Drive expansion interface circuit, adapter circuit board and air conditioning equipment

Abstract

The present application relates to a drive expansion interface circuit, a transfer circuit board, and air conditioning equipment, belonging to the field of air conditioning technology. The circuit in the present application includes a plurality of power amplifier circuit units, wherein the output end of each power amplifier circuit unit is used to respectively and one-to-one connect to the control end of a plurality of lower-level devices; and a plurality of expansion adapter unit circuits, wherein for a plurality of power amplifier circuit units, the same input end is connected to the output end of an expansion adapter unit circuit, and the input end of each expansion adapter unit circuit is used to correspond to the drive output end of the upper-level drive output port. Applying the technical solution of the present application, a stepper motor drive interface can be effectively implemented to simultaneously control and drive multiple stepper motor devices.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application belongs to the technical field of air conditioning, and specifically relates to a drive expansion interface circuit, a switching circuit board and air conditioning equipment. Background Art

[0002] Electronic expansion valves, a key component in air conditioning systems, control the flow of refrigerant. Currently, motorized electronic expansion valves are widely used. These valves rely on a stepper motor to drive a needle valve to adjust the opening, thereby regulating the flow rate. Controlling an electronic expansion valve essentially involves controlling a stepper motor.

[0003] In the related art, there is generally only one set of electronic expansion valve interfaces on the main board of the air-conditioning equipment. When two electronic expansion valves are needed in actual applications (for example, the pipe diameter is too wide, the opening of one electronic expansion valve is insufficient, and two electronic expansion valves need to be used in parallel), if the two electronic expansion valves are simply connected in parallel, one set of electronic expansion valve interfaces cannot simultaneously control and drive the two electronic expansion valves. If a main board with two interfaces is newly developed and manufactured, the commonality of the main board will be reduced, resulting in waste of resources, which is not conducive to cost reduction. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In order to overcome the problems existing in the related art to at least a certain extent, the present application provides a drive expansion interface circuit, a transfer circuit board and an air-conditioning device to solve the technical problem of how to realize an upper-level drive interface to simultaneously control and drive multiple lower-level devices.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, this application adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] Firstly,

[0007] The present application proposes a driver expansion interface circuit, which includes:

[0008] A plurality of power amplifying circuit units, wherein the output end of each power amplifying circuit unit is used to be connected to the control end of a plurality of lower-level devices in a one-to-one correspondence;

[0009] Several extended adaption unit circuits, for a plurality of the power amplifier circuit units, have the same input end connected to a common output end of the extended adaption unit circuit, and the input end of each extended adaption unit circuit is used to correspondingly connect to the driving output end of the upper-level driving output port.

[0010] Optionally, the expansion adaptation unit circuit includes: a first resistor (R10), a second resistor (R20), a third resistor (R30) and a transistor (Q10);

[0011] One end of the first resistor (R10), one end of the second resistor (R20) and the base end of the transistor (Q10) are connected in parallel to serve as the input end of the expansion adaptation unit circuit;

[0012] The collector end of the transistor (Q10) is connected to the power supply end of the interface circuit and to the input end of the power amplifier circuit unit via the third resistor (R30);

[0013] The other end of the first resistor (R10) is connected to the power supply terminal of the interface circuit, and the other end of the second resistor (R20) and the emitter terminal of the transistor (Q10) are commonly connected to the ground terminal of the interface circuit.

[0014] Optionally, the upper drive output port is the air conditioner mainboard drive output port, and its connection interface is a five-pin port. The first four pins of the five-pin port are used for the drive output end, and the fifth pin is used to introduce the working voltage from the air conditioner mainboard to the power supply end of the interface circuit.

[0015] Optionally, the lower-level device has four control terminals, and its connection interface adopts a five-pin port, the first four pins of the five-pin port are used to connect to the output terminal of the power amplifier circuit unit, and the fifth pin is used to introduce the working voltage from the interface circuit to the lower-level device.

[0016] Optionally, the power amplifier circuit unit is implemented based on a composite triode chip.

[0017] Optionally, a filter capacitor is further provided between the power terminal and the ground terminal of the composite triode chip.

[0018] Optionally, the model of the composite triode chip is ULN2003.

[0019] Optionally, the lower-level device includes a stepper motor device.

[0020] Optionally, the stepper motor device is an electric electronic expansion valve, which relies on a stepper motor to drive a needle valve to change the opening degree.

