JP2017161961A - Management system, management apparatus, management method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a management system, a management device, a management method, and a program which enable a trouble arising from simultaneous operation of a plurality of electrical apparatuses to be solved at an early stage.SOLUTION: A management system time-sequentially stores operation information including information of an operation, and includes: a plurality of electrical apparatuses 101-1 to 101-n for outputting trouble information including information showing the trouble via a first network when the trouble occurs; and a management device 201 connected to the plurality of electrical apparatuses via a first network, and transmits an operation information request signal which is a signal to the effect that the provision of the operation information corresponding to the occurrence of the trouble to the other electrical apparatus except for the electrical apparatus of the transmission source of the trouble information is requested when the trouble information is received from one of the electric apparatuses from among the plurality of electrical apparatuses, and stores the operation information received from the other electrical apparatus as trouble relative information together with the trouble information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a management system, a management apparatus, a management method, and a program for causing a computer to execute the method for collecting information that causes a malfunction when a malfunction occurs in an electrical device.

  In recent years, electrical devices have become increasingly multifunctional and complex. For this reason, the causes of problems occurring in electrical devices are diversified, such as user operation errors, software program bugs, and physical failures, related to the complexity of electrical devices. The number of malfunctions is also increasing.

Many electric appliances used in homes do not have a display function such as a display except for a television. When a malfunction occurs, many electric devices notify the user of the occurrence of the malfunction by making a beep or flashing an LED (Light Emitting Diode).
Even if a display is provided in the electric device, the size of the display is small, and only an error number corresponding to the malfunction is displayed on the display. In this case, it is necessary for the user to open the instruction manual of the electric device and confirm the cause of the trouble corresponding to the error number and the coping method.

  If the user does not understand the cause of the problem even after referring to the instruction manual, or if the problem cannot be resolved even after performing the corrective action described in the instruction manual, the user should contact the contact center of the manufacturer's support center. Check the instructions and contact the support center. Furthermore, even if the user contacts the service representative of the support center, the user must explain the situation of the occurrence of the problem by telephone. If the user cannot accurately explain the situation of the occurrence of the problem, the service representative may need to come.

  With respect to such a problem, Patent Document 1 discloses an example of a method in which an electrical device notifies failure information to a repair reception center without using a user. Patent Document 2 discloses an example of a system that establishes a cause of failure by diagnosing the operating state of a home appliance by connecting to the home appliance in which the failure has occurred via a network.

  Further, Patent Document 3 discloses an example of a method for making it easier for a user to understand a failure occurring in a device. The system disclosed in Patent Document 3 displays information related to a failure occurring in a device having no display function on a device having a display function.

JP 2002-352025 A JP 2002-92206 A JP-A-2005-250718

In a place where a plurality of electrical devices are provided, such as in a home, a plurality of electrical devices may be used at the same time, and a problem occurs in one electrical device due to the operation of another electrical device. There are many things. For example, devices that use a lot of electric power, such as heat pump water heaters, electromagnetic induction heating cookers, and air conditioners, may add noise to the power supply voltage. Due to the noise, for example, the illumination of the illuminator may flicker, or the electromagnetic induction heating cooker may not be able to read the correct voltage and the heating power will be reduced. In the worst case, a phenomenon that the operation stops may occur.
In any of the methods disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3, information is acquired from an electrical device in which a problem has occurred, and the cause of the problem is examined. With the techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3, the user or the person in charge of the service can know the content of the failure of the device itself in which the failure has occurred, but cannot know the usage status of the device in which the failure has not occurred. . Therefore, it is difficult to solve the problems that occur in association with the simultaneous operation of a plurality of electrical devices.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a management system, a management apparatus, a management method, and a method thereof that enable early resolution of problems caused by simultaneous operation of a plurality of electrical devices. A program to be executed by a computer is obtained.

  The management system according to the present invention stores operation information including operation information in time series, and when a failure occurs, a plurality of electrical devices that output the failure information including information indicating the failure via the first network; When the defect information is received from any one of the plurality of electric devices connected to the plurality of electric devices via the first network, the electric device that transmits the defect information is excluded. An operation information request signal, which is a signal for requesting provision of the operation information corresponding to the occurrence of the malfunction, is transmitted to another electrical apparatus, and the operation information received from the other electrical apparatus is transmitted together with the malfunction information. And a management device that stores the information as defect related information.

  A management apparatus according to the present invention is a management apparatus that manages a plurality of electrical devices, and stores a communication unit that transmits and receives information to and from the plurality of electrical devices and information received from the plurality of electrical devices. When a failure occurs in any one of the plurality of electrical devices and the failure information including information indicating the failure is received from the electrical device via the communication unit, An operation information request signal for requesting the provision of operation information including operation information corresponding to the occurrence of the failure is transmitted to other electrical devices other than the electrical device in which the failure has occurred via the communication unit. And a control unit that stores the operation information received from the electric device together with the defect information as defect-related information in the storage unit.

