Patent Publication Number: US-6909379-B2

Title: Wireless remote controller, wireless remote control method, and air conditioner using the same

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a wireless remote controller for transmitting a control signal to control target equipment to operate the control target equipment, a wireless remote control method and an air conditioner having an indoor unit which can be remotely operated on the basis of a control signal transmitted from a wireless remote controller. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Various types of air conditioners have been known and practically used, and as one of these air conditioners is known a ceiling embedded type air conditioner in which an indoor unit is set up in a room of a building while embedded in the ceiling of the room. 
     There are practically used some ceiling embedded type air conditioners in which not only fundamental operations such as the start/stop operation of the indoor units, etc., but also the elevating (upwardly/downwardly moving) operation of grilles of the indoor units are carried out on the basis of control signals transmitted from a single wireless remote controller or plural wireless remote controllers. 
     The grille of the indoor unit is mounted at the front side of the indoor unit, and is provided with an air suction port through which room air is sucked into the indoor unit. Further, a filter for filtering the sucked room air to remove dust, etc. is further mounted on the grille so as to confront the air suction port. Accordingly, when the filter is cleaned or exchanged by a new one, the grille is downwardly moved by using a wireless remote controller. 
       FIG. 1  shows an air conditioner having plural indoor units  101 A,  101 B,  101 C which are mounted in the same room and operated by using corresponding wireless remote controllers  102 A,  102 B,  102 C, respectively. That is, the indoor units  101 A,  101 B,  101 C and the wireless remote controllers  102 A,  102 B,  102 C are connected with one another in one-to-one correspondence. Particularly,  FIG. 1  shows a case where a fundamental (normal) operation is carried out on the basis of a control signal transmitted from the wireless remote controller  102 A. 
     In general, the same address is set to each indoor unit  101 A ( 101 B,  101 C) and the corresponding wireless remote controller  102 A ( 102 B,  102 C). Therefore, only when the address is coincident between the indoor unit  101 A,  101 B,  101 C and the wireless remote controller  102 A,  102 B,  102 C, the indoor unit  101 A,  101 B,  101 C accepts the control signals from the wireless remote controller  102 A,  102 B,  102 C. This is because an indoor unit ( 101 A,  101 B,  101 C) which is not expected to be operated is carelessly operated on the basis of a control signal from a wireless remote controller ( 102 A,  102 B,  102 C) which is not connected to the indoor unit. 
     In the case of  FIG. 1 , the control signal transmitted from the wireless remote controller  102 A is addressed to the indoor unit  101 A, and the indoor unit  101 A accepts the control signal from the wireless remote controller  102 A because the address contained in the control signal is coincident with the address registered therein. However, the indoor units  101 B and  101 C do not accept the control signal from the wireless remote controller  101 A because the address of the control signal is not coincident with the addresses registered therein. 
     The one-to-one control operation of the indoor units  101 A,  101 B,  101 C by the wireless remote controllers  102 A,  102 B,  102 C as described above (hereinafter referred to as “one-to-one control operation”) is applied to not only the fundamental (normal) operations such as the start/stop operation, etc. of the indoor units  101 A,  101 B,  101 C, but also the elevating operation of grilles  103 A,  103 B,  103 C of the indoor units  101 A,  101 B,  101 C. 
       FIG. 2  shows a case where the grille elevating operation of the indoor unit  101 A is carried out on the basis of a control signal from the wireless remote controller  101 A. 
     In this case, in order to move any one of the grilles  103 A,  103 B,  103 C of the indoor units  101 A,  101 B,  101 C upwardly/downwardly, the corresponding wireless remote controller whose address is coincident with the address of the indoor unit of the grille to be upwardly/downwardly moved (hereinafter referred to as “control target unit”) must be used, and the remote control operation is more cumbersome. Furthermore, as the number of indoor units is increased, the number of wireless remote controllers is also increased in proportion to the increase of the number of the indoor units. Therefore, it needs some labor to find out the wireless remote controller corresponding to the control target unit even when the grille elevating operation which is a simple operation common to all the indoor units is carried out. 
     In place of the one-to-one operation for the grille elevating operation as described above may be considered a method of controlling the grille elevating operation of all the indoor units by using a single wireless remote controller. In this case, the control signal for elevating each of the grilles  103 A,  103 B,  103 C must be successively transmitted to each of the indoor units  101 A,  101 B,  101 C while the address set in the single wireless remote controller (for example, wireless remote controller  102 A) is successively changed. However, in this case, it is required to successively change and set the address of the wireless remote controller  102   a , and thus the operation of the indoor units  101 A,  101 B,  101 C is more cumbersome. 
