Digital protection relay device and display method of digital protection relay device

Abstract

To achieve at least multicolored information display and a long life without using a display device that needs a large interior space in a casing or an expensive display device.SOLUTION: A digital protection relay apparatus 100 for protecting a power system includes a display device 101 having a plurality of surface mounted LEDs 304, and a display control unit 102 that computes what is to be displayed on the display device 101, generates a lighting signal for controlling a lighting pattern of the surface mounted LEDs 304, and outputs the lighting signal to the display device 101.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a digital protection relay device having a display using an LED (Light Emitting Diode), and a display method for the digital protection relay device.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a digital protection relay that aims to allow a user to easily confirm an input state without using an expensive display. In this Patent Document 1, it is described that "in a digital protection relay provided with a display for displaying an input state of current and voltage, an arithmetic circuit for calculating a quadrant number, which is a value indicating the input state, on a predetermined characteristic diagram is provided, and the display is composed of LEDs capable of displaying the quadrant number, and the quadrant number is displayed using, as an input, data indicating the quadrant number output from the arithmetic circuit."

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Incidentally, the digital protective relay described in Patent Document 1 has LEDs capable of displaying quadrant numbers and can display only the quadrant numbers calculated internally. Therefore, it cannot express lowercase letters of the alphabet or symbols such as "φ" that are frequently used in the monitoring and protection of power systems. Thus, conventionally, there have been limitations in the state display expression by the LEDs on the digital protection relay device. Therefore, in order to confirm detailed information about the state of the power system and the digital protection relay device, it has been necessary to connect an external device such as a notebook PC (Personal Computer) or a tablet terminal to the digital protection relay device. Also, conventionally, when performing a setting operation on a digital protection relay device that the operator only has a simple display device, it has been necessary to connect an external device to the digital protection relay device, check the content displayed on the screen of the external device, and perform the setting.

[0005] Also, when an abnormality is detected in the digital protection relay device, it has been necessary to connect an external device to confirm the details of the abnormality and perform the recovery work. Since the operator has to carry the external device to the digital protection relay device and connect it to the digital protection relay device, the work of confirmation and recovery has been time-consuming and laborious.

[0006] In recent years, there have been strong demands for miniaturization and cost reduction in digital protection relay devices. However, LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays) and general-purpose LEDs divided by segments have thickness. Also, in a display that widely occupies the surface area of the accompanying substrate, it hinders the miniaturization of the housing of the digital protection relay device itself and the substrate mounted inside the housing.

[0007] Furthermore, products in which a display and a substrate are set, such as LCDs and VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) fluorescent tubes, are expensive and costly, so they cannot be used for digital protection relay devices. For such reasons, conventionally, the information that an operator can obtain from a digital protection relay device has been limited to simple information such as the lighting / extinguishing of LEDs and phenomenon numbers. For this reason, detailed and diverse information expressed in characters and symbols could not be directly read from the digital protection relay device.

[0008] In addition, a digital protection relay device is a device that requires long-term operation of 15 years or more. Therefore, also in the display, a long-life one that does not reach the end of its life during the operation of the digital protection relay device is required. For example, in the case of an LCD display, it is sold in a form (hereinafter referred to as "LCD module") in which a dedicated microcomputer (hereinafter abbreviated as "dedicated microcontroller") for controlling the LCD, a memory for storing data, and the LCD are collectively mounted on a substrate. That is, it is common to use the LCD, the dedicated microcontroller, the memory, etc. in a state where they are pre-mounted on the substrate.

[0009] Also, many of the semiconductors used in LCD modules are products with specifications for consumer goods and are not designed to withstand long-term operation such as that of digital protection relay devices. On the other hand, when an LCD module is manufactured using industrial-specification semiconductors, it becomes a special-order specification and the price further increases. Thus, conventionally, in digital protection relay devices, it has been difficult to achieve both a means capable of diverse expression and long life.

[0010] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a digital protection relay device and a display method thereof that can achieve at least both the display of diverse information and long life without using a display that requires a large space inside the housing or an expensive display.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0011] In order to solve the above problems, a digital protection relay device according to an aspect of the present invention is a digital protection relay device for protecting a power system, including a display having a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs, and a display control unit that calculates the content of the information to be displayed on the display based on input information, generates a lighting signal for controlling the lighting pattern of the plurality of surface-mounted LEDs, and outputs the lighting signal to the display.

[0012] Further, a display method of a digital protection relay device according to an aspect of the present invention is a display method of a digital protection relay device for protecting a power system, including a process in which the digital protection relay device calculates the content of the information to be displayed on a display having a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs based on input information, and a process in which the digital protection relay device generates a lighting signal for controlling the lighting pattern of the plurality of surface-mounted LEDs based on the content of the above calculation, and outputs the lighting signal to the display.

Effect of the Invention

[0013] According to at least one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a digital protection relay device and a display method thereof that can achieve at least colorful information display and long life without using a display that requires a large space inside the housing or an expensive display. Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the description of the following embodiments.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0015] Hereinafter, examples of embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Components having substantially the same function or configuration in this specification and the accompanying drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

[0016] <First Embodiment> First, the configuration of a digital protection relay device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

[0017] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a digital protection relay device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The illustrated digital protection relay device 100 includes an LED character display 101, a protection control arithmetic unit 102, a nonvolatile memory 103, an operation unit 104, an input converter 105, an A / D conversion unit 106, an output circuit 107, and input / output terminals 108. For example, as the operation unit 104, a plurality of push-type operation switches are used.

