JPH0773393B2 - Multi-device system control method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-device system control method for compositely controlling a plurality of devices such as water heaters each having a remote controller.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it has been practiced to combine a plurality of devices such as a water heater to obtain a capacity (for example, the amount of hot water discharged) that exceeds the maximum capacity of each device. In such a multi-device system, , A device controller provided in the device body, and a remote controller corresponding to the device body,
A single system controller corresponding to the entire multi-device system connected to the transmission line connecting each device controller and its corresponding remote controller is provided, and each device controller and each remote controller have a device address. Are assigned to the device controller and the corresponding remote controller, and the same device address (for example, 1, 1, 2, and 2) is assigned to each device controller and each remote controller. It accepts only signals

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional multi-device system, the system controller also has device addresses assigned to each device controller and the remote controller corresponding thereto, so that each device controller and remote Signals can be sent and received between the controller and the system controller, but there is no priority in the control signals from the remote controller and system controller, and the control signal from the remote controller or system controller is received by the device controller. Since it is possible and the device can be operated by the remote controller at all times, there is a problem that it is difficult for the system controller to control the entire system.

An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-device system control method capable of reliably controlling the entire system in a multi-device system.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a method for controlling a plurality of equipment systems according to the present invention comprises an equipment controller provided in the equipment body and one or more remotes provided corresponding to the equipment controller. In a multi-device system in which a controller and a remote controller in one device are connected to a plurality of devices to which the same device address is assigned, a system controller is connected between the device controller and the remote controller. However, by forcibly changing the device address of the device controller, signal transmission / reception between the device controller and remote controller in one device is blocked, and the device controller and remote controller can each transmit / receive signals only to the system controller. So From, it is possible to reliably control the whole system.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1, in a multi-device system including a plurality of devices (three in the present embodiment) (for example, a water heater, a heater, etc.), a plurality of device controllers 11 each incorporated in the device body to control the device body 11 , 12, 13 and the transmission lines 31, 32, one-to-one corresponding to the device controllers 11, 12, 13
Remote controllers 21, 22 connected by 33 respectively
23, transmission lines 31, 32, 33 between the device controllers 11, 12, 13 and the remote controllers 21, 22, 23, respectively.
System controller 4 connected via 51, 52, 53
Each of the device controllers 11, 12, 13 and each of the remote controllers 21, 22, 23 is assigned a device address, and receives only a signal addressed to its own device address.

When the control by the system controller 4 is not started, signals are transmitted and received only between the respective device controllers 11, 12, 13 and the corresponding remote controllers 21, 22, 23, and the remote controllers 21, 22, 23 controls the main body of the device containing each of the device controllers 11, 12, and 13. The same device address is assigned to the corresponding device controller and remote controller, and the device controller and remote controller with the same device address are assigned. Signals are sent and received only to and from the controller. For example, the device controller 11 and the remote controller 21 both have the device address “1”, the device controller 12 and the remote controller 22 both have the device address “2”, and the device controller 13 and the remote controller 22 respectively.
The device address “3” is assigned to both 23.

The processing operation at the start of control by the system controller 4 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. In the system controller 4, each device controller 11, 12,
After storing the device addresses of 13 and the corresponding remote controllers 21, 22, 23, each device controller 11, 1
Send a signal requesting the device address change to 2 and 13,
The device address of each device controller 11, 12, 13 is changed to a device address different from that of each remote controller 21, 22, 23. For example, the device controller 11 changes from “1” to “10”, the device controller 12 changes from “2” to “20”, and the device controller 13 changes from “3” to “3”.
Change to "0".

By changing the device address of the device controller 11, 12, 13 the remote controller 21, 2
The device controllers 11, 12, 13 will not accept the control signals from 2, 23, and the device controllers 11, 12,
Data signals from 13 are sent to remote controllers 21, 22, 23
Will not be accepted and remote controllers 21, 22, 23
It becomes impossible to directly control the device body by.

The system controller 4 receives a control signal (for example, an operation switch ON) from the remote controllers 21, 22, and 23, determines the necessity as system data, and then responds respectively from the system controller 4 as necessary. It is output as a control signal to the device controller 11, 12, or 13 to be operated. Further, the data signals from the device controllers 11, 12, 13 are received by the system controller 4 and stored as data corresponding to each device address. That is, the device controllers 11, 12, 13 and the remote controller 21,
No direct signal transmission / reception is performed between the device controller 11, 12, 13 and the remote controller 21,
22 and 23 are for transmitting / receiving signals only to / from the system controller 4.

The multi-device system is not limited to a combination of the same type of devices, but may be a combination of different types of devices such as a water heater and an air conditioner. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the remote controller has a one-to-one correspondence with the device controller, but the same applies even if a plurality of remote controllers are provided for one device controller. Furthermore, when the control of the entire multi-device system is canceled for some reason, the system controller restores the device address of the device controller to the same device address as the corresponding remote controller, so that the remote controller can control the device. to enable.

[0012]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, when the system controller controls a plurality of device systems, the device address of the device controller is changed so that the device controller and the remote controller are connected to each other. In this case, direct signal transmission / reception is not performed, and the device controller and the remote controller each perform signal transmission / reception only with the system controller, and thus the system controller can reliably perform control.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a multi-device system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a control operation according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11, 12, 13 Device controller, 21, 22, 23 Remote controller 31, 32, 33, 51, 52, 53 Transmission line, 4 system controller

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A device controller and one or more remote controllers provided corresponding to the device controller, wherein a plurality of devices to which the same device address is assigned are connected to the device controller and the remote controller corresponding thereto. In a multi-device system consisting of two devices, the system controller is connected between the device controller and the remote controller, and the device address of the device controller is forcibly changed, so that between the device controller and the remote controller in one device. A method for controlling a multi-device system, characterized in that signal transmission / reception is blocked so that the device controller and the remote controller can transmit / receive signals only to / from the system controller.