JPH09161181A - Automatic display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic display device which is capable of easily confirming the operating state information on each equipment on the screen of a video display equipment set near a user to be one of respective equipments, without moving to the place where each equipment is installed by the user. SOLUTION: A bus controller 1 transmits a state information data request to each equipment in order via bus cables 10a and 10b and an IFU(interface unit). The equipment receiving the request transmits the operating state information on a prescribed item to a bus controller 1 via the bus cables 10a and 10b and the IFU. When the bus controller 1 receives the response from the equipment, the bus controller 1 analyzes the contents. When it is judged that the equipment is normal (an operation enabled state), the operating state information is displayed on the screen of a television receiver 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic display device, and in particular, household appliances and the like are connected by a common signal transmission means,
The present invention relates to an automatic display device that displays the operation (driving) status of these home electric appliances (hereinafter also simply referred to as appliances).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the operation status and operation result of home electric appliances and the like, that is, the judgment of normality or abnormality, is controlled by individual devices such as control elements (e.g., light emitting elements such as LEDs) and display devices such as CRTs. It was judged by visually confirming the display contents (error display etc.) and whether each device is operating according to the function of the device (manual operation). Therefore, there are many cases where an abnormality can be confirmed or not, depending on the skill of the user who visually confirms.

In many cases, the maintenance of each device is left to the user's own voluntary management, and the mistake of sometimes deviating from the maintenance period is made, which often causes failure of each device. There wasn't.
In the case of a failure that occurs in such a situation, there are not a few cases where the device suddenly goes down, causing a fatal failure.

Further, home electric appliances and the like are generally installed in different places, and in order to confirm the display contents of the control element and display device for each home electric appliance, that is, In order to check the operation of each device, the user himself had to move to the place where each home electric device was installed. Similarly,
Since each home electric appliance is installed separately, it is often missed the time to perform maintenance, so when you notice a failure, the equipment is completely down and the error display itself is not displayed, I often fell into a situation where I didn't know what to do. Furthermore, depending on the home electric appliance, there is a problem that the display device itself is small and it is very difficult to see when the user performs maintenance (it is difficult to judge whether it is abnormal or normal).

[0005]

As described above, home electric appliances and the like are installed in distant places, and the user himself must move to each place to check the operation of each device. Instead, it often misses the time to perform maintenance. In addition, the display device installed for each device is generally small, and the display content is very difficult to see when the user performs maintenance. further,
There is a serious problem (defect) that nothing is displayed on this display device when the device fails.

Therefore, in order to eliminate such a problem, the present invention is one of the above-mentioned devices without moving the operating state information of each device to the place where the user installs each device. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic display device that can be easily confirmed on the screen of a video display device that is familiar to us.

[0007]

An automatic display device according to the present invention is a plurality of devices including one or more display devices capable of displaying images, and a self device provided in each of the plurality of devices. The operation state control diagnostic means for controlling and diagnosing the operation state, the signal transmission means, and the operation state information signal of each device output from each of the operation state control diagnosis means are interface-matched and sent to the signal transmission means. After controlling the signal converting means and the signal transmitting means, receiving operation state information from each of the devices, performing a predetermined data processing, and displaying the operating state of each of the devices via the signal transmitting means. And a bus control unit for displaying on a device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic display device, a plurality of devices including one or more display devices capable of displaying images, and control and diagnosis of an operating state of each of the plurality of devices. An operation state control diagnosis means, a signal transmission means, a signal conversion means for performing interface matching on the operation state information signal of each device output from each of the operation state control diagnosis means, and transmitting the signal to the signal transmission means; While controlling the signal transmission means, receiving operation state information from each of the devices and performing predetermined data processing on the operation state information, the display device and a specific device other than the display device are processed. And a bus control means for transmitting the operation state and operation control information of the specific device via the signal transmission means, respectively.

An automatic display device according to a third aspect of the present invention is the automatic display device according to the first or second aspect, wherein:
The bus control means cyclically outputs an operation state information request to each of the devices via the signal transmission means.