[0021] Secondly,

[0022] The present application provides a transfer circuit board, on which is provided a drive expansion interface circuit as described in any one of the above items.

[0023] Thirdly,

[0024] The present application provides an air-conditioning device, which includes the adapter circuit board as described above.

[0025] This application adopts the above technical solution, which has at least the following beneficial effects:

[0026] The technical solution of the present application comprises a drive expansion interface circuit comprising a plurality of power amplifier circuit units, the output end of each power amplifier circuit unit being used to connect to the control ends of a plurality of stepper motor devices in a one-to-one correspondence; and a plurality of expansion adapter unit circuits, wherein the same input end of the plurality of power amplifier circuit units is connected to the output end of a common expansion adapter unit circuit, and the input end of each expansion adapter unit circuit is used to connect to the drive output end of the upper-level drive output port. In this circuit, by providing an expansion adapter unit circuit, the problem of control level output failure existing in simply connecting power amplifier circuit units in parallel is avoided, and multiple power amplifier circuit units are provided to meet the drive power requirements of the interface expansion, thereby effectively solving the technical problem of a single upper-level drive interface controlling and driving multiple lower-level devices simultaneously.

[0027] Other advantages, objects, and features of the present invention will be described in part in the following description and, in part, will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following description or may be learned from practice of the present invention. The objects and other advantages of the present invention may be realized and obtained by the structure particularly pointed out in the following description, claims, and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the technical solution of this application or the prior art and constitute a part of the specification. Among them, the drawings that express the embodiments of this application are used together with the embodiments of this application to explain the technical solution of this application, but do not constitute a limitation of the technical solution of this application.

[0029] Figure 1 A schematic block diagram illustrating a driver expansion interface circuit provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Figure 2 A circuit diagram illustrating the circuit principle of an expansion adapter unit circuit in a driver expansion interface circuit provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Figure 3 A schematic diagram illustrating the application of a transfer circuit board provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0032] Figure 4 for Figure 3 A schematic diagram illustrating the circuit principle of the transfer circuit board in the embodiment shown;

[0033] Figure 5 for Figure 3 A schematic diagram illustrating part of the circuit principles of the air conditioner mainboard in the embodiment shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] To make the purpose, technical solutions, and advantages of this application more clear, the technical solutions of this application will be described in detail below. Obviously, the embodiments described are only some of the embodiments of this application, rather than all of them. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other implementation methods obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making any creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0035] As mentioned in the background, electronic expansion valves (EEVs) are crucial components in air conditioning systems, controlling the flow of refrigerant. Currently, motorized EEVs are widely used. These valves rely on a stepper motor to drive a needle valve to adjust the opening, thereby regulating the flow rate. Controlling an EEV essentially involves controlling a stepper motor.

[0036] In the related art, there is generally only one set of electronic expansion valve interfaces on the main board of the air-conditioning equipment. When two electronic expansion valves are needed in actual applications (for example, the pipe diameter is too wide, the opening of one electronic expansion valve is insufficient, and two electronic expansion valves need to be used in parallel), if the two electronic expansion valves are simply connected in parallel, one set of electronic expansion valve interfaces cannot simultaneously control and drive the two electronic expansion valves. If a main board with two interfaces is newly developed and manufactured, the commonality of the main board will be reduced, resulting in waste of resources, which is not conducive to cost reduction.

[0037] To address this, the present application proposes a driver expansion interface circuit to effectively enable an upper-level driver interface to simultaneously control and drive multiple lower-level devices, thereby meeting application requirements in actual scenarios.

[0038] In one embodiment, if Figure 1 As shown, the driver expansion interface circuit includes:

[0039] Multiple power amplifier circuit units (two in this embodiment, such as Figure 1 The output terminals of each power amplifier circuit unit (such as OUT4 to OUT7 of IC1) are used to connect to the control terminals of multiple lower-level devices (such as Figure 1 1 to 4 of M1 in );

[0040] Several expansion adapter unit circuits (such as Figure 1 S1, S2...S4), for multiple power amplifier circuit units, the same input terminal (such as IN4 of IC1 and IN4 of IC2) is connected to the output terminal of an extended adapter unit circuit (the right side of S1), and the input terminal of each extended adapter unit circuit (such as the left side of S1) is used to connect to the corresponding drive output terminal of the upper drive output port (such as Figure 1 1 of IF1).

