JPH1124621A - Display, display inspection device and display centralized monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a display inspection apparatus capable of detecting whether or not an abnormality has occurred in a transmission path of display data such as a shift register inside a display. Kind Code: A1 A display pattern generation unit included in an inspection unit (display inspection apparatus) that converts serial data having a repetition period equal to 1 / integer of the total number of bits of shift registers 40a to 40n included in a display 20 to be inspected. 12 and input this to the display unit 30. The NAND circuit 14
The value of the data input to the display unit 30 and the value of the data output from the display unit 30 are compared and collated, and the determination circuit 16 determines whether or not the operation of the display unit 30 is abnormal based on the comparison result. This makes it possible to detect not only an abnormality such as a power failure, but also the presence or absence of an abnormality due to a failure of a shift register in the display unit 30 or a transmission path of serial data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for outputting serial binary data input from an input terminal to an output terminal through an internal shift register and a plurality of binary data based on the binary data input to the shift register. The present invention relates to a display inspection device for inspecting whether a display for lighting a light emitting element operates normally, a display incorporating the same, and a display centralized monitoring device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, displays in which a large number of light-emitting elements such as light-emitting diodes are arranged in a matrix of length and width have been actively used. For example, it is arranged above a door for getting on and off a train, on an outer wall surface of a vehicle, and the like, and is used for various kinds of in-vehicle guidance and display of a train destination.

Conventionally, whether or not this type of display operates normally has been examined by checking whether or not a current flows when a predetermined display pattern is displayed. Also, whether or not the specified content is normally displayed is visually checked after setting the display content.

[0004]

However, if an abnormality occurs in the transmission path of the display data such as disconnection of the signal line, the display is turned on even if there is an abnormality in the display contents. In the inspection described above, the normality of the displayed contents could not be detected. Further, when visually inspecting whether or not the set characters are actually displayed, there is a problem that the inspection requires time and labor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such problems of the prior art, and is intended to detect whether or not an abnormality has occurred in display contents due to a failure in a transmission path of display data. It is an object of the present invention to provide a display inspection apparatus capable of performing the above, a display incorporating the same, and a display centralized monitoring apparatus.

[0006]

The gist of the present invention to achieve the above object lies in the following inventions. [1] Serial binary data input from an input terminal is output to an output terminal through internal shift registers (40a, 40b...), And the shift register (40
a, 40b...), based on the binary data input to the display device (30) for lighting the plurality of light-emitting elements (32) to check whether the display device (30) operates normally or not. The shift register (40a, 40a) includes both possible binary values of serial binary data and
b) serial data repeated as a unit of predetermined unit data consisting of a predetermined number of bits equal to an integral number of bits of the number of bits of the input data to the display (30) and the shift register (40a, 40b). ..), The input / output data comparing means (14) for sequentially comparing the serial data value output from the output terminal of the display (30) with the input / output data comparing means (14). A determination means (16) for determining whether the display (30) is operating normally or not, the display inspection apparatus (10).

[2] Serial binary data input from an input terminal is stored in an internal shift register (40a, 40b).
..) And output the plurality of light emitting elements (32) based on the binary data input to the shift registers (40a, 40b...).
0), the indicator tester (10) for checking whether or not the shift register (40a, 40b...) Includes both possible binary values of the serial binary data. A display data generation unit (12) for generating serial data that repeats with a cycle of unit data consisting of an integer number of bits equal to an integer number of bits, and input from the display data generation unit (12) to the display (30) And the shift register (4)
0a, 40b...), The input / output data comparing means (14) for sequentially comparing the serial data value output from the output terminal of the display (30), and the comparison result of the input / output data comparing means (14). The display (30) based on
Determining means (16) for determining whether the device is operating normally
And a display inspecting device (1)
0).

[3] The judging means (16) outputs at least the shift register (40) of the display (30) among the comparison results output from the input / output data comparing means (14).
a, 40b...) until the new type of serial data starts to be output from the output terminal of the display (30) through the shift register (40a, 40b...). The display inspection apparatus (10) according to [1] or [2], wherein it is determined whether or not the display (30) is operating normally based on the result of comparison between the two. .

