JP2011070955A - Lighting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an illumination system capable of individual control over a plurality of illumination devices while being able to operate without using a push button or a slide switch in a remote control device.
A remote control device 1 includes a prismatic housing 10. The wireless signal transmitted by the remote control device 1 includes a channel number corresponding to which of the side surfaces of the housing 10 is directed upward, and control information corresponding to the inclination of the housing 10 in the axial direction with respect to the horizontal direction. Including. The lighting device operates according to the control information included in the wireless signal only when a wireless signal including a preset channel number is received. In each of the plurality of lighting devices, different channel numbers are set, and if the remote controller 1 is appropriately tilted with the side surface corresponding to the channel number of the lighting device to be operated facing upward, the lighting devices are individually controlled. Can do.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a lighting system.

  Conventionally, a remote control device that has a portable size and transmits a wireless signal according to a user's operation input, and a wireless signal that is received from the remote control device that is fixed to the ceiling or the like while holding an electrical light source And an illumination device that controls the light source according to the above.

  Further, in the remote control device, instead of using a push button or a slide switch as means for receiving an operation input, it is proposed that an operation can be performed by rotating or shaking the remote control device itself using an acceleration sensor or the like. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). By adopting the above configuration, the push button and the slide switch are not necessary, and thus the remote control device can be downsized, and the operation is easy even for a user who is not good at using the fingertip, such as an elderly person.

JP 2003-111171 A

  However, in the conventional remote control device, for example, when a plurality of illumination devices of the same type are arranged close to each other, the user wants to control only one of the plurality of illumination devices by the remote control device. However, it is almost impossible for only one lighting device to receive a wireless signal, and the plurality of lighting devices have been controlled simultaneously.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described reasons, and its purpose is to enable individual control over a plurality of lighting devices while the remote control device can be operated without using push buttons or slide switches. It is to provide a possible lighting system.

  The invention of claim 1 is an illumination system comprising at least one remote controller and one illumination device, each remote controller being housed in a polygonal column-shaped housing, and the attitude of the housing with respect to the direction of gravity. Each of the illuminating devices has a posture detecting unit for detecting the wireless signal and a transmitting unit that is housed in the housing and transmits a wireless signal that is a wireless signal corresponding to the posture detected by the posture detecting unit and that uses radio waves as a medium. And a lighting unit that turns on the electrical light source, a receiving unit that receives a wireless signal transmitted from the remote control device, and a control unit that controls the lighting unit according to the wireless signal received by the receiving unit. In each remote control device, a predetermined plurality of side surfaces of the housing are respectively associated with different channels. The transmitter is configured as a channel designating surface, and any one of the channel designating surfaces is directed upward, and one end in the axial direction of the housing is located above a predetermined width and above the other end. And transmitting a wireless signal including channel information indicating a channel associated with the channel designation surface facing upward and control information according to which of the two axial ends of the housing is located on the upper side. Each lighting device includes a channel setting unit in which one of the plurality of channels associated with the channel designation surface is preset, and each lighting device has a control unit. Only when the wireless signal including the channel information indicating the channel set in the channel setting unit is received by the receiving unit, And controlling the lighting unit in accordance with the control information included in the wireless signal.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to operate the remote control device without tilting the push button or the slide switch by tilting the housing, but by setting different channel numbers to the plurality of lighting devices, The lighting devices can be individually controlled by tilting the remote control device with the channel designation surface corresponding to the channel number of the lighting device to be controlled facing upward.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the light output of the light source to be turned on by the lighting unit changes in light output according to the supplied power. When a predetermined one of both ends in the axial direction of the housing is located above the other end, the control information instructs to increase the light output of the light source, and the other end in the axial direction of the housing is above the one end. When it is located, the control information instructs to decrease the light output of the light source.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in each of the remote control devices according to the first or second aspect of the invention, the wireless signal transmitted by the transmission unit includes an identification number that is a unique number for each remote control device. Each of the lighting devices has an operation setting unit in which any one of a normal mode that operates according to a received wireless signal and a registration mode that registers an identification number is set, and a registration mode. A storage unit for storing the registered identification number, and in each lighting device, the control unit sets the channel setting unit during the period when the operation mode set in the operation setting unit is the registration mode. When the reception unit receives a wireless signal including channel information indicating the set channel, the identification number included in the wireless signal is stored in the storage unit, and the operation setting is set. In the period when the operation mode set in the unit is the normal mode, the wireless signal is ignored even if the receiving unit receives a wireless signal that does not include the identification number stored in the storage unit. To do.