  The management method according to the present invention is a management method by a management device that manages a plurality of electrical devices, wherein a failure occurs in any one of the plurality of electrical devices, and the failure is caused from the electrical device. When the failure information including the information indicating is received, an operation information request signal for requesting other electrical devices other than the electrical device in which the failure has occurred to provide operation information including operation information corresponding to the occurrence of the failure is provided. The operation information transmitted and received from the other electric device is stored as defect related information together with the defect information.

  The program according to the present invention includes a failure information including information indicating that a failure has occurred in any one of the plurality of electrical devices and the failure is generated in the computer that manages the plurality of electrical devices. A procedure for transmitting an operation information request signal for requesting provision of operation information including operation information corresponding to the occurrence of the failure to other electrical devices other than the electrical device in which the failure has occurred; This is to execute a procedure for storing the operation information received from the electrical equipment as defect related information together with the defect information.

  The present invention collects not only information related to the malfunctioning electrical device but also information on the operation of the other electrical device, so that the operation of the malfunctioned electrical device and the operation of the other electrical device are related. It becomes easy to identify the cause of the malfunction that occurs, and it is possible to resolve the malfunction early.

It is a block diagram which shows the example of 1 structure of the management system of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the operation information corresponding to the time of malfunction. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the operation information corresponding to the time of malfunction. It is a figure for demonstrating the operation | movement procedure by the management system of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the operation | movement procedure by the management system of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the example of 1 structure of the management system of Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the operation | movement procedure by the management system of Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the operation | movement procedure by the management system of Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the example of 1 structure of the management system of Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the operation | movement procedure by the management system of Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the operation | movement procedure by the management system of Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the example of 1 structure of the management system of Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the operation | movement procedure by the management system of Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the operation | movement procedure by the management system of Embodiment 4 of this invention.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
The configuration of the management system according to the first embodiment will be described.
(Configuration of management system according to Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the management system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the management system includes a plurality of electrical devices 101-1 to 101-n to be managed and a HEMS (Home Energy Management System) controller that monitors the status of the electrical devices 101-1 to 101-n. 201.
However, n is an arbitrary integer of 2 or more. Hereinafter, any one of the electric devices 101-1 to 101-n is represented as an electric device 101-k (k is any integer of 1 to n).
In the first embodiment, the electric devices 101-1 to 101-n are installed in the home, and are, for example, a refrigerator, a heating cooker, a tableware dryer, an air conditioner, and an air cleaner. Moreover, although the management apparatus which monitors the state of the electric equipment 101-1 to 101-n demonstrates in the case of a HEMS controller, a management apparatus is not limited to a HEMS controller. The HEMS controller 201 is an example of a computer that manages the electrical devices 101-1 to 101-n.

  The electric devices 101-1 to 101-n and the HEMS controller 201 are connected via a home network 131. The home network is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network), and may be either wireless or wired, or a combination of both. The communication protocol used in the home network 131 is, for example, TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) / IP (Internet Protocol).

  The electric devices 101-1 to 101-n and the HEMS controller 201 are given different identifiers in advance, and not only the identifiers of the own devices but also the identifiers of other devices are registered in advance. These identifiers serve as IP addresses indicating the source and destination when each device transmits information to other devices. These identifiers may be global IP addresses or private IP addresses used in the home network 131. When each of the electrical devices 101-1 to 101-n and the HEMS controller 201 transmits information to other devices in a packet, the IP addresses of the own device and the destination are described as the source and destination information in the packet header. In the following, description thereof is omitted.

(Configuration of Electric Device 101-1)
The configuration of the electric devices 101-1 to 101-n illustrated in FIG. 1 will be described. Since the configuration of the electric devices 101-1 to 101-n is the same, the case of the electric device 101-1 will be described here.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the electrical device 101-1 includes a failure detection unit 102-1, a management unit 113-1, and a communication unit 114-1. The management unit 113-1 includes an operation information management unit 103-1 and a defect information management unit 105-1. The communication unit 114-1 includes a reception unit 104-1 and a transmission unit 106-1.
The management unit 113-1 includes a memory (not shown) for storing information, and a dedicated circuit (not shown) that executes processing according to a predetermined procedure. The memory (not shown) is, for example, a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory. The dedicated circuit (not shown) may be configured by, for example, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

The defect detection unit 102-1 detects operation information, which is information related to the operation state, in time series in accordance with the operation of the electric device 101-1, and passes the operation information to the operation information management unit 103-1. The operation information is information including, for example, the operation mode and power consumption [W] of the electric device 101-1 that is operating. When the electric device 101-1 is an air conditioner, the operation mode is any one of a cooling operation mode, a dehumidifying operation mode, and a heating operation mode. When the electric device 101-1 is an air conditioner, the operation information may include information such as whether automatic operation is performed, wind speed, and the direction of the air outlet. The operation information includes date / time information indicating the date / time when the operation is executed.
In addition, when a failure occurs in the electrical device 101-1 at the start of operation or during operation, the failure detection unit 102-1 passes failure information including information indicating the failure to the failure information management unit 105-1. The information indicating a failure is, for example, an error code indicating a failure that has occurred in the electrical device 101-1. The defect information includes date and time information indicating the date and time when the defect occurred.