[0018] Analog signals of current and voltage of a power system that is a protection control target of the digital protection relay device 100 are input to the input converter 105 inside the digital protection relay device 100 via the input / output terminals 108. The input converter 105 converts the input high-level analog signals of current and voltage into low-level signals that can be recognized (processed) by the electronic circuit of the A / D conversion unit 106, and inputs them to the A / D conversion unit 106. The A / D conversion unit 106 converts the analog signal input from the input converter 105 into a digital signal, and inputs the digital signal (current signal and voltage signal) to the protection control arithmetic unit 102.

[0019] The protection control arithmetic unit 102 is composed of a microcomputer (hereinafter abbreviated as "microcontroller"), and includes, for example, a processor 301 and a nonvolatile built-in memory 302 as shown in FIG. 2. The processor 301 reads a software program for realizing the functions of the digital protection relay device 100 according to the present embodiment from the built-in memory 302 or the nonvolatile memory 103, and expands and executes the program in a RAM (Random Access Memory) not shown. The protection control arithmetic unit 102 including the processor 301 and the built-in memory 302 is used as an example of a computer that controls the operation of the digital protection relay device 100.

[0020] The protection control arithmetic unit 102 monitors whether there are any abnormalities in the current and voltage values of the digital signals obtained from the input transducer 105 and the A / D conversion unit 106. Information on normal current and voltage is stored in the non-volatile memory 103 as setting value information (values for performing protection control or alarm reporting). The protection control arithmetic unit 102 compares the current and voltage of the digital signal input from the A / D conversion unit 106 with the setting value information read from the non-volatile memory 103 respectively, and executes processing according to the result of the comparison. When the protection control arithmetic unit 102 detects an abnormality in the current or voltage from the result of the comparison, it outputs an output signal to the output circuit 107. Then, the output circuit 107 that has received the output signal outputs a cutoff command signal to an external cutoff device via the input / output terminal 108.

[0021] Also, the protection control arithmetic unit 102 calculates the content of the information to be displayed on the LED character display 101 based on the information on the current and voltage of the power system and input information such as the operation signal output by the operation unit 104. Then, based on the result of the calculation, the protection control arithmetic unit 102 generates a lighting signal for controlling the lighting pattern of a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs (chip LEDs), and outputs the lighting signal to the LED character display 101. Information representing the state of the power system, information related to the protection function of the power system, etc. are displayed on the LED character display 101.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 2, the LED character display 101 is configured by arranging a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304 vertically and horizontally. For example, the size of the surface-mounted LED ranges from an extremely small size of about 1.0 mm × 0.5 mm to a size of several mm × several mm, but all are small and can be said to be dot-shaped. Since the surface-mounted LED 304 is small and the thickness and mounting area are not compressed even when a plurality of them are arranged vertically and horizontally, it is possible to miniaturize the digital protection relay device 100 more than before. The number of surface-mounted LEDs 304 arranged on the LED character display 101 is changed according to the required number of characters and the size of the characters.

[0023] Further, when the operator operates the operation unit 104, the LED character display 101 displays the set value information stored in the non-volatile memory 103, the input voltage and current values, or information for setting the digital protection relay device 100 (see, for example, FIG. 11).

[0024] As an example of the information to be displayed on the LED character display 101, there are numerical values of the input value information of voltage and current input to the protection control arithmetic unit 102 via the input converter 105 and the A / D conversion unit 106. Units such as "mA", "A", "V", "π", and "φ" are required for the input value information. Therefore, in order to directly display the input value information on the digital protection relay device 100, the expression of these units is required.

[0025] In addition, the digital protection relay device 100 performs setting and operation confirmation as a single device. For this reason, the digital protection relay device 100 enables the operator to operate the operation unit 104 to perform these operations. The digital protection relay device 100 displays the setting information composed of alphabets, Greek characters, numbers, and symbols on the LED character display 101, and uses the operation unit 104 to perform command transitions, decisions, numerical input, etc., and performs operations such as setting the operating conditions of the device itself and confirming the set information. Hereinafter, in this specification, when alphabets, Greek characters, numbers, and symbols are not distinguished or are generically referred to, they are referred to as "characters" or "information".

[0026] Next, a method of lighting the surface-mounted LED 304 provided in the LED character display 101 in the digital protection relay device 100 to display information will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

[0027] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a method of lighting characters of the LED character display 101 of the digital protection relay device 100. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an LED lighting signal table used when lighting the LED character display 101 of the digital protection relay device 100.

[0028] In the digital protection relay device 100, the protection control calculation unit 102 and the LED character display 101 are connected by a signal line 303. Here, as an example, the LED character display 101 is composed of a total of 25 surface mount type LEDs 304 arranged in 5 rows and 5 columns. In this specification, a state in which such a plurality of surface mount type LEDs 304 are collectively arranged is described as an aggregate 305 of the plurality of surface mount type LEDs 304.

[0029] The signal line 303 is composed of 25 lines from [D00] to [D24], and one signal line 303 is connected to one surface mount type LED 304. That is, each of the 25 signal lines 303 is individually connected to 25 surface mount type LEDs 304. By inputting a lighting signal to each of the signal lines 303 from the protection control calculation unit 102, the surface mount type LED 304 is lit, and the state transitions from the LED off state (when off in the upper right of FIG. 2) to the LED on state (when on in the lower right of FIG. 2).

