JPH0470538B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a signal transmission status check device in an air conditioner, and more specifically, a remote control device is connected to the air conditioner body via a signal line. The present invention relates to a device for checking whether or not an operating state control signal for an air conditioner connected to the air conditioner is being transmitted normally to remotely control the operating state of the air conditioner main body.

<Conventional technology> Conventionally, in order to improve usability, a remote control device is connected to the air conditioner body via a signal line, and the operating state of the air conditioner can be adjusted to the desired state without having to approach the air conditioner body. Those that can be controlled to the following state are widely used.

This type of air conditioner has a switch for cooling and heating, a switch for running and stopping, an air volume setting switch, a temperature setting knob, etc. attached to a remote control device, and the various switches mentioned above can be operated. The signal corresponding to the operating status is transmitted to the air conditioner main unit through the signal line, the transmitted signal is held as a reference value in the air conditioner main unit, and the air conditioner main unit is controlled based on this reference value. By controlling its own operations, it is possible to maintain the indoor atmosphere in a state that approximates the set conditions.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> The air conditioner with the above configuration can perform the above operations without any inconvenience if the control signal is transmitted normally. If the signal transmission is not performed normally, the data that should be established by operating the various switches, knobs, etc. mentioned above on the remote control device side will not be transmitted to the air conditioner itself, and the data will differ from the set state. The vehicle will be operated under the same conditions.

In this case, it is necessary to discover what is causing the operation to occur in a state that is far from the set state. If a failure occurs, the air conditioner will operate in a state that is far from the set state, so it is necessary to sequentially inspect the air conditioner itself, the remote control device, and the control signal transmission line. There is a problem in that all the work to eliminate the problem takes a long time.

In order to eliminate such inconveniences, a signal is sent from the remote control device to the air conditioner main body, a received signal is sent from the air conditioner main body to the remote control device,
The remote control device determines whether the transmitted signal and the received signal match or not, and if they do not match, the above series of processes is repeated the necessary number of times to detect a signal transmission abnormality. A new air conditioner has been proposed (Japanese Patent Publication No.
59-109739, JP-A-59-112143).
However, these air conditioners have disadvantages in that the time required to detect a signal transmission abnormality is significantly longer and the processing load is significantly increased. Further, regarding the display of signal transmission abnormality, since a special display or a specific temperature display is simply driven, it is impossible to recognize that a signal transmission abnormality has occurred unless the display assignment is known.

<Purpose of the Invention> This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to determine whether or not an abnormality in the signal transmission line is the cause when operation is performed in a state far from the set state. It is an object of the present invention to provide a signal transmission status check device for an air conditioner that can easily check the status in a short time.

<Means for Solving the Problems> In order to achieve the above object, the signal transmission status check device of the present invention receives a setting signal transmitted from a remote control device, and also transmits the received setting data to a remote controller. A control means for feeding back to the control device, a signal transmission state check mode selection means, and a preset display using a signal from the signal transmission state check mode selection means indicating that the signal transmission state check mode has been selected. and indicator driving means for driving a plurality of set temperature indicators of the remote control device based on the method.

The signal transmission state check mode selection means may be a switch that selects the short circuit state by manual operation, or may be a switch that automatically operates upon detecting an abnormal operating state of the air conditioner. In either case, it can be attached to either the air conditioner main body side or the remote control device side.

Further, the display driving means may be one that sequentially and selectively lights up the set temperature indicators, or may be one that lights up all the set temperature indicators, or may be one that lights up all the set temperature indicators, or all the setting temperature indicators. The temperature display may also flash at the same time.

<Function> The signal transmission status check device configured as described above is an air conditioner consisting of an air conditioner body and a remote control device that remotely controls the operating status of the air conditioner body via a signal line. In this case, the operating state control data set by the remote control device is transmitted to the control means of the air conditioner main body through the signal transmission line, and then the transmitted signal is fed back as is to the remote control device. If operation is performed in a state that is far from the set state, the display drive means selects a mode based on a signal from the signal transmission state check mode selection means indicating that the signal transmission state check mode has been selected. Since multiple set temperature displays on the remote control device side are driven based on a preset display method, just by looking at the display on the set temperature display, multiple settings can be made using the preset display method. It is possible to determine whether or not signal transmission is being performed normally just by checking whether or not the temperature indicator is being driven.