Upon receiving the defect information from the defect detection unit 102-1, the defect information management unit 105-1 passes the defect information to the transmission unit 106-1.
The operation information management unit 103-1 sequentially stores operation information received from the defect detection unit 102-1 in a memory (not shown). When the operation information to be stored exceeds the capacity of the memory (not shown), the operation information management unit 103-1 deletes the operation information having the oldest saved date and stores the latest operation information in the memory (not shown). To store.
When the operation information request signal, which is a signal for requesting the provision of operation information corresponding to the occurrence of a malfunction, is received from the reception unit 104-1, the operation information management unit 103-1 receives from the stored operation information. Then, the operation information corresponding to the occurrence of the malfunction is read out and passed to the transmission unit 106-1. The operation information request signal includes date and time information when a failure occurs.
When the time range is specified in the operation information request signal received from the receiving unit 104-1, the operation information management unit 103-1 refers to the date / time information included in the operation information, and the date / time information belongs to the time range. Information is extracted and passed to the transmission unit 106-1.

Here, a specific example of operation information corresponding to the occurrence of a problem will be described.
2A and 2B are diagrams for explaining an example of operation information corresponding to a failure. 2A and 2B show the operation states of the electric devices 101-1 and 101-2 in time series.
FIG. 2A shows that the operation state of the electric device 101-1 is switched from the operation X1 to the operation X2 at the time t1, and the operation state of the electric device 101-2 is switched from the operation Y1 to the operation Y2 at the time t2. Here, it is assumed that a failure has occurred in the electrical device 101-1, triggered by an event that occurred in the electrical device 101-2 at time t3 after time t2. In this case, the time when the trouble occurs is time t3, and the operation state of the electric device 101-2 at time t3 is the operation Y2. Therefore, regarding the electric device 101-2, the operation information corresponding to the trouble occurrence is information including the operation Y2. .

Next, a case where a failure occurs in the electrical device 101-1 triggered by the switching of the operation of the electrical device 101-2 will be considered with reference to FIG. 2B.
As shown in FIG. 2B, the operating state of the electric device 101-1 is switched from the operation X1 to the operation X2 at time t1, and the operating state of the electric device 101-2 is switched from the operation Y1 to operation Y2 at time t2. It is assumed that a failure has occurred in electrical device 101-1 at time t3 after the lapse of Δt time from time t2 due to switching from operation Y1 to operation Y2.
In this case, the time t3 is the time when the trouble occurs, and the operation state of the electric device 101-2 at the time t3 is the operation Y2. Therefore, the operation state of the electric device 101-2 corresponding to the trouble occurrence is the operation Y2. Here, it is assumed that a time range is specified in the operation information request signal and the specified time range is longer than Δt. In this case, regarding the electrical device 101-2, the operation information corresponding to the occurrence of the failure includes information that the operation state is switched from Y1 to Y2.
Thus, when there is a time lag of Δt from the event that causes the failure to the actual occurrence of the failure, if the time range longer than Δt is specified in the operation information request signal, the operation related to the failure is performed. It becomes possible to specify.

Up to this point, an example of operation information corresponding to the occurrence of a problem has been described with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B, but the description returns to the configuration of the electric device 101-1 illustrated in FIG. 1.
When receiving the operation information request signal from the HEMS controller 201, the reception unit 104-1 passes the operation information request signal to the operation information management unit 103-1.
Upon receiving the defect information from the defect information management unit 105-1, the transmission unit 106-1 transmits the defect information to the HEMS controller 201 via the home network 131. Further, upon receiving the operation information from the operation information management unit 103-1, the transmission unit 106-1 transmits the operation information to the HEMS controller 201 via the home network 131.

(Configuration of HEMS controller 201)
The HEMS controller 201 includes a communication unit 214, a defect information management unit 213, and a defect information storage unit 210. The communication unit 214 includes a reception unit 204 and a transmission unit 206.
The defect information storage unit 210 is a storage unit configured by a nonvolatile memory, for example. The defect information management unit 213 includes a memory (not shown) that stores a program and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown) that executes processing according to the program. The memory (not shown) is, for example, a nonvolatile memory. When the CPU executes the program, the defect information management unit 213 is configured in the HEMS controller 201. The defect information management unit 213 may be a part of a control unit (not shown) that controls the entire HEMS controller 201.

When the defect information management unit 213 receives defect information from any of the electric devices via the reception unit 204, the defect information management unit 213 sends an operation information request signal to the other electric devices excluding the electric device that is the source of the defect information. Send through.
In addition, the defect information management unit 213 stores the defect information received from the electric device in which the defect has occurred in the defect information storage unit 210 as the defect related information together with the operation information received from the electric device in which the defect has not occurred. Since a plurality of defects may occur, the defect information management unit 213 stores one defect information and (n−1) pieces of operation information as one set for each defect information.
The defect information management unit 213 designates the time range in the operation information request signal and sends it to the transmission unit 206 in order to acquire information on the operation performed in a predetermined time range based on the date and time when the defect occurred. You may pass. This is effective for identifying the cause of a malfunction when the malfunction that has occurred is related to the operation of another electrical device and there is a certain time lag between the occurrence of the malfunction and the operation of the other electrical device.