[0030] By changing the signal line 303 to which the lighting signal is input according to the content to be displayed, the surface mount type LED 304 to be lit can be selected. As described in the LED lighting signal table 200 (see FIG. 3), the signal line 303 to which the lighting signal is input is selected according to the surface mount type LED 304 to be lit, and by inputting the lighting signal to the surface mount type LED 304, the surface mount type LED 304 at the corresponding LED coordinates is lit. By lighting the surface mount type LEDs 304 necessary for the expression of information, information is displayed on the LED character display 101 (when lit).

[0031] FIG. 3 shows an example of the LED lighting signal table 200 when displaying the letter "A". The LED lighting signal table 200 has columns of "signal line", "corresponding LED coordinates", and "lighting signal". "Signal line" is a column showing the identification information ([D00] to [D24]) of the signal line 303.

[0032] "Corresponding LED coordinates" is an item representing the coordinates (positions) of each surface-mounted LED 304 in the assembly 305 of a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, in the lowermost row (the fifth row from the top) of the assembly 305 shown in FIG. 2, the corresponding LED coordinates are "0" to "4" from the right, the corresponding LED coordinates in the row above it (the fourth row) are "5" to "9" from the right, the corresponding LED coordinates in the middle row (the third row) are "10" to "14" from the right, the corresponding LED coordinates in the row above it (the second row) are "15" to "19" from the right, and the corresponding LED coordinates in the uppermost row (the first row) are "20" to "24" from the right. Each of the corresponding LED coordinates from "24" to "0" corresponds to the signal lines "D00" to "D24".

[0033] "Lighting signal" is an item that stores information (e.g., flag information of 0 or 1) indicating lighting / extinguishing for each surface-mounted LED 304, which is "0" in the case of extinguishing and "1" in the case of lighting.

[0034] The contents of "Corresponding LED coordinates" and "Lighting signal" in the LED lighting signal table 200 are the same as the contents of the lighting pattern data 402 in the information 400 shown in FIGS. 4 to 7 described later. The LED lighting signal table 200 may be created for each display character and stored in the built-in memory 302. By storing at least the correspondence relationship between the "signal lines" and the "corresponding LED coordinates" in the built-in memory 302, the protection control calculation unit 102 can create the LED lighting signal table 200 by referring to the lighting pattern data 402 for each display character.

[0035] In this way, the digital protection relay device 100 can express various characters, numbers, and symbols with a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304 by selecting the surface-mounted LEDs 304 to be lit. By providing a plurality of LED character displays 101 (assemblies 305 composed of a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304) according to the number and content of the characters to be displayed, it is also possible to handle the display of a plurality of characters and even more complex information. The display control for a plurality of assemblies 305 will be described in detail in the third embodiment described later.

[0036] As described above, the digital protection relay device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a display (LED character display 101) having a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304 arranged vertically and horizontally, and based on input information, calculates the content of the information to be displayed on the display and generates a lighting signal for controlling the lighting pattern of the plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304, and a display control unit (protection control calculation unit 102) that outputs the lighting signal to the display.

[0037] The digital protection relay device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention configured as described above controls the lighting of the surface-mounted LEDs 304 by arranging the surface-mounted LEDs 304 vertically and horizontally. As a result, without using a display that requires a large space inside the housing or an expensive display, it is possible to realize the display of various information (characters, numbers, symbols) that could not be expressed by at least LEDs divided into segments.

[0038] Also, in the present embodiment, even in terms of the durability of long-term operation, without using a graphic display such as an LCD module with poor component reliability, it is possible to use industrial-specification components for each of the surface-mounted LEDs 304 and the driving (control IC) semiconductor, thereby ensuring a long service life. And in the present embodiment, by achieving miniaturization and low cost while satisfying a long service life and enabling the display of various information, the long-term operability of the digital protection relay device 100 can be significantly improved.

[0039] Also, since the LCD module has characteristics such as the display becoming faint in a low-temperature environment, there are also problems with visual recognition reliability. The display applied to the digital protection relay device for performing protection control of the power system is also required to have reliability with respect to visibility. In this regard, in the present embodiment, without using a graphic display, by displaying information using an assembly 305 composed of a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304, it is possible to ensure high reliability with respect to visibility as well as a long service life.

[0040] Also, according to the present embodiment, without the operator connecting an external device to the digital protection relay device 100, it becomes possible to perform setting operations on the digital protection relay device 100 and read input information and setting information stored in the digital protection relay device 100. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the information directly obtained from the digital protection relay device 100 can be significantly increased, and the range of direct operations that can be performed on the digital protection relay device 100 without using an external device can be greatly expanded. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the labor and time required for these operations.

[0041] Also, in the digital protection relay device 100 according to the second embodiment, the lighting control of the surface-mounted LED 304 is executed using the protection control arithmetic unit 102 for performing protection control, which is the original function of the digital protection relay device 100. That is, in the digital protection relay device 100, the display control unit (corresponding to the protection control arithmetic unit 102 when performing display control) is shared with the protection control arithmetic unit (corresponding to the protection control arithmetic unit 102 when performing protection control) that performs arithmetic operations for the protection control of the digital protection relay device 100.

[0042] In the present embodiment with the above configuration, by using the surface-mounted LED 304, it is possible to select a microcomputer and a control IC with a long lifespan (and high reliability) (for example, refer to FIG. 8) without using a dedicated microcomputer for display control that is mounted on a substrate integrally with an LCD like an LCD module. That is, in the present embodiment, unlike an LCD module, the degree of freedom of the semiconductor that can be used for the microcomputer and the control IC (Integrated Circuit) is increased, so it becomes possible to use industrial semiconductors (long lifespan, high reliability) for the microcomputer and the control IC.

