JPH09112896A - Voltage drop detector for battery-drive type apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a voltage drop detector for a battery-drive type apparatus which can effectively detect the drop of the voltage of the battery and avoid the demerit for load to abnormally operate due to the voltage drop. SOLUTION: The voltage drop detector for a battery-drive type apparatus comprises a controller 22 for executing the switching control of a load L driven by the power from a battery 2 between a non-operating state and an operating state on the basis of the command of a switch SW. The detector can be so switched to the state that power is supplied from the battery 21 to a pseudo load A equivalent to the load L or the state that the power is not supplied as to be freely switched. Then, a voltage detector B for detecting the voltage of the battery 21 in the state that the power is supplied to the load A, and when the controller 22 is so instructed as to switch the load L from the non- operating state to the operating state by the switch SW, the control that the load L is switched to the operating state is not executed if the voltage of the battery 21 detected by the detector B is the set value or less in the state that it is switched to the power supply state prior to the switching of the load L to the operating state.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is provided with control means for executing control for switching a load driven by electric power from a battery between a non-operating state and an operating state based on a command from a commanding means. The present invention relates to a voltage drop detection device for a battery driven device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a voltage drop detecting device for a battery-powered device described above, conventionally, as a first conventional technique, power is supplied from a battery before the load is switched from an inoperative state to an operating state. If the battery voltage is detected and it is determined that the detected voltage has dropped to the set voltage or lower, the control to switch the load from the non-operating state to the operating state is not executed. There was something I did.

As a second conventional technique, when the load is switched to the operating state, the voltage of the battery is detected, and when the detected voltage falls below the set voltage, the load is not operated. Some were configured to perform control to switch to an operating state.

[0004]

By the way, since the battery has an internal resistance, when power is supplied to the load by the battery, a voltage drop occurs due to the internal resistance, and the voltage drop with respect to the load occurs. The supply voltage will drop due to the voltage drop. Moreover, the internal resistance of the battery has variations due to individual differences, and may vary depending on, for example, the usage environment.

However, in the first prior art described above,
Since the voltage of the battery is detected when the power from the battery is not supplied, the voltage drop due to the internal resistance as described above when the load is in the operating state cannot be detected. Therefore, there were the following disadvantages.
Even when it is determined that the detected voltage is not lower than the set voltage and is a normal voltage, after the load switches to the operating state due to the variation or fluctuation of the voltage drop due to the internal resistance. The supply voltage to the load may fall below the required drive voltage, and the load may not operate normally.

In the above-mentioned second conventional technique, the above-mentioned disadvantages in the first conventional technique can be avoided, but there is still room for improvement in the following aspects. The load driven by the battery is not only a load such as a resistor through which a stable current flows, but also a charge and discharge in which the voltage and the current fluctuate significantly over time, such as an ignition device for a burner. Although there is a load including a circuit, in the case where the voltage is an unstable load as described above, there is a possibility that an accurate voltage cannot be detected. In addition, even when the detected voltage is determined to be equal to or lower than the set voltage while the load is operating and the control for switching the load from the operating state to the non-operating state is executed, the switching control is performed. Immediately before execution, the operating state of the load may become unstable due to the voltage drop, and the load may cause abnormal operation.

The present invention has been made paying attention to such a point, and an object thereof is to be able to reliably detect that the voltage of the battery has dropped, and to cause an abnormal operation of the load due to the voltage drop. Another object is to provide a voltage drop detection device for a battery-driven device that can avoid disadvantages.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a burner igniter whose voltage fluctuates with the operation as a load,
This is to prevent an abnormal operation of the ignition device due to the voltage drop from occurring.

[0009]

According to the characterizing feature of claim 1, when the commanding means instructs the load to switch from the non-operating state to the operating state, the control means controls the load to Prior to switching from the non-operating state to the operating state, the switching means is switched to the power supply state. That is, the battery is switched to a state in which electric power is supplied from the battery to a pseudo load equivalent to the load. Then, the voltage of the battery in the state where power is supplied to the dummy load is detected by the voltage detecting means, and if the voltage of the battery detected by the voltage detecting means is less than or equal to the set value, the control means does not apply the load. The control for switching from the operating state to the operating state will not be executed.

Therefore, in a state in which power is not actually supplied to the load, the voltage of the battery is detected, and if the voltage is lowered, the control for switching the load to the operating state is not executed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the load from being erroneously supplied with power in the state where the voltage of the battery is low and causing the load to malfunction.