  Note that the user may operate the portable terminal (not shown) so that the portable terminal (not shown) can be communicably connected to the HEMS controller 201 via the home network 131. In this case, the user may cause the portable terminal to display defect related information stored in the defect information storage unit 210 via a portable terminal (not shown).

(Operation of the management system of the first embodiment)
An operation procedure of the management system according to the first embodiment will be described.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an operation procedure by the management system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, it is assumed that there are two electric devices 10-1 and 101-2 to be managed.

The case of a normal state in which no malfunction has occurred in either of the electric devices 101-1 and 101-2 will be described.
The malfunction detection unit 102-1 of the electric device 101-1 determines whether or not a defect has occurred at a constant period during the operation of the electric device 101-1. The malfunction detection unit 102-2 of the electrical device 101-2 determines whether or not a malfunction has occurred at a constant period during the operation of the electrical device 101-2.
When no failure occurs in the electrical device 101-1, the failure detection unit 102-1 sequentially passes the operation information to the operation information management unit 103-1. The operation information management unit 103-1 sequentially stores the operation information received from the defect detection unit 102-1. Even when a failure does not occur in the electrical device 101-2, the operation information management unit 103-2 sequentially stores the operation information received from the failure detection unit 102-2, similarly to the electrical device 101-1.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the electrical devices 101-1 and 101-2 are connected to the HEMS controller 201 via the home network 131. Therefore, the user connects a mobile terminal (not shown) to the HEMS controller 201 via the home network 131 and remotely operates the HEMS controller 201 to transfer operation information to the electrical devices 101-1 and 101-2. 201 may be transmitted. In this case, the HEMS controller 201 calculates the power consumption based on the operation information received from the electrical devices 101-1 and 101-2, and transmits the calculation result to the user's portable terminal (not shown). Thereby, the user can browse power consumption etc. with a portable terminal (not shown).

Next, a case where a failure occurs in the electric device 101-1 or the electric device 101-2 will be described. Here, it is assumed that a failure has occurred in electrical device 101-1.
FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of an operation procedure performed by the management system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
When the failure detection unit 102-1 of the electrical device 101-1 detects the occurrence of a failure, the failure information management unit 105-1 transmits the failure information to the HEMS controller 201 via the home network 131 (step 1001).
When the communication unit 214 of the HEMS controller 201 receives the defect information from the electrical device 101-1, the communication unit 214 passes the defect information to the defect information management unit 213 (step 1002). The defect information management unit 213 stores the defect information in the defect information storage unit 210 (step 1003). Subsequently, the defect information management unit 213 passes the operation information request signal to the communication unit 214 in order to transmit the operation information request signal to the electric device 101-2 (step 1004). The communication unit 214 transmits the received operation information request signal to the electrical device 101-2 via the home network 131 (step 1005).

When receiving the operation information request signal from the HEMS controller 201, the reception unit 104-2 of the electric device 101-2 passes the operation information request signal to the operation information management unit 103-2. When receiving the operation information request signal, the operation information management unit 103-2 reads out the operation information corresponding to the occurrence of the failure from the stored operation information and passes it to the transmission unit 106-2. The transmission unit 106-2 transmits the operation information passed from the operation information management unit 103-2 to the HEMS controller 201 via the home network 131 (step 1006).
When receiving the operation information from the electrical device 101-2, the communication unit 214 of the HEMS controller 201 passes the operation information to the defect information management unit 213 (step 1007). The defect information management unit 213 stores the operation information in the defect information storage unit 210 as defect related information together with the defect information (step 1008).

The management system according to the first embodiment stores operation information including operation information in a time series, and when a failure occurs, a plurality of electricity that outputs the failure information including information indicating the failure via the home network 131. When the failure information is received from any one of the plurality of electrical devices connected to the devices 101-1 to 101-n and the plurality of electrical devices via the home network 131, the transmission source of the failure information Sends an operation information request signal, which is a signal requesting provision of operation information corresponding to the occurrence of a failure, to other electrical devices other than the electrical device, and receives the operation information received from the other electrical devices along with the failure information. And a HEMS controller 201 that stores it as related information.
According to the first embodiment, regarding the faults occurring in the electrical equipment, not only the electrical equipment in which the fault has occurred, but also information on the operation of other electrical equipment is collected and grouped together as fault-related information. If the user examines the defect-related information stored in the HEMS controller 201, the user can easily identify the cause of the defect that occurs in association with the operation of the electrical device that caused the failure and the operation of another electrical device. As a result, it is possible to solve the problem early.

