The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
[1] A First Embodiment of the Present Invention will now be Described with Reference to the Accompanying Drawings.
The front side of the housing 1 has an opening, and a cover 2 is openably provided on the opening. In usual cases, the cover 2 in the closed state is fixed to the housing 1 by means of bolts. An operation display unit 3 and a key input pad 4 are provided on the front surface of the cover 2. The operation display unit 3 includes operation change-over switches arid a display. The key input pad 4 is used to input secret data (password, ID number, etc.) that is necessary in order to open/close a lock mechanism (also referred to as “electronic lock”) which is provided inside the cover 2. The key input pad 4 includes number keys, a check button, a clear button, a login button and a modify button.
If the secret data is input by the number keys and the check button is pressed, it is checked whether the input secret data agrees with pre-registered secret data (stored in an EEPROM 42 (to be described later)). If the input data agrees with the pre-registered data, the locking of the lock mechanism 5 is released.
If the secret data is input by the number keys and the login button is pressed, it is checked whether the input secret data agrees with pre-registered secret data. If the input data agrees with the pre-registered data, update of the pre-registered secret data is permitted. If new secret data is input by the number keys in this state and then the modify button is pressed, the pre-registered secret data is updated to the new secret data.
A solar battery (PV) 10 is installed, for example, on the roof of the house. Upon receiving light, the solar battery 10 outputs a DC voltage. The output DC voltage is applied to a capacitor 11, and the voltage of the capacitor 11 is supplied to a boost chopper 13. The boost chopper 13 is a so-called DC-DC converter, which includes a DC reactor 14, a transistor, e.g. an IGBT 15, a reverse-current preventing diode 16, and a capacitor 17. The IGBT 15 is turned on/off in accordance with a PWM signal of a predetermined cycle, which is supplied from an MCU 40 that is a control unit. Thereby, the input voltage (DC voltage) is boosted un to a DC voltage of a predetermined level. The boosted output is supplied to an inverter 20. The inverter 20 includes a full-bridge circuit which is composed of four transistors, e.g. IGBTs 21, 22, 23 and 24, and free-wheel diodes D which are connected to the IGBTs 21, 22, 23 and 24 in a reverse parallel fashion. The IGBTs 21, 22, 23 and 24 are turned on/off in accordance with PWM signals from the MCU 40, and thereby the inverter 20 converts the input voltage (DC voltage) to an AC voltage corresponding to the voltage and frequency of a commercial power supply system (to be described later).
An output terminal of the inverter 20 is connected to an AC reactor 25 and a capacitor 26, which function as a noise filter. The capacitor 26 is connected to first switch means, i.e. relay contacts 27 and 28, and to a system output terminal (100V/200V) 31 via output capacitors 29 and 30. A commercial power supply system (single-phase three-wire AC 200V) is connected to the system output terminal 31. Various electric devices are connected to the commercial power supply system.
In addition, the capacitor 26 is connected to second switch means, i.e. a relay contact 32, and to an independent driving output terminal (100V) 34 via an output capacitor 33. The independent driving output terminal 34 enables the driving of the various electric devices in a case where the commercial power supply system is shut off due to a disaster or electric power outage. At the time of the independent driving, the relay contact 27 is opened, and the relay contact 32 is closed.
The MCU 40 controls the relay contacts 27, 28 and 32. In addition, the MCU 40 controls and monitors a system voltage on a current path between the relay contact 27 and relay contact 28 and the frequency of this system voltage, an output voltage and an output current of the solar battery 10, and a boost voltage of the boost chopper 13.
The operation display unit 3, key input pad 4, a driver 41, EEPROM 42, a remote-control operation device (it is called a remote-controller) 50 and a detector 60 are connected to the MCU 40. The driver 41 is, e.g. a motor for opening/closing the lock mechanism 5 of the cover 2. The EEPROM 42 stores secret data that is necessary for opening/closing the lock mechanism 5.
The remote-controller 50 is installed indoors. As shown in
The detector 60 is a photo-coupler which optically detects entrance/exit of a partition plate 2a which is provided inside the cover 2.
