JPS61250995A - Dimmer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a light control device used in a tunnel lighting light control system using a solar cell as a power source.

[Conventional technology]

For tunnel lighting in locations far away from the commercial power grid, such as in mountains or remote areas, it is advantageous to use solar cells as a power source, which does not require the construction of new power lines. However, in the case of a tunnel on a motorway, the necessary illumination inside the tunnel could be adjusted depending on the brightness outside the tunnel entrance.

References: D. Schreuder; The Writing of Vehicle Traffic Tunnels, 1964
Filipstick, Library (1), A, 3c
hreuder: The lighting
of vehicle traffic tunnel
els l 954 philips 'l'eck
i, 1brary) As a result, in tunnel lighting powered by solar cells, during the daytime when the sunlight is strong and bright, the illuminance of the lighting inside the tunnel is increased, and conversely when it is dark and there is little sunlight, the illuminance is lowered. If the light is continuously adjusted in proportion to the amount of solar radiation, the electromotive force of the solar cells will be consumed directly for lighting the tunnel, so there is no need for batteries as a backup power source or the installation of small capacity batteries. It should be.

However, in conventional discharge lamps for illumination, it is not possible to adjust the light intensity of each individual lamp, and therefore, dimming is performed by changing the number of discharge lamps to be turned on.

This conventional dimming device uses a solar cell and a spare battery connected in parallel to the solar cell, with different levels of fixation provided corresponding to the output of the solar cell and each discharge lamp. Standard levels were compared, and based on the comparison results, the solar cells and switches installed between the batteries and the discharge switch were individually controlled to open and close to control light.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Since the conventional dimmer #t is configured as described above,
The standard level for comparison is fixed, and the range between the standard levels is wide, and a large change in the output of the solar cell causes the next discharge lamp to turn on, fc, D to turn off, and so on, so the electromotive force and discharge of the solar cell are There is a large difference between the power consumption of the lamp, and especially when a mercury lamp with high luminous efficiency is used as a discharge lamp, it takes a long time to turn it back on after it is turned off, so it is difficult to follow rapidly changing solar radiation fluctuations. During the period when this cannot be followed, there is a large difference between the electromotive force of the solar cell and the power consumption of the lamp, and the battery is charged or discharged by that power difference, resulting in overcharging or overdischarging of the battery. ,
Moreover, there was a problem in that the capacity of the battery was increased.

This invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a light control device that can reduce the capacity of a battery and eliminate overcharging and overdischarging of the battery.

[Means for solving the problem] - The light control device according to the present invention connects a battery in parallel to a solar battery, and switches each of which is controlled to open and close connects the battery and the solar battery, and a plurality of discharge lamps. The dimming control circuit generates a plurality of reference signals of different levels, which are formed based on a signal obtained by detecting the output of the solar cell and smoothing it, and an output obtained by detecting the amount of residual charge in the cell. The comparison results are used to control the opening and closing of the corresponding switches to light only the required discharge lamps.

[For production]

In the light control device of the present invention, if a difference occurs between the electromotive force of the solar cell and the power consumption of the lit discharge lamp,
Due to the difference, the battery charges or discharges and its residual charge changes, causing the dimming control circuit to vary the reference signal based on the result of detecting the residual charge, and compare it with this changed reference signal. Based on the comparison results, open and close the required switches to additionally turn on or turn off the discharge lamp.

To eliminate the difference between the electromotive force of a solar cell and the power consumption of a discharge lamp, and to eliminate overcharging or overdischarging of a battery.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In Figure 1, l is a solar cell placed outside near the entrance of the tunnel to receive sunlight, 2 to 2N are N discharge lamps that illuminate the inside of the tunnel, and 3 to 3N are outputs. The side is connected to the discharge lamps 2A to 3N, respectively, and converts the output of the solar cell 1 and, if necessary, a battery 50 (to be described later) into the frequency and voltage necessary for lighting the lamp, and also converts the output power of the solar cell 1 and, if necessary, a battery 50, which will be described later, into the frequency and voltage necessary for lighting the lamp. N lighting circuits for stably lighting the discharge lamp, connected between the 4A to 4Nμ solar cells and the input side of the lighting circuits 3 to 3N, respectively, are required in the discharge lamps 2A to 2N. There are N switches for opening and closing the supply of power to the discharge lamp from the solar cell 1 and, if necessary, a battery 5 to be described later.

