JPH0810402B2 - Remote control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Object of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a remote control device having a timer function,
In particular, the present invention relates to a remote control device having an improved transmission method when transmitting a control signal from a remote controller to a controlled device.

(Prior Art) Generally, in a remote control device having a timer function, for a controlled device such as an air conditioner, for example, a timer time for controlling operation such as turning on or off is set in a remote controller. Has become.

When the timer time for turning on or off the operation is set in the remote controller, conventionally, the remote controller of the remote controller outputs two time data of the timer time and the current time when the timer time is set. Sent to the controller of the controlled device.

In the main body controller, a method of calculating a timer time, which is the difference between the two times, and controlling the operation of the controlled device when the timer time has elapsed can be considered.

However, in this case, when two pieces of time data are coded as a timer code and transmitted to the main body controller of the controlled device, there is a problem that the timer code becomes long as shown in FIG.

In general, the longer a transmission code such as a timer code, the higher the probability that an erroneous signal will be introduced. Therefore, when the timer code is long, the reliability of remote control is reduced.

Therefore, it is also conceivable to incorporate a clock into the main body controller of the controlled device, transmit only the timer time from the remote controller of the remote controller, and use the clock of the main body controller to measure the elapsed time of the timer.

According to this, since the time data transmitted from the remote controller is only the timer time, the transmission code can be shortened and the reliability of the remote control device can be improved.

However, in this conventional method, the clock of the main controller and the clock of the remote controller must be perfectly synchronized, and the main controller that uses the commercial power supply as a power source may cause a power failure. There is a problem that it is difficult to achieve proper synchronization.

Furthermore, as a method to solve the above problems, the timer time is measured by the remote controller controller built in the remote controller, and when the elapsed time of this timer time is measured, the elapsed time is recorded in the main controller of the controlled device. A method of transmitting can be considered.

However, this causes a problem that the reception unit of the main body controller cannot receive the signal unless the reception unit of the main body controller faces the transmission unit of the remote controller when the timer time has elapsed.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the conventional remote control device, first, a method of transmitting both the timer time for turning on or off and the current time from the remote controller to the main controller. However, there is a problem in that the transmission code of the transmission data becomes long and the reliability of remote control by the remote control device is reduced.

Also, in the system in which only the timer time is transmitted from the remote controller and the time of the timer time is measured by the clock of the main body controller of the controlled device, the main body controller uses the commercial power supply as a power source, which may cause a power failure. Therefore, there is a problem in that it is difficult to completely synchronize both the remote control controller clock and the main body controller clock.

Furthermore, in the method in which when the remote control controller built into the remote controller measures the elapsed time of the timer time, the progress is transmitted to the main body controller. There is a problem that it cannot be received unless it is suitable for the transmitter.

[Structure of Invention]

(Means for Solving Problems) The present invention, when a timer time for controlling the operation of a controlled device is set, calculates the time difference between the current time and the timer time when the time is set. The remote controller has a built-in remote controller that calculates the timer time and transmits the coded timer time, and controls the operation of the controlled device when the timer time received from the remote controller is counted. It is characterized in that the main body controller for performing the above is built in the controlled device.

(Operation) When the timer time for remotely controlling the operation of the controlled device is set in the remote controller, the time difference between this timer time and the current time when this timer time is set is used as the timer time, and the remote controller Calculated by the controller.

The remote control controller codes the calculated timer time and sends it to the main body controller of the controlled device.

The main body controller performs the required operation control of the controlled device when the elapse of the timer time.

Therefore, according to the present invention, when the timer time for controlling the operation of the controlled device is set, the timer time, which is the time difference between the current time and the timer time, is controlled from the remote controller to the main body. Since the data is transmitted to the device, the transmission data is shortened as compared with the conventional example in which both the current time and the timer time are transmitted, and the transmission code when encoding the transmission data can be shortened.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.
In the present embodiment, the wireless remote controller 2 transmits control data to a main body controller (not shown) built in the air conditioner 1 which is a controlled device to remotely control the operation of the air conditioner 1. Has been done.