     Besides, it may be considered that the address connecting relationship between each of the indoor units and each of the wireless remote controllers is released (i.e., the connecting relationship is set to an address-free state) only when the grille elevating operation is carried out on each of the indoor units as shown in FIG.  3 . However, in this case, there may occur such an unintentional case that the control signal emitted from the wireless remote controller  102 A which is addressed to the indoor unit  101 B is transmitted to not only the addressed indoor unit  101 B, but also non-addressed indoor units  101 A and  101 C, so that not only the grille  103 B of the indoor unit  101 B which is expected to be elevated, but also the grille  103 A of the indoor unit  101 A and the grille  103 C of the indoor unit  101 C which are not expected to be elevated are elevated (upwardly or downwardly) because the indoor units  101 A,  101 B and  101 C have excellent receiver sensitivity. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a wireless remote controller which can enhance the operationality of the remote control of plural control target units. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner having plural indoor units which can be enhanced in remote control operationality by a wireless remote controller. 
     In order to attain the above objects, according to the present invention, there is provided a wireless remote controller for transmitting a control signal to control target equipment to control the operation of the control target equipment which is characterized in that the power of the control signal to be transmitted to the control target equipment is varied in accordance with an operation which is expected to be executed by the control target equipment. 
     In the wireless remote controller, the power of the control signal to be transmitted to the control target equipment is lowered only when the control signal to be transmitted to the control target equipment is a specific control signal for making the control target equipment carry out a specific operation other than normal operations. 
     In the wireless remote controller, the wireless remote controller and the control target equipment are associated with each other in address-connecting relationship, and only when a control signal for making the control target equipment carry out a specific operation other than normal operations is transmitted to the control target equipment, the address-connecting relationship is set to an address free state, and the power of the control signal is varied. 
     In the wireless remote controller, the power of the control signal is lowered. 
     In the wireless remote controller, the control target equipment comprises at least two control target units, and the power of the control signal is lowered to the extent that the control signal reach one of the control target units which is expected to carry out the specific operation, but does not reach the other control target unit which is unexpected to carry out the specific operation. 
     In the wireless remote controller, the wireless remote controller comprises a control signal generator for generating the control signal in accordance with an operation to be executed by the control target equipment and transmitting the control signal thus generated to the control target equipment, and a controller for varying the power of the control signal to be generated by the control signal generator in accordance with an operation which is expected to be carried out by the control target equipment. 
     In the wireless remote controller, the control signal generator generates the control signal by making current flow therethrough, and the output power of the control signal is varied by varying the intensity of the current flowing the control signal generator. 
     In the wireless remote controller, the control signal generator includes a power source, a transmission LED, a first resistor, a first transistor and a second transistor which are connected in this order in series, and further includes a second resistor which is connected to the second transistor in parallel, and the power of the control signal is varied by turning on/off the second transistor. 
     In the wireless remote controller, the controller outputs a turn-on/off signal to the base of each of the first and second transistors to thereby turn on/off the first and second transistors. 
     According to the present invention, there is provided an air conditioner having at least two indoor units and at least one wireless remote controller, each of the indoor units being controlled on the basis of a control signal from the wireless remote controller, which is characterized in that the power of the control signal to be transmitted to one of the indoor units is varied in accordance with an operation which is expected to be executed by the indoor unit. 
     In the air conditioner, the power of the control signal to be transmitted to each of the indoor units is lowered only when the control signal to be transmitted to the indoor unit is a specific control signal for making the indoor unit carry out a specific operation other than normal operations. 
     In the air conditioner, the wireless remote controller and each of the indoor unit are associated with each other in address-connecting relationship, and only when a control signal for making one of the indoor units carry out a specific operation other than normal operations is transmitted to the one indoor unit, the address-connecting relationship is set to an address-free state, and the power of the control signal is varied. 
     In the air conditioner, the specific operation is an operation of upwardly and downwardly moving a grille of each indoor unit. 
     In the air conditioner, the power of the control signal is lowered. 
     In the air conditioner, the power of the control signal is lowered to the extent that the control signal reach one of the indoor units which is expected to carry out the specific operation, but does not reach the other indoor unit which is unexpected to carry out the specific operation. 