[0043] However, the present invention does not exclude a configuration including a display control unit (microcomputer) that controls the lighting of the LED character display 101 (a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304) separately from the protection control arithmetic unit 102 for performing protection control, which is the original function of the digital protection relay device 100. Even in a configuration where the protection control arithmetic unit 102 and the display control unit are separate, the same effects as those described above can be achieved.

[0044] <Second Embodiment> As described in the first embodiment, in order to display the information obtained from the digital protection relay device 100 as characters, numbers, and symbols, it is necessary to control the lighting of a large number of surface-mounted LEDs 304. In the second embodiment, a preferable display method for realizing, in a single protection control arithmetic unit 102, a display control function for controlling the display function of the LED character display 101 and a protection control arithmetic function for performing an operation for controlling the protection function of the power system will be described.

[0045] Conventionally, a graphic display such as an LCD module has performed display by mounting a high-performance microcomputer for display control or the like and controlling the operation of the LCD module or the like. In this way, the graphic display requires a high-performance microcomputer for display control, increasing the cost of components and occupying the mounting area on the substrate.

[0046] As described in the first embodiment, the principle of controlling the lighting of the plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304 used in the present invention is simple. Therefore, it is possible to cause the protection control arithmetic unit 102, which performs an operation for protection control, which is the original role of the digital protection relay device 100 shown in FIG. 1, to control the lighting of the plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304 provided in the LED character display 101.

[0047] When causing the protection control arithmetic unit 102 to control the lighting of the surface-mounted LEDs 304, it is not necessary to separately mount a microcomputer for LED lighting control, so cost can be suppressed and mounting space can be saved. However, when the number of surface-mounted LEDs 304 for performing LED lighting control increases, the arithmetic performance of the protection control arithmetic unit 102 is used for controlling the lighting of the surface-mounted LEDs 304, and the performance related to the protection control arithmetic, which is the original role of the digital protection relay device 100, deteriorates. Therefore, in the second embodiment, by adopting the configuration described below, deterioration of the arithmetic performance of the protection control arithmetic unit 102 due to the lighting control of the surface-mounted LEDs 304 is suppressed.

[0048] FIG. 4 is a front schematic view showing an example of a lighting method of the LED character display 101 using the LED lighting pattern according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, in the present embodiment, in order to solve the problem of the degradation of the calculation performance of the protection control calculation unit 102, the LED lighting pattern for the characters, numbers, and symbols to be displayed on the LED character display 101 is determined. The information 400 regarding the LED lighting pattern is stored in the built-in memory 302 or the non-volatile memory 103 provided inside the protection control calculation unit 102. Then, the protection control calculation unit 102 reads the information 400 regarding the LED lighting pattern of the character to be displayed from the built-in memory 302 or the like, and is configured to display the character on the LED character display 101. In the present embodiment, the description will be made assuming that the information 400 regarding the LED lighting pattern is stored in the built-in memory 302. When the information 400 is stored in the built-in memory 302, the reading speed of the information 400 by the processor 301 is faster than when the information 400 is stored in the non-volatile memory 103.

[0049] As shown in FIG. 4, for the characters, numerical values, and symbols that need to be displayed in the digital protection relay device 100, it is determined how to express them by lighting a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304, and the information 400 is stored in the built-in memory 302 using an external device or the like. The information 400 to be stored includes the represented character 401, the lighting pattern data 402 for each character, and the LED lighting pattern 403. The LED lighting pattern 403 is an image showing the appearance when the surface-mounted LED 304 actually lights up based on the lighting pattern data 402, and corresponds to the type of the represented character 401. The lighting pattern data 402 is information indicating the LED lighting pattern (lighting signal for each corresponding LED coordinate) that lights up as shown in the LED lighting pattern 403.

[0050] For example, when the LED character display 101 needs to display "A" as information, the processor 301 reads out the lighting pattern data 402 of the character "A" from the built-in memory 302 of the protection control calculation unit 102. Then, the processor 301 inputs the read lighting pattern data 402 of "A" as the lighting pattern 404 to the LED character display 101, thereby lighting the surface-mounted LED 304 with the specified LED lighting pattern "A".

[0051] Next, FIGS. 5 to 7 show examples of LED lighting patterns formed by surface-mounted LEDs 304 arranged in five columns and five rows for the characters to be represented. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example (1) of a character represented by using the lighting of surface-mounted LEDs 304 arranged in five columns and five rows according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example (2) of a character represented by using the lighting of surface-mounted LEDs 304 arranged in five columns and five rows according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example (3) of a character represented by using the lighting of surface-mounted LEDs 304 arranged in five columns and five rows according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0052] FIG. 5 shows examples of each LED lighting pattern for the capital letters "A" to "Z" as the characters to be represented. FIG. 6 shows examples of each LED lighting pattern for the small letters "a" to "z" as the characters to be represented. FIG. 7 shows examples of each LED lighting pattern for the Arabic numerals "1" to "0", various symbols "(" to "_", and Greek letters "φ" to "π" as the characters to be represented.

[0053] In this way, by creating the lighting patterns of the characters to be represented and the surface-mounted LEDs 304 to be lit, storing the lighting patterns in the built-in memory 302 or the like, and reading and controlling the lighting, it is possible to control the lighting of a large number of surface-mounted LEDs 304 without using much of the calculation performance of the protection control calculation unit 102.