Further, when the voltage is detected, since the electric power is being supplied from the battery to the pseudo load equivalent to the load, the same current as in the actual load operating state may flow. Therefore, the voltage in consideration of the voltage drop due to the internal resistance of the battery is effectively detected, and the same voltage as when the actual load is in the operating state is always detected. As a result, if the detected voltage exceeds the set value, even after the load is switched to the operating state, the load is abnormally operated due to variation due to individual difference in internal resistance or voltage decrease due to fluctuation. Stable operation is performed without the possibility of causing

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the pseudo load is composed of a resistor, the switching means is switched to the power supply state as compared with, for example, a coil load or a capacitive load. After that, there is no phase difference between the voltage and the current, and the response becomes excellent, and the processing for voltage detection can be performed in that short time.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the load includes an ignition circuit that causes the burner to perform an ignition operation of the ignition device. Since the ignition circuit periodically generates a high voltage with respect to the ignition device, when the voltage is detected while such a load is operating,
Although the voltage fluctuates and becomes unstable, the pseudo load avoids the disadvantage of detecting the voltage in such an unstable state.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, in the ignition circuit, a voltage corresponding to the voltage of the battery is applied to the capacitor to charge it, and the capacitor is discharged when the charging voltage of the capacitor rises to the set voltage. The ignition device is ignited based on this discharge, and the capacitor alternately repeats the charged state and the discharged state, and the ignition operation is repeated at the set cycle. Then, the control means switches the load to the inoperative state when the discharge period of the capacitor becomes longer than the set time.

Therefore, even when the voltage of the battery exceeds the set value, there is a portion with a large voltage drop in the circuit until the voltage is supplied to the ignition circuit, and the voltage is supplied to the ignition circuit. When the power supply voltage (voltage corresponding to the battery voltage) is low, the time for the capacitor to be charged to the set voltage becomes long, and the discharge generation cycle becomes long. Since there is a high possibility that the ignition operation cannot be performed properly, the operation abnormality in the ignition circuit can be avoided by switching the load to the non-operation state.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power receiving portion which discharges between the ignition device and the ignition device in a state of facing the ignition device, and a discharge current flowing state in the power receiving portion. The control means switches the load to the inoperative state when the discharge generation period detected based on the above becomes longer than the set time.

Therefore, since the discharge generation cycle is detected based on the flowing state of the discharge current flowing when the ignition device is discharged, it is possible to surely determine whether or not the operation of the ignition device is abnormal. By switching the load to the non-operating state, it is possible to avoid the disadvantage that the abnormal operation of the ignition device continues.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The water heater according to the present invention will be described below. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a heat exchanger 1 for heating water and a gas combustion type burner 2 as a heating means for heating the heat exchanger 1 are provided in the main body case. , A water supply pipe 3 for supplying water to the heat exchanger 1
The flexible hot water discharge pipes 5 for discharging the heated hot water from the water discharge device 4 are provided outside the main body case to form a hot water supply device.

In the main body case, the water supply passage 6 connecting the water supply pipe 3 and the heat exchanger 1 has a manually operated water valve 7 for opening and closing the water supply passage 6, a water governor 8, and heat exchange. Each of the flow dividing valves 10 for adjusting the amount of water supplied to the vessel 1 and the amount of bypass water flowing through the bypass passage 9 is provided. In the fuel supply path 11 to the burner 2, an electromagnetically operated gas cutoff valve 12 and a water pressure responsive valve 1 that works in conjunction with a water governor 8 are provided.
3, a gas governor 14, and a gas amount adjusting valve 15 for adjusting the fuel supply amount are provided. The water valve 7 is
The operation tool 16 is provided on the front surface of the main body case and is configured to be opened when the operation tool 16 biased to be pushed is operated. The operation tool 16 is operated by a locking and holding mechanism (not shown) at the pressing and holding position. The position is maintained, and the water valve 7 is kept open. When the water valve 7 is closed, the locking and holding state is released by pushing the operating tool 16 further from the holding position, and when the pushing operation is released as it is, the valve is closed. When the operation tool 16 is pushed to the holding position, the operation switch SW as command means is turned on accordingly.

The gas amount adjusting valve 15 is configured to be adjusted by a manually operated adjusting dial 17 provided on the front surface of the main body case, and by adjusting the gas amount, that is, the burner 2 combustion amount. The hot water temperature can be changed and adjusted. In addition, in conjunction with the water pressure responsive valve 13, the water flow state, that is,
A water flow switch 18 for detecting that water is being supplied to the heat exchanger 1 is provided. An igniter 1 as an ignition device for igniting the burner 2 is provided near the burner 2.
9 and a thermocouple 20 for confirming that the burner 2 has been ignited.

