JPH04190589A - Dimming controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To supervise a lighting load in a broad range and over a long distance by connecting a plurality of terminals to a control supervisory means through a transmission line of closed loop. CONSTITUTION:A plurality of terminals 12 which control and supervise a lighting load 15 are connected to control a supervisory means 14 by a transmission line 13 of closed loop. Then, a terminal 12 is addressed form the control supervisory means 14 to make such controls as ON/OFF of the lighting load 15 connected to that terminal 12, and the supervisory information indicating the operating condition of ON/OFF of the lighting load 15 is returned to the control supervisory means 14 from the terminal 12 through the abovementioned transmission line 13. Transmission lines 13a-13h which form such a closed loop can be made up of a single one by use of, for example, optical fiber, etc. They are especially advantageous when the lighting load 15 is provided in an open place over a long distance. It is thereby possible to reduce the number of signal lines and control and supervise many lighting loads.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a dimming control device, and more specifically, for example, for turning on/off lighting loads such as a plurality of electric lights installed on roads and parks. The present invention relates to a dimming control device that can perform off control and monitor the lighting loads.

Prior Art A typical prior art of a dimming control device used for such applications is shown in FIG. Lighting loads 1 such as electric lights installed on roads, parks, etc. are connected to a plurality of terminal devices 2 and can also be controlled by operation switches 4, and these terminal devices 2 are connected to control signal lines. 5
and a monitoring signal line 6 to a control monitoring means 7 which is a master unit. A signal S1 shown in FIG. 12 (1) is derived from the control/monitoring means 7 to the terminal device 2 on the line 5.

This signal S1 includes a star 1 signal 8, an address signal specifying the address of the terminal device 2, a coded control signal 10 for turning on/off the lighting load 1, and an end signal 11 indicating termination. It has a configuration including. The terminal device 2 receives the signal S1 shown in FIG.
- When the response does not match, the lighting load represented by the control signal 10 is controlled. Terminal 2 is connected to another line 6
A signal S2 shown in FIG. 12 (2) is sent back to the control and monitoring means 7 via the. This signal S2 is similar in structure to the signal S1 described above (J, but instead of the control signal 10 it includes a coated supervisory signal 12. This supervisory signal 1
2 is the turning on/off of the lighting load l controlled by the terminal device 2.
Indicates a state such as off.

The control and monitoring means 7 monitors the on/off state of the lighting load 1 for each terminal 2, and can detect whether there is a failure or not.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the prior art shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the control signal line 5 for sending the signal S1 from the control monitoring means 7 to the terminal device 2 and the terminal device 2 Another supervisory signal line 6 for sending a supervisory signal from the controller to the control supervisory means 7 is required. When a lighting load 1 is installed over a long distance in a relatively wide place, such as on roads and parks as mentioned above, it is desirable to reduce the number of such signal lines 5.6 as much as possible. It can be done.

The purpose of the present invention is to reduce the number of signal lines as much as possible,
An object of the present invention is to provide a dimming control device capable of controlling and monitoring a large number of lighting loads.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides control and monitoring of lighting loads and
・Generates a signal including multiple terminal devices with a response, an address signal that addresses the terminal device, and a control signal that controls the lighting load of the terminal device, and forms a closed-loop transmission path with the multiple terminal devices. control and monitoring means connected to the control and monitoring means, when the address represented by the address signal of the signal from the control and monitoring means matches its own address, the terminal controls the lighting load in response to the control signal; Alternatively, it is a dimming control device characterized by transmitting monitoring information.