Further, in the first embodiment, when the defect information includes date and time information that is information indicating the date and time when the defect occurred, the HEMS controller 201 displays the date and time information included in the defect information when transmitting the operation information request signal. Operation information related to operations executed in a predetermined time range with reference to the date and time indicated by the read and date and time information may be requested.
In this case, the defect is related to the operation of the other electric device, and even if there is a time lag between the occurrence of the defect and the operation of the other electric device, the user can specify the cause of the defect.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the second embodiment, the management device includes a display unit, and information that causes a problem is displayed on the display unit.
In the second embodiment, the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those in the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof will be omitted, and configurations different from those in the first embodiment will be described in detail. In the second embodiment, it is assumed that the information indicating the failure is an error code.

(Configuration of management system according to Embodiment 2)
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the management system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
As illustrated in FIG. 5, the HEMS controller 201a includes a defect information storage unit 210, a communication unit 214, a control unit 220a, and a display unit 209. The control unit 220 a includes a defect information management unit 213 and a screen output control unit 208. The display unit 209 is, for example, a liquid crystal display.
The control unit 220a includes a memory (not shown) that stores a program and a CPU (not shown) that executes processing according to the program. The memory (not shown) is, for example, a nonvolatile memory. When the CPU executes the program, the defect information management unit 213 and the screen output control unit 208 are configured in the HEMS controller 201a.

The defect information storage unit 210 stores, for each of the electric devices 101-1 to 101-n, a list in which an error code and information on the cause of the failure indicated by the error code are associated with each other (not shown). ) In advance. That is, the defect information storage unit 210 stores n types of lists in which error codes and causes of defects are associated with each other.
The defect information management unit 213 stores the operation information together with the defect information as defect related information in the defect information storage unit 210, and then passes the defect related information to the screen output control unit 208. At that time, the defect information management unit 213 reads the error code from the defect information, refers to the list stored in the defect information storage unit 210, reads the cause information of the defect corresponding to the error code, and includes it in the defect related information. Also good.
The screen output control unit 208 converts the defect related information into an image corresponding to the screen of the display unit 209 and causes the display unit 209 to display the image. The screen output control unit 208 causes the display unit 209 to display an error code and information on the cause of the failure when the error-related information includes the error code and the information on the cause of the failure.

(Operation of the management system of the second embodiment)
An operation procedure of the management system according to the second embodiment will be described.
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an operation procedure by the management system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Here, it is assumed that there are two electric devices, electric device 101-1 and electric device 101-2. In addition, it is assumed that a failure has occurred in the electrical device 101-1.
FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of an operation procedure performed by the management system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Since the processing from steps 1001 to 1008 shown in FIG. 7 is the same as the operation described with reference to FIG. 4, detailed description thereof is omitted.
In step 1008, the defect information management unit 213 of the control unit 220a stores the operation information as defect related information together with the defect information in the defect information storage unit 210, and then passes the defect related information to the screen output control unit 208. The screen output control unit 208 displays the defect related information on the display unit 209 (step 1009). At that time, the screen output control unit 208 causes the display unit 209 to display an error code corresponding to the defect and information on the cause of the defect.

  According to the second embodiment, since the defect-related information is displayed on the display unit 209 of the HEMS controller 201a, the user checks the defect-related information, so that the cause of the defect in the electric device in which the defect has occurred When it is related to the operation of the device, the cause of the failure can be confirmed.

  In the second embodiment, the HEMS controller 201a may display an error code and information that causes the defect on the display unit 209 in addition to the defect-related information, in response to the defect that has occurred in the electrical device. If the error information is only the error code, it is difficult for the user to understand the content of the error. However, displaying the cause of the error on the screen makes it easier for the user to understand the cause of the error.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In the third embodiment, the defect-related information can be transmitted to the support center of the manufacturer of the electric device in which the defect has occurred.
In the third embodiment, the same components as those in the first and second embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted, and configurations different from those in the first and second embodiments will be described in detail.

(Configuration of management system according to Embodiment 3)
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the management system according to the third embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 8, the HEMS controller 201b is connected to the wide area network 300. The wide area network 300 is, for example, the Internet. The home network 131 corresponds to the first network, and the wide area network 300 corresponds to the second network.
Connected to the wide area network 300 are a Web server 310 and a mail server 320 owned or managed by the support center of the manufacturer of the electrical equipment 101-k.
When receiving the defect-related information from the HEMS controller 201b, the Web server 310 stores the received defect-related information. The Web server 310 stores defect related information sent from many homes.
When the mail server 320 receives from the HEMS controller 201b an e-mail that reports the occurrence of a failure or an e-mail that requests a repair, the e-mail server 320 stores the received e-mail.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the HEMS controller 201b includes a defect information storage unit 210, a communication unit 214, a control unit 220b, and a display unit 209. The control unit 220b includes a defect information management unit 213, a screen output control unit 208, and a user interface (IF) control unit 225.
The control unit 220b includes a memory (not shown) that stores a program and a CPU (not shown) that executes processing according to the program. The memory (not shown) is, for example, a nonvolatile memory. When the CPU executes the program, the defect information management unit 213, the screen output control unit 208, and the user IF control unit 225 are configured in the HEMS controller 201.

