JPH0447220B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an address setting device for an air conditioning system, and more specifically, the present invention relates to an address setting device for an air conditioning system. In an air conditioning system in which the indoor unit is connected and the outdoor unit acts as the master station and controls each indoor unit by serial data transmission with an address attached, it is necessary to set the address of the indoor unit in order to transmit data to the desired indoor unit. Regarding the device to be configured.

<Conventional technology> Conventionally, air conditioning systems connect multiple indoor units to one outdoor unit, and each indoor unit is controlled by serial data transmission using the outdoor unit as the main station. system is provided. As described above, relatively small-scale air conditioning systems are available for general households, while large-scale systems are installed in high-rise buildings.

In air conditioning systems of all sizes, it is necessary to ensure reliable signal transmission between the outdoor and indoor units. A configuration in which the outdoor unit and the indoor unit are connected by a signal transmission line, and a shared signal transmission line is used to connect the outdoor unit and the indoor unit, and the address is set by operating the address switch etc. for each indoor unit, and the outdoor unit By identifying the signal transmission between the indoor unit and the indoor unit using address data,
A configuration was adopted that allowed only the necessary data to be received.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> When the above configuration is adopted, there is a problem that as the number of indoor units increases, the length of the signal line becomes longer and the wiring work becomes more extensive. In particular, in the case of an air conditioning system built into a high-rise building, the distance from the outdoor unit to the indoor unit becomes large, so the above-mentioned problems become noticeable. Furthermore, in outdoor units, in order to send and receive signals to and from each indoor unit, it is necessary to incorporate a number of transmission ports equal to the number of indoor units, which makes the configuration of the outdoor unit itself complicated. There is also.

In addition, when the above configuration is adopted, it is possible to shorten the signal transmission line, and moreover,
It has the advantage of being able to incorporate only one transmission port into the outdoor unit, but in order to be able to identify serially transmitted data and import only the necessary data. Since the address of the indoor unit must be set on-site, there is a high possibility of making a mistake in the address setting.
There is a problem in that a transmission abnormality occurs, making it impossible to perform normal air conditioning operations.

Furthermore, an air conditioning control device has been proposed in which control signals are transmitted from one central control device to a plurality of receiving devices using a time division multiplexing method (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 32035/1983).

However, in this air conditioning control device, it is necessary to perform preprocessing to determine the combination of pulses for modulation in the central control device using the transmitter/receiver, and this preprocessing is performed at the central controller and each receiver. Since it is necessary to perform each of these steps, if a pulse setting error (corresponding to an address setting error) occurs, a transmission abnormality occurs and normal air conditioning operation cannot be performed, which is an inconvenience.

<Purpose of the Invention> This invention was made in view of the above problems, and it is possible to reduce the number of transmission ports in an outdoor unit, and also to reliably prevent the inconvenience of setting the address of the outdoor unit incorrectly. An object of the present invention is to provide an address setting device in an air conditioning system that can perform the following steps.

<Means for Solving the Problems> To achieve the above object, an address setting device in an air conditioning system of the present invention is connected to a transmission port of an outdoor unit in order to selectively select a state in which signal transmission is possible. a plurality of signal transmission enabled state selection means; a control means for controlling the corresponding signal transmission enabled state selection means to release the signal transmission enabled states in accordance with a preset order and combination; Each indoor unit is connected to one signal transmission enable state selection means.

However, the above-mentioned signal transmission line is composed of a main signal transmission line and a plurality of sub-signal transmission lines connected in parallel to the main signal transmission line, and the signal transmission enable state selection means selects the sub-signal transmission line. The signal transmission line may be a switch inserted in the line, and the signal transmission enabled state is canceled by opening the switch, or the signal transmission line may be connected to the main signal transmission line,
The switch is composed of a plurality of sub-signal transmission lines connected in parallel to the main signal transmission line, and the signal transmission enable state selection means is inserted into the main signal transmission line at the sub-signal transmission line connection part. The signal transmission enabled state may be canceled by opening a switch.

Further, the order in which addresses are set may be predetermined based on the connection status of the indoor units.

<Function> If the address setting device has the above configuration, multiple indoor units are connected to one outdoor unit having one transmission port, and serial data transmission with an address is performed using the outdoor unit as the main station. Before controlling each indoor unit, the control means first determines whether signal transmission is possible by all signal transmission possible state selection means except for the signal transmission possible state selection means corresponding to any one indoor unit. By transmitting an address setting signal from the outdoor unit in a state where the state is released, an address can be set for an indoor unit whose signal transmission enabled state of the signal transmission line is not released.