The front surface of the wireless remote controller 2 is configured as shown in FIG. 2, and the liquid crystal display 3 is operated from the upper part to the lower part in the operation mode switching display part 3a and the temperature display part 3
b, Off time display section 3c, Timer / continuous operation switching display section 3
d, the arrival time display unit 3e, the current time display unit 3f and the like are sequentially arranged, and these display units 3a to 3f are provided on the side of these display units 3a to 3f.
Various operation keys 4a to 4h for performing operations displayed by 3f are arranged corresponding to the respective display units, and are driven by a remote controller controller 5 incorporated in the wireless remote controller 2.

Therefore, for example, by repeatedly pressing the timer / continuous operation switching key 4f, the switching modes of continuous, off timer, on timer, off / on timer are sequentially and cyclically selected by the remote controller 5.

For this purpose, for example, after selecting the off timer mode by pressing the timer / continuous operation switching key 4f, the off time for stopping the operation of the air conditioner 1 by pressing the off time setting key 4e is appropriately set. Can be set,
The set cutoff time can be displayed on the cutoff time display unit 3c, for example, "PM 8:30".

Also, after pressing the timer / continuous operation switching key 4f to switch to the ON timer mode, press the ON time setting key.
It is possible to set the entry time at which the operation of the air conditioner 1 is started (ON) by pressing the 4g, and the entered entry time is displayed on the entry time display section 3e such as "AM6: 00". Can be displayed.

Furthermore, when the off / on timer mode is selected by pressing the timer / continuous operation switching key 4f, both the off time and the on time can be set at the same time.

Further, the current clock time can be appropriately displayed on the current time display section 3f by operating the current time display key 4h.

The wireless remote controller 2 is configured as shown in FIG. 3, and has a built-in remote control controller 5 including, for example, a CPU (central processing unit), and the remote control controller 5 includes the liquid crystal display 3 and various types. control key
A key matrix 4 having 4a to 4h, a power supply circuit 6 and a transmission circuit 7 are electrically connected to each other.

The remote controller controller 5 is configured as shown in FIG. 4, and when a timer time of either off time or on time is set, the time difference between the current time at that time and the timer time is set. Is calculated, and the timer time is encoded and transmitted to the main body controller (not shown) of the air conditioner 1.

That is, the remote control controller 5 cyclically switches the switching modes of continuous, off timer, on timer, off / on timer when the pressing operation of the timer / continuous operation switch key 4f is repeated. Means 5A
And timer input means 5B for reading the timer time when at least one of the off time and the on time is set.

The timer time read by the timer input means 5B is once fixed by the timer time setting means 5C and then given to the timer time display means 5D to be displayed on the liquid crystal display 3 and displayed on the timer time calculation means 5E. Time is given.

On the other hand, the current time (clock time) is clocked by the current time counting means 5F, and this current time is displayed on the liquid crystal display 3 by the current time display means 5G and is given to the timer time calculation means 5E. The time difference between the time and the timer time is calculated.

This time difference is given as the timer time from the timer time calculating means 5E to the encoding means 5H.

The encoding means 5H reads the switching mode switched by the timer / continuous operation switching means 5A, and combines this switching mode with the timer time from the timer time calculating means 5E according to a preset pattern, for example, "0" and " It is encoded into a binary code of "1".

When the timer time is coded in units of 5 minutes, for example, the maximum timer time is 23 hours and 55 minutes, so that it can be expressed by 9 bits as shown in FIG. 5, and the timer time code can be shortened. be able to. In this case, it is necessary to round up or down for 5 minutes or less.

That is, according to the present embodiment, as compared with the conventional example in which both the timer time and the current time are transmitted, in the present embodiment, only the timer time is transmitted, so that the transmission data can be small, and the timer It is possible to reduce the number of bits when encoding.

In addition, in the above-described 5-minute coding, a coding error of about 5 minutes at maximum occurs. In order to eliminate this error, the timer time may be coded in minutes or seconds. In this case, a code of 11 bits for minutes and 16 bits for seconds is required.

In general, an error of about 1 minute does not cause a problem, so that coding in units of minutes is optimal for practical use.

The coded timer / continuous operation switching mode and timer time are transmitted to the main body controller (not shown) of the air conditioner 1 by the transmission means 5I via the transmission circuit 7 (see FIG. 3).

