Control Method

Abstract

To provide a heater controller and a control method that eliminate the need to prepare or select various heat generation sources having capabilities adaptive to differences in heat insulation condition of a region of installation and an underfloor, and provide flexible temperature control according to an installation environment and user preference only by initially setting upper and lower limit values of a duty factor to an arbitrary value.SOLUTION: There is provided a heater controller 1 which controls the temperature of a heating appliance, and the heater controller comprises a control part 210 which controls a duty factor for a heater 10 of the heating appliance, a power supply substrate 22 which supplies electric power to the heater 10, an operation part 3 for operating the control part 210, and a display part 4 which displays operation details thereof, wherein the control part 210 can arbitrarily set a unit time T for which the electric power is supplied to the heater 10 as an initial value, arbitrarily set a lower-limit value R1 of the duty factor per unit time T as an initial value, and arbitrarily set an upper-limit value R5 of the duty factor per unit time as an initial value.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a heater controller. Control the operation of the heating appliance by It relates to a control method. [Background technology]

[0002] In heating appliances such as indoor panel heaters and floor heating appliances, the temperature is regulated by controlling the power supply rate of the heating appliance's heat source (such as a wire heater) using a heater controller. In heating appliances equipped with such heater controllers, even if the wire heater has the same heating capacity, differences in how the appliance heats up and how it cools down when not powered can occur depending on the environment in which the heater is installed. For this reason, electric floor heating systems are known that have functions such as identifying the heating area, starting and stopping power supply, selecting the floor heating level and supplying the corresponding power to the wire heater, and detecting abnormalities, as well as multiple power supply rate tables that store power supply rates corresponding to multiple heating levels (high, medium, low) (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] In the electric floor heating system described in Patent Document 1, by selecting a conductance table that matches the conditions of the floor substructure where it is installed (insulation conditions of the floor substructure), even if the insulation conditions of the floor substructure differ depending on the installation environment, it is possible to obtain almost the same floor (room) heating conditions by simply changing the settings on the controller side, without changing the wire heater. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4526439 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the electric floor heating system described in Patent Document 1, a duty cycle table is selected at the time of initial setup according to the insulation conditions of the floor base where the system is to be installed, and during normal operation, the system operates at a duty cycle according to the maximum and minimum levels stored in the duty cycle table selected at the time of initial setup.

[0006] However, in such electric floor heating systems, the number of available heating levels is limited because multiple duty cycle tables are prepared only in accordance with the predetermined number of heating levels. Therefore, even if the heating capacity is the same, it is difficult to flexibly respond to differences in how the heating is felt and how it feels due to differences in the environment in which it is installed (region, insulation conditions of the floor base (new construction, renovation, floor material, etc.)), differences in the preferences of users (men and women of all ages), etc.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention provides a heater controller that can finely adjust the heater output by simply initially setting the upper and lower limits of the power supply rate to any value, and can flexibly adjust the temperature according to the installation environment and the user's preferences. Control the operation of the heating appliance by The purpose is to provide a control method. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present invention The control method controls the operation of the heating appliance using a heater controller that includes a duty rate control unit that controls the duty rate of the heat source of the heating appliance, a power supply control unit that supplies power to the heat source in accordance with control by the duty rate control unit, and an operation unit that operates the duty rate control unit, wherein the duty rate control unit initially sets a unit time for supplying power to the heat source, a lower limit value of the duty rate per unit time, and an upper limit value of the duty rate per unit time to any value input via the operation unit, equally divides the capacity of the heat source between the initially set upper and lower limit values ​​of the duty rate, and controls the power supply to the heat source based on the unit time set as the initial value and the evenly divided duty rate. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] The present invention The regulation According to this control method, simply by initially setting the upper and lower limits of the power conduction rate to any value, the heater output can be fine-tuned to suit various usage environments, enabling stepwise temperature control. This eliminates the need to stock and select various heat sources with capacities that correspond to differences in the installation region and the insulation conditions of the floor base, and enables flexible temperature control according to the installation environment and user preferences. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is an external view of a heater controller according to the embodiment. [Figure 2]FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a display section of the heater controller of FIG. 1. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a heater controller according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] 10 is a table illustrating upper and lower limit values ​​of a current conduction rate according to an embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the control of the power duty rate per cycle of the heater controller according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] 10 is a table illustrating upper and lower limit values ​​of the energization rate according to another embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the control of the power duty rate per cycle of a heater controller according to another embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] A heater controller according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figs. 1 to 5. Fig. 1 is an external view of the heater controller 1 according to the embodiment, Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the display unit 10 of the heater controller 1 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the heater controller 1 according to the embodiment. Fig. 4 is a table explaining the upper and lower limit values ​​of the duty ratio according to the embodiment, and Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the duty ratio control per cycle of the heater controller 1 according to the embodiment.