According to the first or third aspect of the invention, the plurality of devices and the bus control means are connected by a common bus (signal transmission means), and data (information) is exchanged with each other. By doing so, it becomes possible to display the operating state information of each device on the display means via the common bus, whereby the operating state information of each device can be installed by the user. It is possible to easily obtain the information by the display means without moving to the place where it is located.

An automatic display device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the automatic display device according to the first or third aspect, wherein:
The bus control unit outputs maintenance information, which is periodically output to the signal transmission unit by each device, to the display device.

An automatic display device according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the automatic display device according to the first or fourth aspect, wherein:
The bus control unit may output maintenance information, which is irregularly output to the signal transmission unit by each of the devices, to the display device via the signal transmission unit.

An automatic display device according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the automatic display device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein each of the devices includes means for performing various operations of the device. A control means for controlling various operations of the device and a communication control for performing data communication with the outside; a means for diagnosing the inside of the device; and a storage means for storing an instruction manual of the device itself. It is characterized by being composed of.

An automatic display device according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is the automatic display device according to the sixth aspect, wherein the bus control means is an instruction manual stored in the storage means in each device when necessary. Is read out through the signal transmission means and is displayed on the display device through the signal transmission means.

According to the invention described in claims 4 to 7, when the control means of each device determines that maintenance is required, or when a fixed period elapses, a maintenance request is issued to the bus control means. Since the information is transmitted and output to the display means, the user can perform accurate maintenance on a regular basis by seeing the display and prevent a failure from occurring.

Further, since the storage means in each device is provided with the manual data for each device, the contents of the manual data are displayed on the display device at the request of the user.
The user etc. can confirm the contents and can perform appropriate maintenance.

The automatic display device according to the invention of claim 8 is the automatic display device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein:
When the bus control means receives operation state information indicating an abnormality from some or all of the respective devices, the bus control means forcibly turns on the display device via the signal transmission means and generates a warning sound. Control for displaying the operation state information content for notifying an abnormality and for causing the device, which has been notified of the abnormality through the signal transmission means, to take an action for preventing a serious accident through the signal transmission means. It is characterized by outputting a signal.

According to the invention as set forth in claim 2 or 8, when a serious abnormality (abnormality that may cause an accident, disaster, etc.) occurs in any of the devices, immediately. The contents are output to the display device, and the initial operation such as automatically turning off the power of the device in which the abnormality has occurred is performed, so that the user can promptly respond to the abnormality in the device, and , It was possible to prevent the occurrence of serious accidents.

An automatic display device according to a ninth aspect of the present invention is the automatic display device according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, wherein the bus control means is of the video equipment or equipment other than the video equipment. It is characterized by being integrated with any one.

An automatic display device according to a tenth aspect of the present invention is the automatic display device according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, wherein the signal transmitting means is a coaxial cable, a pair cable or a commercial power line. It is characterized by being done.

[0021]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the automatic display device according to the present invention, each equipment is connected by a common signal transmission means, the operation state information of each equipment is transmitted to this signal transmission means, and a television in a general household is used as the display means. It is characterized in that a means for displaying the operation state information is provided on the television receiver by using a television receiver.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic display device of the present invention.

