JP2018101238A - Information processing apparatus, control method, program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mechanism capable of efficiently selecting a symptom specifying a failure content occurring in a product according to an elapsed period of the product when the failure content of the product is diagnosed.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus: manages, in each usage period that a product has been used, a plurality of symptoms for which types of failure of the product occurring during one usage period can be specified; receives a product and information which can specify the usage period; specifies the symptom corresponding to the failure of the product occurring during the usage period of the received product from among the plurality of symptoms to be managed according to the usage period specified from the received product and the received information; and preferentially displays the specified symptom among the plurality of symptoms to be managed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for diagnosing product failure contents.

  In a service center of a product sales company or the like, when receiving an inquiry about a product or a repair request from an unspecified number of users at an EC site or the like, a candidate of the phenomenon that has been prepared in advance is presented and the user selects the phenomenon to be generated Thus, the diagnosis is performed on the selected occurrence phenomenon and the diagnosis result is presented. Diagnosis results include the presentation of self-solving methods by the user, suggestions for repairs, and replacement of products.

  In order to diagnose correctly, it is necessary for the user to select the occurrence phenomenon correctly. For this purpose, a mechanism that allows the user to easily select the occurrence phenomenon is required.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a method of displaying options from the top in the order of weights set based on repair results when there are a plurality of options for diagnosis.

Japanese Patent No. 2002-358383

  The phenomenon (or symptom) that occurs for a product changes according to the elapsed time (use period, sales period, etc.) in the life cycle of the product, and when selecting the occurrence phenomenon, always use the same display order. This causes problems such as overlooking a phenomenon that the user is compatible with, or difficulty in selecting a phenomenon.

  In the method of Patent Document 1, the options are displayed in the order of the weights set based on the repair results. However, if there are options that have occurred suddenly many times, the target is displayed at the top indefinitely. Further, the method of Patent Document 1 is ineffective when only a small number of repair results are accumulated.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism that can efficiently select a symptom that identifies the content of a failure that has occurred in a product according to the elapsed time of the product when diagnosing the content of the product failure.

  The present invention is an information processing apparatus for identifying the type of failure that has occurred in a product, and is capable of identifying the type of failure of the product that has occurred during the use period for each use period that is a period during which the product has been used. From the plurality of symptoms to be managed according to the management means for managing the symptoms, the receiving means for receiving information that can specify the product and the usage period, and the usage period specified from the received product and the received information, Display control means for identifying a symptom corresponding to a failure of the product that has occurred during the use period of the received product and displaying the identified symptom preferentially among the plurality of managed symptoms. Features.

  According to the present invention, when diagnosing the content of a product failure, it is possible to efficiently select a symptom that identifies the content of the failure that has occurred in the product according to the elapsed time of the product.

It is a system configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of a failure diagnosis system in the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the information processing apparatus applicable to the client 101 and the failure diagnosis server 102 in this invention. It is a functional block diagram of a failure diagnosis system in the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the failure diagnosis process in this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a phenomenon selection screen display process in this invention. It is a screen image which shows an example of the model selection screen in this invention. It is a screen image which shows an example of the model screen in this invention. It is a screen image which shows an example of the purchase date input screen in this invention. It is a screen image which shows an example of the phenomenon selection screen in this invention. It is a screen image which shows an example of a diagnostic screen in this invention. It is a screen image which shows an example of a diagnostic result (solution) screen in the present invention. It is a screen image which shows an example of a diagnostic result (unsolved) screen in this invention. It is an image which shows an example of the data in this invention. It is an image which shows an example of the data in this invention. It is an image which shows an example of the data in this invention. It is an image which shows an example of the data in this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a failure diagnosis system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The failure diagnosis system 100 is configured such that a client 101 and a failure diagnosis server 102 are connected via a network 104.

  A web browser is installed in the client 101 and communicates with the failure diagnosis server 102 via the web browser.

  The failure diagnosis server 102 is a Web application server, displays a screen on the display of the client 101 via the Web browser of the client 101, and accepts an operation from the screen. The failure diagnosis server 102 stores various master tables and various data tables. The various master tables and various data tables may be managed by a database server (not shown).

