JP5565582B2 - Stationary equipment and its remote control - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a stationary device such as a bathroom heater and a remote controller for operating the stationary device.

  As a conventional remote controller of this type, a remote controller for attaching a bathroom heater to the ceiling of the bathroom and operating the bathroom heater is detachably set on a holder fixed to a wall surface outside the bathroom ( For example, see Patent Document 1). In this case, an infrared signal is transmitted from the remote controller by pressing various operation buttons provided on the remote controller with the remote controller removed from the holder. When this infrared signal is transmitted toward the bathroom heater in the bathroom, the bathroom heater receives the infrared signal, separates the control signal superimposed on the infrared signal, and performs an operation corresponding to each control signal. Note that if the remote control is accidentally dropped when operating the remote control, the remote control may be damaged.If the remote control is connected to the holder with a ball chain, etc. It is configured not to fall down.

  Although it is not a remote control, an acceleration sensor is built into the laptop computer, and when the laptop computer starts free fall, the magnetic head of the hard disk drive is retracted to prevent damage to the hard disk drive. What was made is known (for example, refer patent document 2). However, since the above-mentioned remote control normally does not have a built-in hard disk drive, it is impossible to prevent damage to the remote control itself even if the start of free fall of the remote control is detected.

JP-A-08-289997 (FIG. 2) JP 2010-140575 A (paragraph 0001)

  If you hold the remote control in your hand and operate it, you may always fall free from your hand. The technology for retracting the magnetic head of the hard disk cannot be applied to a remote controller that does not have a movable part such as a magnetic head, and even if the movable part such as a magnetic head can be retracted, If a large impact is applied, it may still be damaged.

  When a stationary device operated by a remote controller as described above is mounted on the ceiling, for example, a bathroom heater, it is normally mounted out of reach of the user, so the surface of the device Are not provided with operation buttons for direct operation by the user including the power switch. For this reason, all operations are performed via the remote control. However, if the remote control is dropped and damaged as described above, there is a problem that the device cannot be operated thereafter. In particular, if the remote control is damaged when the device is turned on and cannot be turned off by the remote control, it will continue to operate until a new remote control is arranged and the power is turned off.

  Therefore, in view of the above problems, the present invention provides a stationary device that can automatically turn off the power of the device when the remote control is damaged when the remote control is dropped, and the device for the device. It is an object to provide a remote control.

  In order to solve the above problems, a remote control according to the present invention is a remote control that is used by a user without being fixed to a wall or the like, and at least includes a power on / off switch. A fall start detecting means for detecting the start of a natural fall and a fall end detecting means for detecting the end of a natural fall. When the fall start detecting means detects the start of a natural fall, a fall signal is transmitted and a fall end detecting means is provided. When the end of the natural fall is detected, a landing signal is transmitted.

  According to the above configuration, when the remote control transmits a fall signal, a device that has received the fall signal can know that the remote control has been through a natural fall. Note that if the remote control is damaged due to the impact of falling, a landing signal cannot be transmitted. Therefore, a device that has received a fall signal can detect that the remote control is not damaged by continuously receiving the landing signal, and conversely, if the landing signal is not received, it can detect that the remote control has been damaged. Can do.

  In addition, there is a possibility that a control signal that is not intended by the user is transmitted when the operation button touches another object during the fall. Therefore, when the fall start detecting means detects the start of natural fall, transmission restriction means for prohibiting the sending of signals other than the fall signal and the landing signal until the fall end detecting means detects the end of the natural fall. It is desirable to provide.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a stationary device according to the present invention is a stationary device that does not have a power switch, except for an operation through the remote controller according to claim 1 or 2. What cannot be turned off is provided with a forced stop means for turning off the power and stopping the operation if no landing signal is received before a predetermined time elapses after receiving the fall signal. .

  If the landing signal is not received even after a predetermined time has elapsed after receiving the fall signal, the remote control will be damaged and the power cannot be turned off using the remote control. Turn off.

In addition, when an unintended control signal is transmitted in the middle of dropping, it is a stationary device that does not have a power switch, and cannot be turned off except by an operation through the remote controller according to claim 1. in, receive, wear land signal upon receiving a falling signal provided with a forced stop means for stopping the operation when the power is turned off not receive landing signal until a predetermined time elapses when receiving the falling signal In the meantime, it is desirable to provide control signal ignoring means for ignoring other signals received.

  As is clear from the above description, the present invention cannot prevent damage to the remote control itself when the remote control is naturally dropped, but if the stationary device operated by the remote control is in operation, the remote control When a failure occurs, the power can be forcibly turned off on the device side instead of continuing the operation state.

The figure which shows the structure of one embodiment of this invention Flow chart showing control with remote control and bathroom heater Flow chart showing another example of control by remote control and bathroom heater

  Referring to FIG. 1, 1 is an example of a remote controller according to the present invention, and 10 is a bathroom heater operated by this remote controller 1. 1 is attached to a holder (not shown) fixed to a wall in the bathroom, but when used, it is removed from the holder and the user holds it in his hand. Various operation buttons 4 are provided on the surface of the remote controller 1, and the power button is provided in the same manner as a normal remote controller. By pressing the power button, the bathroom heater 10 is turned on. If the power button is pressed again, the bathroom heater 10 is turned off. In addition to the power button, for example, a button for generating mist from the bathroom heater 10 and other various functions are assigned to each of the operation buttons 4.

  When various operation buttons 4 including the power button are pressed, the signal is input to the microcomputer 2, and a control signal corresponding to the type of operation content assigned to the pressed operation button 4 is output from the microcomputer 2. Generated. Then, the infrared light on which the control signal is superimposed is transmitted from the light emitting unit 5 to the outside.