[4] Display data for displaying various information on the display (30), the number of bits of which is equal to the number of bits of the shift register (40a, 40b...) Is displayed on the display. It is used as the serial data input to (30) and inspects whether or not the display (30) operates normally while displaying the display data [1], [2]. Or the display inspection device (10) according to [3].

[5] Serial binary data input from the input terminal is stored in the internal shift register (40a, 40b).
..), And outputs a plurality of light-emitting elements (32) based on the binary data input to the shift register (40a, 40b,...).
0) The display (20), wherein the display inspection apparatus according to [1], [2], [3] or [4] is incorporated as an inspection section (10).

[6] In a display centralized monitoring device (60) for inspecting a plurality of dispersedly installed indicators for abnormalities, [1] is provided near each of the dispersedly installed indicators. The display device inspection apparatus (10) according to [2], [3] or [4] is arranged, respectively, or the display device (20) according to [5] is used as the dispersively arranged display device. Inspection device (10) or each display (2
A determination result collection means (62) for collecting the determination result of the inspection unit (10) incorporated in the device (0) through a communication path (64);
And a display means for displaying the collected determination results are provided in the main body of the display centralized monitoring device (60), and the presence / absence of abnormalities of a plurality of display devices distributed and installed is displayed through the communication path (64). A centralized monitoring device for a display (60), wherein a centralized monitoring can be performed from a main body.

The present invention operates as follows. The display (30) to be inspected converts serial-format binary data input from an input terminal into an internal shift register (40).
a, 40b...) and output to the output terminal, and the 2 bits inputted to the shift register (40a, 40b.
A plurality of light emitting elements (32) are turned on based on the value data. Also, the display (30) includes both shift values (40a, 40a,
40b...) Are repeatedly input.

The input / output data comparing means (14) includes a serial data value input to the display (30) and serial data output from the output terminal of the display (30) through the shift registers (40a, 40b...). Are sequentially compared with each other, and the determination means (16) is provided with an input / output data comparison means (1).
Based on the comparison result of 4), it is determined whether the display (30) is operating normally.

The serial data input to the display unit (30) is an integer fraction of the bit number of the shift register (40a, 40b...), And is therefore input to the shift register (40a, 40b...). If the signal transmission path including the shift register (40a, 40b...) Is normal, the value of the serial data output from the output terminal always coincides with the value of the serial data output from the output terminal.

Therefore, the determination means (16) determines whether or not the comparison result of the input / output data comparison means (14), that is, whether the input data to the shift registers (40a, 40b...) And the output data match each other. The operation abnormality of the display (30) is detected based on

The determining means (16) includes a display (30).
After the new type of serial data starts to be input to the shift register (40)
a, 40b...) until output from the output terminal of the display (30) is started.
The comparison result output in 4) is ignored, and it is determined whether or not the display (30) is operating normally based on the comparison result output during periods other than this period.

As a result, the temporary inconsistency between the input data and the output data which occurs when the type of serial data input to the display (30) is switched is ignored, and the display content of the display (30) is changed. Inspection can be performed continuously while appropriately changing.

Further, various kinds of guidance information are displayed on a display (3).
0), which is display data to be displayed on the shift register (40a, 40a,
40b) is used as serial data to be input to the display (30), while the display (30) is operating normally during display of the display data. Can be inspected. Note that the display inspection apparatus may be incorporated in the display as the inspection unit (10).

Further, in a display centralized monitoring device (60) for centrally monitoring the presence or absence of an abnormality of a plurality of displays (30) distributed and installed, the inspection unit (1) is used as a display.
A display inspecting device (10) for each display (30) which uses a built-in device (0) or is distributed and installed.
Place. The judgment result collecting means (62) of the main unit of the display centralized monitoring device (60) includes an existing communication path (64).
The determination result is collected from the inspection unit (10) and the like through the display unit, and the display unit (63) of the main body unit displays the determination result collected by the determination result collection unit (62) on a display screen or the like.