In this embodiment, as a Web system, communication is performed by HTTP communication. However, a dedicated application is installed in the client 101 to communicate with the failure diagnosis server 102, that is, a client server type system. Also good.
This is the end of the description of the system configuration diagram of FIG.

  Hereinafter, an example of a hardware configuration of an information processing apparatus applicable to the client 101 and the failure diagnosis server 102 illustrated in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an information processing apparatus that can be applied to the client 101 and the failure diagnosis server 102.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 201 denotes a CPU that comprehensively controls each device and controller connected to the system bus 204. Further, the ROM 202 or the external memory 211 is necessary to realize a BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) or an operating system program (hereinafter referred to as an OS), which is a control program of the CPU 201, or a function executed by each server or each PC. Various programs to be described later are stored.

  A RAM 203 functions as a main memory, work area, and the like for the CPU 201. The CPU 201 implements various operations by loading a program or the like necessary for execution of processing from the ROM 202 or the external memory 211 into the RAM 203 and executing the loaded program.

  An input controller 205 controls input from a keyboard (KB) 209 or a pointing device such as a mouse (not shown). A video controller 206 controls display on a display device such as the display 210. There are various types of displays such as CRTs and liquid crystal displays.

  A memory controller 207 is provided in an external storage device (hard disk (HD)), flexible disk (FD), or PCMCIA card slot for storing a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, editing files, various data, and the like. Controls access to an external memory 211 such as a CF card memory connected via an adapter.

  A communication I / F controller 208 is connected to and communicates with an external device via a network (for example, the network 104 shown in FIG. 1), and executes communication control processing on the network. For example, communication using TCP / IP is possible.

  Note that the CPU 201 enables display on the display 210 by executing outline font rasterization processing on a display information area in the RAM 203, for example. Further, the CPU 201 enables a user instruction with a mouse cursor (not shown) on the display 210.

  Various programs to be described later for realizing the present invention are recorded in the external memory 211 and executed by the CPU 201 by being loaded into the RAM 203 as necessary. Furthermore, definition files and various information tables used when executing the program are also stored in the external memory 211, and a detailed description thereof will be described later.

  This is the end of the description of the hardware configuration diagram of FIG.

  Next, a functional block diagram of the failure diagnosis system 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  The failure diagnosis system 100 includes a client 101 and a failure diagnosis server 102 as components.

  The client 101 has a screen display unit 311 and an operation reception unit 312.

  The screen display unit 311 is a functional unit that displays a screen on the display 210 based on the display data transmitted from the failure diagnosis server 102.

  The operation reception unit 312 is a functional unit that receives a user operation and transmits the received content to the failure diagnosis server 102.

  In this embodiment, the functions of the screen display unit 311 and the operation reception unit 312 are realized by a Web browser.

  The failure diagnosis server 102 includes a diagnosis request receiving unit 321, a phenomenon receiving unit 322, a diagnosis unit 323, a result display control unit 324, and a result recording unit 325.

  The diagnosis request receiving unit 321 is a functional unit that receives a diagnosis request from the client 101 together with input items.

  The phenomenon accepting unit 322 is a functional unit that displays a list of phenomena (selection candidates) on the client 101 and accepts selection of a phenomenon that has occurred from the client 101.

  The diagnosis unit 323 is a functional unit that performs diagnosis based on the received phenomenon and derives a diagnosis result.

  The result display control unit 324 is a functional unit that displays a diagnosis process and a diagnosis result on the client 101.

The result recording unit 325 is a functional unit that records the diagnosis result as a history.
This is the end of the description of the functional block diagram of FIG.

  Next, a processing flow of the failure diagnosis system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of failure diagnosis processing of the failure diagnosis system 100.

  In step S401, upon receiving a request from the client 101, the failure diagnosis server 102 displays a model selection screen 600 (FIG. 6) on the display 210 of the client 101. The model selection screen 600 displays a button 601 on which the model name 1302 acquired from the model master 1300 (FIG. 13A) is displayed.

  In step S <b> 402, the failure diagnosis server 102 accepts model selection from the model selection screen 600 displayed on the client 101. In the model selection screen 600, the user selects a corresponding model by pressing a button 601 on which the model name to be diagnosed is displayed.