Also, when the signal transmission state check mode selection means is a switch that selects a short circuit state by manual operation, or when it is a switch that automatically operates upon detecting an abnormal operating state of the air conditioner. The same effect as described above can also be performed, and in either case, the mounting position may be either on the air conditioner main body side or on the remote control device side.

Further, when the display driving means is one that sequentially and selectively lights up the set temperature indicators, and when it is one that lights up all the set temperature indicators,
The same effect as described above can be achieved in any case where all the set temperature indicators are made to blink at the same time.

<Examples> Hereinafter, examples will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings showing examples.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the system configuration of the air conditioner, which includes indoor control units 1 and 2, outdoor control unit 3, and remote control unit 4.
The indoor control unit 2, the outdoor control unit 3, and the remote control unit 4 each exchange data with the indoor control unit 1.

Therefore, the remote control unit 4
If the operating state control data is transmitted to the indoor control unit 1 from It controls the outdoor unit (not shown) to ensure the operating state, and also transmits necessary data to the indoor control unit 2.
The indoor unit (not shown) is controlled to ensure the same operating state as described above. The operating state control data transmitted from the remote control unit 4 is then transmitted from the indoor control unit 1 to the remote control unit 4.

The data exchanged between the indoor control unit 1 and the remote control unit 4 will be explained below.

The data transmitted from the remote control unit 4 to the indoor control unit 1 includes address data, operation/stop instruction data, temperature setting data, air volume setting data, and the like.

Conversely, the data transmitted from the indoor control unit 1 to the remote control unit 4 includes address data, abnormality/normality identification data, operation/stop state data, set temperature data, set air volume data, abnormal state display code, etc. The data length is the same as the data.

After the operation starts, the transmission of both data mentioned above is
First, the command is sent from the indoor control unit 1 to the remote control unit 4, and then from the remote control unit 4 to the indoor control unit 1.
I am trying to make sure that this is done for me. That is, the indoor control unit 1 is used as the main station.

FIG. 1 is an electrical circuit diagram showing the relationship between the indoor control unit 1 and the remote control unit 4. As shown in FIG.

The indoor control unit 1 is supplied with a predetermined DC voltage by a constant voltage circuit 12 that uses an AC power supply 11 as an input source. It is also supplied to the control unit 4.

The indoor control unit 1 has a microcomputer 14 for controlling various operations, a microcomputer 15 for data input/output control, a modulation circuit 16, and a demodulation circuit 17.
It further has a signal transmission status check mode selection circuit 18 connected to the input terminal of the microcomputer 14.

More specifically, data is exchanged between the microcomputer 14 and the microcomputer 15 in units of several bits.

A modulation circuit 16 which receives output data from the microcomputer 15 sends a modulated output signal to the power supply line 13, and a demodulation circuit 17 which receives the signal transmitted through the power supply line 13 as an input. The demodulated data is supplied to the microcomputer 15.

Further, by operating the signal transmission state check mode selection circuit 18, the microcomputer 14 informs the remote control unit 4 through the modulation circuit 16 and the power supply line 13 that the signal transmission state check mode has been selected. It is designed to transmit a signal indicating the

The remote control unit 4 has a microcomputer 41, a modulation circuit 43, and a demodulation circuit 44 for inputting setting data and driving a corresponding display 42.

More specifically, the microcomputer 41 identifies the type of input data by inputting signals corresponding to various switch operations (not shown), and supplies signals corresponding to the input data to the display 42. , displays the set operating state, and also supplies the signal to the modulation circuit 43 to send a modulated output signal to the power line 13.

Further, the microcomputer 41 captures the signal transmitted through the power supply line 13 in a demodulated state by the demodulation circuit 44, supplies a signal corresponding to this captured signal to the display 42, and displays the transmitted signal. Display the operating status. However, this transmitted operating state is the operating state initially set by the remote control unit 4.