  According to the present invention, the remote control device can be used properly for each lighting device.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the number of channel designation surfaces is three or more.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, in each of the remote control devices, a predetermined plurality of side surfaces of the housing are channel designation surfaces associated with different channels, and the transmitter is configured to transmit the channel designation surface. When one of these is oriented upward and one end in the axial direction of the housing is positioned above the predetermined width and above the other end, it is associated with the channel designating surface oriented upward It transmits a wireless signal including channel information indicating a channel and control information according to which one of the two axial ends of the housing is located on the upper side. Each lighting device includes a channel setting unit in which one of a plurality of channels associated with a surface is preset. The control unit controls the lighting unit according to the control information included in the wireless signal only when the reception unit receives a wireless signal including channel information indicating the channel set in the channel setting unit. The remote control device can be operated without using a push button or a slide switch by tilting the housing, but by setting different channel numbers for each of the plurality of lighting devices, By tilting the remote control device with the channel designation surface corresponding to the channel number of the lighting device to be controlled facing upward, the lighting device can be individually controlled.

  According to the invention of claim 3, in each of the remote control devices, the wireless signal transmitted by the transmission unit includes an identification number that is a unique number for each remote control device, An operation setting unit in which any one of a normal mode that operates according to a received wireless signal and a registration mode in which an identification number is registered is set, and an identification number that is registered in the registration mode is stored. In each lighting device, each control unit has channel information indicating a channel set in the channel setting unit during a period in which the operation mode set in the operation setting unit is the registration mode. When the receiving wireless signal is received by the receiving unit, the identification number included in the wireless signal is stored in the storage unit, and the operation mode set in the operation setting unit During the period of the normal mode, even if a wireless signal that does not include the identification number stored in the storage unit is received by the receiving unit, the wireless signal is ignored, so that it is possible to use different remote control devices for each lighting device. .

(A) and (b) each show the remote control device in an embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a perspective view, and (b) is an explanatory view showing an operation method. It is a circuit block diagram which shows the same as the above. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement in normal mode of the control part of an illuminating device same as the above.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the present embodiment includes a remote control device 1 that receives a manipulation input by a user and transmits a wireless signal, and a lighting device 2 that operates according to the wireless signal from the remote control device 1.

  First, the remote control device 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1A, the remote control device 1 includes a quadrangular prism-shaped housing 10 whose bottom surface is a rectangular shape that is not square. Hereinafter, a direction parallel to the short side of the bottom surface in the housing 10 (vertical direction in FIG. 1A) is referred to as a thickness direction of the housing 10. Furthermore, the attitude detection unit 11 that detects the attitude of the housing 10 with respect to the direction of gravity, the transmission control unit 12 that generates an electrical signal corresponding to the attitude detected by the attitude detection unit 11, and the output of the transmission control unit 12 are Are respectively housed and held in the housing 10.

  As shown in FIG. 1B, the posture detection unit 11 detects which of the surfaces in the thickness direction of the housing 10 (upper and lower surfaces in FIG. 1A) is directed upward. A sensor 11a and a pitch sensor 11b that detects an inclination of the axial direction of the housing 10 (left and right direction in FIG. 1A) with respect to the horizontal direction (that is, an angle formed with respect to the horizontal plane HO) are provided. Since the roll sensor 11a and the pitch sensor 11b as described above can be realized by a well-known technique using, for example, a tilt switch or an acceleration sensor, detailed illustration and description thereof are omitted.