     In the air conditioner, the wireless remote controller comprises a control signal generator for generating the control signal in accordance with an operation to be executed by each indoor unit and transmitting the control signal thus generated to each indoor unit, and a controller for varying the power of the control signal to be generated by the control signal generator in accordance with an operation which is expected to be carried out by one of the indoor units. 
     According to the present invention, there is provided a remote control method of transmitting a control signal from at least one wireless remote controller to each of plural control target units and controlling the operation of one or more of the control target units on the basis of the control signal thus transmitted, which is characterized by comprising the steps of associating the wireless remote controller and each of the control target units in address-connecting relationship, and varying the power of the control signal to be transmitted to a desired one of the control target units only when the control signal to be transmitted to the control target unit concerned is a specific control signal for making the control target unit concerned carry out a specific operation other than normal operations so that the control signal reaches only the desired one of the control target units. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows an air conditioner having plural indoor units  101 A,  101 B,  101 C which are mounted in the same room and operated by using corresponding wireless remote controllers  102 A,  102 B,  102 C, respectively; 
         FIG. 2  shows a case where a grille elevating operation of the indoor unit  101 A is carried out on the basis of a control signal from the wireless remote controller  101 A; 
         FIG. 3  shows a case where the address connecting relationship between each of the indoor units and each of the wireless remote controllers is released (i.e., the connecting relationship is set to an address-free state) only when the grille elevating operation is carried out on each of the indoor units; 
         FIG. 4  is a side view showing an indoor unit and a wireless remote controller in an embodiment of an air conditioner according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a front view showing the indoor unit shown in  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  shows a case where a normal operation is carried out in an air conditioner having plural indoor units  11 A,  11 B,  11 C shown in  FIG. 4  which are mounted in the same room and operated by using corresponding wireless remote controllers  22 A,  22 B,  22 C respectively; 
         FIG. 7  shows a case where a control signal for a specific operation (grille elevating operation) is transmitted to the indoor unit  11 B by using any wireless remote controller  22  to make the indoor unit  11 B carry out the grille elevating operation while the wireless remote controller is near to the indoor unit  11 B (for example, just below); and 
         FIG. 8  shows the construction of a transmission circuit  24  of the wireless remote controller for reducing the power of the control signals for the specific operations containing the grille elevating operation. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described hereunder with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 4  is a side view showing an indoor unit and a wireless remote controller in an embodiment of an air conditioner according to the present invention, and  FIG. 5  is a front view showing the indoor unit shown in FIG.  4 . In the following embodiment, a ceiling embedded type air conditioner is used as the air conditioner, however, the present invention is not limited to the ceiling embedded type air conditioner, and it may be applied to various types of air conditioners and other apparatuses. 
     In the ceiling embedded type air conditioner  10  shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , an indoor unit  11  is set up while embedded in the ceiling  12 . The indoor unit  11  has a main body  13  and a face panel  14 . The main body  13  of the indoor unit  11  is generally fixed inside the ceiling  12  so as to be hidden, and the face panel  14  is mounted on the ceiling  12  while exposed from the ceiling  12 . 
     An air blower and a heat exchanger (not shown) are accommodated in the main body  13  of the indoor unit  11 . The face panel  14  has an outer frame body  15  having a rectangular frame structure, and a grille  16  disposed at the center open portion of the outer frame body  15 . An air blowing port  17  is formed at each of the side portions of the outer frame body  15 , and an air suction port  18  is formed in the grille  16 . Further, a filter  19  is freely detachably mounted inside the grille  16  so as to confront the air suction port  18 . Further, a receiver  23  for receiving a control signal from a wireless remote controller  22  is secured to the outer frame body  15 . 
     While the air blower in the main body  13  of the indoor unit  11  is actuated, indoor air is sucked from the air suction port  18  of the grille  16  of the face panel  14  into the main body  13 . The air thus sucked is heat-exchanged with the heat exchanger, and then blown out from the air blowing ports  17  of the outer frame body  15  of the face panel  14  into the room, whereby the air conditioning operation is efficiently carried out in every corner of the broad room. 