[0054] As described above, in the digital protection relay device 100 according to the second embodiment, the display control unit (protection control calculation unit 102) includes a storage unit (built-in memory 302 or non-volatile memory 103) that stores lighting patterns recognizable by the user, which represent each of characters, numbers, and symbols, as lighting patterns of a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304. Then, the display control unit is configured to read out a lighting pattern corresponding to the result of calculating the content of the information to be displayed on the display (LED character display 101) from the lighting patterns stored in the storage unit, and generate a lighting signal for controlling the read-out lighting pattern.

[0055] The digital protection relay device 100 according to the second embodiment configured as described above does not implement a dedicated microcomputer for controlling the display, and even when the protection control calculation unit 102 is made to perform LED lighting control, it reads out the lighting pattern data 402 stored in the built-in memory 302 or the like and outputs it to the LED character display 101. Thus, in this embodiment, the protection control calculation unit 102 does not require advanced calculation for LED lighting control. Therefore, the lighting control of the plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304 provided in the LED character display 101 can be performed without degrading the calculation performance of the protection control of the protection control calculation unit 102.

[0056] <Third Embodiment> In the first and second embodiments, by arranging a large number of surface-mounted LEDs 304 and controlling their lighting, it is possible to represent characters, numbers, and symbols. However, simultaneously lighting a plurality of aggregates 305 composed of a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304 increases the power consumption of the digital protection relay device 100. Also, the number of signal output pins for outputting lighting signals from the protection control calculation unit 102 is limited. For example, when one surface-mounted LED 304 is connected to one signal line 303 (see FIG. 2), the number of surface-mounted LEDs 304 that can be controlled for lighting is very small. Therefore, in the third embodiment, the display of different aggregates 305 of surface-mounted LEDs 304 is switched at predetermined time intervals.

[0057] FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a digital protection relay device 100 that rapidly switches the lighting of an assembly of surface-mounted LEDs 304 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, in order to suppress power consumption and control the lighting of a large number of surface-mounted LEDs 304 with a small number of signal lines, the surface-mounted LEDs 304 to be lit are lit in multiple times at high speed character by character. Thereby, the number of surface-mounted LEDs 304 lit at one time is reduced, enabling suppression of power consumption and control of the lighting of a large number of surface-mounted LEDs 304 with limited signal lines 303.

[0058] In FIG. 8, an example of an LED character display 101 capable of displaying 6 characters is shown by arranging 6 collective arrangement LEDs (assembly 305) each having vertical 5 and horizontal 5 surface-mounted LEDs 304 for displaying one character. The LED character display 101 is composed of a total of 150 surface-mounted LEDs 304. The LED character display 101 lights the surface-mounted LEDs 304 based on an LED lighting signal output from a protection control arithmetic unit 102.

[0059] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the content of an LED lighting signal for realizing a character lighting method of the LED character display 101 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The LED lighting signal content 900 shown in FIG. 9 is composed of 32-bit information. The LED lighting signal content 900 has items of "bit", "transmission signal", and "transmission order". Each piece of information (number) indicated by "bit" corresponds to the corresponding LED coordinates in FIG. 3. Information (0 or 1) of the "transmission signal" is set for each bit. (1) to (4) shown in the "transmission order" represent the order of the 8-bit LED lighting signal 806 output from the protection control arithmetic unit 102.

[0060] Among the 32 bits, bits 0 to 24 are information for instructing lighting / extinguishing for each of the 25 surface-mounted LEDs 304 that make up the assembly 305 (corresponding to the lighting signals in FIGS. 3 and 4). Also, bits 25 to 30 are information for switching the lighting characters (assembly 305). By switching the content of this information of bits 25 to 30, the lighting of the six assemblies 305 connected to the signal lines indicated by

[25] to

[30] in FIG. 8 is switched. The 31st bit is unused.

[0061] The LED lighting signal 806 is output from the protection control arithmetic unit 102 to the LED lighting circuit 802 and the lighting character switching circuit 803 in four portions of 8 bits each via the signal line 303 (see FIG. 2). The LED lighting circuit 802 and the lighting character switching circuit 803 receive the 8-bit LED lighting signal 806 in four portions (the LED lighting signals (1) to (4) in FIG. 9) and temporarily hold the received bit information. The LED lighting circuit 802 and the lighting character switching circuit 803 can be configured using, for example, flip-flop circuits.

[0062] The LED lighting circuit 802 receives the switching control signal 805 output from the switching control signal generation circuit 801, and based on the four 8-bit LED lighting signals 806, outputs a 25-bit LED lighting signal 807 to each assembly 305 of the LED character display 101. The LED lighting circuit 802 generates a 25-bit LED lighting signal 807 using the LED lighting signals (1) to (4) [24:0] in FIG. 9.

[0063] Also, the lighting character switching circuit 803 receives the switching control signal 805 output from the switching control signal generation circuit 801, and based on the four 8-bit LED lighting signals 806, outputs a 6-bit lighting character switching signal 808 to each assembly 305 of the LED character display 101. The lighting character switching circuit 803 generates a 6-bit lighting character switching signal 808 using particularly the LED lighting signal (4) [30:25] in FIG. 9.

[0064] The LED character display 101 lights the surface-mounted LEDs 304 included in the set 305 to be lit according to the 25-bit LED lighting signal 807 received from the LED lighting circuit 802 and the 6-bit lighting character switching signal 808 received from the lighting character switching circuit 803.

