JPS6057670B2 - lighting control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a lighting control device that is capable of controlling pattern dimming of a large number of lighting loads at once from one location.

Conventionally, various lighting control systems capable of pattern dimming control have been proposed for purposes such as stage lighting, but in the case of equipment for such purposes, when changing the pattern dimming state, Since each lighting load needs to be changed to a new dimming state, we have adopted a method in which each lighting load is connected individually with electric wires to the main unit that performs pattern dimming control. In addition to being expensive, as the number of lighting loads increases, the number of electric wires introduced to the main unit also increases, making wiring work that much more complicated and increasing wiring costs. There was a problem in that it was practically impossible to use it for general purposes to control loads.

Furthermore, if such conventional pattern dimming control devices were to be used for general lighting, they would be controlled and operated all at once on the main unit side, so they would always be adapted to the individual usage conditions of each lighting load. In order to achieve pattern dimming, there is no choice but to complicate the configuration of the control panel of the main unit so that a variety of dimming patterns can be obtained freely, and the equipment becomes expensive due to the unavoidable complexity of the equipment. At the same time, the operation is complicated, and it is virtually impossible for general consumers to operate it.Furthermore, the lighting load cannot be controlled at the location where the lighting load is installed, which is a great inconvenience. It could not be used for any purpose other than special lighting purposes. The present invention has been provided in view of the above-mentioned points, and when performing pattern dimming of a large number of lighting loads, it eliminates the need to introduce individual electric wires from each lighting load to the base unit, thereby reducing wiring work costs. Furthermore, by connecting pattern switches to set various dimming patterns in advance, the configuration of the base unit can be simplified, reducing the device cost, and making dimming control operations possible, making it more convenient for general use. This enables pattern dimming control in lighting equipment for lighting systems, which allows each lighting load to be set to the dimming state according to need, thereby making it possible to obtain optimal illuminance in each illuminated location, while at the same time reducing illuminance in unnecessary locations. It is an object of the present invention to provide a lighting control device that can reduce the amount of lighting and save power, and can also control the lighting load in the vicinity of the lighting load installation site.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of an embodiment according to the first aspect of the present invention, in which a base unit 1 and first to Nth slave units 2, . . . are connected by one control line 7. are connected, and the base unit 1 sends an address signal for individually selecting each slave unit 2...
The control signal for controlling the selected handset 2 is transmitted to each handset 2.
Transmit to... The dimmer 3... performs a dimming operation based on the received control signal output when each corresponding slave unit 2... receives the control signal, and uses the power supplied from the commercial power source or The power supplied together with the control signal through the control line 7 is controlled by the dimmer 3 to supply power to each corresponding lighting load 4, and these dimmers 3... For example, a method using a stage dimming ballast or a phase control method using a triax is used. 23 is a wall switch body, and an appropriate slave unit 2.
..., and is controlled by this wall switch body 23, and one to an appropriate number of lighting loads 4.
The lighting load 4 controlled by this wall switch body 23 is controlled to be turned off or dimmed.
...The local pattern is composed of groups.

Further, in the embodiment according to the first invention, as shown in FIG. There is an on/off switch 25 on the body 23.
and a manual dimmer switch 26 are attached. When the on-off switch 25 is turned off, the lighting load 4 in the local pattern is turned off, and when the manual dimmer switch 26 is operated, the lighting load 4 in the local pattern is turned off. The lighting load 4... is a predetermined dimming level set in advance, for example, 100, regardless of the overall pattern dimming state at that time.
The dimming level is changed to % lighting. Figure 2 shows base unit 1
, handset 2... shows an example of a transmission signal sent and received between handsets 2, in which a start signal, an address signal, a control signal, and a return signal are arranged in a time sequence for one handset 2. It is composed of The start signal indicates the start of a transmission signal, and the address signal that follows selects one of the handsets 2 and controls that handset 2 based on the control signal, and the handset 2... - Output information regarding the operation status of the wall switch body 23 attached to the wall switch body 23, that is, off operation output information of the on-off switch and manual dimming output information of the manual dimmer switch, or this slave unit 2.
. . , the monitoring information for monitoring the operating status of the base unit 1 on the base unit 1 side is sent back from the slave unit 2 to the base unit 1 as a return signal. FIG. 3 shows an example of the circuit of the base unit 1 in the overall configuration example of FIG. 1, and includes pattern switches 51, 52, . 58, and the outputs of the pattern switches 5 are input to the dimming control memory 6 via the encoder 9.