     In the indoor unit  11  thus constructed, pulleys  20  which are rotationally driven by a motor (not shown) are rotatably fixed to the outer frame body  15  of the face panel  14  or the main body  13  of the indoor unit  11 , and cables  21  are wound around the pulleys  20 . One end of each cable  21  is fixed to the grille  16  of the face panel  14 , so that the pulleys  20  are rotated by driving the motor and the grille  16  is upwardly/downwardly moved relatively to the outer frame body  15  through the cables  21  and the pulleys  20 . When the filter  19  is cleaned or exchanged, the grille  16  is downwardly moved by driving the motor. 
     In this case, the elevating operation of the grille  16  is set as one of specific operations which can be commonly carried out on the basis of a control signal from any wireless remote controller. That is, if the receiver  23  of the indoor unit  11  receives a control signal from any wireless remote controller  22 , the elevating operation of the grille  16  is carried out. The other operations of the indoor unit  11 , for example, the normal operations containing the fundamental operations such as the start/stop of the operation of the indoor unit  11 , etc. are also carried out if the receiver  23  of the indoor unit  11  receives the respective control signals from the wireless remote controller  22 . 
     In this embodiment, for example when a control signal is transmitted from the wireless remote controller  22  to the indoor unit  11  to make the indoor unit  11  carry out one of the normal operations, the indoor unit  11  concerned receives (accepts) the control signal from the wireless remote controller  22  to carry out the normal operation only when the address is coincident between the indoor unit  11  concerned and the wireless remote controller  22 . 
       FIG. 6  shows a case where a normal operation is carried out in an air conditioner having plural indoor units  11 A,  11 B,  11 C shown in  FIG. 4  which are mounted in the same room and operated by using corresponding wireless remote controllers  22 A,  22 B,  22 C respectively. In this air conditioner, with respect to the transmission/reception of the control signals for the normal operations, the same address is allocated to both the indoor unit  11 A and the wireless remote controller  22 A, the same address is allocated to both of the indoor unit  11 B and the wireless remote controller  22 B and the same address is allocated to both of the indoor unit  11 C and the wireless remote controller  22 C. Accordingly, for example, in order to make the indoor unit  11 A carry out a normal operation, it is required to operate the wireless remote controller  22 A having the same address as the indoor unit  11 A and transmit the control signal for the normal operation concerned to the wireless remote controller  22  concerned. 
     That is, in this embodiment, the one-to-one relationship (i.e., address-connecting relationship) is established between the wireless remote controller and the indoor unit for the normal operations. 
     In this case, even when the control signal for the normal operation which is transmitted from the wireless remote controller  22 A reaches the indoor unit  11 B or  11 C, the indoor unit  11 B or  11 C does not receive (accept) the control signal because the address of the wireless remote controller  22 A is not coincident with the address of the indoor unit  11 B or  11 C. 
     On the other hand, in this embodiment, the address-free relationship (i.e., non-address connection) is established between the wireless remote controller and the indoor unit for the specific operations such as the grille elevating operation, etc. That is, any indoor unit can be controlled to carry out the specific operations on the basis of the control signal from any wireless remote controller. However, according to this embodiment, the power of the control signal for the specific operations is set to a value less than that for the normal operations. The degree of reduction of the power of the control signal is set such that when the control signal from any one of wireless remote controllers reaches a target indoor unit, the control signal does not reach the other indoor units. For example, the degree of reduction may be determined by the distance between the neighboring indoor units, the height to the ceiling on which the indoor units are mounted, etc. 
     Accordingly, the arrival distance of the control signal output from each wireless remote controller can be more shortened for the specific operations as compared with that for the normal operations by setting each wireless remote controller so that the control signal to be output therefrom is reduced in power for the specific operations as compared with that for the normal operations. The reduction in power of the control signal is equivalent to reduction in receiver sensitivity of each indoor unit. 
     For example, when a user transmits a control signal for a specific operation (grille elevating operation) to the indoor unit  11 B by using any wireless remote controller  22  (any one of the wireless remote controllers  22 A,  22 B,  22 C) to make the indoor unit  11 B carry out the grille elevating operation while the user stands in the neighborhood of the indoor unit  11 B (for example, just below) as shown in  FIG. 7 , all the indoor units  11 A to  11 C are allowed to accept the control signal from the wireless remote controller  22  because the address-free connection is established, however, only the indoor unit  11 B can receive the control signal from the wireless remote controller  22  (neither the indoor unit  11 A nor the indoor unit  11 C can receive the control signal from the wireless remote controller  22 ) because the control signal output from the wireless remote controller  22  is reduced in power (i.e., the arrival distance of the control signal is reduced) and the distance between the wireless remote controller  22  and each of the indoor units  11 A and  11 C is longer than the distance between the wireless remote controller  22  and the indoor unit  11 B. 