When transmitting the information to the Web server 310 and the mail server 320, the transmission unit 206 uses the global IP address of the HEMS controller 201b as the transmission source information. In addition, the global IP addresses of the Web server 310 and the mail server 320 are registered in the transmission unit 206 in advance.
When displaying the defect-related information on the display unit 209, the screen output control unit 208 inquires whether or not to send the defect-related information to the manufacturer's support center and whether to request a repair from the support center. A message is also displayed on the display unit 209.

The user IF control unit 225 controls the communication unit 214 in accordance with a user instruction input via an operation unit (not shown) of the HEMS controller 201b. In the third embodiment, the case where the HEMS controller 201b has an operation unit (not shown) will be described. However, the user connects a portable terminal (not shown) with the HEMS controller 201b, and via the portable terminal (not shown). Instructions may be entered.
When an instruction to transmit the defect related information to the Web server 310 is input, the user IF control unit 225 instructs the transmission unit 206 to transmit the defect related information to the Web server 310. When an instruction to request repair is input to the support center, the user IF control unit 225 instructs the transmission unit 206 to transmit an e-mail including a repair request message to the mail server 320.

(Operation of the management system of the third embodiment)
An operation procedure of the management system according to the third embodiment will be described.
FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an operation procedure performed by the management system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Here, it is assumed that there are two electric devices, electric device 101-1 and electric device 101-2. In addition, it is assumed that a failure has occurred in the electrical device 101-1.
FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of an operation procedure performed by the management system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Since the processing from steps 1001 to 1008 shown in FIG. 10 is the same as the operation described with reference to FIG. 4, detailed description thereof is omitted.
In step 1009, the screen output control unit 208 of the control unit 220b causes the display unit 209 to display defect-related information as in the second embodiment. At that time, the screen output control unit 208 causes the display unit 209 to display a message for inquiring whether or not to send defect-related information to the manufacturer's support center and a message for inquiring whether or not to request a repair from the support center.

  After step 1009, when an instruction to transmit defect related information to the Web server 310 is input from the user via the operation unit (not shown), the user IF control unit 225 of the control unit 220b displays the defect related information. The communication unit 214 is instructed to transmit to the Web server 310 (step 1010). The transmission unit 206 of the communication unit 214 transmits the defect related information to the Web server 310 via the wide area network 300 (step 1011). The Web server 310 stores the received defect related information (step 1012).

  Further, when an instruction to request a repair is sent from the user to the support center via an operation unit (not shown), the user IF control unit 225 of the control unit 220b sends an e-mail including a repair request message to the mail server. The communication unit 214 is instructed to transmit to 320 (step 1013). The transmission unit 206 of the communication unit 214 transmits an e-mail to the mail server 320 via the wide area network 300 (step 1014). The mail server 320 stores the received e-mail (step 1015).

  In the operation procedure described with reference to FIG. 10, the case where the user performs an operation when a failure occurs and transmits the defect-related information to the support center has been described. However, even if there is no user instruction, the control unit 220b The defect-related information may be transmitted to the Web server 310 via the transmission unit 206.

According to the third embodiment, the defect related information is stored in the Web server 310 of the support center of the manufacturer of the electric device in which the defect has occurred. When the same trouble occurs in many homes, information on the same kind of trouble is stored in one server, thereby making it easier to identify the cause of the trouble. Further, since the storage location of the defect information is a server owned or managed by the manufacturer's support center, the service person can examine the cause of the defect in detail.
Furthermore, an e-mail requesting repair may be transmitted to the mail server 320 of the manufacturer support center so that the user can keep in touch with the service representative of the manufacturer. In this case, the user can more easily identify the cause of the problem by exchanging information regarding the problem with the manufacturer's service representative.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
In the fourth embodiment, an analysis device that analyzes the cause of the failure based on the failure-related information is provided, and the analysis result by the analysis device can be reflected in the electrical equipment.
In the fourth embodiment, the same configurations as those in the first to third embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted, and configurations different from the first to third embodiments will be described in detail.

(Configuration of management system according to Embodiment 4)
FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the management system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 11, a failure analysis device 330 is connected to the Web server 310. The defect analysis device 330 is connected to the HEMS controller 201b via the wide area network 300 so as to be communicable.

The defect analysis device 330 includes an analysis unit 331 that analyzes defect-related information stored in the Web server 310. The analysis unit 331 includes a memory (not shown) that stores a program and a CPU (not shown) that executes processing according to the program. The memory (not shown) is, for example, a nonvolatile memory. When the CPU executes the program, the analysis unit 331 is configured in the failure analysis device 330.
The analysis unit 331 extracts defect-related information including the same type of defect information from the plurality of defect-related information stored by the Web server 310. Then, the analysis unit 331 reads out defect information and operation information from the extracted defect related information, and analyzes whether the defect and the operation are related. This analysis standard is stored in advance in a memory (not shown) of the analysis unit 331. When the analysis unit 331 obtains an analysis result that increases the probability of occurrence of a malfunction when two or more types of electrical devices operate simultaneously, the analysis section 331 identifies an operation with a high malfunction occurrence probability. And the analysis part 331 produces | generates the control information containing the information which prohibits the operation | movement which a malfunction generate | occur | produces, and transmits to the HEMS controller 201b. The control information includes information on a plurality of operations that cause a failure and identifiers of a plurality of electrical devices that perform the operations.