Therefore, since the timer code shortened compared to the conventional example is transmitted from the transmission circuit 7, as shown in FIG. 6, the transmission time of the timer code 10 is also different from the conventional example shown in FIG. It can be shortened.

As a result, the probability that an erroneous signal is mixed in the timer code 10 can be reduced, and the reliability of the wireless remote controller 2 can be improved.

Incidentally, in FIG. 6, the control code 11 shows the coded transmission data other than the timer time.

On the other hand, the main body controller (not shown) built in the air conditioner 1 is the transmission circuit 7 of the wireless remote controller 2.
Received timer code transmitted from the receiving circuit (not shown)
The air conditioner 1 is controlled to be turned off (OFF) or turned on (ON) when it is received and is timed by the timer.

 Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

Here, for example, the timer of the wireless remote controller 2 and the continuous operation switching key 4f shown in FIG.
The off / on timer mode is selected by the continuous operation switching means 5A, the current time is 8:25 am, and the off time is 5 pm
It is assumed that the hour is 20 minutes and the arrival time is set to 10:00 pm.

In this case, the off time and the on time are read by the timer input means 5B of the remote controller 5, fixed once in the timer time setting means 5C, and then given to the timer time display means 5D and the timer time calculation means 5E, respectively. .

The timer time display means 5D displays, for example, "PM" on the off time display section 3c of the wireless remote controller 2 shown in FIG.
5:20 ”, and is displayed on the arrival time display unit 3e as, for example,“ PM 10:00 ”.

On the other hand, the current time is measured by the current time counting means 5F, and the current time display means 5G causes the current time display portion 3f of the wireless remote controller 2 to display, for example, "AM8: 2
5 ”and the current time is given to the timer time calculating means 5E.

The timer time calculating means 5E calculates the respective time differences between the current time and the turn-off time and the turn-on time, that is, each timer time, and the turn-off time is 8 hours 55 minutes and the turn-on time is 13 hours
Calculated in minutes.

These off and on timer times can be coded by the coding means 5H, for example, in the case of coding in units of 5 minutes, each with 9 bits as shown in FIG.

The timer code of the timer time coded by 9 bits is transmitted from the transmission circuit 7 to the main controller of the air conditioner 1 by the transmission means 5I.

As shown in FIG. 6, the timer code is shorter than that of the conventional example (see FIG. 7), so that the probability that an erroneous signal is mixed in at the time of transmission can be reduced and the wireless remote controller 2 The reliability can be increased.

The main unit controller that received the timer code is
The operation of the air conditioner 1 is stopped (OFF) when the elapsed time of 55 minutes is measured, and the operation of the air conditioner 1 is restarted (ON) when the elapsed time of 13 hours and 35 minutes is measured.

In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the remote control device of the air conditioner has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a program timer for a wireless transmission system such as TV and AV equipment. Can be applied to.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, when the timer time for controlling the operation of the controlled device is set, the remote controller controller calculates the timer time, which is the time difference between the current time and the timer time at that time. However, since this timer time is transmitted to the main body controller, the transmission data transmitted to the main body controller is shortened, and the transmission code can be shortened.

Therefore, it is possible to reduce the probability that an erroneous signal is mixed during the timer time transmission, and it is possible to improve the reliability of the remote control device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of a remote control device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway front view of the wireless remote controller of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of the wireless remote controller of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is an overall configuration diagram of the remote controller shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a timer time coded by the coding means shown in FIG. 6 is a waveform chart of a transmission code transmitted from the transmission circuit shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 7 is a waveform chart of a transmission code of a conventional example. 1 ... Air conditioner (controlled device), 2 ... Wireless remote controller (remote controller), 3 ...
Liquid crystal display, 4 ... key matrix, 5 ... remote controller, 7 ... transmission circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. When a timer time for controlling the operation of a controlled device is set, a time difference between the current time and the timer time when the time is set is calculated as a timer time, and the timer is used. The remote controller has a built-in remote controller that encodes and transmits the time, and the main controller that controls the operation of the controlled device when the timer time received from the remote controller is timed is the controlled device. A remote control device characterized by being built in.