According to the present invention, a plurality of terminal devices that control and monitor lighting loads are connected together with the control and monitoring means by a closed-loop transmission path, and the control and monitoring means can address the terminal device, and the terminal device can be addressed. Controls the on/off of the lighting load connected to the device, and also controls the on/off of the lighting load.
Monitoring information representing the off operating state can be sent back from the terminal device to the control monitoring means via the transmission path. The transmission line forming such a closed loop can be configured as a single transmission line using, for example, an optical fiber. The implementation of the invention is therefore particularly advantageous when the lighting loads are installed over long distances in large areas.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. Each of the plurality of terminal devices 12 is connected by a closed loop transmission path 13, and is connected to a control monitoring means 14 which is a master device. This transmission line 1B can be realized by, for example, a single optical fiber. Each terminal device 12 is provided with a lighting load 15 installed on a road or park, etc., and control/monitoring means] 4 and such lighting load] 5
It is possible to monitor the on/off status and lighting status of the LED, and the transmission path 13 transmits signals in only one direction, as shown by the arrow in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a simplified diagram illustrating the lighting load 15 shown in FIG. As mentioned above, the lighting load 15 is installed over a relatively long distance on roads, parks, etc.
A closed loop transmission line 13 is connected to the terminal device 12 corresponding to each lighting load 15 .

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of the terminal device 12. As shown in FIG. Of the transmission lines 13, reference numerals 13a and 1 in FIG.
Connectors 16.17 are connected to return path 1.3b.
The optical signal transmitted by 3a is received by one light receiving element such as a pottransistor in the signal processing circuit 18, and is stored in the memory 20 provided in the signal processing circuit 18. The signal processing circuit 18 has a light emitting element 21 such as a light emitting diode.
The optical output from Ichiko 21 passes through the connector 17 to the transmission line 13.
It is output to b. [Signal processing circuit] 8 is connected to a control circuit 22 realized by a microcomputer or the like. This control circuit 22 drives a drive circuit 23 to control on/off of the switch 24. The switch 24 is interposed between the power source and the lighting load 15, and is connected to the power supply/3I!
make a decision.

Whether a load current is flowing through the lighting load 15 is detected by a current detection means 25, such as a current transformer,
The output is input to a monitoring circuit 27 via a connector 26. The monitoring circuit 27 provides a signal indicating this to the control circuit 22 when the load current is detected.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control circuit 22 shown in FIG. In step m1,
It is determined whether a signal is input by the light receiving element 19 from the transmission line 13a connected to the input side connector 16, and if no signal is input, step m
2, if the time set by the timer has elapsed, the load current detection means 25 monitors the lighting load 15 by the monitoring circuit 27.

In step m], if a signal is being input from the transmission line 13a, the process moves to step m4, and it is checked whether the self address set by the terminal device 12 matches the address of the address signal given from the transmission line 13a. be judged.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the structure of the signal S sent from the control monitoring means 14 to the transmission line 13 and transmitted through the transmission line 13. This signal S includes two start signals and a terminal device 12.
an address signal 30 for specifying the on/off mode of the lighting load 15, a mode signal 31 indicating whether the lighting load 15 is in the control operation mode 1~ or a monitoring mode; It has a signal 32 which is control information for turning off, and also information indicating whether it is on or off when it is a monitoring operation mote, and an end signal 33 which does not indicate termination, and each of these signals 29 to 33 is cyclic. The mote signal 31 is sent out at short time intervals or continuously and circulated through the transmission line 13.For example, the mote signal 31 becomes logic "1" when the mote is in a control operation, and it is in the case of a mote in a monitoring operation. The signal 32 represents on/off of the lighting load 15 as described above, and may also include a signal representing its brightness, etc.
It may also include a signal indicating whether or not there is a current leakage for monitoring purposes.