[0065] The switching control signal generation circuit 801 is connected to the protection control calculation unit 102 by a signal line and receives the switching timing signal 804 output from the protection control calculation unit 102. The switching timing signal 804 is a signal that instructs the switching timing of the outputs of flip-flop circuits (not shown) provided in each of the LED lighting circuit 802 and the lighting character switching circuit 803. The switching timing signal 804 also functions as a signal for resetting the bit information held by the flip-flop circuit. The switching timing signal indicates the timing (time interval) for switching the display of each set 305 composed of a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304 shown in FIG. 9, and is set to n [ms] (see FIG. 10) in this embodiment. Then, the switching control signal generation circuit 801 outputs a switching control signal 805 for controlling the switching operations of the LED lighting circuit 802 and the lighting character switching circuit 803 to the respective flip-flop circuits based on the switching timing signal 804.

[0066] In the LED lighting signal content 900 at a certain time, the 25th bit is “1” in “display character selection”. Also, the expression character indicated by the “LED lighting signal” is “A” (see FIGS. 2 to 4). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, the set 305 (first character 1001) of the surface-mounted LEDs 304 connected to the signal line indicated by

[25] is selected.

[0067] Note that the above-described switching control signal generation circuit 801, LED lighting circuit 802, and lighting character switching circuit 803 can be configured by a control IC, which is, for example, a super-small electronic circuit.

[0068] Next, a display example of the LED character display 101 when the lighting of the set 305 of the surface-mounted LEDs 304 according to the third embodiment of the present invention is switched at high speed will be described with reference to FIG. 10.

[0069] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of the LED character display 101 when the lighting of the assembly 305 of the surface mount type LEDs 304 according to the third embodiment of the present invention is switched at high speed. Above FIG. 10, examples of the visual recognition images 1000 when the characters displayed on the LED character display 101 are switched one by one are shown. Also, below FIG. 10, examples of the LED lighting switching images of each character are shown.

[0070] As an example, in order to display the final visual recognition image 1000, the state of switching the characters to be displayed by the assemblies 305 (assembled arranged LEDs) of the surface mount type LEDs 304 for six characters at intervals of n [ms] is shown. Each of the assemblies 305 for six characters is designated as the first character 1001 to the sixth character 1006. The first character 1001 "no LED lighting", the second character 1002 "P", the third character 1003 "U", the fourth character 1004 "T", the fifth character 1005 "E", and the sixth character 1006 "S" are displayed in time division in this order. One cycle is completed by switching the first character 1001 to the sixth character 1006 once, and one cycle has a period of n [ms] × m [characters] [ms / cycle].

[0071] In FIG. 10, the state of switching the characters to be displayed in the order of the first character 1001 to the sixth character 1006 is described, but the order of switching the characters to be displayed is not limited to this. By setting the switching time n [ms] to a predetermined short time, it appears to the human eye that all six characters (actually only five characters light up in FIG. 10) are lit due to afterimages. Therefore, it is possible to make the user recognize the display content "SETUP" shown in the visual recognition image 1000. The switching time n [ms] is obtained in advance by experiments, simulations, etc. and stored in the built-in memory 302 or the non-volatile memory 103.

[0072] As described above, in the digital protection relay device 100 according to the third embodiment, the display (LED character display 101) has a plurality of assemblies 305 each composed of a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304, and the display control unit (protection control arithmetic unit 102) controls each assembly 305 composed of the plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304 to be lit in order at time intervals (e.g., n [ms]) equal to or less than a predetermined value based on the result of calculating the content of the information to be displayed on the display. In this way, by lighting the plurality of assemblies 305 in order at time intervals equal to or less than a predetermined value, the user can visually recognize information such as a plurality of characters displayed on the display without discomfort.

[0073] Also, according to the digital protection relay device 100 according to the third embodiment, by selecting the assembly 305 (assembly arrangement LED) of the surface-mounted LEDs 304 to be lit for each character and switching the assemblies 305 to be lit, the assembly 305 lit at one time is for one character. Therefore, the current consumption of the digital protection relay device 100 can be set to the current consumption required for lighting the surface-mounted LEDs 304 that make up the assembly 305 for one character. Accordingly, an increase in the power consumption of the LED character display 101 of the digital protection relay device 100 can be suppressed.

[0074] Also, by switching the assembly 305 of the surface-mounted LEDs 304 to be lit, the number of signal lines 303 used in the protection control arithmetic unit 102 can be reduced. Thereby, it is possible to control the lighting of many surface-mounted LEDs 304 arranged in the LED character display 101 with a small number of signal lines 303.

[0075] [Modification Example of the Third Embodiment] Further, in the digital protection relay device 100, the display control unit (protection control arithmetic unit 102) may control to change the lighting time of a specific assembly 305 among the plurality of assemblies 305 each composed of the plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304.

[0076] By making the transition time of a specific character (the time from displaying one character to displaying another character), for example, the time for transitioning from the sixth character 1006 to the first character 1001, shorter than the transition times of other characters, the lighting time of the sixth character 1006 becomes shorter and it appears darker than other characters. Conversely, by making the transition time longer, the lighting time of the character becomes longer and it appears brighter than other characters.

[0077] In this way, in the digital protection relay device 100, by adjusting the lighting time (transition time) for each character (the aggregate 305 of surface-mounted LEDs 304), it is possible to adjust the brightness and darkness among the characters, numbers, symbols, etc. displayed on the LED character display 101. Therefore, for example, a part of the display information on the LED character display 101 can be emphasized, etc., and a wider range of expressions can be realized.

