JPH0854137A - Controller for electric apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce a cost and to improve the detecting accuracy of a relative humidity by reducing the number of sensors in the controller for an electric apparatus having a humidity sensor and a temperature sensor. CONSTITUTION:The controller for an electric apparatus comprises temperature detecting means 9 for detecting a temperature by a temperature sensor 8, humidity detecting means 7 for detecting a humidity by a humidity sensor 1 for varying its resistance value according to the humidity and the temperature, relative humidity calculating to the humidity and the temperature, relative humidity correcting the output of the means 7 on the basis of the defected value of the means 9, and operation control means 11 for controlling the operation of the apparatus on the basis of the calculated relative humidity. Thus, the temperature sensor for compensating the temperature can be omitted, and a low cost controller having high detecting accuracy of the relative humidity is obtained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a controller for electric equipment equipped with a humidity sensor and a temperature sensor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG.
11 is an electric circuit diagram of the conventional humidity detecting device shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, a humidity sensor 3 is constituted by a humidity sensitive element 1 whose resistance changes depending on humidity and temperature, and a temperature sensitive element 2 having resistance temperature characteristics equivalent to those of the humidity sensitive element 1. Four
Is an output circuit that inverts at a predetermined cycle, that is, a rectangular wave oscillation circuit, and 5 is an inversion circuit that inverts and outputs the output of the output circuit 4 as an input. The humidity sensor 3 is connected between the input and output of the inverting circuit 5. By making such a connection, a rectangular AC voltage is applied to the humidity sensor 3. Then, there is a detection unit 6 which inputs the series connection point of the output circuit 4, the humidity sensitive element 1 and the temperature sensitive element 2, and detects the voltage of the series connection point in synchronization with the cycle of the rectangular wave output from the output circuit 4. By doing so, the relative humidity of the surroundings is detected.

At present, the humidity sensor 3 in which the humidity sensitive element 1 and the temperature sensitive element 2 are connected in series is generally used. As an electric device that generally uses the humidity sensor 3 as described above, there is a humidifier as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 52392/1993. In addition to the humidity sensor 3, this humidifier is provided with a temperature sensor that detects the room temperature, humidifies with the target of the set humidity, corrects the humidification amount according to the room temperature at that time, and sets it when the room temperature is high. The humidity is controlled to be slightly lower than the humidity to prevent dew condensation. Further, when the room temperature detected by the temperature sensor exceeds a predetermined range, humidification is stopped and the device body is protected.

[0004]

As described above, in the conventional electric equipment provided with the humidity sensor 3 and the temperature sensor, the humidity sensor 1 as the humidity sensor 3, the temperature sensor 2 for temperature compensation, and Since the temperature sensor for detecting the room temperature and the three sensors are provided, the cost is increased and the control of these is very difficult. Moreover, even if an attempt is made to detect the room temperature from the temperature sensitive element 2 used in the humidity sensor 3,
Since it was connected in series with the humidity sensitive element 1, it was undetectable due to the influence of humidity. Furthermore, since the temperature dependency of the humidity sensitive element 1 is compensated by the temperature compensating temperature sensitive element 2, it is difficult to match the temperature characteristics of both elements, and the relative humidity detection accuracy is poor.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the number of sensors can be reduced without changing the function of an electric device to reduce the cost, and the relative humidity detection accuracy is high. An object of the present invention is to provide a control device for electric equipment.

[0006]

In a controller for electric equipment according to the present invention, a temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature by a temperature sensitive element and a humidity sensitive element whose resistance value changes depending on humidity and temperature detect the humidity. Humidity detecting means, relative humidity calculating means for calculating the relative humidity by correcting the output of the humidity detecting means based on the detection value of the temperature detecting means, and controlling the operation of the equipment based on the calculated relative humidity. And an operation control means.

Further, when the detected value of the temperature detecting means exceeds a predetermined range, a signal is sent to the operation control means to stop the operation of the equipment.