Next, by performing the above operation on any indoor unit other than the indoor unit for which the address setting has been completed, the address setting can be performed in the same manner. Thereafter, addresses can be set for all indoor units in the same manner.

Further, the signal transmission line is composed of a main signal transmission line and a plurality of sub-signal transmission lines connected in parallel to the main signal transmission line, and the signal transmission enable state selection means is configured to select a sub-signal transmission line. It is a switch inserted in the transmission line,
In some cases, the signal transmission enabled state is canceled by opening a switch, or the signal transmission line is connected in parallel to the main signal transmission line. The signal transmission enable state selection means is a switch inserted into the main signal transmission line at the sub-signal transmission line connection part, and by closing the switch, the signal Even when the transmittable state is to be canceled, the same effect as described above can be performed by operating the switch to cancel the signal transmittable state.

Furthermore, even when the order of address setting is predetermined based on the connection state of the indoor units, the same effect as described above can be performed.

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an electrical circuit diagram showing an embodiment of an air conditioning system to which the address setting device of the present invention is applied, in which one outdoor unit 1, five indoor units 21,
22...25 are connected by a signal transmission line 3.

To explain in more detail, the outdoor unit 1 includes a switching transistor 4 that turns on and off when a control signal from a control section (not shown) is supplied to a base terminal, and five shorting switches 51, 5.
2...55 and the light emitting diode 6 are connected in series in this order between the power supply terminal and the ground terminal. In addition, the short circuit switches 51, 52...55
A selection part 5 is attached to selectively open the. That is, it has only one set of control units.
Here, the selection unit 5 includes, for example, a relay coil, and by selectively exciting one of the relay coils, the short circuit switches 51, 5
2...55 can be selectively released. Further, although the number of shorting switches is five in the above embodiment, it can be reduced as necessary.

Note that the light emitting diode 6 is optically coupled to the upper control section 5.

Further, in the indoor unit, a light emitting diode 8 and a phototransistor 9 are connected in series between the output terminals of the full wave rectifier circuit 7, and the light emitting diode 8,
The phototransistor 9 is optically coupled to a control section (not shown).

The input terminal of the full-wave rectifier circuit 7 and the terminal of any of the shorting switches are connected by a signal transmission line 3.

Furthermore, the switching transistor 4 is
When the signal is being transmitted from the outdoor unit 1, it is turned ON and OFF in response to the signal to be transmitted, and when the signal is being received from the indoor unit, it is controlled so that it is maintained in the ON state without being affected by the signal state. be done.

Further, the phototransistor 9 is turned on and off in response to the signal to be transmitted when the signal is being transmitted from the indoor unit, and is not affected by the signal state when receiving the signal from the outdoor unit 1. It is controlled to be kept in the ON state.

The operation of the air conditioning system having the above configuration is as follows.

When the connection of the indoor unit to the outdoor unit 1 is completed at the site, the shorting switches are sequentially opened selectively, and when each shorting switch is opened, the switch is activated to generate address data to be set for the corresponding indoor unit. switching transistor 4
By turning it ON and OFF, an address can be set for the indoor unit connected between the terminals of the opened shorting switch.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating in detail the address setting operation in the air conditioning system shown in FIG. Only the m-th shorting switch is opened, and in step it is determined whether the indoor unit corresponding to the m-th shorting switch is connected.

If it is determined in the above step that the indoor unit is not connected, the order m of the short circuit switch is incremented by 1 in the step, and then the process in the step is performed again.

Conversely, if it is determined in the above step that the indoor unit is connected, data corresponding to the address "n" is transmitted in the step,
It is held until there is an answer call from the indoor unit in the step, and if there is an answer call, it is checked whether the address setting is completed or not in the step.
That is, it is determined whether the address settings for all indoor units have been completed (specifically, for example, it is determined whether the order m of the shorting switch is equal to the number M of indoor units that can continue to be connected). If it is determined that the process has not been completed, the short circuit switch rank m and the indoor unit rank n are each incremented by 1, and the process of the step is performed again.

Conversely, if it is determined in the above step that the address setting has been completed, all the shorting switches are opened in the step and a normal serial data transmission operation is performed.