[0041] It should be noted here that in the actual application scenario of the present application, the electrical signal output by the upper-level driver output port can directly drive a lower-level device. Generally speaking, in this case, the output of the upper-level driver is an open-drain output, and the lower-level device is directly connected, which is equivalent to connecting a resistor, which can ensure the normal output of the drive level;

[0042] In order to achieve parallel expansion of the lower-level equipment, two or more power amplifier circuit units need to be set up. If the power amplifier circuit unit is directly connected in parallel to the upper-level drive output port, the upper-level drive high level cannot be output normally. Therefore, in the technical solution of this application, an extended adaptation unit circuit for realizing open-drain output adaptation is set to solve this problem.

[0043] For example, if Figure 2 As shown, as a specific implementation, the expansion adaptation unit circuit includes: a first resistor R10, a second resistor R20, a third resistor R30 and a transistor Q10;

[0044] One end of the first resistor R10, one end of the second resistor R20 and the base end of the transistor Q10 are connected in parallel as the input end of the expansion adaptation unit circuit ( Figure 2 middle a end);

[0045] The collector terminal of the transistor Q10 is connected to the power supply terminal VCC of the interface circuit through the third resistor R30, and is connected to the input terminal of the power amplifier circuit unit (ie Figure 2 The middle terminal b is connected to the input terminal of the power amplifier circuit unit);

[0046] The other end of the first resistor R10 is connected to the power supply terminal VCC of the interface circuit. The other end of the second resistor R20 and the emitter terminal of the transistor Q10 are commonly connected to the ground terminal GND of the interface circuit.

[0047] like Figure 2 In the extended adaptation unit circuit shown, the first resistor R10 is equivalent to the pull-up resistor of the upper-level driver, which can effectively ensure the high-level output of the upper-level driver.

[0048] In the technical solution of the present application, an extended adaptation unit circuit is set up to avoid the problem of the control level being unable to be output when the power amplifier circuit unit is directly and simply connected in parallel, and multiple power amplifier circuit units are set up accordingly to meet the driving power requirements of the interface expansion, thereby effectively solving the technical problem of an upper-level driving interface controlling and driving multiple lower-level devices at the same time.

[0049] To facilitate understanding of the technical solution of the present application, the technical solution of the present application is further described below with reference to another embodiment.

[0050] In this embodiment, the lower-level device is a stepping motor device, and the drive expansion interface circuit proposed in this application is set on a circuit board, which is used as a transfer circuit board in the air-conditioning device.

[0051] like Figure 3 As shown, in this embodiment, the air conditioning device (such as an air conditioning unit) is provided with an air conditioning mainboard, and the air conditioning mainboard is provided with a drive output interface of a stepper motor. The drive output interface can directly drive the stepper motor device. For example, the stepper motor device here is an electric electronic expansion valve, and the electric electronic expansion valve relies on the stepper motor to drive the needle valve to change the opening;

[0052] like Figure 5 The following is a schematic diagram of part of the circuit principle of the air conditioner mainboard. Figure 5 The MCU generates a control signal, which is amplified by the driver chip U3 (here is a composite transistor chip, such as the composite triode chip with model ULN2003) to generate a drive control signal and output it to the outside.

[0053] In actual applications, it is sometimes necessary to drive more than two stepper motor devices. In order to avoid redesigning and developing the mainboard and save related resources, the adapter circuit board proposed in this application (which carries a drive expansion interface circuit) can be used between the air conditioner mainboard and the stepper motor to realize the stepper motor drive interface and simultaneously control and drive more than two stepper motor devices.

[0054] The driving expansion interface circuit in this embodiment is described in detail below.

[0055] like Figure 4 As shown, the drive expansion interface circuit includes resistors R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, R9, R10, R11, and R12, transistors Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4, and power amplifier circuit units U1 and U2. In this embodiment, the power amplifier circuit unit is implemented based on a composite transistor chip, for example, the chip model used here is ULN2003APWR.

[0056] like Figure 2 and Figure 4 As shown, it is obvious that there are four extended adaptation unit circuits, namely:

[0057] The resistors R1, R8, R7 and transistor Q3 form a group and are used to connect to the extended adaptation unit circuit (for the convenience of description, referred to as the extended adaptation unit circuit L1 here) of the driving control terminal EXV_1;

[0058] Resistors R3, R9, R5 and transistor Q4 form a group and are used to connect to the extended adaptation unit circuit (for the convenience of description, referred to as extended adaptation unit circuit L2 here) of the driving control terminal EXV_2;

[0059] The resistors R2, R10, R6 and transistor Q2 form a group and are used to connect to the extended adaptation unit circuit (for the convenience of description, referred to as the extended adaptation unit circuit L3 here) of the driving control terminal EXV_3;

[0060] The resistors R4, R11, R12 and the transistor Q1 form a group and are used to connect to the extended adaptation unit circuit (referred to as the extended adaptation unit circuit L4 for the convenience of description) of the driving control terminal EXV_4.

