JP4014715B2 - LED illumination unit and LED illumination system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an LED illumination unit and system for performing illumination by a row of light flowing in various commercial facilities, and more particularly to a technical improvement for producing various illumination effects with a mechanism that is easy to install and maintain. .
[0002]
[Prior art]
In pachinko parlors and other places, you can often see illuminations reminiscent of flowing light columns. This equipment is as follows. A base rail is attached to the wall of the store. A large number of lamp sockets are arranged on the base rail at regular intervals, and lamps (incandescent light bulbs) are screwed into the sockets.
These lamps are divided into two groups A and B, for example, and are connected to the drive circuit system. Lamps belonging to group A and lamps belonging to group B are alternately arranged. All the lamps belonging to group A are flashed all at once, and all the lamps belonging to group B are flashed all at once.
In a slightly more expensive system, each lamp is divided into three groups A, B, and C, and each lamp is arranged in the order ABCABCABC. And it blinks all at once for each group. Similarly, there are systems divided into four groups.
[0003]
In addition, illumination equipment is often seen in which neon tubes of, for example, about 50 centimeters are continuously arranged for a long time to express a row of flowing light. Also in this case, each neon tube is divided into 2 to 4 groups and connected to the drive system.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Since the conventional illumination equipment as described above consumes a large amount of power, the equipment including the power equipment becomes quite expensive. In addition, there is a problem in that the cost of electricity is high, and it is expensive to replace the lamp. In particular, a device employing a waterproof structure for outdoor use is extremely expensive. Further, in the case of an illumination facility using a neon tube, a special and expensive drive transformer is required, which is further expensive.
[0005]
Although it is such an expensive device, it cannot be said that the illumination expression ability is high. The expression of illumination is more abundant in the 3 group type than the 2 group type described above, and further in the 4 group type. However, even with the 4-group type, the entire lamp row can only be expressed uniformly, and the flashing pattern can be changed by the part of the long lamp row, and the complicated and dynamic illumination expression can be realized. It is impossible to do.
[0006]
The use of LED lamps is better to improve power consumption and lamp burnout problems. Recently, the following LED illumination devices have been developed. In this, flat LED lamps are sparsely arranged at equal intervals on a flexible tape member and coated with a transparent resin. The LED lamps on the tape member are alternately connected to the group A wiring and the group B wiring, and all the LED lamps belonging to the group A are flashed simultaneously, and all the LED lamps belonging to the group B are flashed simultaneously. The
This tape-type LED illumination device is inexpensive and has very few lamps. It can also be easily installed on the site. Despite these advantages, the ability to express illumination is very simple and cannot produce a variety of decorative effects. The cause is as described above. Also, since it is intended for very small illuminations, it is a basic design that is not suitable for increasing the brightness of the illumination.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and its purpose is inexpensive, simple structure and robust, easy to install on the site, and highly efficient by the LED lamp group. An object of the present invention is to provide an LED illumination unit and system that can realize high brightness, can control blinking of a large number of LED lamps one by one, and can express various illuminations.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The LED illumination unit according to the present invention is specified by the following items (1) to (14).
(1) A plurality of LED lamp groups, an input connector, an output connector, two power connectors, and an LED illumination unit in which a drive control circuit is mounted on a belt-like substrate. (2) The plurality of LED lamp groups are: (3) One LED lamp group includes a plurality of LED lamps having different emission colors. (4) The input connector and one power connector are in a band shape. (5) The output connector and the other power connector are arranged on the other end of the belt-like substrate. (6) The two power connectors are arranged on the belt-like substrate. (7) The drive control circuit includes a drive circuit, a latch circuit, and a shift register, and operates with power supplied from the outside to the power line. And (8) The drive circuit includes a total of N drive circuit cells that individually correspond to each of the plurality of LED lamp groups and that individually correspond to each LED lamp having a different emission color in one LED lamp group. (9) The latch circuit includes N latch circuit cells individually corresponding to each drive circuit cell. (10) The shift register includes N registers individually corresponding to the N latch circuit cells. (11) The shift register responds to the shift clock and the light emission control data from the input connector, and the light emission control data is serially shifted to the first stage register in synchronization with the shift clock. (12) N cells of the latch circuit In response to a latch signal from the input connector, latch each output of the N registers of the shift register. (13) The N cells of the drive circuit are: In response to the enable signal from the input connector, the corresponding LED lamp is driven to emit light based on the light emission control data latched in the corresponding latch circuit cell. (14) The output connector receives the shift clock latch signal from the input connector. Output an enable signal and output light emission control data that is serially shifted from the end register of the shift register.