Furthermore, when the signal transmission status check mode selection circuit 18 is activated, a corresponding signal is input to the microcomputer 41, so that
A preset drive signal is supplied to the display 42 so that only the display related to the temperature setting is lit.

The operation of the air conditioner having the above configuration is as follows.

[] When performing normal operation In this case, by operating various switches on the remote control unit 4 to set the desired operating state, the microcomputer 41 will identify the type of input data and by supplying a signal corresponding to the display 42 to the display 42;
The set operating state is displayed, and the signal is also supplied to the modulation circuit 43 to send a modulated output signal to the power supply line 13.

The modulated output signal is supplied to the demodulation circuit 17 through the power supply line 13, and demodulated data output from the demodulation circuit 17 is supplied to the microcomputer 14 through the microcomputer 15. Then, the microcomputer 14 identifies the set operating state based on the demodulated data, and supplies a signal corresponding to the demodulated data to the fan drive section, temperature detection section, etc. (not shown) of the indoor control unit 1. The operation is performed in the operating state set above. The microcomputer 14 also supplies necessary control signals to the indoor control unit 2 and the outdoor control unit 3, causing them to perform operations corresponding to the operating conditions (this part is not shown).
The data transmission is carried out in the same way as the data transmission between the indoor control unit 1 and the remote control unit 4).

After the setting data from the remote control unit 4 is transmitted to the indoor control unit 1 as described above, the received setting data is transmitted as is from the indoor control unit 1 to the remote control unit 4. ing. Therefore, on the remote control unit 4 side, it is possible to determine whether or not the initial setting data and the data transmitted from the indoor control unit 1 match.

[] When the indoor control unit does not operate according to the conditions set by the remote control unit 4 In this case, a failure has occurred somewhere, and it is therefore desirable to take immediate action.

In order to meet this demand, a signal transmission status check mode selection circuit 1 of the indoor control unit 1 is required.
8, and a signal indicating that the signal transmission status check mode has been selected is transmitted from the microcomputer 14 to the microcomputer 41 through the microcomputer 15, modulation circuit 16, power line 13, and demodulation circuit 44. , the microcomputer 41 receives this signal so that all the display devices 42
Of these, only the plurality of indicators used to display the set temperature are turned on in accordance with a preset order, combination, etc. The order, combination, etc. include, for example, selectively lighting up a plurality of indicators in order for a predetermined period of time, lighting all indicators at the same time, or lighting them all at the same time.

Therefore, if the signal transmission through the power line 13 is being carried out normally, the above-mentioned display will be lit, and if the signal transmission is not being carried out normally, the indicator will be lit. ,
Since the above-mentioned indicator is not lit, it is possible to easily determine whether or not signal transmission is being carried out normally just by visually determining the lighting state of the indicator.

Therefore, if the indoor control unit does not operate according to the conditions established by the remote control unit 4, it is necessary to determine whether the fault area to be detected by the inspection equipment is only in the signal transmission path or in areas other than the signal transmission path. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the time required for all operations to resolve the failure state.

FIG. 2 is an electric circuit diagram showing FIG. 1 in more detail, and parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals.

Microcomputer 1 of indoor control unit 1
4 is supplied with a predetermined DC voltage by a constant voltage circuit 12 whose input source is an AC power supply 11, and is also connected to a test terminal 18a as signal transmission state check mode selection means.

Further, the modulation circuit 16 and the demodulation circuit 17
and the power line 13 are both connected to one transformer 2.
4 and a capacitor 25.

A predetermined DC voltage is supplied to the microcomputer 41 of the remote control unit 4 by a full-wave rectifier circuit 45 and a smoothing circuit 46 connected to the power supply line 13.

Furthermore, the modulation circuit 43 and the modulation circuit 4
4 and the power supply line 13 are connected through one transformer 47 and a capacitor 48, as in the indoor control unit 1 described above.

Further, the microcomputer 41 is connected to various operation switches 49 connected in a matrix, and also to a display 42.
The display device 42 includes LEDs 42a, 42b, 42c, and 42d corresponding to operation, defrosting, and fan strength.
It has an LED 42e corresponding to the set temperature, and an LED 42e corresponding to the above set temperature.
It has a microcomputer 50 for driving.

