JPH03211342A - Control device for air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a group control to be attained with a simple connection by a method wherein a plurality of air conditioners are divided into a plurality of small groups including one master device and a few number of slave devices and then a serial signal relaying means is arranged between the small groups. CONSTITUTION:A plurality of air conditioners A01 to A16 are divided into a plurality of small groups G1 to G4 including one master device and a few number slave devices. A serial signal relaying means 2a including a communication direction control part 3 for automatically changing-over a communicating direction and a wave shaper 4 for reforming and outputting an attenuated input signal is arranged amount the small groups G1 to G4. Electrical power for a remote controller 1 and the relaying means 2a is supplied from each of the master devices in the small groups G1 to G4. With such an arrangement, the air conditioners in the small groups G1 to G4 can be controlled with a simple connection.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly to a control device for group-controlling a plurality of air conditioners.

[Conventional technology]

For commercial air conditioners, for example, as shown in FIG.
Group control may be performed in which AO2, . . . A16 are controlled all at once.

In the case of such group control, the remote control 1 and the air conditioner A01 and the adjacent air conditioners are connected by three wires, and these three wires are connected to the signal line So.
l, SO2,...316, earth EOI, E
O2,...E16, DC power supply line VOI■02.
...V16.

Further, addresses from 1 to 16 are set for the 16 air conditioners by a DIP switch (not shown), and one of the 16 air conditioners AOI to A16 is set at regular intervals using the remote controller. Polling is performed using serial signals one by one to send operation commands, etc., and the air conditioner AOI
~ A16 driving status etc. are received.

The 16 air conditioners AOI to A16 are each equipped with a microcomputer for operation control and a DC power supply for the same, and the air conditioners AOI are Sol and VOI.

Supply power to EOI, air conditioner AO2 is SO2, V
The configuration is such that power is supplied to O2 and EO2.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the case of installing a large number of air conditioners as described above and performing group control, it goes without saying that the building is large, so the three lines mentioned above will be long. In some cases, the length is several hundred meters long, which is expensive, and it is necessary to connect six wires per air conditioner.
Since the connection terminals must be prepared in large quantities due to construction and other reasons, there are problems such as the inability to downsize the printed wiring board.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve these problems and provide an air conditioner control device that can perform group control of a plurality of air conditioners through easier connection.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is an air conditioner in which a plurality of air conditioners are sequentially connected to a signal line from a single remote controller, and the air conditioners are group-controlled by serial signals emitted from the remote controller. In the control device for a conditioner, the plurality of air conditioners are divided into a plurality of small groups each consisting of one main unit and a small number of slave units, and
Serial signal relay means is provided, comprising a communication direction control section that automatically switches the communication direction between the small groups, and a waveform shaping section that shapes and outputs the attenuated input signal, and provides power to the remote control and the relay means. are respectively supplied from the main engines in the small group.

[Effect]

With the above configuration, the air conditioners in the same group can be controlled by supplying power from the main unit in the first small group to the remote controller, and the air conditioners in the same group can be controlled by the main unit in the second small group. By supplying power to the relay means provided between the first and second small groups, the air conditioners in this second small group can be controlled, and the same applies hereafter. The air conditioners in each small group can be controlled by the method, and the waveform of the attenuated signal can be shaped by the relay means.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 4.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram schematically showing the same embodiment, which includes one remote controller 1, three relay means 2a, 2b, 2c,
It consists of 16 air conditioners AOI to A16 and signal lines SOI to SO4 that connect them.

The 16 air conditioners AOI to A16 are divided into small groups G1 to G4 of 4 units each, and each small group G
l, G2, 03. G4 each has one main engine AO1, A
It consists of O5, AO9, A13, and three slave machines.

This Lord 41! AOI, AO5, AO9, A13 and slave units are air conditioners configured in exactly the same way, but the only difference is that the power supply line VOI is connected to the DC power output terminal Tv provided in these air conditioners. , VO2, etc. are connected or not.

The relay means 2a, 2b, 2c are connected between the small groups of four units, respectively, and the relay means 2a, 2b, 2c transmit signals between the remote controller 1 and the air conditioners A05 to A16. It has the function of automatically switching the direction and shaping the waveform of the attenuated signal.

Figure 2 shows the connection between remote control 1, main unit AOI, and slave unit A02. The three are connected by the signal line Sol and ground EOI from remote control 1, and the power supply for remote control 1 is from the main unit AOI. The power is supplied via the power supply line VOI.