Opening and closing operation of the gas cutoff valve 12 and
A controller H for controlling the ignition operation of the igniter 19 is provided, and the controller H is the operation switch SW.
The start of the combustion operation is instructed based on the ON operation of. The controller H is adapted to be supplied with electric power by a dry battery 21, and as shown in FIG. 1, a controller 22 for controlling the opening / closing operation of the gas cutoff valve 12 and the ignition operation of the igniter 19. , A pseudo load A equivalent to the load associated with these operations, a voltage as a voltage detection unit that detects the voltage of the dry cell 21 in a state in which the pseudo load A is energized before the operation of each unit is executed by the control unit 22. The detection unit B, an ignition circuit C for causing the igniter 19 to perform an ignition operation based on a control command from the control unit 22, and a cycle detection unit D for detecting an ignition cycle in the ignition circuit C are configured. ing. Further, an abnormality notifying unit E for notifying an abnormal state as described later is provided. Therefore, the ignition circuit C and the gas cutoff valve 12 function as a load L on the battery 21, and electric power is supplied from the battery 21.

The pseudo load A and the voltage detector B are constructed as shown in FIG. The pseudo load A is composed of a resistor 23 set to a resistance value corresponding to the average value of the electric load accompanying the opening / closing operation of the gas cutoff valve 12 and the ignition operation of the igniter 19, and is connected to the positive electrode of the dry battery 21. It is connected to the negative electrode via a transistor Tr ₁ as a switching means. To the base terminal of the transistor Tr ₁ is input switching signal from the control unit 22, the transistor Tr ₁
Is turned on, the resistor 23 is switched to a power supply state in which it is connected to the battery, and when the transistor Tr ₁ is turned off, it is switched to a non-supply state in which power is not supplied to the resistor 23. In the voltage detection unit B, the voltage on the positive side of the resistor 23 is input from the input terminal, and if this input voltage V _i is higher than the set voltage, the voltage V _{O at the} output terminal becomes low level and the input voltage V _i becomes If the voltage is equal to or lower than the set voltage, the voltage V _{O at the} output terminal is composed of a voltage level detection circuit 24 that switches to a high level.

The ignition circuit C and the cycle detector D are constructed as shown in FIG. Explaining the ignition circuit C, when the ignition output terminal 25 of the control unit 22 is switched to a low level, the transistor Tr ₂ is turned on, and a voltage is applied to the oscillation boosting transformer 26 having a well-known configuration in this type of circuit. The capacitor 27 provided on the secondary side of the oscillation boosting transformer 26 is charged. The secondary circuit is provided with a two-terminal thyristor 28. The two-terminal thyristor 28 maintains the non-conduction state when the terminal voltage is low, and the charging voltage of the capacitor 27 is equal to the set voltage ( When the voltage rises up to V _{BO, the} charge state in the capacitor 27 passes through the thyristor 28 and the voltage of the step-up transformer 2 increases.
It is designed to be rapidly discharged through the primary coil of 9. As a result, a very high voltage (1 to several KV) is output to the secondary coil of the step-up transformer 29, and this high voltage output is guided to the igniter 19 and the igniter 19
Will ignite the burner 2 by spark-discharging it with the grounded burner 2.

Since the charging of the capacitor 27 is continued while the ignition output terminal 25 of the control unit 22 is switched to the low level, it is charged again as shown in FIG. 6 even after the electric charge is discharged. The charging / discharging described above is repeated in a predetermined cycle. Therefore, based on such a voltage change associated with charging and discharging of the capacitor 27,
The spark generation cycle by the igniter 19 is detected.

As shown in FIG. 5, the oscillation boosting transformer 26
The cycle detector D is connected to the secondary side of the
It is configured to be input to the control unit 22. Cycle detection
Part D is a transistor Tr_ThreeThe base terminal of the diode
Oscillation step-up transformer 2 via 30a and resistor 30b
Circuit part for charging the capacitor 27 on the secondary side of 6
Connected to the transistor Tr_ThreeThe emitter terminal of
It is connected to the positive electrode of the pond and the collector terminal is the input of the control unit 22.
Connected to terminal. Then, the capacitor 27 is discharged
If the voltage in the charging circuit drops, the base
The voltage of the terminal drops and the transistor Tr_ThreeIs turned on
In both cases, as the charging voltage rises, the charging circuit
Voltage is set voltage V_OFFRising up to the transition
Star Tr _ThreeWill turn off. As a result, the control unit
22 input terminals, as shown in FIG.
A pulse signal synchronized with the park generation cycle is input.
And