5 is a relatively small capacity battery connected in series with the solar cell 1, and the electromotive force wl of the solar cell 1 and the discharge lamp 2A.
Load power consumption W of a discharge lamp lit in ~2N
It is a chargeable and dischargeable battery that absorbs and releases the difference ΔW from the original. 6 is a first detection means provided on the output side of the solar cell 1 to detect the output of the solar cell 1; 7 is provided on the high potential side of the battery 5 and is proportional to the amount of residual charge of the battery 5, for example, the amount of residual charge. This is second detection means for detecting the voltage of the battery 5.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a smoothing circuit whose input side is connected to the output side of the first detection means 6, and when a part of the sunlight is temporarily blocked by flowing clouds, a ripple occurs in the output of the solar cell l, This is to remove the ripple applied via the detection means 6 of 1. Reference numerals 9A to 9N designate N reference level generation circuits, whose input sides are commonly connected to the output side of the second detection means 7, and generate reference signals for comparison according to the amount of residual charge in the battery 5. In addition, the reference level generation circuit 9 people ~ 9N
outputs different reference signals from the lowest to the highest in this order from the same input. IOA~ION is N
In this comparison circuit, the input side is connected to the output side of the smoothing circuit 8 and the reference level generation circuit 9 to 9N so that each output of the reference level generation circuit 9 to 9N can be compared with the output of the smoothing circuit 8. are connected to each other. The output side of the comparison circuit 10A-ION is connected to the switches 4A to 4N so as to control the opening and closing of the switches 4A to 4N, respectively. Reference numeral 11 denotes a dimming control circuit that controls the opening and closing of switches 4 to 4N to dim the discharge lamps 2 to 2N, and includes the above-mentioned first and second detection means 6.7, smoothing circuit 8, and reference level generation. 9 circuits ~
It consists of 9N and a comparison circuit of 10 to 1ON.

Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of this embodiment.
The broken line at 22 shows the output change of the solar cell 1 in one day, the solid line 22 shows the output change of the smoothing circuit 8, and 23A to 23N show the reference level generation circuit 9A when the residual charge amount of the battery 5 is at the reference value. The levels of the reference signals output from 9N to 9N are shown, respectively. In FIG. 2B, the solid line 24 shows the change in illuminance in the tunnel with respect to time when the amount of residual charge in the battery 5 is at the reference value.

Next, the operation of this invention will be explained. Detecting the output of the solar cell l receiving sunlight by the first detection means 6,
This detection result is output after ripples are removed by a smoothing circuit 8 having first-order lag characteristics.

On the other hand, the second detection means 7 detects the amount of residual charge in the battery 5, and based on this detection result, the reference level generation circuits 9A to 9N output reference signals of various levels for comparison.
When the residual charge amount of battery 5 is at the standard value, level 23
Signals A to 23N are output from reference level generation circuits 9A to 9N, respectively.

The comparison circuits 10A to ION compare the output of the smoothing circuit 8 and the output of the reference level generation circuits 9 to 9N, respectively. For example, when the output of the smoothing circuit 8 is greater than the output of the reference level generation circuits 9, the comparison circuits The 10th person outputs a close signal to the 4th switch so that the 4th person closes the switch. When the four switches are closed by this output, the output of the solar cell I is given to the three lighting circuits, and the two discharge lamps are lit.

On the contrary, when, for example, the output of the smoothing circuit 8 is less than the output of the nine reference level generating circuits, the comparator circuit 10A outputs an open signal to the four switches to open the four switches. When four people open the switch, the connection between the solar cell l and the two discharge lamps is cut off.

The two discharge lamps go out.

