JPS63183342A - Controller malfunction detecting device for air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To flicker an indicator as long as the main controller and interruption controller are functioning normally by causing the interruption controller to interrupt the repetitive control motions of the main controller at nearly regular interval to actuate the indicator based on the preset indicator switching data. CONSTITUTION:When the main program (a) and interruption program (b) are functioning normally, an LED 17 is flickered at nearly regular intervals. If an infinite loop should happen in the program of CPU 11 at a certain location in the main program (a) or interruption program (b) due to a malfunction in one way or another, the following interval illumination flag for the LED is fixed either to 1 or 0 because the routine A of the main program (a) is not executed repeatedly, causing the LED 17 to continue either ON or OFF. Therefore, a service technician of air conditioner can readily tell the presence or absence of malfunction in the CPU 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an air conditioner control unit abnormality detection device that detects and displays an abnormality in a control unit provided in the air conditioner.

(Conventional technology) Conventionally, when an abnormality occurs in an air conditioner consisting of an indoor unit, an outdoor unit, a remote control unit, etc., the abnormality can be quickly detected and repaired to improve serviceability. This is requested.

In response to such demands, an air conditioner control device as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-248941 has been proposed. This air conditioner control device includes a display unit that captures data transmitted from an indoor unit, an outdoor unit, and a remote control unit. This display unit includes a microcomputer that has a function of storing the transmitted data of each unit for each unit and a function of processing the data, and a display that displays an abnormality for each unit. When the microcomputer detects through the data processing that an abnormality has occurred in a certain unit, it lights up a display corresponding to that unit. This makes it possible to immediately know where an abnormality has occurred in the air conditioner.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, although the conventional example having such a configuration is convenient in that the unit in which the abnormality has occurred can be quickly known, it is difficult to determine in which part of the unit the abnormality has occurred. There is a problem in that it is not possible to know from the display whether the

Specifically, each unit has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that controls the controlled parts of that unit.
In addition to the board on which the CPU board is mounted (CPU board), there are also boards for driving the controlled parts, so simply displaying that an abnormality has occurred in a specific unit does not indicate which of these multiple boards is abnormal. It is not easy to know whether there is one. Therefore, workers who provide repair services are forced to check the electrical circuits and the like for each board. In particular, the task of checking whether or not there is an abnormality in a CPU board having a complicated configuration is complicated, and it has therefore been difficult to sufficiently improve the efficiency of repair services.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, it is difficult to check for abnormalities in the CPU board, so it is possible that a normal CPU board may be mistakenly determined to be abnormal and replaced with a new CPU board. This is inconvenient as unnecessary service costs are incurred.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a device that can easily detect an abnormality in a control unit provided in an air conditioner.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following configuration.

That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the air conditioner control unit abnormality detection device according to the present invention includes a main control unit (2) that repeatedly controls the controlled unit +11 of the air conditioner according to a predetermined procedure; , an interrupt control section (3) that interrupts the main control section (2) at approximately regular intervals; and a display (4) that displays the operating status of the main control section (2) and the interrupt control section (3). , the main control unit (
2) the indicator (4) during the predetermined procedure;
The interrupt control section (3) includes a display switching data setting means (5) for setting data for switching the display state of the display switching data setting means (5), and the interrupt control section (3) sets the display switching data setting means (5) to The display device (4) is being driven.

(effect) The effects of the configuration of the present invention are as follows.

When the main control unit (2) repeatedly controls the controlled unit <1) of the air conditioner according to a predetermined procedure, the display switching data setting means (5) switches the display of the display (4). Set data (for example, turning on/off data of the display (4)). On the other hand, the interrupt control section (3) interrupts the repetitive control operation of the main control section (2) at approximately regular intervals and drives the display device (4) based on the set display switching data. Part (2)
As long as the interrupt control section (3) is operating normally, the display (4) flashes.

However, due to some abnormality in the main mm section (2) and interrupt control section (3), an infinite loop occurs at a certain point.
If normal repeat control is not performed, the display switching data of the display switching data setting means (5) remains set to, for example, either on or off, so the interrupt control section (3) The indicator (4) driven by the interrupt operation will maintain a lit or unlit state.

In addition, since the interrupt control section (3) interrupts the main control section (2) at approximately regular intervals, the main control section (2)
) Even if the cycle of the repetitive control operation changes, the display 14
) blinking period is almost constant.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of an air conditioner equipped with an air conditioner control unit abnormality detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, IO is an indoor unit, 20 is an outdoor unit, and 30 is a remote controller for remotely controlling the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 20.