The LED illumination system according to the present invention configured using the LED illumination is specified by the following items (21) to (26).
(21) It is an LED illumination system including a plurality of the LED illumination units, at least one power supply device, and a system controller. (22) Each LED illumination unit is arranged such that the respective belt-like substrates are connected in a linear form. (23) The power supply is connected to the power connector of a certain LED illumination unit, and the power connectors of several adjacent LED illumination units are interconnected. (24) The system controller is connected in series. Connect to the input connector of the LED illumination unit located at the end (25) Connect the output connector of each LED illumination unit to the input connector of the adjacent LED illumination unit (26) The system controller emits light It is supplied to the input unit and generates a control data shift clock latch signal enable signal [0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
=== Mechanical structure of unit 1 ===
The external appearance of the LED illumination unit 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1, the sectional structure of the attached state is shown in FIG. 2, and the circuit configuration is shown in FIG.
The band-shaped substrate 2 is a groove-shaped member of an aluminum extruded product of about 45 centimeters, and a band-shaped printed wiring board 3 is attached in the groove-shaped space. Four LED lamp groups 41, 42, 43, and 44 are sparsely arranged on the printed wiring board 3 at a pitch of about 13 centimeters, and a drive control circuit 5 for controlling light emission of these lamps individually. A buffer circuit 6 (FIG. 3) and the like are mounted. Each LED lamp group 41 to 44 includes a total of three LEDs, two amber LED lamps 4a and one blue-green LED lamp 4b.
[0015]
At one end of the unit 1, an input connector 7 and a power connector 9a are drawn and wired with an appropriate length of electric wire. At the other end of the unit 1, an output connector 8 and a power connector 9b are drawn and wired with wires of appropriate length. Of course, these connector wirings are connected to the pattern wiring of the printed wiring board 3. The plastic 10 is molded in the groove-shaped space of the belt-like substrate 2 on which the printed wiring board 3 is arranged, and a total of twelve lens bodies of the amber LED lamp 4a and the blue-green LED lamp 4b are exposed on the surface of the molded plastic 10. In addition, the wiring of each connector is drawn out from the end face of the molded plastic 10. Due to this plastic mold structure, the unit 1 has a considerably high level of waterproofness.
[0016]
=== Electric Circuit of Unit 1 ===
As shown in FIG. 3, the drive control circuit 5 is an IC in which an 8-bit shift register 5a, an 8-bit latch circuit 5b, and an 8-bit LED drive circuit 5c are integrated. The amber LED lamp 4a of the collective lamp 41 is connected to the drive output D1, and the two blue-green LED lamps 4b are connected in series to the drive output D2. Similarly, the LEDs 4a and 4b of the collective lamp 42 are connected to drive outputs D3 and D4, the LEDs 4a and 4b of the collective lamp 43 are connected to drive outputs D5 and D6, and the LEDs 4a and 4b of the collective lamp 44 are drive outputs D7 and D8. It is connected to the.
[0017]
The input connector 7 has 4 terminals. The shift clock applied to the first terminal passes through the buffer circuit 6 and becomes the shift clock of the shift register 5a. The light emission control data applied to the second terminal is applied to the first stage R1 through the buffer circuit 6 as the serial data input of the shift register 5a. The latch signal applied to the third terminal becomes the strobe input of the latch circuit 5b. The enable signal applied to the fourth terminal is a drive permission input of the drive circuit 5c.
The output connector 8 also has 4 terminals. The shift clock output of the buffer circuit 6 is connected to the first terminal. The serial data output from the final stage R8 of the shift register 5b is applied to the second terminal. The latch signal output of the buffer circuit 6 is connected to the third terminal. An enable signal for the buffer circuit 6 is connected to the fourth terminal.
That is, the shift clock, latch signal, and enable signal applied to the input connector 7 from the previous stage are output from the output connector 8 to the subsequent stage as they are via the buffer circuit 6. The light emission control data applied to the input connector 7 from the previous stage is serially input to the first stage R1 of the 8-bit shift register 5a and is forwarded in synchronization with the shift clock, and the light emission control data output from the final stage R8 is output from the output connector 8. Output to the subsequent stage.
[0018]
When a shift clock and light emission control data are synchronously input to the input connector 7 and 8-bit light emission control data is set in each stage R1 to R8 of the shift register 5a, and then a latch signal is input to the input connector 7, the shift register 5a The 8-bit data is read and held in the respective stages L1 to L8 of the latch circuit 5b. When an enable signal is input to the input connector 7, the drive circuit 5c lights up and drives the LEDs connected to the stages D1 to D8 according to the light emission control data held in the latch circuit 5b at that time. Note that a duty variable pulse is given as an enable signal to adjust the luminance of the LED.