In addition, other comparison circuits 10B- than the comparison circuit 10A
Regarding the operation of the switches 4B to 4N and the discharge lamps 2B to 2N based on the comparison result of 1ON, the above-mentioned comparison circuit 10A
The operation is the same as .

By the way, the power consumption Wt of the discharge lamps lit among the discharge lamps 2A to 2N and the electromotive force Ws of the solar cell l
The difference in power ΔW between the two is used to charge or discharge the battery l. If the power consumption W1 is larger than the electromotive force W, the battery 5 discharges the difference in power ΔW to reduce the amount of residual charge, and the output of the second detection means 7 becomes smaller. On the contrary, 1 electromotive force W2 is the power consumption W! If it is smaller, the battery 5 receives and charges the difference in power ΔW from the solar cell 1 to increase its residual charge and amount, and the output of the second detection means 7 increases.

FIG. 3 typically shows the relationship between the input and the output of one typical reference level generating circuit among the reference level generating circuits 9A to 9N. here.

The relationship between the input and output of the reference level generation circuit is inversely proportional.

For example, the reference level generation circuits 9A to 9 at time t1
The output level of N is assumed to be 23A to 23N.

Since the output of the smoothing circuit 8 is at an output level of 23 to 23N or more, the discharge lamp has a power level of 2 to 2N from the above operation.
are all lit. At this time, when the battery 5 is discharged as described above, the output of the second detection means 7 becomes smaller and the output of the reference level generation circuits 9A to 9N increases. Therefore, the output levels 23λ to 23N of the reference level generating circuits 9A to 9N shown in FIG. 2 move to the higher output level side than the illustrated position. Assuming that only the output of the reference level generation circuit 9N becomes larger in Q than the output of the smoothing circuit 8 due to this movement, the output signal of the comparison circuit 1ON, which compares these generation powers, is inverted, and the comparison circuit 1ON is switched An open signal is output to open the switch 4N, and the switch 4N is opened and the discharge lamp 2N is turned off. Therefore, the power consumption Wl of the lit discharge lamp in the discharge lamp 2 to 2N decreases and becomes equal to the electromotive force W: of the solar cell l, so the discharge of the battery l stops and the current state is maintained.

Next, for example, the reference level generation circuit 9 at time t2
The output level for 23 people to 9N is 23N to 23N, respectively. Since the output of the smoothing circuit 8 does not exceed the output level 23N, all discharge lamps among the discharge lamps 2λ to 2N except for the discharge lamp 2N are lit by the above-described operation. At this time, when the battery 5 is charged as described above, the output of the second detection means 7 becomes large, and the reference level generation circuit 9 - 9
The output of N decreases. Therefore, the output levels 23A to 23N of the reference level generation circuits 9λ to 9N shown in 8211 people
moves to a lower output level than the position shown. Here, if the output of the reference level generating circuit 9N becomes smaller than the output of the smoothing circuit 8, the discharge lamp 2N lights up.

Therefore, since all of the discharge lamps 2 to 2N are lit, their power consumption W1 increases, and the electromotive force Ws of the solar cell l increases.
], charging of the battery l is stopped and the current state is maintained.

As described above, in this embodiment, the residual charge amount of the battery 5 is detected by the second detection means 7, and the detected result is inputted into the reference level generation circuit 9~9NK.
As shown in FIG. 3, which shows the input/output customization of the N, feedback is provided so that the reference signal changes in accordance with the result of detecting the amount of residual charge in the battery 5. As a result, if the electromotive force W of the solar cell l and the discharge lamp 2 ~ 2
When a difference ΔW occurs in the actual power consumption W of N and the residual charge amount of the battery 5 changes, the reference signals output from the reference level generation circuits 9A to 9N are directed in a direction that eliminates the difference ΔW due to the above-mentioned feedback. fluctuate.

As mentioned above, the standard level shown in Figure 2 for people is 23 to 2.
3N fluctuates, and the illuminance inside the tunnel changes according to this fluctuation.

