Air-conditioning apparatus controller and air-conditioning system

An air-conditioning system comprising:

• an indoor unit including a first light-emitting indicator that emits light in a plurality of colors;
• and
• an air-conditioning apparatus controller including a main body that includes a top, a bottom, and sides that connect the top to the bottom of the main body, a second light-emitting indicator that includes a light emitting diode (LED) and that emits light in a plurality of colors and that extends from a position on the bottom of the main body at which the main body shades the second light-emitting indicator, a setting display that displays a plurality of setting screens for light-emitting indication by the second light-emitting indicator and that is located on one of the sides of the main body, a setting interface through which a plurality of instructions related to settings displayed on the setting display is input, a controller that is housed within the main body, that is electrically connected to the second light-emitting indicator, the setting display, and the setting interface, that causes the setting display to display the setting screen, that performs setting processing to interact with a user to arbitrarily select an indication color among a plurality of indication colors and to assign the selected indication color to mean any indication content to be provided by the first light-emitting indicator and second light-emitting indicator, in accordance with the instruction transmitted from the setting interface, and that sets an indication usage of the first light-emitting indicator and the second light-emitting indicator, and a data storage unit that stores settings for the selected indication colors used by the processing performed by the controller, wherein
• a command for specifying a color of the light to be emitted by the first light-emitting indicator of the indoor unit or the second light-emitting indicator of the air-conditioning apparatus controller is sent between the indoor unit and the air-conditioning apparatus controller, wherein
• the controller includes an input processing unit electrically connected to the setting interface, a display processing unit electrically connected to both the setting display and the second light emitting indicator, a data storage unit that stores settings for the selected indication colors used by the processing performed by the controller, a communication processing unit, and a data processing unit that is electrically connected to the input processing unit, the communication processing unit, and the data storage unit,
• one of the plurality of instructions includes RGB settings to adjust the selected indication color, the RGB settings displays input buttons to set each of an R-value, a G-value, a B-value, and a blink rate of the light emitting diode for the indication color provided by the second light-emitting indicator,
• the data processing unit of the controller is configured to transmit an RGB setting screen display signal for displaying an RGB setting screen on the setting display to the data storage unit and the display processing unit,
• the setting display is configured to display the setting screen for light-emitting indication in response to receiving the setting screen display signal,
• the input processing unit is configured to receive an RGB-input signal that includes user-input values for the R-value, the G-value, the B-value, and the blink rate of the LED for a user-selected indication content, process the RGB-input signal to be readable by the data processing unit, continually output a processed RGB-input signal to the data processing unit as a user changes the user-input values,
• the data processing unit is configured to receive the processed RGB-input signal, output the processed RGB-input signal to the data storage unit and the display processing unit, and
• the display processing unit is configured to control the LED of the second light-emitting indicator to display the R-value, the G-value, the B-value, and the blink rate included in the processed RGB-input signal on the second light-emitting indicator both as the user changes the user-input values and as the user-selected indication content occurs.

An air-conditioning system comprising:

• a plurality of indoor units each including a first light-emitting indicator that emits light in a plurality of colors;
• and
• a plurality of the air-conditioning apparatus controllers each including a main body that includes a top, a bottom, and sides that connect the top to the bottom of the main body, a second light-emitting indicator that includes a light emitting diode (LED) and that emits light in a plurality of colors and that extends from a position on the bottom of the main body in which the main body shades the second light-emitting indicator, a setting display that displays a plurality of setting screens for light-emitting indication by the first light-emitting indicator and the second light-emitting indicator and that is located on one of the sides of the main body, a setting interface through which a plurality of instructions related to settings displayed on the setting display is input, a controller that is housed within the main body, that is electrically connected to the second light-emitting indicator, the setting display, and the setting interface, that causes the setting display to display the setting screen, that performs setting processing to interact with a user to arbitrarily select an indication color among a plurality of indication colors and thereafter to assign the selected indication color to mean any indication content to be provided by the first light-emitting indicator and the second light-emitting indicator, in accordance with the instruction transmitted from the setting interface, and that sets an indication usage of the first light-emitting indicator and the second light-emitting indicator, and a data storage unit that stores settings for the selected indication colors used by the processing performed by the controller, wherein
• the controller includes an input processing unit electrically connected to the setting interface, a display processing unit electrically connected to both the setting display and the second light emitting indicator, a data storage unit that stores settings for the selected indication colors used by the processing performed by the controller, a communication processing unit, and a data processing unit that is electrically connected to the input processing unit, the communication processing unit, and the data storage unit,
• the indoor units are divided into groups,
• each of the air-conditioning apparatus controllers is provided for a corresponding group,
• a color of the light to be emitted by the first light-emitting indicator and the second light-emitting indicator for identification of a group is assigned to each of the indoor units in the group and the air-conditioning apparatus controller for the group,
• one of the plurality of instructions includes RGB settings to adjust the selected indication color, the RGB settings displays input buttons to set each of an R-value, a G-value, a B-value, and a blink rate of the light emitting diode for the indication color provided by the second light-emitting indicator,
• the data processing unit of the controller is configured to transmit an RGB setting screen display signal for displaying an RGB setting screen on the setting display to the data storage unit and the display processing unit,
• the setting display is configured to display the setting screen for second light-emitting indication in response to receiving the setting screen display signal,
• the input processing unit is configured to receive an RGB-input signal that includes user-input values for the R-value, the G-value, the B-value, and the blink rate of the LED for a user-selected indication content, process the RGB-input signal to be readable by the data processing unit, continually output a processed RGB-input signal to the data processing unit as a user changes the user-input values,
• the data processing unit is configured to receive the processed RGB-input signal, output the processed RGB-input signal to the data storage unit and the display processing unit, and
• the display processing unit is configured to control the LED of the second light-emitting indicator to display the R-value, the G-value, the B-value, and the blink rate included in the processed RGB-input signal on the second light-emitting indicator both as the user changes the user-input values and as the user-selected indication content occurs.