Figure 3 shows the relay means 2a and the air conditioner AO4 before and after it.
, AO5, and shows the state of connection with the relay means 2a.
The signal line SOI and the ground EOI of the small group in the previous stage are connected to one of the signal input/output terminals Tsl and the ground terminal Tel, respectively, and the signal lines SOI and the ground EOI of the small group in the previous stage are connected to the other signal input/output terminal Ts2 and the ground terminal Te2, respectively. The connecting signal line SO2 and earth EO2 are connected, and the relay means 2
A power supply line VO2 from the main engine AO5 at the subsequent stage is connected to the DC power input terminal T of the main engine AO5.

FIG. 4 shows the circuit configuration of the relay means 2a, 2b, 2c, and includes a communication direction control section 3 for switching the communication direction.
and a waveform shaping section 4 that shapes and outputs the waveform of the attenuated input signal.The communication direction control section 3 has two input ports INI, IN2 and two output ports 0UTI, 0.
UT2, and input ports IN1. IN2 is connected to signal input/output terminals Tsl and Ts2, respectively, and output capo-1-
OUTI and 0UT2 are connected to relays LL and L2 (multiplexers) that switch signal circuits, respectively.

Further, the waveform shaping section 4 has a pair of waveform shaping circuits for reversing signal directions, and a terminal a of the photocoupler 5a constituting one of the circuits is connected to a terminal a of the relay L1 via a resistor R1. The terminal of the photocoupler is grounded together with the terminal C, and the terminal d is coupled to the DC power input terminal T via a resistor R2, and the inverter 6a is coupled to the terminal a of the relay L2.

The circuit itself of the other waveform shaping circuit is the same as the one described above, but in order to reverse the signal direction, the input side is connected to the terminal of relay L2, and the output end of the inverter is connected to the terminal of relay L1. It is connected.

The configuration of the relay means 2a is as described above, and the communication direction control section 3 receives the transmission signal from the input port 1111.
The direction of the signal is determined depending on which input port of IN2 it comes to, and the direction of communication is determined by controlling the output ports OUTI and OUT2.

In the case of Fig. 4, the signal from the remote controller 1 is transmitted to the AO5 to 0 air conditioner, and the signal from the remote controller 1 passes through the signal input/output terminal Tsl, relay L1, and resistor R1 to the photocoupler 5a. When input to terminal a, conduction occurs between terminals 6 to 0 of the photocoupler 5a, a waveform-shaped signal appears at the output end of the inverter 6a, and this signal passes through relay L2 and signal input/output end Ts2 to the subsequent stage. air conditioner AO
5, AO6, etc.

If the direction of the signal is reversed, the communication direction control unit 3
By the action of , relays Ll and L2 are switched to the terminal side, and signals from the air conditioners AO5, AO6, etc. can be waveform-shaped and transmitted to the remote control 1 in the same manner as described above.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, if the air conditioner has a group configuration as explained above, the number of connection terminals for signal lines, etc. arranged on each air conditioner side can be reduced to three, which is half of the conventional number. The printed wiring board on which the is attached can also be made smaller, which is advantageous in terms of cost.In addition, multiple air conditioners can be divided into multiple small groups, and relay means can be provided between each small group. Since the signal that is attenuated by long-distance transmission is waveform-shaped, it has the advantage of making it easier to control a wider range of groups.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a connection diagram between a remote control and a small group in the same embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a connection diagram between a relay means and a small group in the same embodiment. , FIG. 4 is a circuit configuration diagram of the relay means of the same embodiment, and FIG. 5 is an overall configuration diagram showing a conventional example. In the figure, 1 - remote control, 2a, 2b, 2cm relay means, 3 - communication direction control section, 4 - waveform shaping section, 5a, 5
b Photocoupler, 6a, 6b-inverter, AOI~A
16 Air conditioner, Ll, L2 relay, R1-R4
-Resistance, S01~S04・-Signal line, EOI, EO
2-Earth, ■Old VO2-Power supply line, G1. , G2.
G3. G4 small group.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In an air conditioner control device in which a plurality of air conditioners are sequentially connected to a signal line from one remote controller and group-controlled by a serial signal emitted from the remote controller, the plurality of air conditioners A control device for an air conditioner, characterized in that the air conditioner is divided into a plurality of small groups each consisting of one main unit and a small number of slave units, and a means for relaying the serial signal is provided between the small groups. (2) The control device for an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein power to the remote control and the relay means is supplied from a main machine in each small group. (3) The control device for an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the relay means comprises a communication direction control section that automatically switches the communication direction, and a waveform shaping section that shapes and outputs the attenuated input signal.