Furthermore, a humidity display means for displaying the relative humidity calculated by the relative humidity calculation means is provided, and the humidity display is turned off when the detected value of the temperature detection means exceeds a predetermined range. Is.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the relative humidity is calculated by correcting the output of the humidity detecting means for detecting the humidity by the humidity sensitive element whose resistance value changes depending on the humidity and the temperature based on the detected value of the temperature detecting means. Therefore, the temperature characteristic of the humidity sensitive element is highly accurately corrected, the relative humidity can be accurately detected, and the temperature sensitive element for temperature compensation is not required.

When the temperature exceeds a predetermined range,
Since the operation of the equipment is stopped, the operation based on the relative humidity is not performed in the temperature range in which the detection accuracy of the humidity sensing element deteriorates, so that the reliability of the equipment is improved.

Furthermore, since the humidity display is turned off when the temperature exceeds a predetermined range, the humidity display disappears and the temperature cannot be used in a temperature range where the detection accuracy of the humidity sensitive element is poor. The user can be informed of this and the false humidity indication will not cause the user to feel distrust.

[0012]

【Example】

Example 1. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the control device of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a humidity sensitive element whose resistance value changes depending on humidity and temperature, 7 is a humidity detecting means for converting the output of the humidity sensitive element 1 into a digital value to detect humidity, and 8 is a room temperature detecting device such as a thermistor. A temperature sensing element, 9 is a temperature detecting means for converting the output of the temperature sensing element 8 into a digital value to detect the ambient temperature, and 10 is a detection value of the humidity detecting means 7 based on the detection value of the temperature detecting means 9. Relative humidity calculating means for correcting the temperature characteristics of the humidity sensitive element 1 and calculating relative humidity, and 11 is operation control means for controlling the operation of the humidifier or the like based on this relative humidity. The operation control means 11 is also controlled by the detection value of the temperature detection means 9. Further, a humidity display means 12 is connected to the relative humidity calculating means 10 to display the relative humidity.

FIG. 2 is an electric circuit diagram of the control device.
The humidity sensing element 1 is connected in series with the resistor 13 instead of the temperature compensating temperature sensing element, and this connection point is the humidity input circuit 14
It is connected to the. The humidity input circuit 14 converts a change in temperature and humidity of the humidity sensitive element 1 into a voltage signal, and the AD conversion circuit 1 in the microcomputer 15 (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer).
Send to 6. In addition, since polarization is generally generated in the humidity sensitive element 1 when a DC voltage is applied, it is connected to the oscillation circuit 17 and an AC voltage is applied.

The AD conversion circuit 16 in the microcomputer 15 converts the analog voltage signal of the humidity input circuit 14 into a digital signal and sends it to the CPU 18. Since this humidity detection value is not temperature-compensated, it cannot be used as it is as relative humidity.

On the other hand, the temperature sensitive element 8 is attached in the vicinity of the humidity sensitive element 1 to detect the ambient temperature and is used for temperature compensation of the humidity sensitive element 1. The temperature sensitive element 8 is connected in series with the resistor 19 and inputs temperature information to the AD conversion circuit 16 through the temperature input circuit 20. AD conversion circuit 16
Has multiple channels. By switching this channel, the humidity data and temperature data are
Send to U18.

The CPU 18 operates using the clock generated by the clock circuit 21 as a reference time, performs arithmetic processing, control processing, etc. while exchanging data with the memory 22, and calculates relative humidity from the humidity data and temperature data. It also processes. Based on this processing result, the CPU 18 sends a signal to the output circuit 23 to control the load group 24 for operating the indicator 12 as the humidity display means, the humidifier, and the like.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, when an operation switch (not shown) is turned on, the microcomputer 15 reads the resistance value of the humidity sensitive element 1 as a voltage and stores it in the memory 22 (step 30). In addition, the resistance value of the temperature sensitive element 8 is similarly read and compared with the temperature data table in the memory 22 to detect the temperature (step 31). Then, the CPU 18 calculates the relative humidity from the resistance value and temperature of the humidity sensitive element 1 by referring to the humidity data table in the memory 22 (step 3).
2).