  In FIG. 11, the defect analysis device 330 is illustrated with a configuration different from that of the Web server 310, but the Web server 310 may have a function of the defect analysis device 330 including the analysis unit 331.

The electric device 101-k (k is an arbitrary integer from 1 to n) includes a defect detection unit 102-k, a device operation unit 122-k, a management unit 113a-k, and a communication unit 114-k. The management unit 113a-k includes an operation control unit 121-k, an operation information management unit 103-k, and a defect information management unit 105-k.
The operation control unit 121-k controls the device operation unit 122-k according to control information received from the HEMS controller 201b via the reception unit 104-k.
The device operation unit 122-k operates the electric device 101-k according to the control of the operation control unit 121-k.

The transmission unit 206 of the HEMS controller 201b reads the identifier and operation information included in the control information, and confirms the operation state of the plurality of electrical devices specified by the identifier via the defect information management unit 213. Then, when the confirmed operation state matches the operation included in the control information, the transmission unit 206 transfers the control information to the electrical device corresponding to the operation in which the malfunction occurs. On the other hand, when the confirmed operation state does not match the operation included in the control information, the transmission unit 206 holds the control information.
When the operation included in the control information does not match the current operation state of the target electric device, the transmission unit 206 invalidates the control information for the electric device that is the transmission destination of the control information. May be transmitted.

(Operation of Management System of Embodiment 4)
An operation procedure of the management system according to the fourth embodiment will be described.
FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining an operation procedure by the management system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. Here, it is assumed that there are two electric devices, electric device 101-1 and electric device 101-2. In addition, when the operation state of the electric device 101-1 is the operation X <b> 2, a failure occurs in the electric device 101-1 due to the operation Y <b> 2 of the electric device 101-2.
FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of an operation procedure performed by the management system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 does not show the processing of steps 1013 to 1015 shown in FIG. 10, but may include the processing of steps 1013 to 1015. The processing from step 1001 to step 1012 shown in FIG. 13 is the same as the operation described with reference to FIGS.

  In step 1012, when the Web server 310 stores the defect-related information received from the HEMS controller 201b, the analysis unit 331 of the defect analyzer 330 reads the defect-related information from the Web server 310. Then, analysis processing of defect related information is performed (step 1101). The analysis unit 331 obtains an analysis result that the probability of occurrence of a malfunction increases when the electrical device 101-2 performs the operation Y2 while the electrical device 101-1 is performing the operation X2. As an analysis result, the analysis unit 331 generates control information including information indicating that the electric device 101-2 is prohibited from the operation Y2 when the electric device 101-1 is in the operation X2, and transmits the control information to the HEMS controller 201b ( Step 1102).

When the communication unit 214 of the HEMS controller 201b receives the control information from the defect analysis device 330, the communication unit 214 checks the operation state of the electrical device 101-1 via the defect information management unit 213. The transmission unit 206 holds control information when the operation state of the electric device 101-1 is not the operation X2. On the other hand, when the operation state of the electric device 101-1 is the operation X2, the transmission unit 206 transfers the control information to the electric device 101-2 (step 1103).
When the operation control unit 121-2 of the electric device 101-2 receives the control information from the HEMS controller 201b via the reception unit 104-2, the operation control unit 121-2 reads the operation Y2 from the control information and sends information indicating that the operation Y2 is restricted to the device. The operation unit 122-2 is notified. The device operation unit 122-2 does not execute the operation Y2 in accordance with the information notified from the operation control unit 121-2. Thereby, an analysis result is reflected in the electric equipment 101-2 (step 1104).

  The failure that has occurred in the electrical device 101-1 is not caused by the electrical device 101-1 alone, but may be caused by the operation of another electrical device 101-2 that is unrelated to the failure at first glance. Even in such a case, if the frequency of occurrence of the defect is high under the same situation, as described above, the same type of defect related information is collected in the Web server 310, and the defect is based on the collected defect related information. Since the cause of the occurrence is analyzed, it becomes easier to identify the cause.

According to the fourth embodiment, the defect analysis device 330 analyzes the cause of the occurrence of a defect based on the collected defect-related information. Therefore, it is easy to identify the cause of the failure when the failure is caused by the operation of the other electrical device and the occurrence frequency is high in the same occurrence situation, not the cause of one electrical device alone. .
Further, as a result of the analysis based on the defect-related information collected by the server, the HEMS controller 201b sends control information including information on the electric device to be prohibited from the server to the wide area network, as a result of performing the analysis. When received via 300, the control information is transferred to the target electrical device. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the operation analyzed as the cause of the occurrence of the failure and prevent the occurrence of the failure from occurring. Therefore, each electric device can be automatically operated to avoid an operation with a high probability of occurrence of a failure.