The dimming control memory 6 stores dimming control information regarding the dimming state of each lighting load 4 in various dimming patterns, and stores, for example, a table as shown in FIG. When the address setting for calling each slave unit 2 is performed on the base unit 1, this address data is input together with the output data of the encoder 9, and these address data and encoder output data are stored. As a result, the dimming control information of the handset 2 called up at that time in the dimming pattern selected by the pattern switch 51 . . . is read out from the dimming control memory 6. In addition, when creating address data, the output clock signal of the clock generation circuit 10 is input to the synchronization circuit 11 to create the necessary synchronization signal, and this synchronization signal is counted by the address counter 12 to create the address data. It is something to do. On the other hand, local pattern memory 2
Reference numeral 4 stores information on which handset 2 should be controlled by the operation when a certain wall switch body 23 is operated, that is, local pattern information. When the address data of the address counter 12 output is input, the slave unit 2 at that address...
The address data of the wall switch unit 23 (for example, it is indicated by the number of the wall switch unit 23, and may not match the address of the slave unit 2) indicates which wall switch unit 23 the local pattern belongs to is under the control of the wall switch unit 23. However, depending on the configuration of the circuit for local pattern control in the base unit 1, for example, both the address data of the address counter output and the address data of the wall switch body may be output. It is also possible to input this and output flag information indicating whether the two match or not, and in any case, this local pattern memory 24 is used to determine the correspondence between the handset 2... and the wall switch body 23... Remember the relationship. Reference numeral 15 denotes a return signal memory, which is composed of an on/off control memory 27 and a manual dimming control memory 28, and when the wall switch body 23 is operated, it is determined whether the on/off switch 25 is turned off or the manual dimming switch 26 is operated. Based on this determination information, both the memories 27 and 28 are selected, and the selected memory 2 is
Address data of the wall switch body 23 operated on
will be substituted with the address data of

), and in this embodiment, the address data of the wall switch body 23 output from the local pattern memory 24 matches the address data of the wall switch body 23 stored in the memories 27 and 28. When this happens, a flag is output to the memories 27 and 28 that match. In addition, in the first invention, the on/off control memory and the manual dimming control memory that constitute the return signal memory distinguish the operations of the on/off switch and the manual dimming switch in the wall switch body, and store the address of the operated wall switch body. Any device that stores data may be used, and any device that outputs the stored address data of the wall switch as an output may also be used, depending on the configuration of the circuit for local pattern control. Appropriate output information can be obtained, and it is also possible to configure the on/off control memory and the manual dimming control memory to be substantially integrated with the local pattern memory. According to the address data created by the address counter 12, the dimming control information of the lighting load 4 connected to the slave device 2 at that address is read out from the dimming control memory 6 as described above and sent to the signal calculation circuit 13. input and create control signals for each handset 2,
The address data output from the address counter 12 is input to the local pattern memory 24, and the address of the local pattern to which the handset 2 of this address belongs, that is, the wall switch body 2
Input the data at the address No. 3 into the on/off control memory 27 or the manual dimming control memory 28, and when the data stored in these memories 27 and 28 match this input data, a flag is sent from the matched memories 27 and 28. A signal is input to the signal calculation circuit 13, and when this flag signal is generated in the on/off control memory 27, the control data content is set to turn off the lighting load 4 regardless of the output of the dimming control memory 6. When the content of the control signal is changed, the lighting load 4 is set to 100% regardless of the output of the dimming control memory 6 when it occurs in the manual dimming control memory 28.
Some of the control data contents for lighting may change the contents of the control signal. Thus, the signal calculation circuit 13 is equipped with a logic circuit as shown in FIG. W and M are flag outputs of the on/off control memory 27 and manual dimming control memory 28, respectively. Therefore, in the logic circuit of FIG. 5, when there is no flag output from both memories 27 and 28,
The contents of the control data inputs DO to D3 are output as they are as control signal data DJ-D3'', but when there is a flag output in the memory 27, the control signal data DJ-D3'' becomes ゛L゛ in total, and the lighting load 4 The data content is for OFF, and when there is a flag output in the memory 28, all of the control signal data DJ-D3'' becomes “゜H” and the lighting load 4
This is the data content that lights up 100%. In this way, the control signal data formed by the circuit shown in FIG. 5 is converted into serial pulse train data inside the signal calculation circuit 13, and the address signal pulse train and start pulse based on the address data are further arranged in series as shown in FIG. A transmission signal transmitted from base unit 1 to slave unit 2 as shown in FIG. 1 is created and sent to control line 7 via coupler 14. Further, the signal calculation circuit 13 receives a return signal from the control line 7 via the coupler 14, converts this return signal into parallel data, and then transfers the data of the return signal to the on/off switch 2.