[0078] <Fourth Embodiment> By expressing capital / lowercase letters, numbers, symbols, etc. on the LED character display 101, it is possible to display simple setting information of the protection function on the digital protection relay device 100. Hereinafter, in the fourth embodiment, a method of performing a setting operation or referring to setting information, etc. using the LED character display 101 based on an input operation of an operator on the operation unit 104 in the digital protection relay device 100 will be described.

[0079] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a switchable menu display using the LED character display 101 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 shows an example of setting information provided in the digital protection relay device 100, which is setting information composed of the first layer to the fourth layer.

[0080] [Setting Operation] In this embodiment, in the initial display 1100, "SETUP" is displayed. "SETUP" is a display mode for performing various settings of the digital protection relay device 100. From here, when the operator presses the operation unit 104, for example, an operation switch with the symbol "→" written on it, the display transitions to the second layer 1101. Also, when transitioning to different items within the same layer, the display item is transitioned by operating an operation switch with a display such as "↑" or "↓". In the second layer 1101 in the figure, it is possible to set the test settings and the date and time settings.

[0081] When transitioning from "SETUP" in the first layer (initial display 1100) to the second layer 1101, "CHECK" is displayed, and it becomes a setting display for switching between the manual inspection and automatic inspection modes. When switching the inspection mode, by pressing an operation switch with the symbol "→" written on it by the operator, it directly transitions to the inspection mode setting display 1102 in the third layer, and the setting can be performed. In the setting operation, it is possible to set the inspection mode by switching the display of "AUTO" representing automatic inspection and "MANUAL" representing manual inspection and selecting either one, and then operating an operation switch with a positive meaning such as "OK".

[0082] Also, when "CHECK" in the second layer 1101 is displayed, for example, when the operator presses an operation switch with the symbol "↓" written on it, it transitions to "TEST". Further, when the operator presses an operation switch with the symbol "→" written on it in the state where "TEST" is displayed, it transitions from "TEST" to the test setting display 1103 in the third layer. By selecting "DOTEST" initially displayed in the test setting display 1103 and operating the operation unit 104 to "OK", it is possible to perform a test on the digital protection relay device 100.

[0083] Also, in the test setting display 1103, when "DOTEST" is displayed, by the operator pressing an operation switch or the like with the symbol "↓" written thereon, it shifts to the phase of setting conditions and the like when conducting a test on the digital protection relay device 100, enabling input of arbitrary numerical values, characters, etc. For example, after specifying the character position with the operation switches "←" and "→", the operation switches "↓" and "↑" may be operated to sequentially switch and input the expression characters defined in FIGS. 5 to 7. In the example of FIG. 11, the test objects are the short-circuit selection relay or the earth fault selection relays "50L" and "50M", and the setting value is set to 10 times the rated load voltage (or rated load current) "×10".

[0084] Also, after transitioning from "TEST" to "TIME" in the second layer 1101, it transitions from "TIME" to the year, month, and day setting display 1104 of the third layer. In the year, month, and day setting display 1104, it is possible to set the year, month, and day when the setting operation of the digital protection relay device 100 is performed. Further, it transitions from "YEAR", "MONTH", and "DAY" of the year, month, and day setting display 1104 of the third layer to the fourth layer 1105, and it is possible to set the values of each item.

[0085] [Information reference] Furthermore, when referring to the information and the like set in the digital protection relay device 100, an operation is performed to transition from "SETUP" of the initial display 1100 to other items in the first layer, and "STATUS" of the information reference display 1106 is displayed. Then, from the state where this "STATUS" is displayed, it transitions to the second layer 1107, and operations such as "↑" and "↓" are performed to enable reference to the values set in the digital protection relay device 100, input value information, information such as the year, month, and day. For example, in the example of FIG. 11, information such as the operating condition of the protection function being "10.0A", the setting target being "RELAY", its type being "51_IS", the current load current being "2.5A", and the current time "TIME" set in the digital protection relay device 100 being "2021" is shown.

[0086] As described above, the digital protection relay device 100 according to the fourth embodiment includes an input device (operation unit 104) that receives an operator's input operation as one of the input information. The display control unit (protection control arithmetic unit 102) controls the lighting of a plurality of aggregates 305 composed of a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304 based on the operator's input operation on the input device, and displays a character string used for the setting operation on a display (LED character display 101). Based on the content of the displayed character string and the content of the input operation on the input device, it is configured to execute settings related to the protection function of the digital protection relay device.

[0087] Also, the display control unit (protection control arithmetic unit 102) is configured to control the lighting of a plurality of aggregates 305 composed of a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs 304 based on the operator's input operation on the input device, and display a character string representing information related to the protection function of the power system on the display.

[0088] In the digital protection relay device 100 configured as described above, by displaying characters, numbers, and symbols, operations such as setting operations, test execution operations, and confirmation of setting information of the digital protection relay device 100 can be directly performed using the digital protection relay device 100. That is, conventionally, these operations that were desired to be performed by connecting an external device such as a notebook PC to the digital protection relay device 100 can be performed simply. As a result, this embodiment can reduce the labor and time required for setting and information confirmation of the digital protection relay device 100, and can greatly improve the convenience of the digital protection relay device 100.

[0089] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it goes without saying that various other application examples and modification examples can be adopted without departing from the gist of the present invention described in the claims. For example, each of the above-described embodiments has been described in detail and specifically with respect to the digital protection relay device and its display method in order to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and is not necessarily limited to those having all the components described. Also, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the components of another embodiment. It is also possible to add the components of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Also, it is possible to add, replace, or delete other components with respect to a part of the configuration of each embodiment.