Thus, the presence or absence of abnormalities of a plurality of indicators installed in a distributed manner can be monitored collectively from the indicator centralized monitoring device (60), and the number of inspection steps can be reduced.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a circuit configuration of a display 20 incorporating a display inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention as an inspection unit 10. The display 20
It has an inspection unit 10 and a display unit 30. The display unit 30
A large number of light emitting diodes 32 are arranged in a vertical and horizontal matrix, and a plurality of shift register type LED driver circuits 40a are provided to drive these light emitting diodes 32.
.. 40n are provided.

Shift register type LED driver circuit 40
a includes a shift register (not shown) and a driver circuit (not shown) for driving the light emitting diode 32 therein. Shift register type LED driver circuit 4
The shift register inside 0a is synchronized with the clock signal 51 input to the clock terminal 41a,
The data from a is sequentially shifted to the Sout terminal 43a,
After eight clocks, the signal is output from the Sout terminal 43a. The shift register type LED driver circuits 40b to 40n have the same configuration as the circuit 40a.

Shift register type LED driver circuit 40
a to 40n are connected in series, and the output from the Sout terminal 43 of the preceding stage shift register type LED driver circuit 40 is input to the Sin terminal 42 of the next stage shift register type LED driver circuit 40. The display data 52 is input to the Sin terminal 42a of the shift register type LED driver circuit 40a at the forefront stage of the display unit 30, and is input to the shift register type LED driver circuit 40 at the last stage.
n Sout terminal 43n is the output data 53 of the display unit 30.
It has become.

The inspection section 10 includes a display pattern generation section 12 for generating display data 52 and a clock signal 51 input to the display section 30. The display data 52 generated by the display pattern generation unit 12 is binary serial data in which each bit can take any one of 0 (low level) and 1 (high level). The display data 52 is the total number of bits when the plurality of shift register type LED driver circuits 40a to 40n included in the display unit 30 are serially connected, that is, the display data 52 input to the display unit 30 is the last bit. Shift register type LED
The same data is repeated with a cycle of a bit number (hereinafter, referred to as a unit bit number) equal to the clock number until the output data 53 is output from the driver circuit 40n.

The display pattern generation unit 12 includes a display data storage unit (not shown) in which various display data are stored, and an instruction signal 5 from an external control device.
The display data corresponding to the pattern number designated by 7 is transmitted to the display unit 30.
Even if the pattern number designated by the external control device is continuously changed, the display data 5 is not changed.
The change of the contents of 2 is performed after repeatedly sending the same display data 52 for at least two cycles.

The inspection unit 10 inverts a value obtained by calculating the logical product of the output data 53 from the display unit 30 and the display data 52 input to the display unit 30 and outputs the inverted value.
D) The circuit 14 is provided. Further, based on the output signal 55 of the NAND circuit 14, the presence or absence of an abnormality in the transmission path of the display data 52 including the shift register type LED driver circuit 40 is determined, and an abnormality detection signal 56 indicating the determination result is output. The determination circuit 16 is provided.

The display circuit 52 and the clock signal 51 are input to the determination circuit 16 in addition to the output signal 55 from the NAND circuit 14. Based on these signals, the determination circuit 16 detects that the content of the display data 52 has been changed, and until at least one cycle has elapsed since the new display data 52 began to be input to the display unit 30. During
The value of the output signal 55 of the NAND circuit 14 is ignored, and is not used for determining whether there is an abnormality in the transmission path.

Here, the output signal 55 of the NAND circuit 14
Becomes low level, and a low-level output signal 55 from the NAND circuit 14 is not input to a determination unit (not shown) of the determination circuit 16 until a period corresponding to one cycle of the display data 52 elapses. It is masked as follows.