     As described above, with respect to the control signals for the specific operations (the grille elevating operation, etc.), the power of the control signal is reduced, that is, the receiver sensitivity of each indoor unit is reduced, so that the indoor units which are not expected to carry out the grille elevating operation (for example, indoor units  11 A and  11 C) can be prevented from unintentionally carry out the elevating operation of the respective grilles  16 . 
     Next, the construction of a transmission circuit  24  of the wireless remote controller for reducing the power of the control signals for the specific operations containing the grille elevating operation will be described with reference to FIG.  8 . 
     The transmission circuit  24  of the wireless remote controller  22  has a transmission LED (light emission diode)  25  serving as transmission means for transmitting the control signal, and it basically controls (reduces) the power of the control signal by adjusting current flowing through the transmission LED  25 . That is, when the control signal for the elevating operation of the grille  16  is transmitted from the wireless remote controller  22 , the current flowing through the transmission LED  25  is reduced to a value less than when the control signal for the normal operation is transmitted from the wireless remote controller  22 , thereby reducing the power of the control signal. 
     In this embodiment, an infrared-ray emitting diode is used as the transmission LED  25 , and the current flowing through the transmission LED  25  is modulated to achieve a control signal. Specifically, the transmission circuit  25  has a power source  26 , the transmission LED  25 , a limit resistor  27  for the transmission LED, a signal output transistor  28  and a transmission power control transistor  29  which are connected to one another in series, and further has a transmission power limiting resistor  30  connected to the transmission power control transistor  29  in parallel. 
     The signal output transistor  28  is turned on/off on the basis of a signal output from a signal output port  32  of a microcomputer  31 , and the transmission power control transistor  29  is turned on/off on the basis of a signal output from a transmission output control port  33  of the microcomputer  31 . 
     When a control signal is transmitted from some wireless remote controller  22  to some indoor unit, the microcomputer  31  of the wireless remote controller  22  concerned outputs a signal from the signal output port  32  to the signal output transistor  28  to turn on the signal output transistor  28 , so that current flows through the transmission LED  25 , the limit resistor  27  for the transmission LED and the signal output transistor  28  by the power source  26 . 
     In this case, if the control signal to be transmitted from the wireless remote controller  22  is used to carry out a normal operation other than the grille elevating operation, the microcomputer  31  outputs a signal from the transmission output control port  33  to the transmission output control transistor  29  to turn on the transmission output control transistor  29 . At this time, the current flowing through the signal output transistor  28  also flows through the transmission output control transistor  29  and then returns to the power source  26 . 
     In this case, the current flowing through the transmission LED  25  is set to I 1  and the power of the control signal transmitted from the transmission LED  25  is kept to a predetermined level. This level is set to a high level and thus the receiver sensitivity of each indoor unit  11  is apparently set to an excellent level. 
     On the other hand, if the control signal to be transmitted from the wireless remote controller  22  is used to carry out the grille elevating operation, the microcomputer  31  outputs a signal from the transmission output port  32  to the signal output transistor  28  to turn on the signal output transistor  28 , but outputs no signal from the transmission output control port  33  to the transmission output control transistor  29  to turn off the transmission output control transistor  29 . Therefore, the current flowing through the transmission LED  25 , the limit resistor  27  for the transmission LED and the signal output transistor  28  does not flow through the transmission output control transistor  29 , but flows through the transmission output limit resistor  30  and then returns to the power source  26 . 
     In this case, the current flowing through the transmission LED  25  is set to I 2  which is smaller than I 1  (I 2 &lt;I 1 ) because some voltage drop occurs through the transmission output limiting resistor  30 . Accordingly, the power of the control signal transmitted from the transmission LED  25  is reduced to a value lower than that of the control signal when the normal operation is carried out. Therefore, the receiver sensitivity of each indoor unit is apparently reduced to a level less than that of each indoor unit when the normal operation is carried out. In this case, the power of the control signal is lowered to the extent that the indoor unit  11  located at the nearest position to the wireless remote controller  22  can accept the control signal from the wireless remote controller  22 , but the other indoor units  11  cannot accept the control signal. 
     According to the above embodiment, the following effects (1) and (2) can be achieved. 