  Reference numeral 3 denotes an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration acting on the remote controller 1. A detection signal from the acceleration sensor 3 is input to the microcomputer 2. The microcomputer 2 can know the acceleration acting on the remote controller 1 from the detection signal from the acceleration sensor 3, and can recognize the motion state of the remote controller 1 from the acceleration. For example, since it is possible to detect that the remote controller 1 is shaken, in addition to the operation on the operation button 4, when the remote controller 4 is shaken in a certain manner, a specific operation signal is superimposed on the infrared rays and transmitted. It is possible. In the present invention, the microcomputer 2 is programmed to detect from the detection signal from the acceleration sensor 3 that the remote controller 1 has moved away from the user's hand and started free fall and has landed on the ground. The microcomputer 2 is programmed to transmit a fall signal superimposed on infrared rays when the remote controller 1 determines that the free fall has started, and to transmit a landing signal superimposed on infrared rays when it is determined that the remote control 1 has landed.

  On the other hand, the bathroom heater 10 is provided with a light receiving unit (not shown) so as to face the bathroom, receives infrared light transmitted from the remote controller 1, separates a control signal superimposed on the infrared light, and It is configured to control the heater 10. By the way, since the bathroom heater 10 is attached to the ceiling of the bathroom as described above, it is usually out of reach of the user. Therefore, the bathroom heater 10 is not provided with operation buttons including a power switch. Therefore, the bathroom heater 10 can be turned on / off only via the remote controller 1.

  Referring to FIG. 2, it is monitored that free fall is always started on the remote controller 1 side (S11). Specifically, when an acceleration having a magnitude corresponding to the gravitational acceleration is continuously detected from the level of the detection signal from the acceleration sensor 3, it is determined that the remote control has started a free fall. Until the free fall is started, another operation by the operation button 4 is accepted, and a control signal corresponding to each operation is transmitted to act as a normal remote controller (S12, S13).

  When the microcomputer 2 determines that the free fall has started, the control button 4 is ignored even if the operation button 4 is pressed, and even if the operation button 4 is pressed, a control signal corresponding to the pressed operation button 4 is transmitted. Not performed (S14). This is because there is a risk that the operation button 4 may be pressed regardless of the user's operation when the remote controller 1 hits a fixed object during the fall.

  If the microcomputer 2 determines that the free fall has started, it sends the fall signal (S15). This fall signal may be transmitted once at the start of free fall, but the bathroom heater 10 may fail to receive the fall signal. Therefore, the fall signal is continuously transmitted during free fall. When it is detected that the remote controller 1 has landed due to an acceleration of a predetermined magnitude or larger (S16), a landing signal is transmitted (S17), and the mode for ignoring the operation of the operation button 4 is canceled. Then, the subsequent pressing operation is accepted (S18).

  On the other hand, when the bathroom heater 10 receives a fall signal (S21), the timer is activated (S22). In this embodiment, the time from the start of the timer to the end of counting is set to 5 seconds. However, it may be sufficiently longer than the required time from the start of free fall to the landing, and the set time of the timer is changed as appropriate. Also good. As described above, the fall signal is continuously transmitted, but the timer is started from the time when it is first received. When the timer is started, if the landing signal is not received before the timer expires, it is assumed that the remote control 1 has been damaged to the extent that the landing signal cannot be transmitted (S23, S24), and the bathroom heater 10 is turned off. Then, the operation is stopped (S25), and the LED provided on the surface of the bathroom heater 10 is blinked to notify that the remote controller 1 has failed and that the operation of the bathroom heater 10 has been stopped. (S26). If the landing signal is received by the end of the timer, the remote controller 1 can transmit the landing signal, so that it is determined that it is not damaged and the process returns to S21.

  In the flow shown in FIG. 2, when the operation button 4 is pressed during the fall, a function for ignoring the operation is provided on the remote control 2 side. However, the function may be provided on the bathroom heater 10 side. . Referring to FIG. 3, in this embodiment, when bathroom heater 10 receives a fall signal (S41), bathroom heater 10 ignores the operation signal even if an operation signal is transmitted from remote controller 1 thereafter. (S42). When the landing signal is received before the timer expires (S45), the mode for ignoring the reception of the operation signal is canceled (S46), and the process returns to S41.

  In the control shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the prohibit mode related to other operation signals is canceled as soon as a landing signal is transmitted or received. May be pushed unexpectedly, the prohibit mode may be canceled after a predetermined time has elapsed since landing.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to an above-described form, You may add a various change in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

1 remote control 10 bathroom heater 3 acceleration sensor

Claims (4)

  A fall start detection means for detecting that the remote control itself has started a natural fall and a natural fall in a remote control that is used by the user's hand without being fixed to a wall or the like and has at least a power on / off switch Drop end detection means for detecting the end of the fall, and when the fall start detection means detects the start of a natural fall, a fall signal is transmitted, and when the fall end detection means detects the end of a natural fall, a landing signal is transmitted. A remote control characterized by that.   When the fall start detection means detects the start of a natural fall, a transmission restriction means for prohibiting transmission of signals other than the fall signal and the landing signal until the fall end detection means detects the end of the natural fall The remote control according to claim 1.   A stationary device that does not have a power switch and cannot be turned off except by an operation through the remote control according to claim 1 or claim 2, and when the fall signal is received, a predetermined time is received. A stationary device comprising forcible stop means for stopping operation by turning off the power if no landing signal is received before the passage of time. A stationary device that does not have a power switch and cannot be turned off except by an operation through the remote controller according to claim 1, and until a predetermined time elapses when the fall signal is received. provided with a forced stop means for stopping the operation when the power is turned off not receive landing signals between, ignore until receiving a wear land signal upon receiving a falling signal, also receive other signals A stationary device comprising a control signal ignoring means.

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