  The transmission control unit 12 causes the transmission unit 13 to transmit a wireless signal during a period in which the pitch sensor 11b detects that the axial inclination of the housing 10 with respect to the horizontal direction is less than the predetermined allowable angle α. Absent. That is, the value obtained by multiplying the axial length of the housing 10 by the sine sin α of the allowable angle α is the predetermined width in the claims. On the other hand, if the pitch sensor 11b detects that the axial inclination of the housing 10 with respect to the horizontal direction is equal to or greater than the predetermined allowable angle α, the transmission control unit 12 is on the upper side of the longitudinal direction of the housing 10. The transmission unit 13 is controlled to transmit a wireless signal including control information according to whether the remote control device 1 is present and an identification number predetermined for each remote control device 1. Specifically, if the predetermined end in the longitudinal direction of the housing 10 (left end in FIG. 1B) is on the upper side as in the clockwise remote control device 1A in FIG. If the other end in the longitudinal direction of the housing 10 (the right end in FIG. 1B) is on the upper side like the counterclockwise remote control device 1B in FIG. The control information instructs to decrease the light output. Furthermore, each surface in the thickness direction of the housing 10 has a channel designation surface associated with a different channel number, and the above wireless signal is associated with the channel designation surface facing upward. Included channel number. Since the transmission control unit 12 as described above can be realized by a well-known technique using an integrated circuit called a microcomputer, for example, detailed illustration and description are omitted. Although not shown, each channel designation surface in the housing 10 has a display indicating the associated channel number, and an instruction to increase the light output when the longitudinal direction of the housing 10 is on the upper side. A display indicating whether the predetermined end is to be performed is given by, for example, printing. It should be noted that a display indicating the channel number is provided near one end in the longitudinal direction of the housing 10, that is, the one end and the other end in the longitudinal direction of the housing 10 can be distinguished from each other so as to serve as the above two types of displays. Good.

  Here, as an operation of the transmission control unit 12 when the period in which the pitch sensor 11b detects that the inclination of the axial direction of the housing 10 with respect to the horizontal direction is equal to or larger than the allowable angle α is, for example, a wireless signal once Until the pitch sensor 11b detects that the inclination of the axial direction of the housing 10 with respect to the horizontal direction is less than the allowable angle α. Disable wireless signal transmission. Alternatively, the wireless signal may be transmitted periodically at predetermined intervals during the period.

  The transmission unit 13 can be configured by, for example, an amplification circuit that amplifies the electric signal input from the transmission control unit 12 and an antenna connected to the amplification circuit, and can be realized by a well-known technique. Illustration and description are omitted.

  Next, the lighting device 2 will be described. The illuminating device 2 includes a main light source lighting unit 21 and a nightlight lighting unit 22 that turn on an electric light source (not shown), a receiving unit 23 that receives a wireless signal transmitted from the remote control device 1, and a channel designation surface. A channel setting unit 24 for accepting an operation input for setting any one of the channel numbers associated with the operation number, and an operation setting unit 25 for selectively setting one of the normal mode and the registration mode. The storage unit 26 that stores the identification number registered during the period in which the operation mode is the registration mode, and the control unit 27 that controls the main light source lighting unit 21 and the nightlight lighting unit 22 are provided.

  For example, a discharge lamp or a light-emitting diode can be used as a light source (hereinafter, referred to as “main light source”) to be turned on by the main light source lighting unit 21. .) Can be a small incandescent lamp, for example. The nightlight lighting unit 22 can be realized by, for example, a known switching element that is inserted into a power supply path to the nightlight and is controlled to be turned on and off by the control unit 27. In addition, the main light source lighting unit 21 changes the power output to the main light source in accordance with control by the control unit 27, thereby changing the light output of the main light source within a predetermined light output range. Since the main light source lighting unit 21 and the nightlight lighting unit 22 as described above can be realized by a known technique, detailed illustration and description thereof are omitted.