5 or the manual dimmer switch 26, and as a result, the address of the operated wall switch body 23 is stored in the on/off control memory 27 or the manual dimmer control memory 28 as described above. It stores data. Here, the dimming control memory 6 and the local pattern memory 24 are formed using a ROM when the dimming pattern or local pattern stored therein is fixed, and the dimming pattern or local pattern can be changed freely. In this case, a programmable storage element such as RAM or EPROM is used. FIG. 6 shows a block circuit diagram of the handset 2, in which the transmission signal input from the control line 7 through the coupler 16 is sent to the first and second S/P conversion circuits 17 and 18 as the output of the synchronization circuit 19. The control signal is read in synchronization with the clock, and the control signal is read into the first S/P conversion circuit 17 and the address signal is read into the second S/P conversion circuit 18. The conversion circuits 17 and 18 are constituted by shift registers that input serial pulse train signals and output them as parallel signals.

When the address signal input to the second S/P conversion circuit 18 matches the address of the slave unit 2 set by the address switch 20, an output signal is generated to the address comparator 21, and the address comparator 21 outputs an output signal. The signal is latched by the latch circuit 22 as a control signal and parallel data input to the first S/P conversion circuit 17, and the output of the latch circuit 22 is input to the dimmer 3. Here, the coupler 16 detects the voltage pulse signal on the control line 7, performs waveform shaping processing, etc., and then connects the signal to the first and second S/P.
The signal is input to conversion circuits 17 and 18 as a serial data signal. The serial data signal is converted into a parallel data signal by the S/P conversion circuits 17 and 18 because the address signal transmitted on the control line 7 and the data signal are serial data signals as described above. Therefore, as it is, it is difficult to compare the address data, which is a parallel data signal set in the address switch 20, or to latch the data into the latch circuit 22, which is a parallel data input. Thus, the dimmer 3 may be of any type as long as the input dimming signal is a digital signal.For example, the dimmer 3 may be provided with a relay that operates in one-to-one correspondence with each bit output of the latch circuit. The light may be dimmed in stages using relay contacts, or the output of the latch circuit (therefore, the control signal) may be made into binary code data, and the phase of the lighting load 4 may be controlled using a dimmer based on this data. good. FIG. 7 shows an embodiment according to the second invention described in claim 5 of the present invention, and in this second invention, the manual dimmer switch 26 of the above-mentioned first invention is replaced. Animal dimming level setting device 29 and wall switch body 23
By operating the manual dimming level setter 29, the lighting load 4 within the local pattern controlled by the wall switch body 23 can be freely dimmed.

However, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, an appropriate dimming level is set by operating the knob of the manual dimming level setting device 29.
The digital output information of 9 is sent from the corresponding slave device 2 to the base device 1 as a return signal. If the manual dimming level setter 29 is configured with a digital switch or other changeover switch, the output is appropriately coded as necessary to create return signal data. If it is formed of circuit components having an analog output, it is converted into a digital signal using a suitable A/D converter to create data for the return signal. In addition, the code for the dimming data of the return signal created as described above can be directly transferred to the base unit.
The same code as the normal control signal data is used so that it can be used as the control signal data from the base unit 2 to the slave unit 2.On the other hand, on the base unit 1 side, the manual dimming control memory 28 Writes the address data of the wall switch body 23 belonging to the handset 2 to which the digital output information of the manual dimming level setter 29 was returned, and also stores the data of this return signal, that is, the data of the digital output information. The above-mentioned digital output information is written into the address storage section of the manual dimming memory 28, which is normally set corresponding to the address of the wall switch body 23.Thus, the above-mentioned first invention As in the case of the embodiment, the address data output from the address counter 12 and the local pattern memory 24 are input, the address data of the wall switch body 23 controlled by the handset 2 at this address is read out, and this is controlled to turn on and off. memory 27
and is input to the manual dimming control memory 28. At this time, the manual dimming control memory 28
In this case, if digital output information data from the wall switch body 23 at this address is stored for the input address data of the wall switch body 23, the data of the stored digital output information is converted into parallel data ( In the illustrated embodiment, the signal calculation circuit 13
The signal calculation circuit 13 creates a control signal based on the output data of the memory 28 for manual dimming control. FIG. 8 shows an example of the configuration of a logic circuit in the input section for creating control data in the signal calculation circuit 13, which corresponds to the circuit example shown in FIG. When the output data of M is input and this output data exists, that is, M. - When any of the inputs of M8 is ゜゜H゛, control signal data D. ″～D3″
The reason is that the output data of this manual dimming control memory 28 is output. As described above, the present invention provides a pattern switch and a dimming control memory in the base unit, creates dimming control information for controlling each lighting load during pattern dimming, and cycles this dimming control information. Since it is configured to transmit to each lighting load using a time division multiplex transmission method, it is not possible to connect the load power line from each lighting load to the main unit individually and perform dimming control on the main unit side, as in the past. This eliminates the need to configure a large-scale device, eliminates the need for wiring work such as individual load power lines, and reduces the overall device price. It has become possible to perform pattern dimming control in general lighting equipment, and the dimming pattern can be selected as appropriate depending on the outside light, weather, the illuminated place being used at that time, the work being done there, etc. As a result, it is possible to obtain the optimum illumination intensity at each illuminated place at that time, and at the same time, there is no need for unnecessary illumination, which has the effect of saving power.