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the characteristics of the electric resistance of the humidity sensitive element 1 with respect to the relative humidity. The resistance value of the humidity sensitive element 1 changes not only with the relative humidity but also with the ambient temperature. For example, if the resistance value detected in step 30 is R and the temperature detected in step 31 is 20 ° C., the relative humidity at that time is 50%. The humidity data table in the memory 22 stores the relationship of the relative humidity with respect to the resistance value for each temperature as data, and the accuracy of the relative humidity can be easily increased by reducing the temperature increments. it can. Also, the moisture sensitive element 1
It is not necessary to match the temperature characteristics of the temperature sensitive element 8 with each other, and each characteristic may be written in advance in the memory 22 as a data table.

Next, the CPU 18 detects the detected temperature from 0.degree. C., which is the operating temperature range of the electric device (in this case, the humidifier).
Determine if it is in the 40 ° C range (step 3
3) If it is within the range, send a signal to the display 12 to display the relative humidity. It is better not to operate the humidifier because water becomes ice at 0 ° C or lower, and over humidification at 40 ° C or higher causes the internal temperature of the device to rise. Moreover, if the detection accuracy of the humidity sensitive element 1 deviates from this temperature range, it tends to be extremely deteriorated. Therefore, when the temperature is out of the predetermined temperature range in step 33, the accurate relative humidity cannot be detected, so the humidity display is turned off (step 35) and the humidifying operation is stopped (step 36).

As described above, the temperature sensing element 8 not only serves to compensate the temperature of the humidity sensing element 1, but also serves to detect the ambient temperature to limit the operation of the equipment and improve the safety.

When the temperature is within the predetermined range, it is judged whether the relative humidity is a preset value, in this case 50% or less (step 37), and in the following cases, the humidifying operation is continued until it becomes 50%. (Step 38), the humidifying operation is stopped when it reaches 50% or more. Thereby, the humidity can be controlled at the relative humidity of 50%.

In step 39, it is determined whether the operation switch is on. If it is on, the process returns to step 30, and the above operation is repeated. When the operation switch is off, the operation is stopped.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, the temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature by the temperature sensitive element and the humidity detecting means for detecting the humidity by the humidity sensitive element whose resistance value changes depending on the humidity and the temperature. A relative humidity calculating means for calculating the relative humidity by correcting the output of the humidity detecting means based on the temperature detecting means, and an operation control means for controlling the operation of the equipment based on the calculated relative humidity. Therefore, the temperature sensing element for temperature compensation can be omitted, and an inexpensive controller with high relative humidity detection accuracy can be obtained.

When the temperature exceeds a predetermined range,
Since the operation of the equipment is stopped and the humidity display is turned off, the reliability of the equipment is improved and the user is not distrusted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an electric circuit diagram of a control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control device in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram of a general moisture sensitive element.

FIG. 5 is an electric circuit diagram of a conventional humidity detecting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Humidity Sensing Element 7 Humidity Detection Means 8 Temperature Sensing Element 9 Temperature Sensing Means 10 Relative Humidity Sensing Means 11 Operation Control Means 12 Humidity Display Means 15 Microcomputer

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Akihiko Kasahara 800 Iwamatsu, Oshima-cho, Nitta-gun, Gunma Sanryo Engineering Co., Ltd. Kamakura Office Gunma Branch

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature by a temperature sensitive element, a humidity detecting means for detecting a humidity by a humidity sensitive element whose resistance value changes depending on humidity and temperature, and an output of the humidity detecting means for detecting the temperature. Relative humidity calculating means for correcting the relative humidity based on the detected value of the means, and operation control means for controlling the operation of the equipment based on the calculated relative humidity. Control device. 2. A controller for electric equipment according to claim 1, wherein when the detected value of the temperature detecting means exceeds a predetermined range, a signal is sent to the operation controlling means to stop the operation of the equipment. . 3. A humidity display means for displaying the relative humidity calculated by the relative humidity calculation means, and when the detected value of the temperature detection means exceeds a predetermined range, the humidity display is turned off. The control device for an electric device according to claim 1.