  In the channel setting unit 24 and the operation setting unit 25, for example, as in the case of a dip switch or a rotary switch, the contact state is switched by receiving an operation force, and the contact state is maintained until the next operation force is received. Known switches can be used. In this case, each contact state corresponds to one channel number or operation mode. Further, a push button switch may be used for the operation setting unit 25. In this case, the control unit 27 registers the operation mode when the push button of the operation setting unit 25 is pressed while the operation mode is the normal mode. Switch to mode.

  The storage unit 26 includes a known nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the control unit 27 will be described.

  During the period when the operation mode set in the operation setting unit 25 is the registration mode, the control unit 27 receives the wireless signal including the channel number set in the channel setting unit 24 when the receiving unit 23 receives the wireless signal. The identification number included in the wireless signal is stored (registered) in the storage unit 26. With respect to the return from the registration mode to the normal mode, the mode may be automatically returned to the normal mode every time one identification number is stored in the storage unit 26, or according to the operation input to the operation setting unit 25. You may make it return to normal mode.

  During the period when the operation mode set in the operation setting unit 25 is the normal mode, the control unit 27 includes the channel number set in the channel setting unit 24 and the identification number stored in the storage unit 26. When the receiving wireless signal is received by the receiving unit 23, the main light source lighting unit 21 and the nightlight lighting unit 22 are controlled according to the control information included in the wireless signal.

  The operation of the control unit 27 during the period in which the operation mode is the normal mode will be specifically described with reference to FIG. When starting the operation in the normal mode (S1), the control unit 27 continues to monitor the output of the receiving unit 23 until some wireless signal is received by the receiving unit 23 (S2). When the reception unit 23 receives the wireless signal (Y in S2), it is determined whether or not the identification number included in the wireless signal is stored in the storage unit 26 (that is, registered) ( Further, it is determined whether or not the channel number included in the wireless signal matches the channel number set in the channel setting unit 24 (S4). If the channel number included in the wireless signal matches the channel number set in the channel setting unit 24 and the identification number included in the wireless signal is stored in the storage unit 26 (S3, S4) In both cases, the process proceeds to the next step S5. In cases other than the above (N in S3 or N in S4), the operation according to the wireless signal is not performed, and the process returns to step S2 to continue monitoring the output of the receiving unit 23.

  In the next step S5, the control information included in the wireless signal is referred to. If the control information indicates an increase in light output (Y in S5), it is first determined whether or not the night-light is on (S6). If the nightlight is on (Y in S6), the nightlight is turned off, the main light source is turned on (S7), and the process returns to step S2. Here, as already described, the light output of the main light source is controlled within a predetermined light output range, and in step S7, the light output of the main light source is the lower limit value of the light output range (hereinafter referred to as “lower limit”). Called “light output”). If the nightlight is off in step S6 (N in S6), it is determined whether the main light source is on (S8), and if it is determined that the main light source is off (S8). N), the nightlight lighting unit 22 is controlled to start lighting the nightlight (S9). If it is determined in step S8 that the main light source is on, then the light output of the main light source is the upper limit of the above light output range (for example, the rated power is continuously supplied to the main light source). (Hereinafter, referred to as “upper limit light output”) is determined (S10). If it is determined in step S10 that the light output of the main light source is not the upper limit light output, the main light source lighting unit 21 is controlled to increase the light output of the main light source by a predetermined width (S11), and the process returns to step S2. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S10 that the light output of the main light source is the upper limit light output, the process returns to step S2 without changing the light output of the main light source.

  In step S5, if the control information indicates a decrease in light output (N in S5), it is determined whether or not the night-light is on (S12). If it is determined in step S12 that the nightlight is on, the nightlight lighting unit 22 is controlled to turn off the nightlight (S13), and the process returns to step S2. If it is determined in step 12 that the nightlight is turned off (N in step S12), it is determined whether or not the main light source is turned on (S14). If it is determined in step S14 that the main light source is turned off (N in S14), the process returns to step S2 without controlling the main light source lighting unit 21 and the nightlight lighting unit 22. If it is determined in step S14 that the main light source is on (Y in S14), it is further determined whether or not the light output of the main light source has reached the lower limit light output (S15), and the light output of the main light source is determined. Does not reach the lower limit light output (N in S15), the main light source lighting unit 21 is controlled to reduce the light output of the main light source by a predetermined width (S16), and the process returns to step S2. In step S15, if the light output of the main light source has reached the lower limit light output (Y in S15), the main light source lighting unit 21 is controlled to turn off the main light source, and the night light is turned on. The nightlight lighting unit 22 is controlled (S17), and the process returns to step S2.