Furthermore, in the present invention, a wall switch body is installed near the installation part of the lighting load, and the output information of this wall switch body is transmitted from the slave unit to the base unit as a return signal, so that the output information from the slave unit of the base unit is transmitted from the slave unit side to the base unit. A return signal memory that stores a return signal and a local pattern memory that stores a local pattern that is controlled by the output information of each wall switch body and should be changed are provided, and the signal calculation circuit in the base unit outputs the dimming control memory. For the overall dimming pattern carried out by 7, the output of the local pattern memory and the return signal from the wall switch body via the slave unit provide a control signal for the slave unit within the local pattern controlled by that wall switch body. By operating the wall switch near the lighting load installation part, one to an appropriate number of lighting loads controlled by this wall switch can be set (at that time for the entire device). It is now possible to control the dimming pattern and change it separately.
Therefore, even if the dimming pattern on the main unit side is simplified considerably, it can be accurately adapted to the actual usage conditions of each illuminated place, so the main unit side equipment can be greatly simplified, and the equipment cost can be reduced. In addition to making it possible to reduce the lighting load significantly, it is not necessary to go to the main unit each time the usage status of the lighting load is changed locally, so it can be conveniently used for pattern dimming of general lighting loads, and even more convenient for pattern dimming of the entire device. Since local dimming or on/off can be controlled, it is possible to reliably adapt to the actual lighting load usage and further increase the power saving effect. In this case, the wall switch body is equipped with an on/off switch and a manual dimmer switch, so it is possible to turn on and off the lighting load within a local pattern from the wall switch body, and also operate the manual dimmer switch. (For example, in the embodiment, a 100% lighting state is given as an example, but it may also be an 80% dimming lighting state, a 50% dimming lighting state, etc.) It has the effect that the entire dimming pattern can be set apart and changed to a predetermined dimming state);
Furthermore, in the second invention, since the wall switch body is provided with an on/off switch and a manual dimming level setter, the local pattern can be accessed from the wall switch body side by operating the on/off switch similarly to the first invention. When you want to change the dimming status of the lighting load within this local pattern, you can freely set the predetermined dimming status to the wall switch by using the manual dimming level setting device. It has an effect that can be obtained from the body side.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment according to the first invention of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a transmission signal transmitted between the base unit and the slave unit, and FIG. The block circuit diagram of the base unit, Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram of the dimming control memory provided in the base unit, and Figure 5 is the outline of the logic circuit section for creating control signals of the signal calculation circuit provided in the base unit. FIG. 6 is a block circuit diagram of the above-mentioned slave device, FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment according to the second invention of the present invention, and FIG. This is a circuit diagram of a main part of a logic circuit section for creating control signals of a signal calculation circuit, in which 1 is a master unit, 2 is a slave unit, 3 is a dimmer, and 4 is a main part circuit diagram.