[0017] 1 and 2, the heater controller 1 of this embodiment is used in, for example, an electric floor heating system (not shown) as a heating appliance. In this embodiment, the electric floor heating system as a heating appliance will be described as heating two floor surfaces (two surfaces) in two heating areas, for example, a kitchen and a living room, but the heating area for floor heating may be one surface or multiple surfaces (three or more surfaces). In the following description, the heater controller 1 will be assumed to be installed in the living room, and the heating area for the living room will be referred to as surface A and the heating area for the kitchen will be referred to as surface B, but the present invention is not limited to this.

[0018] The heater controller 1 comprises a main body 2, an operation unit 3 provided on the main body 2, and a display unit 4 that displays content according to operations performed by the operation unit 3. Preferably, an operation lamp 5 that displays the operation / stop status of the electric floor heating system is provided on or near the display unit 4, as shown in Fig. 1. When this operation lamp 5 is lit, it indicates that the electric floor heating system is operating, and when it is off, it indicates that the electric floor heating system is stopped.

[0019] The main body 2 may also be provided with a temperature sensor 6 that measures the temperature of the heating area A surface on which the main body 2 is installed. This temperature sensor 6 is used to measure the temperature of the heating area A surface on which the heater controller 1 is installed, and is mounted on the front surface of the main body 2. The temperature sensor 6 senses the temperature of the heating area A surface and displays it on the display unit 4, allowing the user to check the current temperature as a guide, but is not used for heating control. In this embodiment, a thermistor, which will be described later, is used as the temperature sensor 6. In this case, the main body 2 is provided with a slit-shaped ventilation hole 7 to promote air convection for temperature detection by the temperature sensor 6.

[0020] In this embodiment, the operating unit 3 has a start button 31 for operating / stopping the electric floor heating system, an adjustment button 32 for adjusting the set temperature and time settings, a timer button 33 for setting various timers, and a setting button 34 for making various settings.

[0021] 2, the display unit 4 displays the current temperature, set temperature, heating strength, current time, set on / off time, heater operation status (heater ON), day of the week, on timer, off timer, weekly timer, heating area (side A, side B), registration number when various operating condition settings are registered, and whether or not maintenance inspection has been performed. The display unit 4 is also composed of a display device such as an LCD, and displays various items such as the operating status of the electric floor heating system and various settings and setting changes described below in response to the operation of various buttons on the operation unit 3.

[0022] 3, the heater controller 1 includes a main body 2 that includes the operation unit 3, display unit 4, and temperature sensor 6. The main body 2 also includes a CPU board 21 that implements a control unit 210 serving as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), which is a duty ratio control unit that controls the operation of the heating appliance, and a power supply board 22.

[0023] The control unit 210 is configured with a microcomputer or the like, and controls the operation of the heater controller 1 based on various types of information. The control unit 210 includes a memory unit 211 that stores operating conditions such as various set values ​​and logs (for example, the number of times the relay is turned on / off), and a clock 212 used for the on timer, off timer, and weekly timer. In this embodiment, the memory unit 211 is configured with a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory.

[0024] The CPU board 21 also includes a battery 213 for maintaining power supply to the microcomputer. The clock 212 is a clock built into the microcomputer, and since the clock is reset when the microcomputer stops, the battery 213 is provided to maintain the clock even when the microcomputer stops due to a power outage or other reasons. The battery 213 is preferably a rechargeable battery, and is preferably capable of maintaining power supply for approximately 24 hours when fully charged.

