JP3524787B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner for which operation is instructed by operating a remote control device (hereinafter referred to as "remote control") and which has a liquid crystal display in the indoor unit body. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 1 shows an example of an air conditioner whose operation is instructed by operating a remote controller and which has a liquid crystal display in an indoor unit main body. Reference numeral 1 is an indoor unit body of the air conditioner, and 2 is a remote controller for instructing the operation of the air conditioner by remote control.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the remote controller 2. This remote controller 2 starts / stops driving and raises / sets temperature.
An operation button 21 for transmitting a signal such as lowering to the indoor unit body 1 and a liquid crystal remote control display unit 22 for displaying the content of the signal by the operation button 21 are provided.

The air conditioner operates according to the signal transmitted by the operation of the remote controller 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the operation state is the liquid crystal display device 3 provided in the indoor unit main body 1. Is displayed in. FIG. 3 is a (a) front view and a (b) side view of the display device 3, and FIG. 4 is an exploded view thereof.

A liquid crystal unit 4 is provided on the front surface of the display device 3. A backlight 5 that illuminates the liquid crystal unit 4 to clarify the displayed characters and figures is provided behind it. The backlight 5 is an LED of a plurality of colors, for example, red, green, and yellow, and the lighting is controlled according to the driving.

The backlight 5 is covered with a unit cover 6, and is configured to uniformly illuminate the liquid crystal unit 4 by keeping a constant distance between the liquid crystal unit 4 and the backlight 5. Further, 7 is a signal line.

[0007]

FIG. 6 shows a conventional technique of a control circuit for controlling the display device 3 in the air conditioner having the above structure. Reference numeral 8 is an IC driver circuit having a circuit for finely adjusting the contrast of the liquid crystal unit 4. In this driver circuit 8, a slight change in temperature around the thermistor 1
3 detected, and the input changed the contrast.

However, as shown in FIG. 1, in the indoor unit body 1 of the air conditioner, since the display device 3 is located in the vicinity of the air outlet 9, the temperature change during cooling and heating is so severe that the control can follow. Therefore, the contrast could not be sufficiently adjusted.

Further, depending on the installation position of the indoor unit body 1, the liquid crystal display of the display device 3 may not be clearly seen by the user. In such a case, the remote controller 2 shown in FIG.
Although the dimming button 21a of the operation buttons 21 can be operated to adjust the light amount of the backlight 5, it was insufficient to improve the visibility.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an air conditioner in which a liquid crystal display device provided in an indoor unit main body can always be clearly seen.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the air conditioner of the present invention is a liquid crystal display for displaying a driving condition, which is instructed to operate by a remote control device. In the air conditioner in which the display device of is installed in the main body of the indoor unit, the contrast of the liquid crystal is set in several stages, and the contrast of the liquid crystal can be adjusted in each stage by the operation of the remote control device , and according to the stage. level
The value is displayed numerically on the display device according to the adjustment . With this configuration, when the display device of the indoor unit body is difficult to see, the user can adjust the contrast to an appropriate value by operating the remote controller at hand.

[0012] Also, when adjusting the contrast using a user using the remote controller, the display device displays, such as numbers indicating the phase of the contrast, it is possible to the user to adjust a guide this .

[0013] Also, in the table shown apparatus has a backlight is provided for clarity of the liquid crystal display, characterized in that said backlight is lit when adjusting the contrast. This allows the user to check the state of the display when the backlight is turned on.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the first embodiment will be described. This air conditioner differs from the general structure shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 in the control of the display device. Therefore,
The members having the same names as those of the air conditioner having the above-described general configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the duplicate description will be omitted.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the control circuit of the display device 3 in the air conditioner of this embodiment. As shown in the figure, the driver circuit 8 is connected to a light receiving element 11 that receives a signal transmitted from the remote controller 2 via a microcomputer 10 with D / A conversion. Although the light receiving element 11 is connected only to the driver circuit 8 here, the light receiving element 11 may be connected to other circuits (not shown) so that it can respond to all signals transmitted from the remote controller 2.

