimming level of 4 and step 2
5, the presence or absence of power failure detection is judged, and when "power failure is detected", that is, when the power is off, the current dimming level is written in the nonvolatile memory 5, and after the initial processing 20, the EEPROM of the nonvolatile memory 5 is read. A process 26 is provided, and when the power is turned on, the dimming level is read from the non-volatile memory 5 from the time when the power is turned on to the time when the process proceeds to the main loop process 21 after the initial process 20.

The presence or absence of power failure is detected by outputting the power supply synchronization signal detection unit 8 of the AC power supply described above and the power supply OFF detection signal when the interval time between the detection signals of the power supply synchronization signal detection unit 8 is a certain time or more. It is composed of a timer (not shown), receives the detection signal of the timer, stores the current dimming state in the non-volatile memory 5, and detects the detection signal of the power synchronization signal detection unit 5 when the power is turned on again. Is within a fixed time, the dimming data of the non-volatile memory 5 is read to control the dimming level of the illumination control unit 4.

In the first embodiment, the data is stored only at the time of the memory operation. However, in this embodiment, when the power switch is turned off and then turned on again, it is desired that the power supply switch is turned on at the previous lighting level, or the adjustment before turning off is performed. If the light level is 0% or higher, set it to 0%,
If it is 0%, it is necessary to write the state before power-off to the non-volatile memory 5 in order to use it for processing such as setting it to 100%. In this respect, conventionally, it has been considered that all information is written when the power is turned off, but the processing time when the power is turned off becomes long, and the CPU 6 and the control power supply 7 of the nonvolatile memory 5 cannot be written even when the power is turned off. It needed to have a large capacitor to hold it until done.

According to this embodiment, when the power is turned off, the lighting load is turned off, and when the power is turned on again, it is not necessary to carry out the operation to bring the lighting state to the same state as before lighting. Further, since writing to the non-volatile memory 5 by a scene storing operation and writing to the non-volatile memory 5 when the power is off are very unlikely to occur at the same time, it is possible to write to the non-volatile memory 5 in a short time. There is no increase in the cost of capacitors in the power supply maintenance circuit when the power is off.

A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. That is, in this lighting device, in the second embodiment, the area for storing the dimming state when the power of the non-volatile memory 5 is turned off is divided into a plurality of sub areas 11a and 11b, and each sub area 11a and 11b is divided into blocks. Further, it is divided into a dimming data storage unit 12 for storing the current dimming level and a writing count storage unit 13 for writing the number of times of writing. When the number of writing times of one sub-area 11a reaches a predetermined maximum number, the dimming data is separated. The sub area 11b is written.

Since the initial value of the write count data before writing in the non-volatile memory 5 is FFFF (hexadecimal number), 1
Each time data is written in one sub area 11a, this data is subtracted and written, and when it becomes 0, it is written in the next sub area 11b. More specifically, if the number of times of writing is 0, the next sub-area is checked, and if the number of times of writing in the sub-area is not 0, the dimming level is saved, and the one in which the number of times of writing is -1 is saved. As a result, the sub-areas 11a, 11b ... Can be written about 650,000 times, and the number of sub-areas 11a, 11b ... Can be written in the sub-areas 11a, 11b.

The number of writings to the EEPROM which is the non-volatile memory 5 is limited in order to guarantee the storage, and the frequency of the normal storage operation is very low. Therefore, it is unlikely that the number of write guarantees will be exceeded. However, the power is turned off frequently depending on the method of use, and the guaranteed write count may be exceeded.

According to this embodiment, it is possible to apparently increase the number of times of writing when the power is off. In other words, it is possible to apparently reduce the number of times of writing when the power is turned off, and to make the number of times of writing approximately the same as the normal storage, and the number of times of writing to the non-volatile memory 5 is averaged during the storage operation and when the power is turned off. You can write. Further, although the extra data is written by writing the number of times of storage and the writing time is required for that amount, it is at a level where there is almost no problem compared to the whole. Moreover, the program of the microcomputer does not increase the cost.

In the present invention, the CPU section 6 may be any one having a storage / arithmetic processing function.

[0029]

According to the lighting device of the first aspect of the present invention, all the contents of the scene are stored in the non-volatile memory, and only the specified scene is read out to the CPU section at the time of reproduction so that the dimming is performed. There is an effect that high functionality can be achieved without increasing the storage capacity.

According to the illumination device of claim 2, in claim 1, the CPU section stores the current dimming state in the nonvolatile memory when the power supply of the illumination load is off, and the power supply is turned on again. When the lighting control is performed, the dimming data of the non-volatile memory is read to control the dimming level of the lighting control unit. Therefore, in addition to the effect of claim 1, the power is turned off, the lighting load is turned off, and the power is turned on again. When turned on, there is no need to perform the same operation as when the lamp was turned on. It is very unlikely that writing to the non-volatile memory by scene storage operation and writing to the non-volatile memory when the power is turned off occur at the same time, so it is possible to write to the non-volatile memory in a short time. There is no increase in the cost of capacitors for the power supply maintenance circuit.

According to the lighting device of claim 3, in claim 2, the non-volatile memory divides the area for storing the dimming state when the power is off into a plurality of sub-areas, and further adjusts each block. The optical data storage unit and the write count storage unit are divided, and the dimming data is written in another block when the write count reaches a predetermined maximum number. It is possible to apparently increase the number of writings when the power is off.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a chart of the operation.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a RAM and a nonvolatile memory.

FIG. 4 is a chart of a CPU unit according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a part of the nonvolatile memory according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a chart of a conventional example.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the RAM and a nonvolatile memory.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Remote Control Transmission Section 2 Remote Control Signal Reception Section 3a to 3n Lighting Load 4 Lighting Control Section 5 Nonvolatile Memory 6 CPU Section 10 RAM

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A remote control transmitting unit for outputting a remote control signal for dimming, storing and reproducing, a remote control signal receiving unit for receiving the remote control signal, a plurality of lighting loads, and dimming these lighting loads. An illumination control unit, a non-volatile memory that stores a dimming level of the lighting load, and a RAM that stores a current dimming level of the lighting load. The dimming control unit receives a remote control signal from the remote control signal receiving unit. When the remote control signal is, the dimming level of the illumination control unit is controlled, and when the stored remote control signal, the current dimming level is written to the nonvolatile memory. When the playback remote control signal is read from the nonvolatile memory. A lighting device comprising: a CPU unit that controls a dimming level of the lighting control unit. 2. The CPU section stores the current dimming state in the non-volatile memory when the power of the lighting load is off, and stores the dimming data of the non-volatile memory when the power is turned on again. The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the lighting device controls the lighting control unit by reading out the light control level. 3. The non-volatile memory divides an area for storing a dimming state when the power is turned off into a plurality of sub-areas, and further divides each sub-area into a dimming data storage section and a writing count storage section. The lighting device according to claim 2, wherein when the number of times of writing in one of the sub-areas reaches a predetermined maximum number, the dimming data is written in another sub-area.