[0025] The power supply board 22 controls the power supply to the heater 10, which is the heat source of the electric floor heating system, and includes a relay 221, a temperature sensor connector 222, and a switching power supply 223.

[0026] In this embodiment, the power supply board 22 is provided with two circuits of relays 221 corresponding to the heaters 10 installed in two locations on heating area sides A and B. The relays 221 control the ON / OFF of the power supply to the heaters 10. The heaters 10 and relays 221 are provided according to the number of heating areas.

[0027] A thermistor 11 for measuring the temperature of heating area side B, which is remote from main body 2, is connected to temperature sensor connector 222. The thermistor 11 is a resistor whose electrical resistance changes greatly with temperature changes, and is used as a sensor that measures the temperature of heating area side B by utilizing this phenomenon. Thermistor 11 is generally used to measure temperatures from approximately -50°C to 150°C. Like temperature sensor 6, the thermistor 11 senses the temperature of heating area side B and displays it on display 4, allowing the user to check the current temperature as a guide, but is not used for heating control.

[0028] The switching power supply 223 is a general power supply device incorporating a switching regulator that converts power with high efficiency. In the process of obtaining output power from input power using a power conversion device (not shown), the switching power supply 223 uses a switching element (not shown) to convert and adjust power, and in this embodiment, it supports AC 85V to 264V.

[0029] In the heater controller 1 having the main body 2 configured as described above, in the initial stage of construction when installing an electric floor heating system, the basic current flow time (unit time) and the upper and lower limit values ​​of the current flow rate per unit time can be set to any initial value by the following control method (i.e., control of the control unit 210 by operating the operating unit 3).

[0030] That is, in this embodiment, the upper and lower limits of the duty ratio can be initially set to any desired value by operating the various buttons on the operation unit 3 of the main body 2 as follows. First, the duty ratio setting screen is displayed by simultaneously pressing and holding the setting button 34 and the up-down side of the adjustment button 32 for three seconds. Next, the unit time T is changed and set to any desired value by operating the up-down and down-down sides of the adjustment button 32. Next, the setting button 34 is operated to move to the next item, "duty ratio R1." Next, the duty ratio R1 is changed and set to any desired value by operating the up-down and down-down sides of the adjustment button 32. Next, the setting button 34 is operated to move to the next item, "duty ratio R5." Next, the duty ratio R5 is changed and set to any desired value by operating the up-down and down-down sides of the adjustment button 32. Finally, the setting button 34 is operated to move to the first item, "basic power on time T." In this case, on any of the setting screens for the three items of unit time T, conduction rate R1, and conduction rate R5, the operation (setting) is confirmed by pressing and holding setting button 34 for three seconds, and the setting contents are stored in memory unit 211.

[0031] In this embodiment, the unit time T, which can be changed according to the user's needs, is initially set to 5 minutes, but can be set anywhere between 3 and 15 minutes. The minimum duty rate setting, duty rate R1, for duty rate setting 1, is initially set to 10.0%, but can be set anywhere between 5 and 40% according to the user's needs. The maximum duty rate setting, duty rate R5, for duty rate setting 5, is initially set to 70.0%, but can be set anywhere between 50.0 and 100.0% according to the user's needs. The duty rates R1 to R5 are set based on the variable settings of unit time T, duty rate R1, and duty rate R5, and the duty rate calculation formula in the table of FIG. 4.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 4, the initial settings are as follows: unit time T is 5 minutes, power supply rate R1 at power supply rate setting 1, which is the lowest heating temperature, is 10.0%, and power supply rate R5 at power supply rate setting 5, which is the strongest heating temperature, is 70.0%.

[0033] At this time, the current conduction rate R4 is calculated by the following equation (1): R4 = R1 + (R5 - R1) / 4 × 3 (1) This gives us the result that the rate is 55.0%.

[0034] The current conduction rate R3 is calculated using the following equation (2): R3 = R1 + (R5 - R1) / 4 × 2 (2) This gives us the result that the rate is 40.0%.

[0035] The current conduction rate R2 is calculated by the following equation (3): R2 = R1 + (R5 - R1) / 4 × 1 (3) This gives us the result that the rate is 25.0%.