The lighting equipment 2, refrigerator 3, air conditioner 4, washing machine 5, television receiver 6, electric water heater 7 and boiler 8 which are the respective home appliances in FIG. Interface units (hereinafter also referred to as IFUs) 9a to 9g are respectively connected via means. In addition, each IFU is a bus cable 1
0a and 10b are connected in parallel, and each home electric appliance (hereinafter also referred to as a slave) 2 to 8 and a bus cable 10
Interface matching between a and 10b, that is, physical matching of connectors, electrical matching of signals and impedances, automatic display device (system) at the time of abnormality, protection of each home electric appliance, signal format, etc. A logical match is made. The bus cables 10a and 10b are connected to a bus controller (hereinafter also referred to as a master) 1 that performs signal transmission / reception from each of the home electric appliances 2 to 8 and controls the system and monitors the state. Examples of the bus cables 10a and 10b include a coaxial cable, a pair cable, and a commercial power supply line (power cable).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal structure of the refrigerator 3 which is one of the home electric appliances. For example, the cooling means 11 for cooling the inside of the refrigerator, the operation control of the cooling means 11 and A control means 12 for monitoring the operating state and outputting the monitoring result of the operating state to the IFU 9b, and a control operation procedure of the control means 12, that is, an operation control procedure of the cooling means 11 and an operating state monitoring procedure. In addition, a storage unit 13 for storing a program such as a communication procedure with the bus controller 1 and a manual of the refrigerator 3
It is composed of As for other home electric appliances, the cooling means 11 is replaced by a unique means of each of the appliances, and other configurations are similar to those of the refrigerator 3.

Next, the operation of the automatic display device of the present invention having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the basic operation of the automatic display device according to the present invention. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a signal data format of communication performed between the bus controller 1 and each home electric appliance.

Hereinafter, the communication between the bus controller 1 and each home electric appliance is carried out, for example, by a signal data format as shown in FIG. 4 (a), and the control means 12 and the storage means constituting each home electric appliance. 13, that is, the communication means with the bus controller 1 will be described as operating even if each home electric appliance is in a non-operating state (power-off state).

The bus controller 1 shown in FIG. 1, for example, for each home electric appliance (slave N: N is a slave number, which is 1 to 7 in the embodiment of the present invention) is sequentially shown in FIG. ) Send a status information data request in the format shown in () (steps s1, s2, s7,
s10).

On the other hand, the slave N, which has received the status information data request from the bus controller 1, sends the device information (operation status information) about a predetermined item to the bus controller 1 according to the format shown in FIG. 4C. To do.
Then, if no response is received from the slave N even after a lapse of a predetermined time, the bus controller 1 determines that the slave N is in some dangerous state, and forcibly turns on the power of the television receiver 6. Then, the abnormality of the slave N is notified to the user by both video and audio (steps s3, s8, s9). After that, the bus controller 1 continues to notify the user of the abnormality of the slave N by both video and audio through the television receiver 6 until the user or the like performs some processing on the slave N or the like (step s10, s2, s3, s8, s
9, s10).

When the bus controller 1 receives the response from the slave N, the bus controller 1 analyzes the content of the response, and the slave N
If it is determined that a serious abnormality has occurred in (for example,
For gas leaks, incomplete combustion, etc.), the power of the television receiver 6 is forcibly turned on, and the operating state information and the like received from the slave N is displayed on the display by both video and audio, and the user is notified. The abnormality is notified (steps s4, s5, s8, s9). After that, the bus controller 1 continues to notify the user of the abnormality of the slave N through both the video and the audio via the television image reception 6 until the slave N or the like performs some processing by the user or the like ( Steps s10, s2, s3, s
4, s5, s8, s9, s10).

On the other hand, the bus controller 1 is a slave N
As a result of analyzing the content of the response from the slave N, there is no particularly serious abnormality in the slave N, that is, when it is determined that the slave N is in an operable state, or when there is a slight abnormality than the slave N, equipment maintenance is required. If there is a response, or if there is no particular abnormality, but there is a response to the device maintenance request that is regularly transmitted from the slave N, the operating state of the slave N follows the format shown in FIG. 4D. Television receiver 6 to display information on the display
Command is output to display the operation status information and the like transmitted from the slave N on the screen of the television receiver 6 (steps s5 and s6). By the way, when a user or the like performs the maintenance work requested by the slave N, if necessary, the manual data for each device stored in the storage means 13 in each of the home electric devices is read out, and It is also possible to display it on the screen of the television receiver 6.

