JPH0687433B2 - Dimmer - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a light control device.

2. Description of the Related Art On the stage or in the studio, a dimming device that controls the dimming of the lighting load is used in order to enhance the effect.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of a typical prior art light control device 1. The dimming device 1 is roughly composed of a dimming level control unit 2 and a dimming unit 3. The dimming level control unit 2 includes lighting loads l1, l2,
, Ln (generally indicated by reference numeral l), that is, the number of channels, the faders f1, f2, ..., Fn (generally indicated by reference numeral f) are provided.

The fader f is realized by a slide volume or the like,
A high level voltage + B is applied to one terminal, and the other terminal is grounded. Movable pieces fa1 and fa of each fader f
A voltage corresponding to the dimming level set for the fader f is derived from 2, ..., Fan and given to the dimming unit 3.

The dimmer unit 3 is a dimmer p corresponding to each load l.
, P2, ..., Pn (generally indicated by reference numeral p). Each dimmer p controls, for example, the firing angle of the lighting load l according to the output voltage level of the corresponding fader f, so that each lighting load l becomes the dimming level set by the fader f. Controlled.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the above-described conventional technique, when performing so-called shooting work for inspecting whether or not each fader f is properly connected to the target lighting load l, the set value of the fader f must be changed. There are things that must be done. That is, in the shooting work, the connection state between the fader f and the illumination load 1 is confirmed, and an operation for adjusting the irradiation pattern and the irradiation direction to a desired state is performed.

Therefore, each lighting load l
It is necessary to set the dimming level of to 70% or more, for example.
On the other hand, when the actual dimming level is low, it is necessary to operate the fader f and readjust it to a level suitable for the above-mentioned shooting work. Further, in the case where the lighting load 1 having a high dimming level is adjacent to the lighting load l, only the lighting load l to be checked is turned on to check the connection state between the fader f and the lighting load l, and the remaining lighting is checked. It is necessary to turn off the load, and in such a case the fader f
It is necessary to change the setting level of.

On the other hand, the shooting work is often performed in parallel with the dimming level confirmation work set for each fader f, and the works may affect each other.
Inability to perform efficient and accurate work.

An object of the present invention is to provide a light control device capable of efficiently and accurately performing the setting / confirmation work of the lighting control dimming amount and the shooting work.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a holding means for holding the dimming amount of one or a plurality of lighting loads for each lighting load, and a holding means provided for each lighting load and held by the holding means. In a dimmer including a dimmer that drives each lighting load so as to obtain a specified dimming amount, a designating unit that designates a lighting load to be inspected, and a designating unit that responds to the output of the designating unit. When the lighting load to be inspected is input, the dimming amount of the lighting load to be inspected is held at a predetermined constant value, and when the designation is released, the dimming amount of the designated lighting load is released. To
And a control unit for returning the value to the value held by the holding unit according to the illumination load.

Operation According to the present invention, the dimming amount for each one or a plurality of lighting loads is held by the holding unit, and the control unit sets each dimming amount to the dimming amount held by the holding unit. Drive control of the dimmer corresponding to the load.

Further, a specifying means is provided in association with the control means, and from this specifying means, a channel of an illumination load to be inspected, which is an object to be inspected, is input and specified.

In response to the output of the designating means, the control means drives and controls each dimmer so that the dimming amount is held by the holding means as described above, and also inspects the illumination load from the designating means. When a power is input, the dimming amount of the illumination load to be inspected is maintained at a predetermined constant value, which enables inspection work.

When the inspection work is completed and the designation is released, the control unit restores the designated dimming amount of the illumination load to the value before the designation held in the holding unit.

Therefore, each lighting load can be inspected without changing the dimming amount held in the holding means, and after that inspection, the dimming amount set before the inspection is automatically set. Will be returned to.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the concept of the present invention. The dimming device 11 is roughly configured to include a dimming level control unit 12 that is a holding unit, a control unit 13, a dimming unit 14, and an operation unit 15 that is a designating unit.

Multiple lighting loads L1, L2, which can be mounted on the ceiling or walls
, Ln (generally indicated by reference numeral L) is divided into one or more groups, and each group has a fader.
.., Fn (generally indicated by reference numeral F), the dimming level as the dimming amount is individually set.

Each fader F constituting the dimming level holding unit 12 is realized by a slide volume or the like, and one terminal of this fader F is connected to a power line of high level voltage + B,
The other terminal is grounded. Moving piece Fa1 of Fader F
Fa, ..., Fan outputs voltages of, for example, 0 to 10 volts corresponding to the dimming level to lines K1, K2, ..., Kn (generally indicated by reference numeral K).