In the indoor unit 10, 11 is a CPU that controls the controlled parts of the indoor unit 10. CPU1l is R
OM (read only memory) 12, RAM (
Random access read/write memory) 13 and input/output interface 14 are connected. ROM12
A main program for repeatedly controlling the controlled portion of the indoor unit 10 according to a predetermined procedure, an interrupt program for performing interrupt control during processing based on the main program, and the like are written in the main program. R
In addition to an area for storing data transmitted from the outdoor unit 20 and the remote controller 30, the AM 13 also has an area for storing flags for setting the display state of a light emitting diode (LED) 17, which will be described later, and an area for storing interrupts. An area for storing the number of times is provided.

The input/output interface 14 includes a fan motor 15,
Thermistor 16 and C for measuring the temperature of the intake air
For example, an LED 17 is connected as an indicator for displaying the operating status of the PUI 1. This LHD17 is
When the CPU II is performing normal control operations according to the main program, the display blinks, but when there is an abnormal state such as an infinite loop occurring in a certain part of the main program or interrupt program, the light is turned on or off. Such CPU II abnormality detection display will be described in detail later.

The outdoor unit 20 includes a fan motor (not shown), a compressor, a four-way switching valve, and a CPU for controlling these.
remote controller 3.
0 includes a CPU (not shown), a data transmitting/receiving section, etc. for remotely controlling the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 20.

Next, the operation of the embodiment having the above-described configuration will be explained.

For example, the CPU II of indoor unit) 10 is 0°1 se
If there is a difference between this temperature data and the set temperature, the CPU II transmits frequency command data related to inverter control to the outdoor unit 20 and The rotation speed of the compressor and fan motor of the unit 20 is controlled. On the other hand, the outdoor unit 20 transmits data indicating the state of the controlled portion of the outdoor unit to the indoor unit 10 and the remote controller 30. Further, operation data is transmitted from the remote controller 30 to the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 20.

Next, the abnormality detection operation of the control section, which is the main part of this embodiment, will be explained based on FIGS. 3 to 5.

FIG. 3 shows an outline of a control program written in the ROMI 2 of the indoor unit 10, for example. In the figure, a is a main program for repeatedly controlling the controlled parts of the indoor unit 10 according to a predetermined procedure, and this main program a corresponds to the main control part 2 shown in FIG. . During this main program, the first
A routine A corresponding to the display switching data setting means 5 shown in the figure is provided. This routine A is a routine for switching the display state of the LED 17 shown in FIG. 2, and its details are shown in FIG. 4.

That is, when this routine A is executed in the repeated control operation of the controlled section, first, in step S1, the transmission failure flag Fl is checked, and the communication between the indoor unit IO, the outdoor unit 20, and the remote controller 30 is confirmed. It is confirmed whether data is being transmitted and received correctly. If a transmission failure has occurred, the main program a advances to the next step and displays, for example, a display indicating the data transmission failure.

If no transmission failure has occurred, the process advances to step S2 and the LED current lighting flag F is checked.

The current LED lighting flag F wealth is set to 'IJ' when LED 17 is lit, and 'O' when it is off.
This is a flag set to J. If the LED 17 is currently in the lit state [(p'5-1), the process advances to step S3 and sets the next LED lighting flag F to rO' (unlit state). The next LED lighting flag F is a flag that is set to 'IJ' when the LHD 17 that has been turned off is turned on next time, and is set to 'OJ in the opposite case. In step S2, the LED 17 is currently off @
If it is (F, -0), the process advances to step S4 and the next LED lighting flag F is set to 1'' (lighting state).

The interrupt program b shown in FIG. 3 corresponds to the interrupt control section 3 shown in FIG.
The interrupt is set to occur in synchronization with >1 sec. A specific routine B of this interrupt program b is shown in FIG.

That is, when the interrupt processing is started, the count value N of the number of interrupts is set to N+1 in step S5. Therefore, in the first interrupt, 0 is set to N-1.Then, the process proceeds to step s6, where the interrupt count value N is set to lO
Check whether it is. If it is not N-10, the program returns to the main program a described above and executes the next interrupted process.

On the other hand, if the interrupt count value N reaches 10, the process proceeds to step S7, where the interrupt count value N is reset to 'OJ', and then the process proceeds to step S8, where the next LED lighting flag F,
Check whether or not is 'IJ. Now, suppose that the LED next lighting flag F3 is set to 'IJ' in the main program a(D) Lt-chin A described above. Then, the process advances from step S8 to step S9, and the LE
D Set the current lighting flag F8 to '17, then proceed to step 3) 0 and turn on the LED 17.

After completing step 3) 0, return to main program a and execute routine A again. In this case, since the lighting flag F8 is currently set to '17, steps S2 to S3 of routine A are executed. Go to LED
The next lighting flag F is set to "0".

Then, the interrupt force is applied again (interrupt routine B
is executed, and at that time, if the interrupt count value N is 10, the next LED lighting flag F3 is set to 'OJ' as described above, so proceed from step S8 to step 3)1, and step Sll. Then, set the LED current lighting flag F to "01," and then proceed to step S1.
After proceeding to step 2 and turning off the LHD 17, the program returns to main program a.