After the initial settings have been made as described above,
All the short circuit switches 51, 5 are selected by the selection means 5.
2, 53, 54, and 55 are opened, the control data is transmitted to the indoor unit along with the address data. Then, the indoor unit takes in the control data only when the address data matches its own address data, and performs an operation based on the control data. In the indoor unit, the obtained indoor temperature data and the like are transmitted to the outdoor unit together with its own address data.

That is, only truly necessary data is exchanged between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit.

As is clear from the above explanation, there is no need to perform any address setting operations on the indoor unit 2 side, and the address setting is performed based on the address setting data from the outdoor unit 1, so accurate address setting is possible. becomes. Therefore, after that, the control signal with the address added from the outdoor unit 1 is transmitted to the switching transistor 4 as one transmission port.
It is only necessary to send the signals from the outdoor unit 1 to the indoor unit 2 to be controlled, and the signal can be reliably exchanged between the outdoor unit 1 and the indoor unit 2 to be controlled without causing a transmission abnormality.

FIG. 2 is an electric circuit diagram showing another embodiment of the air conditioning system, and the difference from the embodiment of FIG. 1 is that a level comparison circuit 11 is connected between the light emitting diode 6 and the switching transistor 4. The light emitting diode 6 and the switching transistor 4 are connected to the signal transmission line 3 for connecting the indoor unit or the shorting plate 12 via a shorting switch connected in parallel to each other, The only difference is that a resistor 10 is connected between the full-wave rectifier circuit 7 and the light emitting diode 8.

Therefore, in the case of this embodiment, addresses can be set for all indoor units by performing operations substantially similar to the flowchart in FIG. 2. However, in the case of this embodiment, signal transmission to the indoor unit can be performed only when the shorting switch is closed, so compared to the above embodiment, instead of opening the shorting switch, the signal can be transmitted to the indoor unit. All you have to do is develop it.

Incidentally, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and for example, the first short-circuit switch 51
In addition, it is possible to omit the light emitting diode 6, it is also possible to use a switching element driven by an electric signal in place of the light emitting diode 6, and various other design changes can be made without changing the gist of the present invention. It is possible to apply

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, the present invention enables all signal transmission enabled state selection means except for the signal transmission enabled state selection means corresponding to any one of the indoor units for which an address has not been set. Since the address setting is performed by canceling the signal transmission enabled state and transmitting the address setting data, accurate address setting without address setting errors is possible.
This has the unique effect of being able to prevent transmission abnormalities from occurring when a control signal is sent from the outdoor unit with an address added after address setting is completed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an electrical circuit diagram showing one embodiment of an air conditioning system for carrying out the address setting method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an electrical circuit diagram showing another embodiment of the air conditioning system, and FIG. 1 is a flowchart explaining the address setting operation in the air conditioning system of FIG. 1. 1... Outdoor unit, 2, 21, 22,..., 25...
...Indoor unit, 3...Signal transmission path, 4...Switching transistor, 5...Selection unit, 6, 8...Light emitting diode, 51, 52,..., 55...Short switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of indoor units are connected to one outdoor unit having one transmission port, and each indoor unit is controlled by serial data transmission with an address using the outdoor unit as the main station. In the air conditioning system, a plurality of signal transmission possible state selection means connected to a transmission port of an outdoor unit are connected to a transmission port of an outdoor unit to selectively select a signal transmission possible state, and a plurality of signal transmission possible state selection means are arranged in a preset order and combination. and address setting signal sending means for sending an address setting signal to the signal transmission line through the transmission port. 1. An address setting device for an air conditioning system, characterized in that an indoor unit is connected to a signal transmission enable state selection means. 2. The signal transmission line is composed of a main signal transmission line and a plurality of sub-signal transmission lines connected in parallel to the main signal transmission line, and the signal transmission enable state selection means is configured to connect the sub-signal transmission line to the sub-signal transmission line. 2. The address setting device for an air conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein the address setting device is an inserted switch, and the signal transmission enabled state is canceled by opening the switch. 3. The signal transmission line is composed of a main signal transmission line and a plurality of sub-signal transmission lines connected in parallel to the main signal transmission line, and the signal transmission enable state selection means selects the sub-signal transmission line connection. 2. The address setting device for an air conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein the address setting device is a switch inserted in the main signal transmission line in the main signal transmission line, and the signal transmission enabled state is canceled by closing the switch. 4. The address setting device for an air conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein the order of setting addresses is predetermined based on the connection state of the indoor units.