  Further, according to the fourth embodiment, the analysis result by the defect analysis device 330 of the manufacturer support center is transmitted to each HEMS controller 201b of many households via the wide area network 300. The analysis results are reflected in many homes, and similar problems can be prevented from occurring in each home.

  In any of the above-described first to fourth embodiments, the combination of the electrical device that causes the failure and the operation prohibited by the electrical device is specified based on the failure-related information. It becomes possible. By using the result, the target electrical device may be reduced by the demand of the operation whose demand is prohibited, and the surplus demand may be allocated to other electrical devices. An example of demand is power consumption.

  Embodiments 1 to 4 of the present invention have been described in the case of managing an electrical device installed in a home. However, it is possible to quickly solve problems that occur in connection with the operation of a plurality of electrical devices. Thus, the present invention can be applied to a case where a plurality of electrical devices to be managed are managed not only in the home but also in stores and companies.

  101-1 to 101-n Electrical equipment, 102-1 to 102-n Failure detection unit, 103-1 to 103-n Operation information management unit, 104-1 to 104-n Reception unit, 105-1 to 105-n Defect information management unit, 106-1 to 106-n transmission unit, 113-1 to 113-n, 113a-1 to 113a-n management unit, 114-1 to 114-n communication unit, 121-1 to 121-n Operation control unit, 122-1 to 122-n Device operation unit, 131 Home network, 201, 201a, 201b HEMS controller, 204 reception unit, 206 transmission unit, 208 screen output control unit, 209 display unit, 210 defect information storage 213, defect information management unit, 214 communication unit, 220a, 220b control unit, 225 user IF control unit, 300 wide area network, 10 Web server, 320 mail server, 330 defect analyzer 331 analyzer.

Claims (9)

A plurality of electrical devices that store operation information including operation information in time series and output defect information including information indicating the defect via the first network when a defect occurs;
When the defect information is received from any one of the plurality of electric devices connected to the plurality of electric devices via the first network, the electric device that transmitted the defect information is excluded. An operation information request signal, which is a signal for requesting provision of the operation information corresponding to the occurrence of the malfunction, is transmitted to another electrical apparatus, and the operation information received from the other electrical apparatus is malfunctioned together with the malfunction information. A management device to save as related information;
Management system. The defect information includes date and time information that is information indicating a date and time when the defect occurred,
When transmitting the operation information request signal, the management device reads the date information included in the defect information, and the operation information related to an operation belonging to a time range determined in advance with reference to the date indicated by the date information. The management system according to claim 1, wherein: The management device has a display unit,
The management system according to claim 1, wherein the management device displays the defect-related information on the display unit. The defect information includes an error code as information indicating the defect,
The management device has a storage unit for storing a list in which the error code and information on the cause of the failure indicated by the error code are described correspondingly for each of the plurality of electrical devices,
The management device refers to the list stored in the storage unit when displaying the defect-related information on the display unit, and displays information on a cause of the failure indicated by an error code included in the defect information on the display unit. The management system according to claim 3, wherein the management system is displayed. The management device is connected to a server via a second network different from the first network;
The management system according to claim 1, wherein the management device transmits the defect-related information to the server.   As a result of the analysis based on the defect-related information collected by the server, the management device sends control information including information indicating that the operation for causing the defect is prohibited and information on a target electric device from the server. The management system according to claim 5, wherein when received via the second network, the control information is transferred to the target electric device. A management device for managing a plurality of electrical devices,
A communication unit that transmits and receives information to and from the plurality of electrical devices via a network;
A storage unit for storing information received from the plurality of electrical devices;
When a failure occurs in any of the plurality of electrical devices and the failure information including the information indicating the failure is received from the electrical device via the communication unit, the electrical device in which the failure has occurred The operation information request signal for requesting the provision of operation information including operation information corresponding to the occurrence of the malfunction is transmitted to other electrical devices except for the other electrical devices, and received from the other electrical devices. A control unit for storing operation information in the storage unit as defect related information together with the defect information;
A management device. A management method by a management device that manages a plurality of electrical devices,
When a failure occurs in any one of the plurality of electrical devices and the failure information including the information indicating the failure is received from the electrical device, other electrical devices other than the electrical device in which the failure has occurred are received. , Transmitting an operation information request signal for requesting provision of operation information including operation information corresponding to the occurrence of the malfunction,
A management method for storing the operation information received from the other electrical device as defect related information together with the defect information. To a computer that manages multiple electrical devices,
When a failure occurs in any one of the plurality of electrical devices and the failure information including the information indicating the failure is received from the electrical device, other electrical devices other than the electrical device in which the failure has occurred are received. A procedure for transmitting an operation information request signal for requesting provision of operation information including operation information corresponding to the occurrence of the malfunction;
A program for executing a procedure for storing the operation information received from the other electric device as defect related information together with the defect information.

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