JPH03145094A - Load control system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a load control system, and a load control system suitable for use in a dimming lighting control system that performs dimming control of a lighting load, for example. Regarding.

(Prior art) Conventionally, this type of load control system has been known as a lighting control system that centrally controls one or more lighting loads connected to each of a plurality of terminal devices based on control signals from a main operation panel. systems are known. In a terminal device in such a load control system, for example, in a dimming terminal device for performing dimming control, a fail-safe function is activated when an abnormality in the transmission line, such as a short circuit or open circuit in the transmission line, is detected.
A method was used to fix the state of the load by outputting a signal to the connected lighting load to turn on all the lights (all lights on 100%) or turn off the lights (all lights off).

Additionally, this type of terminal may be separated from the transmission line and used for personal dimming, for example, but in this case, a dummy transmission signal generator (
A pseudo transmission circuit section) was required.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram showing the internal configuration of a terminal device of a conventional lighting control system. In the figure, 51 is a transmission line for exchanging transmission signals with the main operation panel;
52 is a transmission interface; 53 is a control unit that controls the entire operation of the terminal, such as sending and receiving transmission signals and controlling a load (not shown); 54 is a dummy transmission signal generating unit when this terminal is used for personal dimming; 55 is an output control data line connected to a load (not shown), 56 is a local volume circuit 5
This is a connection line that connects to 7.

Even when control is being performed according to control data based on a time schedule output from the main operation panel, the hand volume circuit 57 can be used to operate the hand switch, for example, inside the room where the lighting load to be controlled is located. By adjusting the hand volume switch located on the
This is for controlling the level of brightness of a given lighting load.

As described above, the dummy transmission signal generating section 54 is a circuit that generates a dummy transmission signal when this terminal device is used for personal dimming.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, according to the above-mentioned failsafe function that detects a transmission line abnormality and turns on or off the lights, the entire load remains in a fixed on/off state until the transmission line abnormality is recovered. ,
The problem was that it was inconvenient.

Further, in a terminal device to which a dummy transmission signal generating section is connected, there have been problems such as an increase in cost and a large size due to the dummy circuit.

In view of the above-mentioned problems in the conventional example, the present invention makes it possible to control the level even when a transmission line abnormality occurs, instead of keeping the total load in a fixed state, and to control the terminal equipment individually (for example, a personal An object of the present invention is to provide a load control system that can control the load level using the same internal configuration without requiring special circuits such as dummy circuits even when used in optical applications.

[Configuration of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problem) In order to achieve the above object, a load control system according to the present invention comprises a main operation panel and a system connected to the main operation panel via a transmission line. A load control system comprising a plurality of terminal devices each connected to one or more loads, the load control system controlling the loads based on control data transmitted from the main operation panel, and detecting abnormalities in the transmission line. transmission line abnormality detection means; control level adjustment means for adjusting the control level of the load in accordance with the load; and when the transmission line abnormality detection means detects a transmission line abnormality, the control level adjustment means adjusts the control level of the load; The present invention is characterized by comprising a control means for automatically switching to a state in which load level control is possible.

(Function) According to the above configuration, the transmission line abnormality detecting means detects a transmission line abnormality such as a short circuit or an open circuit in the transmission line. At this time, the Il'Is means ignores the transmitted level control data and automatically switches to perform load level control using the level control data from the control level adjusting means (for example, a handheld volume switch in dimming control).

In this case, it is convenient if the level controllable range by the control level adjusting means covers the entire load level controllable range.

Further, when the transmission line abnormality is restored, it is preferable to automatically switch to normal level control by calculating the level control data by the transmission and the level control data by the control level adjusting means.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a load control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system of this embodiment is an application of the present invention to a lighting control system that performs dimming control of a lighting load.

The lighting control system in the figure includes a main operation panel 1, a plurality of dimming terminals 3 connected to the main operation panel 1 via a transmission line 2, and one or more lights connected to each dimming terminal 3. It is composed of a load (lighting equipment) 4 and the like. 5 is the dimming terminal 3
This is a dimming signal line that connects the lighting load 4 and the lighting load 4. Reference numeral 6 denotes a handheld volume switch corresponding to the lighting load 4, and by adjusting this, individual dimming control of the corresponding lighting load 4 can be performed. Hand volume switch 6
A plurality of lamps are provided corresponding to the lighting fixtures 4.

FIG. 2 shows the dimming terminal 3 in the system of this embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of. In this figure, the same members as in FIG. 1 are designated by the same numbers.