The voltage is input to each of the dimmers P1, P2, ..., Pn (generally indicated by a reference symbol P), and each dimmer P corresponds to an input voltage of, for example, 0 volt. The lighting load L is driven to light at a dimming level of 100%, and when the input voltage is 10 V, the lighting load L is turned off.

The line K also includes individually provided switches S1, S2,
, Sn (generally indicated by reference numeral S) are grounded. Each switch S constituting the control unit 13 is selectively turned on in response to an input operation to the operation unit 15. That is, the operator controls the lighting load to be shot,
For example, L1 is designated by an input operation on the operation unit 15. As a result, the operating section 15 brings the switch S1 into conduction, so that the voltage level of the line K1 is 0 volt, and the lighting load L1 is turned on at a dimming level of 100%.

When the lighting work L1 is released from the shooting target by the input operation to the operation unit 15 after the finishing work is completed, the switch S1 is cut off, and the lighting load L1 is fed to the fader F1.
Lighting is driven at the dimming level set in. By the same procedure, the remaining lighting loads L2, L3, ..., Ln are sequentially designated, and the shooting work is performed.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the light control device 21 of one embodiment of the present invention. In this dimmer 21, the operation unit
After the output voltage level of the fader F of 22, that is, the dimming level is converted into a digital value by the input unit 23, the patch control unit
Read on 24.

The patch control unit 24 also operates the operation unit via the input unit 23.
Circuit number of lighting load L input from the numeric keypad 25 of 22,
That is, the channel number is read, and each fader F and the lighting load L are allocated. In this embodiment, for the sake of simplification of description, the lighting load L1 corresponds to the fader F1.
One lighting load L is associated with one fader F such that the lighting load L2 is associated with F2.

The data from the patch control unit 24 is input to the dimming level control unit 26. The dimming level control unit 26 is configured to include a dimming level holding unit 31, a save memory 32, and a channel memory 33.

The dimming level holding unit 31 is realized by a micro computer or the like, and is a memory 34 that is a holding unit for storing the dimming level from the patch control unit 24, and the stored contents of the memory 34 are read out to adjust each dimming level. It is configured to include a control unit 35 which is a control unit for setting the optical device P.

The memory 34 is provided with individual storage areas M1, M2, ..., Mn (indicated by reference numeral M when collectively referred to) for each channel of the illumination load L, and the control unit 35 controls the patch control unit 24. The dimming level for each channel thus assigned is written in the corresponding storage area M. When the dimming control is started, the control unit 35 reads out the dimming level stored in each storage area M and serially transmits it to the dimming unit 14.

The dimming unit 14 is composed of an interface section 36 and each dimmer P. The interface section 36 converts the input serial data into a voltage signal representing a dimming level, and outputs the corresponding dimming level. Output to the optical device P. Each dimmer P holds the input voltage level by a sample-hold circuit or the like, and lighting load L at an ignition angle corresponding to the input voltage level.
Drive to turn on. In this way, each lighting load L is driven to be turned on so that the light control level is set by each fader F.

The operating section 22 is also provided with a shooting switch 37. When the shooting work for confirming the irradiation pattern and the irradiation direction of each lighting load L is performed, the shooting switch 37 is operated. It

A remote control section 41 is provided in association with the input section 23. The remote control section 41 is provided with a numeric keypad 42 and a shooting switch 43, like the operation section 22. . The remote control unit 41 is used on the stage, for example, and can wirelessly give an instruction necessary for the shooting operation to the input unit 23.

When the shooting switches 37 and 43 are operated, the control unit 35 stores the dimming data in the storage area corresponding to the channel designated by the ten keys 25 and 42, for example, the dimming data in M1, in the save memory 32. The channel number is temporarily stored and the channel number is stored in the channel memory 33. afterwards,
The dimming data of a predetermined dimming level, for example, 100%, is written in the storage area M1 of the designated channel, thus enabling the shooting work of the lighting load L1.

When the operation for releasing the object to be cut is performed by the operation of the switching switches 37, 43, the control unit 35 causes the memory area corresponding to the channel number stored in the channel memory 33, that is, the M1 to save the saved memory. Rewrite the dimming data that was temporarily stored in 32. In this way, after completion of the above-mentioned shooting work, the lighting load L1 which is a shooting target is driven to be lit at the dimming level before being a shooting target.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining the procedure of the above-mentioned shooting work. In step n1, the ten keys 25 and 42 are used to specify the channel to be used for the shooting operation, and the channel number is stored in the channel memory 33. In step n2, the shooting switch
It is determined whether or not 37, 43 are being operated for a shooting operation, and if so, the process proceeds to step n3.