Next, when routine A of main program a is executed,
The LED next lighting flag F is set to 'IJ'. Then, by the next 10th interrupt, LE
D The current lighting flag F is set to ``11'' and turns L again.
ED17 lights up.

In this way, when the main program a and the interrupt program b are operating normally, the LED 17 blinks at approximately regular intervals.
The blinking period of LED 17 is approximately 1 s because the lighting state of the LED changes when the interrupt for each c is performed 10 times.
Become ec. In other words, when the LED 17 is blinking, it means that the CPU 1l is operating normally.

Next, a case will be described in which the program of the CPU 11 causes an infinite loop at a certain point in the main program a or the interrupt program b due to some abnormality.

In this case, since routine A of main program a is not repeatedly executed, the LED next lighting flag F is 'IJ
Or it will be fixed to 'OJ'.

Therefore, for example, if the LED next lighting flag Fs is 'I
If an infinite loop occurs in the state of J,
Even with the interrupt processing shown in Figure 5, is the LHDI? will remain lit. On the contrary, the LED next lighting flag F
, is 'OJ' and an infinite loop occurs, the LED 17 continues to turn off.

In this way, if the LED 17 is blinking, the CPU
I1 is normal, and when it is on or off, it means that an abnormality has occurred in CPUZ. Therefore, an air conditioner repair service worker can easily determine whether an abnormality has occurred in the CPU 1 by visually checking the lighting state of the LED 17.

Next, in the above-described embodiment, the reason why the process of turning on or off the LED 17 is not directly performed in the main program a, but is performed by interrupt processing at approximately regular intervals will be explained.

In other words, the main program a sequentially controls the controlled parts of the indoor unit 10, but its processing speed is not always constant and may vary depending on the relationship between data transmission and reception with other units and the control content. Processing speed may vary. Therefore, if the main program a directly performs the process of turning on and off the LED 17, the LED 17 will repeatedly blink at a high speed, for example, if the processing speed becomes faster.

Then, when a repair service worker visually observes the LED 17, it will appear as if the LED 17 is lit, that is, the CPU
There is a risk that it may be mistakenly determined that an abnormality has occurred in I1. Therefore, in order to avoid erroneously determining the display of the LED 17, interrupt processing is performed at approximately regular intervals, and the flashing cycle of the LED 17 is set to a constant cycle that is easy to visually check.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the temperature data acquisition cycle (
Approximately 0.1 sec) is used as the interrupt processing timing, so every 10 interrupt processing is performed, the LE
The lighting state of D17 is switched to a blinking cycle (approximately 15 ec in the above embodiment) that is easy to visually check. However, the present invention is not limited to such interrupt processing; for example, the timing of interrupt processing may be determined using a separately provided timer. If the set time of this timer is, for example, 1 sec, the LED 17 can be driven for each interrupt process without counting the number of interrupts as in the above embodiment.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where an abnormality of the CPU II provided in the indoor unit 10 is detected is explained as an example, but the other outdoor units 20 and the remote controller 30 are also equipped with similar CPUs. Therefore, the present invention can also be applied to abnormality detection of these CPUs.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, the control unit abnormality detection device for an air conditioner according to the present invention, during the procedure of repeatedly controlling the controlled unit of the air conditioner according to a predetermined procedure,
In addition to intervening a process for setting display switching data for switching the display state of the display device that displays normality/abnormality of the control unit, interrupt processing is performed at approximately regular intervals for the repetitive control procedure, and the above-mentioned The display device is driven based on display switching data.

Therefore, according to the present invention, whether or not there is an abnormality in the control section provided in each unit of the air conditioner can be visually checked by checking the lighting state of the indicator! The repair service can be performed efficiently and accurately, since the repair service can be easily determined by checking the information.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the outline of the configuration of the present invention;
3 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a control program in the embodiment, FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a display switching data setting processing routine included in the main program of the control program, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the interrupt processing routine for the main program. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Controlled part, 2... Main control part, 3... Interrupt control part, 4... Display device, 5... Display switching data setting means, 10... Indoor unit, 11.・CP
U, 12...ROM, 13...RAM, 15...
Fan motor, 16...thermistor, 17...LE
D, 20...Outdoor unit, 30...Remote controller.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A main control part (2) that repeatedly controls the controlled part (1) of the air conditioner according to a predetermined procedure, and an interrupt control part (2) that interrupts the main control part (2) at approximately regular intervals. 3); and a display (4) that displays the operating status of the main control unit (2) and the interrupt control unit (3), wherein the main control unit (2) is configured to operate during the predetermined procedure. The display switching data setting means (5) includes a display switching data setting means (5) for setting data for switching the display state of the display (4), and the interrupt control section (3) is set in the display switching data setting means (5). A control unit abnormality detection device for an air conditioner, characterized in that the display device (4) is driven based on data.