If the data of L1 of the latch circuit 5b is “1”, the amber LED lamp 4a connected to D1 of the drive circuit 5c is driven to light. If the data of L2 of the latch circuit 5b is “1”, the blue-green LED lamp 4b connected to D2 of the drive circuit 5c is turned on. Of course, if the light emission drive data latched is “0”, the LED is not lit. The operation of the circuits after L3 · D3 is the same.
As described above, one set lamp 41 is a set of two amber LED lamps 4a and one blue-green LED lamp 4b. When L1 = "0" and L2 = "1", only the amber LED lamp 4a is turned on, and the emission color of the collective lamp 41 is amber. When L1 = "1" and L2 = "0", only the blue-green LED lamp 4b is lit, and the emission color of the collective lamp 41 is blue-green. When L1 = L2 = “1”, the two color LEDs 4a and 4b are both turned on, and the emission color of the collective lamp 41 is white. Of course, when L1 = L2 = “0”, the collective lamp 41 is not turned on.
[0019]
The positive and negative electrodes of the power connectors 9a and 9b at both ends of the unit are directly connected by the pattern wiring (power line) of the printed wiring board 3, and a Zener diode ZD and capacitors C1 and C2 are connected between the positive and negative power lines. Yes. By connecting a power supply device to one of the power supply connectors 9a and 9b, power is supplied to the power supply line inside the unit. Although omitted in FIG. 3, wiring is performed so that operating power is applied from the power supply line to the ICs of the drive control circuit 5 and the buffer circuit 6.
[0020]
It should be noted that multi-color or full-color expression can be realized by combining three LED lamps of RGB as the LED lamp group and variably controlling the luminance of each color in several steps.
[0021]
=== System configuration ===
FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of an LED illumination system in which six units 1 are connected. Six units 1 are arranged on a wall of a store so as to form a continuous line with an appropriate layout. At that time, the unit 1 is oriented so that the input connector 7 of the adjacent unit 1 comes to the output connector 8 side of a certain unit 1, and the input connector 7 and the output connector 8 of the adjacent unit 1 are connected. Connect in series. Moreover, the power supply lines of all the units 1 are connected in series by connecting the power connectors 9a and 9b facing each other in adjacent units.
[0022]
Then, the system controller 11 is connected to the input connector 7 of the unit 1 located at the end of all the units 1 connected in series. Further, in this system configuration example, the power supply device 12 is connected to the power connector 9a of the end unit 1 to which the system controller 11 is connected. The power supply device 12 is a switching power supply that converts a commercial power supply into a direct current having a predetermined voltage, and has a capacity capable of simultaneously driving six units 1. However, when a system is configured with a larger number of units 1, there is a case where a single power supply device 12 cannot cover the operating power of all the units 1. In that case, regarding the connection of the power supply lines, the whole is divided into several groups, and a power supply apparatus having an appropriate capacity is connected to each group. By connecting the power supply devices to both ends of one group, the power supply voltage of each unit in the group can be made uniform, and the deviation in luminance for each unit can be suppressed.
[0023]
The system controller 11 is composed of a relatively simple computer such as a board computer or a one-chip microcomputer, generates the aforementioned light emission control data and sends it to the input connector 7 together with the shift clock, and generates the aforementioned latch signal and enable signal. To the input connector 7.
When six units 1 having the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 3 are connected in series, six 8-bit shift registers 5a in each unit 1 are connected in series. X6) = 48-bit shift register. Therefore, 48-bit light emission control data is sequentially generated and output in synchronization with the shift clock, so that the 48-bit light emission control data is sequentially packed into each 8-bit shift register 5a in the six units 1. be able to. When predetermined 48-bit data is packed in the whole, the latch signal is output. Then, each data packed in the shift register is held in each stage of the latch circuit 5b. At this time, if the enable signal is also validated, the LED lamp groups 41 to 44 in total (4 × 6) = 24 are controlled to emit light according to the data held in the latch circuit 5b.
[0024]
As described above, each one of the LED lamp groups 41 to 44 is composed of a set of two amber LED lamps 4a and one blue-green LED lamp 4b, and the corresponding 2-bit light emission control data is (0 , 0), the collective lamp does not light up. If the light emission control data is (1, 0), the collective lamp lights in amber. If the light emission control data is (0, 1), the collective lamp is blue. If the light emission control data is (1, 1), the collective lamp is lit in white.