When the display of the display device 3 is difficult to see, the user performs a special operation such as pressing the dimming button 21a and the temperature setting button 21b at the same time on the remote controller 2 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, when the contrast adjustment signal 12 transmitted by the above operation is received by the light receiving element 11, it is converted into an analog voltage by the microcomputer 10 with D / A conversion and input to the driver circuit 8.

In this embodiment, the voltage applied to the liquid crystal unit 4 of the display device 3 can be controlled by the contrast fine adjustment circuit (not shown) of the driver circuit 8. Therefore, the applied voltage of the liquid crystal unit 4 is controlled according to the signal 12 from the remote controller 2 and the contrast changes.

Next, a second embodiment according to the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, the liquid crystal unit 4 has several stages,
For example, it is configured to be able to perform display with 19 levels of contrast. The circuit for finely adjusting the contrast of the driver circuit 8 changes the contrast of the liquid crystal unit 4 step by step according to the signal 12 for contrast adjustment from the remote controller 2.

Level values such as 9 to 0 to -9 correspond to the respective contrast levels, and the standard level is 0. Then, the level value is displayed on the display device 3 together with the contrast adjustment. By checking this display, the user can make adjustments while grasping the degree of contrast.

Although the level values are associated with the respective contrast levels here, any visualization means may be used, and the contrast state may be represented by a graph.

Next, a third embodiment according to the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, in the first or second embodiment, the remote controller 2 is used when the contrast is adjusted or after the contrast is adjusted.
The backlight 5 can be turned on by the operation of.

For example, the backlight 5 is turned on in the order of red, green, and yellow while the characters indicating the room temperature are displayed on the display device 3. Although the liquid crystal display looks different when the backlight 5 is turned on and off, in the present embodiment, it is possible to check the degree of contrast when the backlight 5 is turned on, and more reliable adjustment can be performed. The backlight 5 may be automatically turned on for a certain period of time without operating the remote controller 2.

In the construction of each of the above embodiments, the indoor unit body 1 of the air conditioner shown in FIG. 1 is provided with the display device 3 on the right side of the blowout port 9 in the figure, but the position is not limited to this, and any position is possible. May be provided.

[0024]

As described above, in the air conditioner of the present invention, the contrast of the display device set in several stages can be adjusted stepwise by the remote controller, so that the most visible display can be obtained in the place where the user is. The contrast can be appropriately adjusted to be easy.

[0025] In particular, because to be displayed on the display device in accordance with the adjustment of that setting the Contrast to several steps to visualize this stage, it is possible to perform a reliable adjustment can easily grasp the state of the contrast.

[0026] Also, it is possible to check the actual state of the liquid crystal display by turning on the backlights can be reliably adjusted according to each user.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a general configuration of an air conditioner operated by a remote controller.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a remote controller.

FIG. 3A is a front view and FIG. 3B is a side view of the display device.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a display device.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a control circuit of the display device of the air conditioner according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a control circuit of a display device of a conventional air conditioner.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Indoor unit body 2 remote control 3 display devices 4 LCD unit 5 backlight 6 unit cover 7 signal lines 8 driver circuit 9 Outlet 10 Microcomputer with D / A conversion 11 Light receiving element

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-10-318591 (JP, A) JP-A-6-110416 (JP, A) JP-A-3-50593 (JP, A) JP-A-10- 267369 (JP, A) JP 6-35284 (JP, A) JP 9-222861 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F24F 11/02 105 G09F 9/00 311 G09F 9/00 366

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An air conditioner in which an indoor unit body is provided with a liquid crystal display device for instructing a driving operation by a remote control device and displaying a driving state, The contrast is set in several steps, and the contrast of the liquid crystal can be adjusted step by step by operating the remote operation device , and the level value according to the step can be adjusted.
Is displayed numerically on the display device according to the adjustment . 2. A liquid crystal display is made clear on the display device.
A backlight is provided to increase the contrast.
The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the backlight is turned on when the adjustment is performed .