For example, the illuminance in the tunnel with respect to time when the reference levels 23A to 23N are fixed is shown in plan #24 in Figure 2B.
The switching time of the illuminance in the tunnel (the changing time of each step of the solid line 24 in FIG. 2B), that is, the discharge Stt force W! The time of change changes back and forth in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure, and is adjusted so that the actual power consumption W of the discharge lamps 2 to 2N becomes equal to the electromotive force Wl of the solar cell I.

Therefore, even if the capacity of the battery 5 is small, overcharging or overdischarging will not occur.

Note that function generators having the input/output characteristics shown in FIG. 3 were used as the reference level generating circuits 9A to 9N.

Figure 4 shows the reference level generation circuit 9 to 9 shown in Figure 1.
In FIG. 0, which is a block diagram representatively showing one circuit in N, 31 is an inverting amplifier whose input side is connected to the output side of the second detection means 7, and 32 is an inverting amplifier 12. This is an addition circuit that adds an output voltage and a bias voltage E from a bias power supply (not shown) and outputs the result. The output of the adder circuit 32 becomes the reference signal output from the reference level generation circuit.

The input/output characteristics of the circuit shown in FIG. 4 are similar to those shown in FIG. 3. ' Note that in order to eliminate the influence of the potential of the battery 5 on the first detection means 6, it is desirable to insert a diode between the battery 5 and the first detection means 6.

In addition, the comparison circuit 10A-1ON is connected to the discharge lamps 2A-1ON based on unstable switching near the comparison level.
In order to prevent the short-time strain of turning on and off the 2N light and to ensure a sufficient time for relighting, it is preferable to provide hysteresis characteristics and dead zone characteristics.

Furthermore, the first detection means 6 can be replaced by current detection, considering that the change in the voltage of the solar cell l is relatively small, and can be replaced by the amount of solar radiation measured by a normal light meter. You can also do that. Moreover, the second detection means 7
In addition to being detected by integrating the charging and discharging currents, it is also possible to directly detect by measuring the specific gravity of the battery 5, etc.

Although the above-described dimming control circuit 11Fi has an analog circuit configuration for ease of understanding, it goes without saying that it can easily be configured with a digital circuit having an equivalent function.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, in a dimming system using a solar cell as a power source, the output of the solar cell is detected, and when the detected value exceeds the respective reference level, the corresponding discharge lamp is activated. At the same time as turning on the solar cells, the remaining capacity of the batteries installed in parallel with the solar cells is detected and fed back, and depending on the detection result, the number of discharge lamps that are turned on is changed by changing the above-mentioned reference level. Since the structure is designed to eliminate the difference between the electromotive force of the lamp and the power consumption of the discharge lamp, it is possible to reduce the capacity of the battery and also to obtain a small and highly reliable product that can prevent overcharging and overdischarging of the battery. be.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a light control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment of Fig. 1, and Fig. M3 shows the elements used in Fig. 1. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the reference level generating circuit used in FIG. 1. In the figure, l is a solar cell, 2A to 2N are discharge lamps, and 3
A to 3N are lighting circuits, 4A to 4N are switches, 5 is a battery, 6 is a solar cell output detection means (first detection means), 7
8 is a smoothing circuit, 9A to 9N are reference level generation circuits, 10A-
ION is a comparison circuit. 11 is a dimming control circuit. In the figures, the same reference numerals indicate the same or equivalent parts. (A) Procedural amendment (voluntary)

Claims (1)

[Claims] a solar cell, a battery connected in parallel to the solar cell, and a plurality of cells to which power is supplied from the solar cell and the battery.
A lighting circuit for lighting the discharge lamp, several switches for controlling opening and closing of power supplied to the lighting circuit from the solar cell and the battery, a signal obtained by detecting and smoothing the output of the solar cell, and the above. A dimming control circuit that compares a plurality of reference signals of different levels formed based on a signal that detects the remaining capacity of the battery, and controls the opening and closing of the corresponding switch based on the comparison result. Dimmer.