Here, when the power supply voltage for the ignition circuit C decreases, the charging voltage for the capacitor 27 decreases, so that the capacitor 27 is charged to the set voltage (breakover voltage of the thyristor). Is longer, and the ignition (spark) cycle by the igniter 19 is longer (see the phantom line in FIG. 6).
Then, the amount of fuel injected until the ignition operation in the burner 2 is increased, which is disadvantageous in that explosive ignition occurs. Therefore, the control unit 22 is configured to determine whether the period of this pulse signal is longer than the set period and such a disadvantage may occur.

Next, the control operation of the control unit 22 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the operation switch SW is turned on as the operation tool 16 is operated to the holding position, the battery for the controller H is supplied and the control operation is started (step 1). When the control operation starts,
First, the transistor Tr ₁ is turned on to switch to the power supply state so that only the resistor 23 as the pseudo load A is energized, and the output of the voltage level detection circuit 24 is at high level or low level. Then, it is determined whether or not the voltage of the dry battery 21 at that time has dropped to the set voltage or less (steps 2 and 3). At this time, if the voltage drops below the set voltage, the transistor Tr ₁ is turned off.
At the same time as F, the abnormality notification lamp 30 as the abnormality notification unit E is turned on without performing the ignition process to notify that the abnormality is present (steps 4 and 5).

When it is determined that the voltage of the dry battery 21 has not dropped below the set voltage and is a normal voltage, the transistor Tr ₁ is turned off (switched to the non-supply state), and then the water flow switch 18 is turned on. It is determined whether or not it is ON, that is, whether or not water is being reliably supplied to the heat exchanger 1, and if it is ON, an ignition signal is output (steps 6, 7, and 8). . Specifically, the ignition output terminal 25 is switched to the low level to operate the ignition circuit C. Then, the gas shutoff valve 12 is energized to open the valve (step 9). In this way, the ignition operation is started.

When such an ignition operation is being executed, the ignition cycle in the igniter is discriminated based on the cycle of the pulse signal input from the cycle detector D, and the ignition cycle t is set to the set cycle ts (for example, If it exceeds 0.6 seconds), there is a possibility that smooth ignition of the burner 2 may not be performed, so the gas shutoff valve 12 is closed and
The output of the ignition signal is stopped and the abnormality notification lamp 30 is turned on (steps 10, 11, 12). As described above, the reason why the ignition cycle becomes long is, for example, due to an increase in the contact resistance of the operation switch SW, etc., even though the voltage of the dry battery 21 is equal to or higher than the set voltage.
It is conceivable that the power supply voltage for

The ignition cycle t is shorter than the set cycle ts,
When the normal operation is being performed, it is determined whether or not the burner 2 is reliably ignited based on the voltage detected by the thermocouple 20, and the ignition is started even if 5 seconds or more have elapsed from the start of the ignition operation. If it is not confirmed, it is determined that the ignition is wrong, the gas shutoff valve 12 is closed, and the output of the ignition signal is stopped (steps 13, 14, 12). If ignition is confirmed, the output of the ignition signal is stopped, and the ignition process ends (step 15).

[Other Embodiment] (1) In the above embodiment, the ignition circuit C is configured to detect the ignition spark generation cycle, but instead of such a configuration, as shown in FIG. Corresponding to the ignition spark generation cycle based on the power receiving unit 31 that discharges between the igniter 19 and the igniter 19 in the secondary circuit of the spark, and the flow state of the discharge current in the power receiving unit 31. It may be configured to include a discharge detection unit F that outputs a pulse signal for

That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the power receiving portion 31 for performing spark discharge between the igniter 19 and
The power receiving unit 31 is provided with a predetermined distance from the igniter 19 and insulated from the burner 2, and the power receiving unit 31 is connected to the primary side of the step-down transformer 33 via a discharge tube 32 such as a neon lamp, and a high voltage. When the spark discharge by is performed, the discharge tube 32 becomes conductive, and a stepped-down output is generated on the secondary side of the step-down transformer 33. The output of the secondary side is input to the base of the transistor Tr ₄ through the diode 34, periodically the transistor Tr ₄ each time the spark discharge occurs is actuated ON, the transistor Tr ₄ as shown in FIG. 10 The discharge detection unit F is configured so that the pulse signal of is input to the control unit 22. And the control unit 2
In step S2 in the flowchart of FIG. 7, the generation cycle is determined based on this pulse signal.