The display pattern generator 12 and the decision circuit 16 are composed of a CPU (central processing unit), a ROM (read only memory), and a RAM (random access memory).
May be constituted by a circuit whose main part is.

The display 20 is used, for example, as an in-train information display of a train. The display pattern generator 12 displays various types of data, such as destination information and arrival information, to be displayed to passengers in addition to inspection display data. Display data is stored. The display data for the destination guidance and the like also includes the unit bit number described above, and the inspection unit 10 always checks whether or not the operation of the display unit 30 is abnormal even while displaying the destination guidance or the like on the display unit 30. To be inspected.

Next, the operation of the display 20 will be described.

When receiving the display instruction and the designation of the pattern number from the external control device, the inspection section 10 repeatedly sends the display data 52 corresponding to the designated pattern number to the display section 30. The display data 52 input to the display unit 30 is sequentially shifted by the input of the clock signal 51 and passed through shift register type LED driver circuits 40a, 40b,. After that, output from the display unit 30 starts.

Since the display data 52 is repeatedly input to the display unit 30 with the unit bit number as a cycle, the NAND circuit 1
4, the display data 52 of the current cycle and the display data 52 of one cycle immediately before this are input. Therefore, the values of the two data (bits) input to the NAND circuit 14 are the same, and the output signal 5 of the NAND circuit 14
5 is maintained at a low level.

On the other hand, when one of the shift register type LED driver circuits 40 included in the display unit 30 fails or the clock signal 51 is cut off, the input display data 52 is displayed on the display unit 30. Is not normally output as the output data 53. For example, clock signal 5
When 1 is turned off, the output data 53 is held at 0 or 1 and does not change. Therefore, the value of the display data 52 input to the NAND circuit 14 may be different from the value of the output data 53, and a state in which the output signal 55 of the NAND circuit 14 becomes high level may occur.

When the high-level output signal 55 is input from the NAND circuit 14, the determination circuit 16 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the display unit 30, and outputs an abnormality detection signal 56.
The determination circuit 16 starts displaying the display data 52 from the time when the high-level output signal 55 is input from the NAND circuit 14.
Until the period of one cycle has elapsed, even if the output signal 55 of the NAND circuit 14 goes high, it is determined that the display unit 30 is not abnormal.

Display data 52 is displayed on the display unit 30 in the initial state.
Is transmitted, or when the contents of the display data 52 are exchanged in order to change the contents of characters and the like displayed on the display unit 30, the display data inputted to the NAND circuit 14 for one cycle thereafter. A state where the value of the data 52 and the value of the output data 53 of the display unit 30 are different may occur. Therefore, this is not determined to be an abnormality of the display unit 30 or the like.

For example, a counter for subtracting and counting from a number corresponding to twice the number of unit bits is provided in the judgment circuit 16, and the counter is reset to the reset state until the output signal 55 of the NAND circuit 14 goes high. The value of the upper bit is set to 0. When the high-level output signal 55 is input, the reset is released, the initial value is preset, the most significant bit is set to 1, and then the subtraction count is started.

The value obtained by calculating the logical product of the value obtained by inverting the most significant bit of the counter and the output signal 55 of the NAND circuit 14 is used for the determination. When the borrow signal is output from the counter, the counter for stopping the counting operation is reset.

Thus, the output signal 5 of the NAND circuit 14
For one cycle after 5 changes to the high level, the output signal 55 of the NAND circuit 14 is masked and the low level is maintained.

In addition, when the display pattern generator 12 and the determination circuit 16 are constituted by a circuit using a CPU or the like,
The output signal 55 from the NAND circuit 14 may be ignored in software until one cycle period elapses after the content of the display data 52 is changed.

Next, the display central monitoring device 60 will be described. FIG. 2 shows a system configuration of a display system using the display centralized monitoring device 60. The display centralized monitoring device 60 includes a plurality of displays 2 arranged in a distributed manner.
0a, 20b... Are to be inspected. These indicators 2
. Have the same configuration as the display unit 20 described above, and include the inspection units 10a, 10b.
0a, 30b... Display central monitoring device 60
Are connected to each other via a communication path 64 for transmitting various signals. Here, the display centralized monitoring device 60 and each display 20a, 20b
Are connected by a LAN.