[0090] Also, each of the above configurations, functions, processing units, etc. may be realized in hardware by designing a part or all of them, for example, by using an integrated circuit. As the hardware, a processor device in a broad sense such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) may be used.

[0091] Also, in the above-described embodiments, the signal lines (including control lines and information lines) show those considered necessary for the explanation, and do not necessarily show all the control lines and information lines on the product. In fact, it may be considered that almost all components are interconnected.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0092] 100…Digital protection relay device, 101…LED character display, 102…Protection control arithmetic unit, 103…Non-volatile memory, 104…Operation unit (operation switch), 105…Input converter, 106…A / D conversion unit, 107…Output circuit, 108…Input / output terminal, 200…LED lighting signal table, 301…Processor, 302…Built-in memory, 303…Signal line, 304…Surface mount type LED (chip LED), 305…Aggregate, 401…Character, 402…Lighting pattern data, 403…LED lighting pattern, 404…Lighting pattern, 801…Switching control signal generation circuit, 802…LED lighting circuit, 803…Lighting character switching circuit, 804…Switching timing signal, 805…Switching control signal, 806…LED lighting signal (8-bit), 808…Lighting character switching signal (6-bit), 807…LED lighting signal (25-bit), 900…LED lighting signal content, 1000…Visual recognition image, 1001~1006…First character~Sixth character, 1100…Initial display, 1101…Second layer, 1102…Inspection mode setting display, 1103…Test setting display, 1104…Year / month / day setting display, 1105…Fourth layer, 1106…Information reference display, 1107…Second layer

Claims

1. A digital protection relay device for protecting a power system, comprising: a display having a plurality of assemblies arranged in a row, each assembly being composed of a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs; a display control unit that generates a lighting signal for controlling the lighting pattern of the plurality of surface-mounted LEDs in each assembly by calculating the content of the information to be displayed on the display based on the input information, and outputs the lighting signal to the display; an input device that receives an input operation of an operator as one of the input information; the display control unit controls each assembly composed of the plurality of surface-mounted LEDs to be lit in order at time intervals equal to or less than a predetermined value based on the result of calculating the content of the information to be displayed on the display; when the left-right direction is the first direction and the up-down direction is the second direction, the input device can receive an input operation representing the first direction and the second direction from the operator; when an input operation in the first direction is performed on the input device, the display control unit causes the display content by the plurality of assemblies of the display to transition from an item in the currently displayed layer to an item in another layer, and when an input operation in the second direction is performed on the input device, the display control unit causes the display content by the plurality of assemblies of the display to transition to another item in the same layer as the currently displayed layer; a digital protection relay device.

2. Based on the input operation of the operator on the input device, the display control unit controls the lighting of the plurality of assemblies of the display to display a character string representing an item in one layer used for a setting operation on the display; when an input operation in the second direction is performed in this display state, it transitions to another item in the same layer; when an input operation in the first direction is performed in a state where any item in the layer is displayed, it transitions to an item in the next layer, and based on the content of the character string displayed before the transition and the content of the input operation for the item in the next layer, a setting regarding the protection function of the digital protection relay device is executed; The digital protection relay device according to Claim 1.

3. Based on the input operation of the operator on the input device, the display control unit controls the lighting of the plurality of assemblies of the display, and when an input operation in the second direction is performed in a state where a character string representing an item in one layer of the initial display is displayed on the display, an item representing information reference is displayed on the display as an item in the same layer; When an input operation in the first direction is performed in this display state, a character string representing information regarding the protection function of the digital protection relay device is displayed on the display as an item in the next hierarchy. The digital protection relay device according to claim 1.

4. The display control unit includes a storage unit that stores lighting patterns representing each of characters, numbers, and symbols as the lighting patterns of the plurality of surface-mounted LEDs. The display control unit reads out a lighting pattern corresponding to the result of calculating the content of the information to be displayed on the display from the lighting patterns stored in the storage unit, and generates a lighting signal for controlling the read lighting pattern. The digital protection relay device according to claim 2 or 3.

5. The display control unit changes the lighting time of a specific aggregate among the plurality of aggregates composed of the plurality of surface-mounted LEDs. The digital protection relay device according to claim 1.

6. The display control unit is shared with a protection control calculation unit that performs calculations for protection control of the digital protection relay device. The digital protection relay device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. A display method for a digital protection relay device that protects a power system, comprising: The digital protection relay device includes: A display having a plurality of aggregates arranged with aggregates composed of a plurality of surface-mounted LEDs; A display control unit that calculates the content of the information to be displayed on the display based on input information, generates a lighting signal for controlling the lighting patterns of the plurality of surface-mounted LEDs in each aggregate, and outputs the lighting signal to the display; An input device that receives an input operation of an operator as one of the input information; The display control unit includes a process of lighting each aggregate composed of the plurality of surface-mounted LEDs in order at time intervals of a predetermined value or less based on the result of calculating the content of the information to be displayed on the display. When the left-right direction is the first direction and the up-down direction is the second direction, the input device can receive input operations from the operator representing the first direction and the second direction. When the input operation in the first direction is performed on the input device, the display control unit causes the display content by the plurality of aggregates on the display to transition from the item in the currently displayed hierarchy to an item in another hierarchy, and when the input operation in the second direction is performed on the input device, the display control unit includes a process of causing the display content by the plurality of aggregates on the display to transition to another item in the same hierarchy as the currently displayed hierarchy. A display method of a digital protection relay device.

Images