[0061] like Figure 4 As shown, in this embodiment, in order to ensure the normal operation of the chip ULN2003APWR, the circuit also includes filter capacitors C1 and C2. A filter capacitor C1 is provided between the power supply terminal of the chip U1 (for example, based on actual power requirements, the operating voltage of the power supply terminal here is 12V) and the ground terminal, and a filter capacitor C2 is provided between the power supply terminal and the ground terminal of the chip U2.

[0062] like Figure 4 As shown, in this embodiment, the same input terminals of the power amplifier circuit units U1 and U2 (pins 1-4 of U1 and pins 1-4 of U2) are connected to the input and output terminals of an extended adaptation unit circuit (corresponding to the extended adaptation unit circuit L4-L1), and the output terminals of the extended adaptation unit circuit L4-L1 are used to connect to the corresponding driving output terminals (EXV_4 to EXV_1) of the upper-level driving output port.

[0063] like Figure 4 As shown, in this embodiment, the output end of the power amplifier circuit unit is used to connect to a stepper motor device, that is, the multiple output ends (pins 13-16) of the chips U1 and U2 are respectively connected to the multiple control ends (pins 1-4 of the needle sockets CN4 and CN3) of the two lower-level stepper motor devices.

[0064] It should be noted that, in order to ensure universality, the interface form of the circuit board carrying the parallel expansion interface circuit in this embodiment of the present application must be compatible with the interface form of the air conditioner mainboard and the stepper motor device;

[0065] Specifically, as in this embodiment, the upper drive output port is the air conditioner mainboard drive output port, and the connection interface of the air conditioner mainboard drive output port is a five-pin port. The first four pins of the five-pin port are used for the drive output end, and the fifth pin is used to introduce the working voltage from the air conditioner mainboard to the power supply end of the interface circuit. Accordingly, when the extended interface circuit is connected to the air conditioner mainboard, it also adopts a five-pin port (such as Figure 4 Five-pin needle block CN1 in the

[0066] In accordance with the interface form of the drive output port of the air conditioner mainboard, in this embodiment, the control terminals of the lower-level device (lower-level stepper motor device) are four, and the connection interface adopts a five-pin port. The first four pins of the five-pin port are used to connect to the output terminal of the power amplifier circuit unit, and the fifth pin is used to introduce the working voltage from the interface circuit to the lower-level stepper motor device. Accordingly, when the extended interface circuit is connected to the stepper motor, it also adopts a five-pin port (such as Figure 4 Middle ports CN3 and CN4 are connected to stepper motor devices respectively);

[0067] In addition, it should be noted that based on the application requirements in this embodiment, such as Figure 4 As shown, the expansion interface circuit also shares a common ground with the air conditioner mainboard through port CN2, which is also called a debugging port in practice.

[0068] Next, combine Figure 4 、 Figure 5 , the working principle of the circuit in this embodiment is introduced as follows:

[0069] like Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, there is also a stepper motor driver chip U3 at the front end of the needle seat CN1 (on the air conditioner mainboard) (its connection method is the same as U1 and U2). U1-U3 are all open-drain outputs. When no pull-up resistor is connected, they cannot output a high level. When U3 directly drives a stepper motor, connecting a stepper motor is equivalent to connecting a resistor.

[0070] However, the stepper motor interface (drive output port) on the mainboard is not connected to the stepper motor, but is connected to the pin header CN1. When the chip U3 wants to output a high level, the pin cannot output a high level, and an external pull-up resistor R1, R2, R3, and R4 is required. Then the pin voltage will be pulled to the power supply voltage 12V of the pull-up resistors R1, R2, R3, and R4 to achieve a high-level output of this chip pin.

[0071] Specifically, when EXV_1 is high, the 12V working power flows in through the resistor R1, the transistor Q3 is turned on, and the 4th pin of the stepper motor driver chip U1 and U2 is pulled to a low level. Similarly, when EXV_2, EXV_3, and EXV_4 are high, the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st pins of the stepper motor driver chip U1 and U2 are low.