[0036] The energization times t1 to t5 corresponding to the energization rates R1 to R5 are expressed by the following equations (4) to (8), respectively. t1=T×R1 (4) t2=T×R2 (5) t3=T×R3 (6) t4=T×R4 (7) t5=T×R5 (8) This leads us to conclude that t1 is 0.5 minutes, t2 is 1.25 minutes, t3 is 2 minutes, t4 is 2.75 minutes, and t5 is 3.5 minutes.

[0037] Therefore, the rest time of power supply (i.e., the time when the power is off) for each of the duty rate settings 1 to 5 can be calculated by subtracting the power supply times t1 to t5 calculated as described above from the 5 minutes set as the unit time T, as shown in Figure 5. That is, it can be calculated that the rest time of power supply at duty rate setting 5, which has the strongest heating temperature, is 1.5 minutes, the rest time of power supply at duty rate setting 4 is 2.25 minutes, the rest time of power supply at duty rate setting 3 is 3 minutes, the rest time of power supply at duty rate setting 2 is 3.75 minutes, and the rest time of power supply at duty rate setting 1 is 4.5 minutes.

[0038] In other words, if n is the duty ratio level (duty ratio setting), m is the number of divisions (resolution), R1 is the duty ratio lower limit, Rmax is the duty ratio upper limit, and T is the basic duty time, then the duty ratio Rn can be derived from the following formula (9), and the duty time tn can be derived from the following formula (10), where n and m are integers. Rn=R1+(Rmax-R1) / (m-1)×n...(9) tn = T × Rn (10)

[0039] As explained above, according to the heater controller 1 and its control method of this embodiment, in the initial stage of construction when installing the electric floor heating system, the unit time T as the basic power supply time for the heater 10 and the upper limit value R5 and lower limit value R1 of the power supply rates R1 to R5 per unit time can be set to any initial value, thereby eliminating the need to stock and select various heater 10 capacities according to differences in the region and insulation conditions where the electric floor heating system is installed, and the system can be flexibly adapted to various usage environments simply by setting the controller 1.

[0040] In this case, it is preferable that in temperature adjustment during actual operation after installation of the electric floor heating system, the control unit 210 equally divides the capacity of the heater 10 between the upper limit value R5 and the lower limit value R1 of the power supply rates R1 to R5 set as initial values, thereby making it possible to adjust the power supply rates R1 to R5 in stages. According to this configuration, in temperature adjustment during actual operation after installation of the electric floor heating system, the power supply rates R1 to R5 can be adjusted in stages by equally dividing the capacity of the heater 10 between the upper limit value R5 and the lower limit value R1 of the power supply rates R1 to R5 set as initial values, so that the output of the heater 10 can be fine-tuned according to the installation environment and the user's preferences, making it possible to adjust the temperature in stages. In other words, if the upper and lower limit range of the current conduction rate is wide, the change in current conduction rate per step (i.e., the amount of heat generated) is made large, and if the upper and lower limit range of the current conduction rate is narrow, the change in current conduction rate per step is made small; thus, the change in current conduction rate per step, or so-called resolution (amount of heat generated), can be changed depending on whether the upper and lower limit range of the current conduction rate is wide or narrow.

[0041] Furthermore, it is preferable that the control unit 210 controls the ON / OFF of the power supply to the heater 10 using the switching power supply 223 based on the unit time T set as an initial value. It is preferable that the unit time is in the range of 3 to 15 minutes, the lower limit of the power supply rate is in the range of 5.0% to 40.0%, and the upper limit of the power supply rate is in the range of 50.0% to 100.0%. In addition to the above-mentioned effects, these configurations make it possible to easily implement flexible temperature adjustment in the electric floor heating system according to the installation environment and the user's preferences.

[0042] It should be noted that the above-described embodiments and modifications merely show typical forms of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto. In other words, various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. As long as such modifications still include the heater controller configuration of the present invention, they are of course included in the scope of the present invention.

[0043] For example, in the above-described embodiment, the initial settings are described as follows: unit time T is 5 minutes, power rate R1 is 10.0% at power rate setting 1, which is the lowest heating temperature, and power rate R5 is 70.0% at power rate setting 5, which is the strongest heating temperature; however, other values ​​may be used for the initial settings.