The display centralized monitoring device 60 is provided with an integrated control unit 62 for integrally controlling the operation of the entire system, and a display for displaying the inspection result of whether the dispersedly arranged indicators 20a, 20b. And a display device 63. The overall control unit 62 has a function of transmitting inspection and display instructions through the communication path 64, a function of receiving inspection results from the inspection units 10a, 10b,. Control is performed.

The present display system is used, for example, as an in-vehicle guidance information display system mounted on a train. The display centralized monitoring device 60 is installed in the vicinity of the driver's seat of the leading vehicle, and the displays 20a, 20b. It is arranged above the entrance door of each vehicle. Indicator 20 installed in each vehicle
The inspection of a, 20b,... is always performed during the operation of the train, in addition to the inspection at the start of work.

The display centralized monitoring device 60 performs an operation test of the display units 30a, 30b... Of the respective display units 20a, 20b. Is sent out. Also, during operation of the train, a pattern number is transmitted so as to display destination guidance according to the operation state. In response to this, the inspection units 10a, 10b,... Of the respective display units transmit the designated display data 52 to the display units 30a, 30b,. Is displayed, and at the same time, the presence / absence of an abnormal operation is checked.

Each of the indicators 20a, 20b,... Is assigned an identification number.
.. Detect an abnormal operation of the display units 30a, 30b,..., And transmit an abnormality detection signal 56 together with an identification number assigned to the display units 30a, 30b to the display centralized monitoring device 60 through the communication path 64. The display centralized monitoring device 60 includes the respective displays 20a,
.. Based on the abnormality detection signal 56 sent from the inspection units 10a, 10b,.
Is displayed on the display device 63 as to whether or not there is a failure.

Thus, it is possible to remotely monitor whether or not the indicators 20a, 20b... Installed on each vehicle are operating normally from the train driver's seat or the like. In addition, since the inspection can be performed at all times even when the destination guidance or the like is displayed, it is possible to take an emergency measure to stop the display on the display when an abnormality is detected.

In the embodiment described above, the display unit 30
The display data 52 having the repetition period of the number of bits equal to the total number of bits (unit number of bits) shifted by the shift register type LED driver circuit 40 included in the above is used, but it is one half or three minutes of the unit number of bits. For example, display data having a bit number equal to 1 / an arbitrary integer such as 1 may be used.
By setting it to an integer, the bit input to the display unit 30 and the bit output from the display unit 30 become the same bit within one cycle, and a mismatch occurs only when an error occurs in the shift register or the like. As a result, the same operation as in the case of the unit bit number is performed.

Further, in the embodiment, the display unit inspection device is incorporated as the inspection unit 10 of the display unit 20.
The inspection unit 10 may be provided separately without being built in the display. For example, the inspection unit 10 may be a separate substrate, which may be arranged near the display 20. further,
In the embodiment, the display pattern generation unit 1 is provided in the inspection unit 10.
2, the display pattern generating unit 12 may be provided separately and independently from the inspection unit 10.

[0049]

According to the display inspecting apparatus of the present invention and the display incorporating the same as an inspecting unit, the repetition period of 1 / integer of the total number of bits of the shift register of the display to be inspected is determined. Input the serial data provided to the display unit, and determine whether there is an abnormality in the operation of the display unit based on the result of comparing and comparing the value of the data input to the display unit with the value of the data output from the display unit Therefore, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of an abnormality due to a failure of the shift register in the display or the transmission path of the serial data, in addition to an abnormality such as a power failure.

The comparison result between the time when the new type of serial data starts to be input to the display and the time when the new type of serial data starts to be output from the output terminal of the display through the shift register is not included in the judgment but ignored. In such a configuration, the inspection can be continuously performed while appropriately changing the display contents.