  According to the above configuration, even when the two lighting devices 2 are arranged close to each other, if different channel numbers are set in the channel setting unit 24 of the two lighting devices 2, the remote controller By directing the channel setting surface corresponding to the illumination device 2 to be operated upward when the device 1 is operated, only the illumination device 2 intended by the user can be controlled.

  Further, by registering the identification information, it is possible to use the remote control device 1 properly for each lighting device 2.

  Note that the number of channel setting planes may be three or more. For example, if all four side surfaces of the remote control device 1 are channel setting surfaces, and there are four channel numbers, it is possible to control four lighting devices 2 arranged close to each other one by one. is there. Further, if the housing 10 of the remote control device 1 is formed in a polygonal column shape such that the number of side surfaces (that is, the number of sides on each bottom surface) is 5 or more, the total number of channel setting surfaces and channel numbers is 5 or more. You can also

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Remote control device 2 Illuminating device 10 Housing 11 Posture detection part 13 Transmission part 21 Main light source lighting part (lighting part in a claim)
23 receiving unit 24 channel setting unit 25 operation setting unit 26 storage unit 27 control unit

Claims (4)

An illumination system comprising at least one remote control device and one illumination device,
Each remote control device
A prismatic housing;
An attitude detector that is housed in the housing and detects the attitude of the housing relative to the direction of gravity;
A transmission unit that is housed in a housing and transmits a wireless signal that is a wireless signal corresponding to the posture detected by the posture detection unit and that uses a radio wave as a medium;
Each lighting device
A lighting part for turning on an electrical light source;
A receiver for receiving a wireless signal transmitted from the remote control device;
A control unit that controls the lighting unit according to the wireless signal received by the receiving unit,
In each of the remote control devices, a predetermined plurality of side surfaces of the housing are channel designation surfaces associated with different channels, and the transmission unit has any of the channel designation surfaces facing upward. And channel information indicating a channel associated with a channel designating surface directed upward when one end in the axial direction of the housing is positioned above a predetermined width and above the other end, and the housing A wireless signal including control information according to which of the two ends in the axial direction is located on the upper side,
Each lighting device includes a channel setting unit in which one of the plurality of channels associated with the channel designation surface is preset,
In each lighting device, the control unit sets the lighting unit according to the control information included in the wireless signal only when the reception unit receives a wireless signal including channel information indicating the channel set in the channel setting unit. A lighting system characterized by controlling. The light source to be lit by the lighting unit changes the light output according to the supplied power,
In each remote control device, the transmission unit instructs the increase of the light output of the light source in the control information when a predetermined one of the two ends in the axial direction of the housing is located above the other end, and the axial direction of the housing The lighting system according to claim 1, wherein when the other end of the light source is positioned above the one end, a decrease in light output of the light source is instructed in the control information. In each remote control device, the wireless signal transmitted by the transmission unit includes an identification number that is a unique number for each remote control device,
Each lighting device is registered in the registration mode and the operation setting unit in which any one of the normal mode that operates according to the received wireless signal and the registration mode that registers the identification number is set. A storage unit in which the identification number is stored,
In each lighting device, the control unit transmits a wireless signal including channel information indicating the channel set in the channel setting unit to the receiving unit during the period in which the operation mode set in the operation setting unit is the registration mode. When received, the identification number included in the wireless signal is stored in the storage unit, and the identification number stored in the storage unit is included in the period when the operation mode set in the operation setting unit is the normal mode. 3. The illumination system according to claim 1, wherein the wireless signal is ignored even if the wireless signal is received by the receiving unit.   4. The illumination system according to claim 1, wherein the number of channel designation surfaces is three or more.

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