(2) In the above embodiment, the water valve 7 is provided as a manually operated type that opens and closes based on the operation of the operation tool, and the operation switch SW for instructing the controller H to start the combustion operation is operated. O based on the pushing operation of the tool
Although the configuration is such that it operates N times, it may be configured as follows instead of such a configuration.

As shown in FIG. 11, the water valve 7 is electromagnetically controlled by the controller H, and switches S1 and S2 for instructing the controller H to open the combustion operation are With the front part of the main body case,
The controller H is provided in each of the water outlets 4 and, based on the ON operation of any of the switches S1 and S2, first,
The water valve 7 may be opened, and after the water flow switch 14 detects the water supply state, the igniter 19 may be ignited and the gas cutoff valve 12 may be opened.

(3) In the above embodiment, the case where the resistor 23 is used as the pseudo load has been described as an example. However, not limited to the resistor, a coil load, a capacitive load, or a combined load thereof may be used.

(4) In the above embodiment, the case of a so-called original stop type water heater was illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and may be a first stop type water heater. Not limited to the water heater, the present invention can be applied to a table stove, a fan heater, other combustion equipment including an ignition circuit, or other battery-powered devices not including an ignition circuit.

(5) The battery as the power source is not limited to the dry battery 21, but may be other types of batteries such as a lead storage battery.

It should be noted that reference numerals are added to the claims for facilitating the comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a control block diagram.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a water heater.

[Figure 3] Front view of the water heater

FIG. 4 is an electric circuit diagram of a pseudo load and a voltage detection unit.

FIG. 5 is an electric circuit diagram of an ignition circuit and a cycle detector.

FIG. 6 Voltage waveform diagram

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a control operation.

FIG. 8 is a control block diagram of another embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an electric circuit diagram of a discharge detector.

FIG. 10 is a voltage waveform diagram of another embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a schematic configuration diagram of a water heater according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 burner 19 ignition means 21 battery 22 control means 27 capacitor 31 power receiving section A pseudo load B voltage detection means C ignition circuit L load SW command means Tr ₁ switching means

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yuji Ichikawa 4-1-2, Hirano-cho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Within Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akira Takabayashi 1-chome, 1-chome, Minami-shi, Osaka-shi, Osaka No.52 Harman Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A power source based on a command from a command means (SW).
No load (L) driven by power from the pond (21)
A control hand that executes control to switch between a moving state and an operating state.
Voltage drop in a battery-operated device provided with a step (22)
A detecting device, wherein the electric load is applied to a pseudo load (A) equivalent to the load (L).
Power supply state that power is supplied from the pond (21)
Switching means (Tr₁)
And electric power is supplied from the battery (21) to the pseudo load (A).
The voltage of the battery (21) in the activated state
And a voltage detection means (B) for controlling the load (L) by the command means (SW).
Commanded to switch from dynamic state to the operating state
And prior to switching the load (L) to the operating state
The switching means (Tr ₁) Is switched to the power supply state
In this state, the voltage detected by the voltage detecting means (B) is
If the voltage of the pond (21) is below the set value, the load
Do not execute the control to switch (L) to the operating state.
Voltage drop detection device for a battery-operated device configured as
Place. 2. The voltage drop detecting device for a battery driven device according to claim 1, wherein the dummy load (A) is composed of a resistor. 3. The voltage drop of the battery-driven device according to claim 1, wherein the load (L) includes an ignition circuit (C) for performing an ignition operation of the ignition device (19) for the burner (2). Detection device. 4. The ignition circuit (C) alternates between a charging state in which a voltage corresponding to the voltage of the battery (21) is applied to charge the battery and a discharging state in which the battery is discharged when the charging voltage rises to a set voltage. Repeat capacitor (2
7) is provided, and is configured to ignite the ignition device (19) based on the discharge of the capacitor (27), the control means (22) is configured to generate a discharge state of the capacitor (27). 4. The voltage drop detection device for a battery-driven device according to claim 3, wherein the load (L) is switched to the non-operation state when is longer than a set time. 5. A power receiving unit (3) that discharges between the ignition device (19) and the ignition device (19) while facing the ignition device (19).
1) is provided, and the control means (22) controls the load (L) when the discharge generation cycle detected based on the flow state of the discharge current in the power receiving unit (31) becomes longer than a set time. The voltage drop detection device for a battery-driven device according to claim 3, wherein the device is configured to switch to the non-operating state.