Further, the number of bits of the display data for displaying various kinds of guidance information on the display is made the same as the number of bits of the shift register of the display, and the display is inspected with the normal display data. In this case, whether or not the display is operating normally can be checked in parallel during display of the display data.

In the display centralized monitoring apparatus according to the present invention, a display having a built-in inspection unit may be used as a distributed display, or a display inspection device may be provided for each display, and the inspection unit, etc. Inspection results are collected via a communication channel, so that the presence or absence of abnormalities in a plurality of display units installed in a distributed manner can be remotely monitored collectively from the main unit of the monitor unit. The number of steps can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a display according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a display system using a display centralized monitoring device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Inspection part (display inspection apparatus) 12 ... Display pattern generation part 14 ... NAND circuit 16 ... Judgment circuit 20 ... Display 30 ... Display part 32 ... Light emitting diode 40 ... Shift register type LED driver circuit 41 ... Clock terminal 42 ... Sin terminal 43 ... Sout terminal 51 ... clock signal 52 ... display data 53 ... output data 55 ... output signal 56 ... abnormality detection signal 57 ... instruction signal 60 ... display central monitoring device 62 ... overall control unit 63 ... display device 64 ... Communication channel

Claims (6)

[Claims] A display for outputting binary data in a serial format input from an input terminal to an output terminal through an internal shift register and for lighting a plurality of light emitting elements based on the binary data input to the shift register. A display inspecting device for inspecting whether or not the device normally operates, comprising: a bit number that is both an integral number of the bit number of the shift register and includes both possible binary values of the binary data in the serial format. Is a serial data which is repeated as a unit of predetermined unit data consisting of the following, and which is successively compared with a value of the serial data input to the display and a value of the serial data output from the output terminal of the display through the shift register. Output data comparing means for determining whether or not the display is operating normally based on a comparison result of the input / output data comparing means; Display inspection apparatus characterized by comprising a means. 2. A display for outputting binary data in a serial format input from an input terminal to an output terminal through an internal shift register and lighting a plurality of light emitting elements based on the binary data input to the shift register. A display inspecting device for inspecting whether or not the device normally operates, comprising: a bit number that is both an integral number of the bit number of the shift register and includes both possible binary values of the binary data in the serial format. Display data generating means for generating serial data that is repeated with a unit data consisting of: a serial data value input to the display from the display data generating means and output from the output terminal of the display through the shift register. Input / output data comparison means for successively comparing the serial data values with the input / output data comparison means based on a comparison result of the input / output data comparison means. To the indicator display inspection apparatus characterized by comprising: a determination means for determining whether operating normally. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit determines that the new type of serial data has not been input to at least the shift register of the display unit among the comparison results output from the input / output data comparing unit. 2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the display device determines whether or not the display device is operating normally based on a result obtained by excluding a comparison result from the output terminal of the display device through the shift register until the output terminal starts outputting. Or the display inspection apparatus according to 2. 4. Display data for displaying various information on the display, the number of bits of which is equal to the number of bits of the shift register is used as the serial data input to the display. 4. The display inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an inspection is performed as to whether the display is operating normally while the display data is being displayed. 5. A display for outputting serial binary data input from an input terminal to an output terminal through an internal shift register and lighting a plurality of light emitting elements based on the binary data input to the shift register. A display device, wherein the display inspection device according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4 is incorporated as an inspection unit. 6. A display centralized monitoring device for inspecting a plurality of display devices arranged in a distributed manner for the presence or absence of an abnormality, wherein:
6. The display inspection apparatus according to claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein the display inspection apparatus is arranged or the display is arranged in a distributed manner.
A judgment result collection unit that collects judgment results of the inspection unit included in the display inspection device or each of the inspection units through a communication path, and a display unit that displays the collected judgment results. A display provided in the centralized monitoring device main body, wherein the presence / absence of abnormalities of a plurality of displays installed in a distributed manner can be centrally monitored from the display centralized monitoring device main body through the communication path; Centralized monitoring device.