Then, it is judged whether or not there is a slave N after the addition of 1 to the slave number N (slave number (N + 1) before the addition of 1 to the slave number N). When it is determined, the status information data request in the format as shown in FIG. 4B is transmitted to the home electric appliance (slave N) assigned the next slave number (steps s7, s10,
After s2), the same processing as described above is repeated. When it is determined in step s10 that the slave N after adding 1 to the slave number N does not exist, the slave number N is initialized (N = 1) (step s7, s10, s1) and thereafter, the same processing as described above is repeated.

In the embodiment of the invention described above, all communications performed from the home electric appliances other than the television receiver 6 to the television receiver 6 via the bus cables 10a and 10b are performed by the bus controller. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the (IF) is directly performed via the bus cables 10a and 10b.
It is of course possible to perform communication between devices having the above communication means.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, the state information of each device can be easily obtained without the user having to move to the place where each device is installed. When a serious abnormality (abnormality that may cause an accident, disaster, etc.) occurs, the content is immediately output to the display device and the power of the device in which the abnormality occurs is turned off. Since the initial operation of is automatically performed, there is an effect that it is possible to support a quick response of the user in case of a device abnormality.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic display device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of an internal configuration of a refrigerator, which is one of the home electric appliances.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a basic operation of the automatic display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a signal data format of communication performed between a bus controller and each home electric appliance.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Bus controller 2 ... Lighting device 3 ... Refrigerator 4 ... Air conditioner 5 ... Washing machine 6 ... Television receiver 7 ... Electric water heater 8 ... Boiler 9a-9g ... Interface unit (IFU) 10a, 10b ... Bus cable

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of devices including a display device capable of displaying one or more images, an operating condition control diagnostic means provided in each of the plurality of devices for controlling and diagnosing its own operating condition, and signal transmission. Means, signal conversion means for performing interface matching on the operating state information signals of the respective devices output from each of the operating state control diagnosis means, and sending the signal to the signal transmitting means; And a bus control unit for displaying the operating state of each device on the display device via the signal transmission unit after receiving the operating state information of the device and performing predetermined data processing. Display device. 2. A plurality of devices including a display device capable of displaying one or more images, an operating state control diagnostic means provided in each of the plurality of devices for controlling and diagnosing its own operating state, and signal transmission. Means, signal converting means for performing interface matching on the operating state information signals of the respective devices output from the operating state control diagnosing means, and sending the signal to the signal transmitting means; From the display device and a specific device other than the display device after receiving the operation state information from the display device and performing predetermined data processing on the operation state information. An automatic display device comprising: bus control means for transmitting information via the signal transmission means. 3. The automatic display device according to claim 1, wherein the bus control means cyclically outputs an operation state information request to the respective devices via the signal transmission means. 4. The bus control means outputs maintenance information, which is periodically output to the signal transmission means by each of the devices, to the display device.
Or the automatic display device described in 3. 5. The bus control means outputs maintenance information, which is irregularly output to the signal transmission means by each of the devices, to the display device via the signal transmission means. The automatic display device according to 1 or 4. 6. Each device comprises means for performing various operations of the device, control means for controlling various operations of the device and communication control for performing data communication with the outside, The automatic display device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the automatic display device is configured by means for diagnosing the inside of the device and storage means for storing an instruction manual of the device itself. 7. The bus control means reads out, when necessary, an instruction manual stored in the storage means in each device via the signal transmission means and displays it on the display device via the signal transmission means. The automatic display device according to claim 6, wherein 8. The bus control means forcibly turns on the display device via the signal transmission means when receiving operation state information indicating an abnormality from a part or all of the respective devices. , For generating a warning sound and displaying the contents of the operating state information for notifying an abnormality, and for preventing a serious accident through the signal transmitting means, for a device that has notified the abnormality through the signal transmitting means. The automatic display device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a control signal for causing an operation is output. 9. The automatic display device according to claim 1, wherein the bus control means is integrated with either the video equipment or a device other than the video equipment. 10. The automatic display device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the signal transmission means is configured by a coaxial cable, a pair cable, or a commercial power supply line.