are lighting loads, 51, 52, 53... are pattern switches, 6 is a dimming control memory, 13 is a signal calculation circuit, 15 is a return signal memory, 23 is a wall switch body, 24 is a local pattern memory, and 25 is a 26 is a manual dimming switch, 27 is a memory for on/off control, 28 is a memory for manual dimming control, and 29 is an animal dimming level setter.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A base unit and a large number of slave units that transmit and receive control signals and return signals between the base unit and the base unit using a cyclic time division multiplex transmission method, and each slave unit is capable of controlling these slave units. In a lighting control device that is equipped with dimmers that are each controlled by the output, and each corresponding lighting load is controlled by the dimmer output from these dimmers, a wall switch is installed near the installation part of the appropriate lighting load. Install a body and attach an animal dimmer switch as an on-off switch to each of these wall switch bodies, and appropriately correspond to the off operation output information of the on-off switch of these wall switch bodies and the output information of the manual dimmer switch. A pattern switch that sends a return signal from the device to the base unit and sets various dimming patterns for the dimming state of each lighting load, and a dimming control related to dimming control for each lighting load in each dimming pattern. A dimming control memory that stores information, a return signal memory that stores return signals from each slave unit, and output information of each wall switch unit to control turning off the lighting load or changing the dimming state. A control signal for each slave unit is generated based on a local pattern memory that stores the address of the slave unit to be used, and dimming control information in the dimming pattern read from the dimming control memory when any pattern switch is operated. Along with creating
When the on/off switch or manual dimmer switch is operated on the appropriate wall switch, the address of the slave device to which the local pattern should be changed is determined from the local pattern memory based on the output information from each wall switch stored in the return signal memory. Reads out the control signal for the slave unit with this read address, and sets it to the off state or another preset dimming state depending on whether the wall switch unit is operated as an on-off switch or a manual dimmer switch. 1. A lighting control device characterized in that a base unit is equipped with a signal calculation circuit that changes and sets the content of data to be controlled. 2. The return signal memory of the base unit is used as an on/off control memory that stores the address of the wall switch depending on whether the output information of the wall switch is an on/off switch or a manual dimmer switch. When creating a control signal for the handset, which is stored in the local pattern memory, the wall switch body is configured with a manual dimming control memory, and the address stored in the on-off control memory is controlled by the wall switch body, while other dimming The content data of this control signal is set as the dimming data for turning off the lighting load with priority over the state, and the local pattern memory stores that it is controlled by the wall switch body at the address stored in the manual dimming control memory. When creating a control signal for a slave device that has been set, the content data of this control signal is changed to dimming data that obtains a predetermined dimming state set in advance, giving priority to the overall pattern dimming. The lighting control device according to claim 1, characterized in that: 3. When a manual dimmer switch is operated, dimming control is performed so that 100% of the lighting load in the local pattern corresponding to the manual dimmer switch stored in the local pattern memory is lit. A lighting control device according to claim 2. 4. A storage section for storing dimming control data to be changed and set for each local pattern set and stored corresponding to each wall switch body in the local pattern memory is provided in the main unit or in the slave unit having the wall switch body, and this memory According to claim 2, the data content of the control signal is changed and set based on the dimming control data read from the controller or sent back as a return signal if necessary. Lighting control equipment. 5 A base unit is provided with a large number of slave units that transmit and receive control signals and return signals using a cyclic time division multiplex transmission method between the base unit, and each slave unit is controlled by the control output of these slave units. In a lighting control device that is equipped with a dimmer and uses the output of these dimmers to control the dimming of each corresponding lighting load, it is possible to install a wall switch near the installation part of the appropriate lighting load to control these lights. Each wall switch body is equipped with an on/off switch and a manual dimming level setter for variable setting of dimming level, and off operation output information of the on/off switch of these wall switch bodies and digital output information of the manual dimming level setter are attached. A pattern switch is used to set various dimming patterns for the dimming status of each lighting load, and a pattern switch is used to set various dimming patterns for the dimming status of each lighting load, and a dimming control is performed for each lighting load in each dimming pattern. a dimming control memory that stores dimming control information regarding control;
The return signal is composed of an on/off control memory and a manual dimming control memory that store the return signal from each handset separately into the on/off switch's off operation output information and the animal dimming level setting device's digital output information. memory and
A local pattern memory that stores the address of the slave device that should control the on/off and dimming state changes of the lighting load controlled by the output information of each wall switch, and dimming control when any pattern switch is operated. Based on the dimming control information in the dimming pattern read from the memory, a control signal for each slave unit was created, and an on/off switch or manual dimming level setter was operated using an appropriate wall switch. At this time, the data content of the control signal for the slave device in the local pattern stored in the local pattern memory to be controlled by this wall switch body is changed to the data content for lighting load OFF by the output from the memory for on/off control. What is claimed is: 1. A lighting control device characterized in that a base unit is equipped with a signal calculation circuit that changes settings or changes settings to data contents based on digital output information of a memory output for manual dimming control. 6. Claim No. 6 characterized in that the digital output information of the manual dimming level setter stored in the memory for manual dimming control is changed and set directly as a control signal from the master unit to the slave unit. The lighting control device according to item 5.