Selectively lighting up the LEDs 42e in order for a predetermined period of time, lighting or blinking all the LEDs 42e at the same time, etc. is done by a signal corresponding to the signal transmission status check mode from the microcomputer 41. This is performed by the microcomputer 50 using the input as input.

The operation of the air conditioner having the above configuration will be explained below.

When no abnormality occurs, the microcomputers 14, 15, 41, 50, modulation circuits 16, 43, demodulation circuits 17, 44, and power supply line 13 operate normally, so the remote control unit 4 By operating various switches 49, the compressor, fan, etc. (not shown) can be driven in a set operating state.

If the indoor control unit 1 no longer operates according to the conditions set by the remote control unit 4 for some reason, it is sufficient to manually short-circuit the test terminals 18a and check the signal transmission status from the microcomputer 14. A signal corresponding to the mode is input to the microcomputer 41 through the modulation circuit 16, the power supply line 13, and the demodulation circuit 44. Since a corresponding signal is input from the microcomputer 41 to the microcomputer 50, by supplying a control signal to the LED 42e, the LED 42e can be turned on in a predetermined order, combination, etc. .

The reason why the lighting of the LED 42e can be controlled as described above is because the signal transmission is being performed normally.If the signal transmission is not being performed normally, the above-mentioned signal transmission status check mode is supported. Since the signal to be transmitted will not be transmitted to the remote control unit 4 side, the LED 42
e is never illuminated as described above.

Therefore, it is possible to easily determine whether or not signal transmission is being performed normally by simply visually determining the lighting state of the LED 42e while the test terminal 18a is short-circuited.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and for example, instead of using the test terminal 18a, the signal transmission status check mode selection signal may be automatically generated based on whether or not a confirmation signal is received after signal transmission. Using an output device, attaching the test terminal 18a etc. to the remote control unit 4 side instead of the indoor control unit 1 side, and after receiving the signal from the remote control unit 4 at the indoor control unit 1,
In addition to being able to transmit the information to the remote control unit 4 again, it is also possible to make various design changes without changing the gist of the invention.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, the present invention enables, when the main body of an air conditioner does not operate according to the conditions set by the remote control device, to select the signal transmission status check mode and visually check the operating status of the display. It is possible to easily identify whether or not the cause is due to signal transmission by simply checking the signal transmission status, which has the unique effect of significantly shortening the time required to check the signal transmission status and reducing the processing load.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an electric circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the remote control device signal transmission status check device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a more detailed electric circuit diagram.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the system configuration of the air conditioner. 1...Indoor control unit, 3...Outdoor control unit, 4...Remote control unit, 1
3...Power line, 14,41,50...Microcomputer, 16,43...Modulation circuit, 17,4
4... Demodulation circuit, 18... Signal transmission status check mode selection circuit, 18a... Test terminal, 42e
……LED.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In an air conditioner consisting of an air conditioner main body and a remote control device that remotely controls the operating state of the air conditioner main body via a signal line, control means for receiving the received setting signal and feeding back the received setting data to the remote control device; signal transmission state check mode selection means; and the signal transmission state check mode for indicating that the signal transmission state check mode has been selected. A signal in an air conditioner, comprising: a display drive means for receiving a signal from the selection means as an input and driving a plurality of set temperature display devices of a remote control device based on a preset display method. Transmission status check device. 2. The signal transmission state check device for an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the signal transmission state check mode selection means is a switch in which the short circuit state is selected by manual operation. 3. The signal transmission state check device for an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the signal transmission state check mode selection means detects an abnormal operating state of the air conditioner and automatically operates. 4. A signal transmission state check device for an air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the signal transmission state check mode selection means is attached to the air conditioner main body. 5. A signal transmission state check device for an air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the signal transmission state check mode selection means is attached to the remote control device. 6. The signal transmission status check device for an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the display drive means sequentially and selectively lights up the set temperature display. 7. The signal transmission status check device for an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the display drive means lights up all set temperature display devices. 8. The signal transmission status check device for an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the display drive means blinks all set temperature display devices simultaneously.