In step m4 in FIG.
When the address matches the address for each terminal device 12 set in the control circuit 22 of If so, the process moves to step m6. In step m6, signal 3
The control processing operation for turning on/off the lighting load 15 represented by 2 is performed. When the operation signal mode 3] indicates the monitoring operation mode in step m5, the process moves to step m7, and information indicating the operation of the lighting load 15 detected by the load current detection means 25 and monitored by the monitoring circuit 27 is sent. , and output as a signal 32. Such a signal S passes through the terminal 2 and returns to the control and monitoring means 14, so that the control and monitoring means 14 can know the operating state of the lighting load 15 corresponding to the terminal 2.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of the control monitoring means 14. The output of the key manual means 35 operated by the operator is given to a control circuit 36 realized by a microcomputer or the like, and the calculation result of the control circuit i\836 is visually displayed on the display means 37. The control circuit 36 is connected to the transmission lines 13a, . This interface 38 is the transmission line 13a
It has three light emitting elements for sending signals to the transmission line 1.
The signal transmitted via 3c is received by light receiving element 4°.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the main routine of the control circuit 36 of the control monitoring means 14 shown in FIG. In step n1, in order to turn on or turn off the lighting load 5, a drive thereof is inputted from the operating means 35. The information inputted by this steering means 35 may be a signal to turn on or turn off all the lighting loads 15 all at once, or it may be a signal to turn on or turn off only the lighting loads 15 corresponding to a specific terminal device]2. There may also be a signal to turn off, and such a signal is added to the section indicated by reference numeral 32 in FIG. 5 and sent to line 3 in step n2.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart 1 for explaining the operation of the interrupt routine of the control circuit 36 of the control monitoring means 14. In step 11, the light receiving element 4 is
The supervisory signal included in the signal 32 received by 0 is input and stored.

In the next step ρ2, the information display means 37 visually displays the information represented by the monitoring signal. In this way, the control/monitoring means 14 can control and monitor the on/off and operating status of the lighting load 15 which is connected over a relatively wide range and over a long distance by the transmission line 13.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is similar to the previous embodiment, and corresponding parts do not bear the same reference numerals. What should be noted is that in this embodiment, among the transmission lines 13, the branched transmission lines], 3
d, and this transmission line 13d is connected to the terminal device 12b,]
, 2c, and further connected to the terminal device 12d via the transmission line ], 3e. Terminal 1.21), ],
2C has a configuration similar to that of the terminal 2 shown in FIG. Branched transmission line at the terminal device 12d], 3
The signal from e is the light emitting diode 4 in FIG.
In place of 2, a light receiving element is provided.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of the terminal device 12a. This embodiment is similar to the configuration of the terminal device 12 shown in FIG. 6 described above, and corresponding parts are given the same reference numerals. What should be noted is that in this embodiment, after the light receiving element 9 included in the signal processing circuit 8 receives the signal from the transmission line 13b, the signal is transmitted to the transmission line 13f via the light emitting element 21. At the same time, it is applied to the branched transmission line 13d via the light emitting element 42. Transmission line 12
d receives each signal on the transmission line 13e and transmission line 1.3g, and sequentially leads the signals to the transmission line 13h. A plurality of such branched transmission lines 13d and 13e may be provided.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of terminal devices and the control/monitoring means are connected via a closed-loop transmission line, and therefore, the closed-loop transmission line is simply connected by, for example, an optical fiber. It can be constructed in one piece, which is particularly useful when lighting loads are distributed over large areas and long distances.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a simplified diagram showing a lighting load 15, and FIG. 3 is a terminal device 1.
2 is a block diagram showing the specific configuration of the terminal device 1.
Flowchart 1 for explaining the operation of the control circuit 22 of 2, FIG. 5 is transmission! FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the specific structure of the control and monitoring means 14, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are control circuits in the control and monitoring means 14. 9 is an overall block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the terminal 12 in FIG. 9.
FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the prior art, and FIG. 12 is a signal S used in the prior art shown in FIG. It is a figure showing the composition of S2. ], 2. 12a to 12d terminal device, 13.13
a~ ] 31] Transmission line, 14... Control monitoring means, ] 5
...Lighting load agent Patent attorney Keiichi Nishikyo "Figure 7] 1 Figure 8 Procedural amendment November 19, 1991

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of terminal devices that control and monitor lighting loads and have their own addresses, address signals that address the terminal devices, and control signals that control the lighting loads of the terminal devices. generate a signal containing
control monitoring means connected to form a closed loop transmission path with a plurality of terminal devices; the terminal device performs control when the address represented by the address signal of the signal from the control monitoring means matches its own address; A dimming control device that controls a lighting load or transmits monitoring information in response to a signal.