At step n3, it is determined whether or not the dimming data is stored in the save memory 32. If not, that is, at the start of the shooting operation, the process proceeds to step n4.
At step n4, the dimming data of the channel designated at the step n1 is read from the corresponding storage area, for example M1, and transferred to the save memory 32. In step n5,
The dimming data of a predetermined constant level for the shooting work is transferred to the storage area M1 corresponding to the designated channel.

In step n6, the dimming data stored in the memory 34 is sequentially transferred to the dimming unit 14, and the dimming level is set in each dimmer P. At step n7, each lighting load L is driven to light based on the set dimming level.

In step n3, when the data is stored in the save memory 32, that is, during the shooting operation, the process directly moves to step n6 to maintain the dimming level for the shooting operation.

Furthermore, in step n2, when the shooting work is not in progress, the process moves to step n8, and the save memory 32
It is determined whether or not the dimming data is stored in the memory, and if not, that is, during the steady dimming control, the process directly goes to step n6, and if so, that is, when the shooting work is completed. Move to n9.

In step n9, the dimming data is transferred from the evacuation memory 32 to the storage area of the channel designated as the shooting, that is, the M1. Thereby, the dimming level changed for the shooting work is changed to the shooting work. The dimming level before the start was restored. At this time, the stored contents in the save memory 32 are erased.

Thus, in the dimming device 21 according to the present invention, when the shooting work is selected, the load to be shorted, for example, the dimming data of L1 is temporarily stored in the save register 32, and after the shooting work is completed, the measures are taken again. Since the data is transferred to the storage area M1, it is possible to perform the shooting operation with a simple operation and improve the operability. Further, even if the shooting work and the dimming level setting / confirming work are performed in parallel, there is little mutual influence on each other, and the dimming level can be set efficiently and accurately.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the procedure of the shooting operation of another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment shows a procedure of a configuration in which an up-down key indicated by reference numeral 44 in FIG. 2 is added, and by only operating the up-down key 44, the shooting operation is not canceled. It is possible to sequentially switch the channels of the lighting load L to be shot.

That is, the up key is pressed between steps n2 to n3.
Steps n11 and n12 for performing the operation determination of 44 are interposed. After it is determined in step n2 that the task is being performed, if it is determined in step n11, n12 that the up-down key 44 has not been operated, the process proceeds to step n3 to continue the same channel chasing state. To do.

On the other hand, if it is detected in step n11 that the channel to be shot is up-operated, step n11
The process shifts to n13, the dimming data is transferred from the save memory 32 to the storage area corresponding to the channel that has been designated as the target for the shuttering, and the channel number i for the shuttering is incremented by 1 and updated in step n14. After that, the process proceeds to step n3. The channel corresponding to this number i is designated at step n1 in the next processing operation.

When the channel to be shot down is down-operated in step n12, the process proceeds to step n15,
Similar to the step n13, the dimming data in the save memory 32 is transferred to the storage area corresponding to the channel that has been designated until then, and the step i16 updates the value by subtracting 1 from the number i, and then updating the step i. Move to n3.

With this, it is not necessary to cancel the shooting operation every time when changing the channel to be targeted for shooting, and only by pressing the up-down key 44, it is possible to easily change the channel to be targeted for shooting. The operability can be significantly improved.

As described above, according to the present invention, when it is specified that the lighting load should be inspected, the dimming amount of the lighting load to be inspected is held in advance at a predetermined value, and the designation is performed. When it is canceled, the dimming amount is automatically returned to the dimming amount before the inspection was specified. Therefore, the dimming amount setting / confirmation work for each lighting load and the inspection work such as shooting work are performed. Even if and are performed in parallel, it is possible to reduce the influence of each other's work, and to set the dimming amount efficiently and accurately.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of a light control device 11 for explaining the concept of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of a light control device 21 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a dimming control of the prior art. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the device 1. FIG. 11,21 ... Dimming device, 12,31 ... Dimming level holding unit, 13,35 ...
Control unit, 14 ... Dimming unit, 15, 22 ... Operating unit, 26 ... Dimming level control unit, 32 to 34 ... Memory, 37, 43 ... Shooting switch, 41 ... Remote operating unit, 44 ... Up key ,
F1 to Fn ... Fader, L1 to Ln ... Lighting load, P1 to Pn ... Dimmer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A holding means for holding a dimming amount of one or a plurality of lighting loads for each lighting load, and a dimming amount provided for each lighting load and held by the holding means. In a dimmer including a dimmer that drives each lighting load, a designating unit that designates a lighting load to be inspected, and the designating unit should inspect the lighting load in response to the output of the designating unit. When is input, the dimming amount of the lighting load to be inspected is held at a predetermined constant value, and when the designation is canceled, the dimming amount of the designated lighting load is
And a control unit that restores the value held in the holding unit according to the illumination load.