[0044] Another embodiment will be described below with reference to Fig. 6 and Fig. 7. Fig. 6 is a table explaining upper and lower limit values ​​of the duty ratio according to another embodiment, and Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram of duty ratio control per cycle of a heater controller according to another embodiment.

[0045] As shown in FIG. 6, the initial settings are as follows: unit time T is 10 minutes, power supply rate R1 is 50.0% at power supply rate setting 1, which is the lowest heating temperature, and power supply rate R5 is 90.0% at power supply rate setting 5, which is the strongest heating temperature.

[0046] In this case, the current conduction rate R4 is calculated by the following equation (1) R4 = R1 + (R5 - R1) / 4 × 3 (1) This gives us the result that the rate is 80.0%.

[0047] The current conduction rate R3 is calculated using the following equation (2): R3 = R1 + (R5 - R1) / 4 × 2 (2) This gives us the result that it is 70.0%.

[0048] The current conduction rate R2 is calculated by the following equation (3): R2 = R1 + (R5 - R1) / 4 × 1 (3) This gives us the result that the rate is 60.0%.

[0049] The energization times t1 to t5 corresponding to the energization rates R1 to R5 are expressed by the following equations (4) to (8), respectively. t1=T×R1 (4) t2=T×R2 (5) t3=T×R3 (6) t4=T×R4 (7) t5=T×R5 (8) This leads us to conclude that t1 is 5 minutes, t2 is 6 minutes, t3 is 7 minutes, t4 is 8 minutes, and t5 is 9 minutes.

[0050] Therefore, the rest time of power supply (i.e., the time when the power is off) for each of the duty rate settings 1 to 5 can be calculated by subtracting the power supply times t1 to t5 calculated as described above from the 10 minutes set as the unit time T, as shown in Figure 7. That is, it can be calculated that the rest time of power supply at duty rate setting 5, which has the strongest heating temperature, is 1 minute, the rest time of power supply at duty rate setting 4 is 2 minutes, the rest time of power supply at duty rate setting 3 is 3 minutes, the rest time of power supply at duty rate setting 2 is 4 minutes, and the rest time of power supply at duty rate setting 1 is 5 minutes.

[0051] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the energization rate can be adjusted in five stages has been described, but the number of adjustable stages (number of divisions) is not limited to five stages, and may be three stages or ten stages. The number of stages (number of divisions) may be incorporated in advance when the controller and control method are considered, or may be set when the energization time and energization rate are set.

[0052] In this way, with the heater controller 1, in the initial stages of construction when installing the electric floor heating system, the unit time T as the basic power supply time for the heater 10 and the upper limit value R5 and lower limit value R1 of the power supply rates R1 to R5 per unit time can be set to any initial value, eliminating the need to stock and select various heater 10 capacities according to differences in the region and insulation conditions where the electric floor heating system is installed, and flexible temperature adjustment according to various usage environments and user preferences can be accommodated simply by setting the controller 1. [Explanation of symbols]

[0053] 1 Heater Controller 2 Main body 21 CPU board 210 control unit (conduction rate control unit) 211 Storage section 212 Clock 213 Batteries 22 Power supply board 221 Relay 222 Temperature sensor connector 223 Switching Power Supply 3 Control section 31 Start button 32 Adjustment button 33 Timer button 34 Settings button 4 Display 5 Operation lamp 6 Temperature Sensor 7. Ventilation holes 10 Heater 11 Thermistor

Claims

[Claim 1] A control method for controlling operation of a heating appliance using a heater controller including a duty rate control unit that controls a duty rate of a heat source of the heating appliance, a power supply control unit that supplies power to the heat source in accordance with control by the duty rate control unit, and an operation unit that operates the duty rate control unit, The power duty control unit is a unit time for energizing the heat source, a lower limit value of the energization rate per unit time, and an upper limit value of the energization rate per unit time are respectively initially set using arbitrary values ​​input via the operation unit; equally dividing the capacity of the heat source between the initially set upper limit value and lower limit value of the power conduction rate; A control method comprising controlling power supply to the heat source based on the unit time set as the initial value and the equally divided power supply rate.

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