In FIG. 2, 31 is a transmission interface section for receiving the transmission signal on the transmission line 2 and transmitting the transmission signal to the transmission line 2, and 32 is a transmission interface section for receiving the transmission signal on the transmission line 2 and transmitting the transmission signal to the transmission line 2. 33 is a terminal device address setting device, 34
35 is a dimming control unit that controls the operation of the entire terminal device such as level control based on data transmitted from the main operation panel; 35 is a dimming output interface unit for outputting a dimming signal; 36
Reference numeral 37 indicates a volume input interface section for exchanging data between the handheld volume switch 6 and the dimming control section 34, and a transmission line abnormality detection section 37 detects an abnormality in the transmission line from the transmission interface section 31.

Next, the operation of this dimming terminal device will be explained with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

First, when processing of the terminal device starts, in step S1, the transmission line abnormality detection section 37 detects whether or not there is an abnormality in the transmission line 2. This detection result is sent to the dimming control section 34 as a detection signal. If a transmission line abnormality has occurred in step S2, the control is switched to dimming using only the dimming control data from the handheld volume switch 6 in step S3. Then, in step S4, the dimming control unit 34 creates a dimming signal based only on the dimming control data from the handheld volume switch 6, and sends the dimming signal to each lighting fixture 4 via the dimming output interface unit 35. Send. Thereby, when a transmission line abnormality occurs, dimming control of the lighting fixture 4 can be performed using the handheld volume switch 6. After step S4, the process returns to step S1 and repeats this process.

If no transmission line abnormality has occurred in step S2, the dimming control data based on the transmission signal sent from the main operation panel 1 and the dimming control data from the handheld volume switch 6 are calculated in step S5, and A dimming signal is created based on the result, and the lighting load 4 is dimmed and controlled using this signal. After step S5, the process advances to step S4. This is normal dimming control processing, and the calculation here refers to the multiplication of the dimming control data based on the transmission signal sent from the main operation panel 1 and the dimming control data sent from the handheld volume switch 6. These calculations include performing visual sensitivity correction.

Note that a storage device may be provided inside the dimming control unit 34 to store and hold the state before the transmission line abnormality occurs, and to restore the previous state when the transmission line abnormality is recovered.

The terminal device of this embodiment described above can also be used for personal dimming without being connected to a transmission line. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram when the terminal device of the above embodiment is used for personal light control. In the figure, the transmission line is not connected to the dimming terminal device 3, and it has an independent configuration. The internal configuration of the dimming terminal 3 may be the same as shown in FIG. 2.

In this configuration, since the transmission line is not connected, the transmission line abnormality detection section 37 inside the terminal device 3 always detects transmission line abnormality. Therefore, in the flowchart of FIG. 3, the transmission line abnormality detection determination in step S2 always proceeds to step S3. Therefore, in the case where terminal devices are used individually and independently as shown in FIG. 4, dimming control is always performed from the handheld volume switch 6.

It should be noted that instead of always detecting transmission line abnormalities, it is also possible to set the dimming control data from the transmission line to always be dimmed at 1 novel, which is 100%.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, when an abnormality in the transmission line is detected, the control level adjustment means automatically switches to a state in which the load level can be controlled. Even in a state where a line abnormality occurs, level control such as dimming control is possible, and the convenience of the load control system is improved.

In addition, even when using a terminal device independently, such as with personal dimming, it is possible to use a terminal device with the same configuration without installing a dummy circuit, reducing costs and allowing the shape of the terminal device to be smaller than before. becomes smaller.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a load control system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of a terminal device of the above embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the terminal device of FIG. 2. Flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram when the terminals of this embodiment are used individually and independently. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of terminals in a conventional load control system. It is a block diagram. 1: Main operation panel, 2: Transmission line, 3: Dimming terminal, 4: Lighting load, 5: Dimming signal line, 6: Handheld volume switch,
31: Transmission interface section, 32: Transmission data discrimination section, 33: Self address setting section, 34: Light control section, 3
5: dimming output interface section, 36: volume input interface section, 37 transmission line abnormality detection section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Equipped with a main operation panel and a plurality of terminal devices connected to the main operation panel via transmission lines and each connected with one or more loads, and which are equipped with control data transmitted from the main operation panel. A load control system for controlling a load, comprising: transmission line abnormality detection means for detecting an abnormality in the transmission line; control level adjustment means for adjusting the control level of the load in response to the load; and the transmission line A load control system comprising: control means for automatically switching to a state in which load level control by the control level adjustment means is possible when a transmission line abnormality is detected by the abnormality detection means.