     (1) Only when the control signal for elevating the grille  16  is transmitted from a wireless remote controller  22  to the indoor unit  11 A  11 B,  11 C, the power of the control signal from the wireless remote controller  22  concerned is lowered to shorten the arrival distance of the control signal, whereby the receiver sensitivity of the indoor units  11 A,  11 B,  11 C are apparently lowered. Therefore, if the control signal for the grille elevating operation is transmitted from the wireless remote controller  22  while the wireless remote controller  22  faces an indoor unit  11  (for example, the indoor unit  11 B in  FIG. 7 ) which is required to elevate (upwardly or downwardly move) the grille  16  thereof, the grille  16  of the indoor unit  11 B is upwardly/downwardly moved, however, the grilles  16  of the other indoor units  11 A and  11 C which are not required to elevate their grilles  16  are prevented from being unintentionally moved upwardly or downwardly because all the indoor units  11 A to  11 C are apparently lowered in receiver sensitivity. 
     Accordingly, as compared with the case where the respective addresses are allocated to the wireless remote controllers  22 A,  22 B,  22 C and the indoor units  11 A,  11 B,  11 C and only when the addresses are coincident with each other, the indoor unit  11 A,  11 B,  11 C accepts the control signal from the wireless remote controller  22 A,  22 B,  22 C to elevate the grille  16  and the case where the control signal for elevating the grille  16  is successively transmitted from the wireless remote controller  22  to the indoor units  11 A,  11 B,  11 C while the setting of the address in the simple wireless remote controller  22  is successively changed, the operationality of the indoor units  11 A,  11 B,  11 C and the wireless remote controllers can be more enhanced with respect to the grille elevating operation using the wireless remote controller  22  (wireless remote controllers  22 A,  22 B,  22 C). 
     (2) Only when the control signal for elevating the grilles  16  of the indoor units  11 A to  11 C is transmitted from the wireless remote controller  22  (wireless remote controllers  22 A,  22 B,  22 C), the power of the control signal is lowered, and thus the receiver sensitivity of the indoor units  11 A,  11 B,  11 C is apparently lowered. Therefore, not only the operationality for the grille elevating operation using the wireless remote controller  22  (wireless remote controllers  22 A,  22 B,  22 C) can be enhanced like the effect (1), but also the indoor unit  11  (for example, the indoor units  11 A and  11 C) which are not expected to carry out the elevating operation of their grilles  16  can be prevented from elevating their grilles  16 , so that the risk due to the upward/downward movement of the grille  16  can be surely prevented. 
     The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications may be made to the embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the transmission means transmits the control signal by using infrared rays. However, it may transmit the control signal by using electronic waves or the like. 
     Further, in the above embodiment, the control signal which is transmitted from the wireless remote controller  22  (transmission LED  25 ) to carry out the specific operation is a control signal for elevating (upwardly/downwardly moving) the grille  16 . However, the control signal of the present invention is not limited to the control signal for the grille elevating operation, and may contain various control signals for other operations which are needed to be individually executed every indoor unit, such as a control signal for changing a flap angle, a control signal for changing the set temperature, a control signal for setting a timer, etc. 
     Still further, in the above embodiment, the indoor unit  11  of the air conditioner  10  is used as a control target unit to be controlled by the wireless remote controller  22 . However, the present invention may be applied to a case where the illumination of illuminating equipment, the opening/closing amount of a curtain, a shutter or the like, or the like is adjusted by using the wireless remote controller  22 . 
     Still further, in the above embodiment, only when the specific operation is carried out, the power of the control signal from the wireless remote controller is reduced to make the power-reduced control signal reach only an indoor unit which the wireless remote controller faces. In place of or in combination with the construction of the above wireless remote controller, the wireless remote controller may be modified so that the power of the control signal from the wireless remote controller is increased to make the power-increased control signal to all or plural indoor units around an indoor unit which the wireless remote controller faces. In this case, for example when it is required to make some neighboring indoor units execute the same operation, the control signal from the wireless remote controller can reach these neighboring indoor units and thus these indoor units can execute the same operation at the same time. 
     According to the present invention, the operationality of plural control target units by the wireless remote controller can be enhanced. Further, control target units which are not required to carry out a specific operation such as the grille elevating operation can be prevented from unintentionally carry out the operation on the basis of a control signal transmitted from a wireless remote controller to a control target unit which is required to carry out the operation. Therefore, the risk that an unexpected control target unit is unintentionally driven by a control signal which is not addressed to the unexpected control target unit.