[0025]
The system controller 11 outputs the latch signal after serially outputting the 48-bit light emission control data, thereby controlling the light emission patterns of the 24 LED lamp groups 41 to 44 according to the 48-bit light emission control data pattern. it can. By repeating the process of changing the 48-bit light emission control data at an appropriate cycle, the temporal change in the light emission pattern of the row of 24 LED lamp groups 41 to 44 can be arbitrarily generated. Depending on the regularity of the temporal change of the light emission pattern to be created, change the control to update all the 48-bit light emission control data, generate new light emission control data by several bits and shift-in, A latch signal is generated while shifting the entire data to drive the LED lamp groups 41 to 44.
[0026]
As is apparent from the above principle description, the system controller 11 performs the following data processing. In one example, a bit pattern of light emission control data is generated in advance and stored in a memory, the bit pattern is read in accordance with a programmed sequence, and input to the unit 1 together with a shift clock, a latch signal, and an enable signal that are generated simultaneously. This is a method of sending out toward the connector 7. In another example, a generation sequence of light emission control data is programmed, and the light emission control data is generated by executing the program and sent to the input connector 7 of the unit 1 together with a shift clock, a latch signal, and an enable signal. It is a method. Since either method is relatively simple data processing, it can be easily realized if it has a function equivalent to a one-chip microcomputer. Further, in the case of a large-scale system in which hundreds of units 1 are connected in series and the light emission control pattern of about a thousand LED lamp groups is changed in various ways, the system controller 11 performs a considerably high-speed data processing. For example, a board computer using a 32-bit CPU is suitable.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
The LED illumination unit and system of the present invention are inexpensive, have a simple structure and are robust, can be easily installed on the site, and can realize a high luminance with high efficiency by the LED lamp group. In particular, since the blinking of a large number of LED lamp groups can be controlled individually one by one, only a part of a long lamp row can cause an appropriate change in the light emission control pattern, or the generation of a partial light emission control pattern. It is possible to easily realize a variety of illumination expressions that are rich in changes that could not be realized with conventional illumination facilities, such as moving lamp trains with long sections.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an external view of an LED illumination unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a mounting structure of the unit.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the same unit.
FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of an LED illumination system using the same unit.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 LED illumination unit 2 Strip | belt-shaped base | substrate 3 Printed wiring board 4a Amber LED lamp 4b Blue green LED lamps 41-44 LED lamp group 5 Drive control circuit 5a Shift register 5b Latch circuit 5c Drive circuit 6 Buffer circuit 7 Input connector 8 Output connector 9a 9b Power connector 10 Mold plastic 11 System controller 12 Power supply

Claims (2)

LED illumination unit specified by the following items (1) to (14).
(1) A plurality of LED lamp groups, an input connector, an output connector, two power connectors, and an LED illumination unit in which a drive control circuit is mounted on a belt-like substrate. (2) The plurality of LED lamp groups are: (3) One LED lamp group includes a plurality of LED lamps having different emission colors. (4) The input connector and one power connector are in a band shape. (5) The output connector and the other power connector are arranged on the other end of the belt-like substrate. (6) The two power connectors are arranged on the belt-like substrate. (7) The drive control circuit includes a drive circuit, a latch circuit, and a shift register, and operates with power supplied from the outside to the power line. And (8) The drive circuit includes a total of N drive circuit cells that individually correspond to each of the plurality of LED lamp groups and that individually correspond to each LED lamp having a different emission color in one LED lamp group. (9) The latch circuit includes N latch circuit cells individually corresponding to each drive circuit cell. (10) The shift register includes N registers individually corresponding to the N latch circuit cells. (11) The shift register responds to the shift clock and the light emission control data from the input connector, and the light emission control data is serially shifted to the first stage register in synchronization with the shift clock. (12) N cells of the latch circuit In response to a latch signal from the input connector, latch each output of the N registers of the shift register. (13) The N cells of the drive circuit are: In response to the enable signal from the input connector, the corresponding LED lamp is driven to emit light based on the light emission control data latched in the corresponding latch circuit cell. (14) The output connector receives the shift clock latch signal from the input connector.・ Output an enable signal and light emission control data that is serially shifted from the end register of the shift register. LED illumination system specified by the following items (21) to (26).
(21) It is an LED illumination system comprising a plurality of LED illumination units according to claim 1, at least one power supply device, and a system controller. (22) Each LED illumination unit has a strip-like substrate in a linear form. (23) The power supply unit is connected to the power connector of a certain LED illumination unit, and the power connectors of several adjacent LED illumination units are interconnected. (24) System controller Is connected to the input connector of the LED illumination unit located at the end of the series (25) The output connector of each LED illumination unit is connected to the input connector of the adjacent LED illumination unit (26) System controller The light emission control data shift clock latch signal enable signal generated by that supplied to the input unit

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