[0072] When EXV_1 is low, resistor R7 pulls the level to ground, transistor Q3 is cut off, and pin 4 of stepper motor driver chip U1 and U2 is pulled high by pull-up resistor R8. Similarly, when EXV_2, EXV_3, and EXV_4 are low, pins 3, 2, and 1 of stepper motor driver chip U1 and U2 are high.

[0073] In this way, when the upper mainboard transmits high and low level signals, the stepper motor driver chips U1 and U2 can receive the high and low level signals, thereby controlling the lower stepper motors, realizing high and low level control, and finally realizing a set of interfaces to control two stepper motors at the same time.

[0074] The technical solution of this application has the following advantages:

[0075] 1. Effectively realize that a set of upper-level driver interfaces on the motherboard can drive and control two lower-level devices at the same time;

[0076] 2. It can improve the commonality rate of the motherboard and reduce resource waste.

[0077] In one embodiment, the present application also proposes an air-conditioning device, which includes a adapter circuit board as described in the above embodiment. The specific form of the circuit on the adapter circuit board and the specific form of the circuit board have been described in the relevant embodiments above, and this application will not repeat them here.

[0078] It can be understood that the same or similar parts of the above embodiments can be referenced to each other, and the contents not described in detail in some embodiments can refer to the same or similar contents in other embodiments.

[0079] It should be noted that, in the description of this application, the terms "first", "second", etc. are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance. In addition, in the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "plurality" refers to at least two.

[0080] Throughout this specification, reference to terms such as "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "examples," "specific examples," or "some examples" means that a specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in conjunction with that embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present application. In this specification, schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

[0081] Although the embodiments of the present application have been shown and described above, it can be understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and cannot be understood as limitations on the present application. Ordinary technicians in this field can change, modify, replace and modify the above embodiments within the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A driver expansion interface circuit, characterized in that: include: A plurality of power amplifying circuit units, wherein the output end of each power amplifying circuit unit is used to be connected to the control end of a plurality of lower-level devices in a one-to-one correspondence; Several expansion adapter unit circuits, for a plurality of said power amplifier circuit units, the same input terminal is connected to a common output terminal of said expansion adapter unit circuit, the input terminal of each expansion adapter unit circuit is used to connect the corresponding driver output terminal of the upper driver output port; The expansion adaption unit circuit includes: a first resistor (R10), a second resistor (R20), a third resistor (R30) and a transistor (Q10); One end of the first resistor (R10), one end of the second resistor (R20) and the base end of the transistor (Q10) are connected in parallel to serve as the input end of the extended adaptation unit circuit; The collector terminal of the transistor (Q10) is connected to the power supply terminal of the interface circuit through the third resistor (R30), and is connected to the input terminal of the power amplifier circuit unit; The other end of the first resistor (R10) is connected to the power supply end of the interface circuit, and the other end of the second resistor (R20) and the emitter end of the transistor (Q10) are commonly connected to the ground end of the interface circuit.

2. The driver expansion interface circuit according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upper drive output port is the air conditioner mainboard drive output port, and its connection interface is a five-pin port. The first four pins of the five-pin port are used for the drive output end, and the fifth pin is used to introduce the working voltage from the air conditioner mainboard to the power supply end of the interface circuit.

3. The driver expansion interface circuit according to claim 2, characterized in that: The lower-level device has four control terminals, and its connection interface adopts a five-pin port. The first four pins of the five-pin port are used to connect to the output terminal of the power amplifier circuit unit, and the fifth pin is used to introduce the working voltage from the interface circuit to the lower-level device.

4. The driver expansion interface circuit according to claim 1, characterized in that: The power amplifier circuit unit is implemented based on a composite triode chip.

5. The driver expansion interface circuit according to claim 4, characterized in that: A filter capacitor is further provided between the power supply terminal and the ground terminal of the composite triode chip.

6. The driver expansion interface circuit according to claim 4, characterized in that: The model of the composite triode chip is ULN2003.

7. The driver expansion interface circuit according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lower-level device includes a stepping motor device.

8. The driver expansion interface circuit according to claim 7, characterized in that: The stepper motor device is an electric electronic expansion valve, which relies on a stepper motor to drive a needle valve to change its opening.

9. A transfer circuit board, characterized in that: The adapter circuit board is provided with a drive expansion interface circuit as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. An air conditioning device, characterized in that: Including the adapter circuit board as described in claim 9.

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