The MCU 40 includes a ROM 43, a RAM 44 that is a volatile memory unit, a communication control unit 45 and a CPU 46. The ROM 43 stores a boot program that is necessary for boot-up of the system interconnection inverter. The RAM 44 is used to store a control program that is necessary for the control of the system interconnection inverter. The CPU 46 controls the ROM 43, the RAN 44 and the communication control unit 45.
The remote-controller 50 includes a CPU 53, a ROM 54 and a communication control unit 55, in addition to the liquid crystal display unit 51 and operation unit 52. The ROM 54 stores an operation device control program that is necessary for the operation of the remote-controller 50, and a control program that is necessary for the control of the MCU 40.
Next, the operation of the above-described structure is described with reference to a flow chart of
If the system interconnection inverter is booted up by the operation of the remote-controller 50 (YES in step 101), the control program that is stored in the ROM 54 of the remote-controller 50 is downloaded at high speed and stored in the RAM 44 of the MCU 40 via the communication control units 55 and 45, as indicated by broken lines in
In this manner, each time the system interconnection inverter is booted up, the control program in the remote-controller 50 is downloaded and stored in the RAM 44 in the main body side. When the system interconnection inverter is halted, power supply to the RAM 44 is stopped and the control program in the RAM 44 is lost.
Thus, when the system interconnection inverter is halted, the control program is not present in the RAM 44 even if a third person attempts to unlawfully read the control program from the RAM 44. Therefore, the control program is not stolen. In the meantime, the control program, which is downloaded from the remote-controller 50, may be the complete programs which control the operation of the system interconnection inverter, or may be some important programs.
[2] A Second Embodiment of the Invention is Described.
As shown in
In this case, each time the system interconnection inverter is booted up, the control program and the control data in the remote-controller 50 are downloaded and stored in the RAM 44 in the main body side, as indicated by broken lines in
Thus, when the system interconnection inverter is halted, the control program and control data are not present in the RAM 44 even if a third person attempts to unlawfully read the control program control data from the RAM 44. Therefore, the control program and control data are not stolen.
The other structure, operation and advantageous effects of the second embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment. Thus, the description thereof is omitted here.
[3] A Third Embodiment of the Invention is Described.
As shown in
In this case, as illustrated in a flow chart of
If the compared authentication data agree with each other (YES in step 112), the CPU 53 of the remote-controller 50 reads out the control program and control data from the ROM 54, decodes the read-out control program and control data by the decoding process unit 56, and sends them to the MCU 40 at high speed. Thus, the control program and control data are downloaded and stored in the RAM 44, as indicated by broken lines (step 102).
If the compared authentication data do not agree (NO in step 112), the CPU 53 of the remote-controller 50 does not read out the control program and control data from the ROM 54, and prohibits the driving (step 107).
The agreement of the compared authentication data is the condition for permitting the download. Thereby, the control program and control data in the remote-controller 50 are prevented from being unlawfully downloaded into an external device other than the system interconnection inverter, such as a personal computer.
The other structure, operation and advantageous effects of the third embodiment are the same as those of the first and second embodiments, and so the detailed description thereof is omitted here.
[4] A Fourth Embodiment of the Invention is Described.
As illustrated in a flow chart of
If the compared authentication data agree (YES in step 112), the detector 60 detects whether the cover 2 of the housing 1 is closed or not (step 113). If the cover 2 is closed (YES in step 113), the control program and control data are read out of the ROM 54 of the remote-controller 50 and then downloaded and stored in the RAM 44 of the MCU 40 (step 102).
If the compared authentication data do not agree (NO in step 112) or if the cover 2 is opened (NO in step 114), the download is not executed and the driving is prohibited (step 107).
Since the agreement of the compared authentication data and the closing of the cover 2 are the conditions for permitting the download, the control program and control data in the remote-controller 50 can be prevented, with high security, from being unlawfully downloaded into an external device.
The other structures operation and advantageous effects of the fourth embodiment are the same as those of the first, second and third embodiments. Thus, the detailed description thereof is omitted here.
Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2006-232620 | Aug 2006 | JP | national |