  In step S403, the failure diagnosis server 102 displays the model screen 700 (FIG. 7) on the display 210 of the client 101. The model screen 700 displays information on the selected model, a simple failure diagnosis start button 701, and the like.

  In step S <b> 404, the failure diagnosis server 102 receives a simple failure diagnosis request from the model screen 700 displayed on the client 101. In the model screen 700, the user receives the request by pressing the simple failure diagnosis start button 701.

  In step S405, the failure diagnosis server 102 displays the purchase date input screen 800 (FIG. 8) on the display 210 of the client 101. On the purchase date input screen 800, a purchase date input field 801, a phenomenon selection button 802, and the like are displayed.

  In step S <b> 406, the failure diagnosis server 102 receives a purchase date input from the purchase date input screen 800 displayed on the client 101. In the purchase date input screen 800, the user inputs the purchase date in the purchase date input field 801 and presses the button 802 to select a phenomenon, thereby accepting the input purchase date and displaying the next phenomenon selection screen. Move on.

  In step S407, the failure diagnosis server 102 displays the phenomenon selection screen 900 (FIG. 9) on the display 210 of the client 101. Details of this processing step will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In step S <b> 408, the failure diagnosis server 102 accepts a phenomenon selection from the phenomenon selection screen 900 displayed on the client 101. In the phenomenon selection screen 900, the user selects a phenomenon selection by pressing a phenomenon selection button 903. If the selected phenomenon has a child hierarchy phenomenon, the child hierarchy phenomenon is expanded and displayed, and the phenomenon is selected recursively. If the lowermost phenomenon is selected, the process proceeds to the next diagnosis process.

  In step S409, the failure diagnosis server 102 performs diagnosis based on the accepted phenomenon and displays a diagnosis screen 1000 (FIG. 10). A specific processing method is to search for a record matching the model CD 1511 and the phenomenon NO 1512 of the model-specific diagnosis-related master 1510 (FIG. 15B) based on the model and the phenomenon received in steps S402 and S408. 1 is extracted, the diagnosis CD 1515 is searched for the diagnosis master 1500 (FIG. 15A), and the diagnosis title 1502 and the diagnosis content 1503 are displayed on the diagnosis screen 1000.

  In step S <b> 410, the failure diagnosis server 102 receives a diagnosis answer from the diagnosis screen 1000 displayed on the client 101. In the diagnosis screen 1000, the diagnosis answer is received by causing the user to press any diagnosis answer button 1002.

  In step S411, the failure diagnosis server 102 determines whether there is the next diagnosis content. In the model-specific diagnosis-related master 1510 (FIG. 15B), when the end flag 1520 is 0, it is determined that there is the next diagnosis content. When there is the next diagnosis content, the parent diagnosis NO1518 and the parent diagnosis answer 1519 search for a record that matches the diagnosis NO1513 of the current record (record searched in step S409) and the diagnosis answer selected in step S410. Returning to step S409, a diagnostic screen is displayed based on the matching record. For example, the diagnostic screen 1010 (FIG. 10) is a diagnostic screen that is displayed when “Yes” is selected as a diagnostic answer on the diagnostic screen 1000. If there is no next diagnosis content, the process proceeds to step S412.

  In step S412, the failure diagnosis server 102 displays the resolved diagnosis result screen 1100 (FIG. 11) or the unresolved diagnosis result screen 1200 (FIG. 12) on the display 210 of the client 101. Each diagnosis result screen is selectively displayed based on the diagnosis answer in step S410. Specifically, in the model-specific diagnosis-related master 1510 (FIG. 15B), the parent diagnosis NO1518 and the parent diagnosis answer 1519 are the diagnosis NO1513 of the record searched in step S409 and the diagnosis answer selected in step S410. The result CD 1531 of the diagnosis result master 1530 (FIG. 15 (c)) is searched based on the result CD 1516 of the record that matches, and if the result category 1532 is 1, the resolved diagnosis result screen 1100 is displayed. The unresolved diagnosis result screen 1200 is displayed, and the result title 1533, the result subtitle 1534, and the repair description 1535 are acquired and displayed on the screen. Further, a confirmation button, a related link button, and the like are displayed on the resolved diagnosis result screen 1100, and a repair application button, a related link button, and the like are displayed on the unresolved diagnosis result screen 1200.

  In step S413, the failure diagnosis server 102 receives a confirmation result for the diagnosis result from the diagnosis result screen (1100 or 1200) displayed on the client 101, and closes the diagnosis result screen. On the diagnosis result screen, a press of a button corresponding to the confirmation result is accepted, and subsequent processing such as display of a related site and acceptance of a repair application is executed. The description of subsequent processing is omitted.

In step S414, the failure diagnosis server 102 registers the current diagnosis result in the failure diagnosis result table 1600 (FIG. 16). Based on the model selected in step S402, the elapsed period section obtained in the process of FIG. 6, the phenomenon selected in step S408, and the diagnosis result searched in step S412, the model CD1601, the elapsed period section 1602, Values are set in corresponding items such as the phenomenon NO 1603 and 1605, the phenomenon CD 1604 and 1606, the result CD 1607, the diagnosis date and time 1608 is set, and the current diagnosis result is registered.
This is the end of the description of the failure diagnosis process in FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the phenomenon selection screen display process in step S407.

  In step S501, the failure diagnosis server 102 acquires the model and purchase date received up to the previous step.

  In step S502, the failure diagnosis server 102 calculates a usage period. The purchase period is subtracted from the date of the current date (system date) to calculate the usage period (number of months) of the diagnosis target.

  In step S503, the failure diagnosis server 102 determines in which stage in the product life cycle the diagnosis target is present. In this embodiment, the product is classified into an initial period, a middle period, and a late period based on the ratio of the usage period to the expected life of the product. For example, a case where the ratio of the usage period to the expected life of the product is 10% or less is an initial period, a case where it is 90% or more is a late period, and a period between them is a medium period. In addition, other periods related to the product such as an elapsed period from the start of sales of the target model may be used for the determination instead of the usage period, or a plurality of types of periods may be determined in combination.

  In step S503, if the diagnosis target is in the initial period, the process proceeds to step S504. If not, the process proceeds to step S505. If the diagnosis target is in the later period, the process proceeds to step S506. If not, the process proceeds to step S507. .

  In step S504, the failure diagnosis server 102 sets the priority of the phenomenon in the initial period. Specifically, the phenomenon classification 1312 and the priority 1313 of the record whose elapsed period classification is 1 (initial period) are acquired from the display order weight setting master 1310 shown in FIG. 13B and temporarily stored in the RAM 203 or the like.

  In step S506, the failure diagnosis server 102 sets the priority of the phenomenon in the later period. As in the case of the initial period, the phenomenon classification 1312 and the priority 1313 of the record whose elapsed period classification is 3 (late period) are acquired from the display order weight setting master 1310 and temporarily stored in the RAM 203 or the like.

  In step S507, the failure diagnosis server 102 sets the priority of the phenomenon in the middle period. As in the case of the initial period and the latter period, the phenomenon classification 1312 and the priority 1313 of the record whose elapsed period classification is 2 (medium period) are acquired from the display order weight setting master 1310 and temporarily stored in the RAM 203 or the like.

  In step S508, the failure diagnosis server 102 acquires the number of times of each diagnosis diagnosed in the past in the elapsed period section obtained above with the same model. Specifically, past diagnosis results are accumulated in the failure diagnosis result table 1600 shown in FIG. 16, and the model CD 1601 is the model selected this time, and the elapsed period section 1602 is the same record as the elapsed period section obtained above. And the number of times is counted for each phenomenon NO in the lowest layer (finally selected phenomenon; if there are values in the first hierarchy and the second hierarchy, the second hierarchy). In this embodiment, the phenomenon of the upper layer (first layer) is used as a classification title in which the phenomenon is classified for each category. However, when displaying the phenomenon, the category display order is displayed according to the number of past diagnoses. If the number of times is also changed, the number of times for the upper layer may be counted and the display order may be changed based on the number of times counted.

  In step S509, the failure diagnosis server 102 determines the display priority of each phenomenon based on the priority set in the previous processing step and the number of past diagnoses for each phenomenon acquired in step S508.

  First, the model CD1401 is extracted from the model-specific phenomenon-related master 1400 shown in FIG. 14 and the same record as the model selected this time is extracted, and the priority 1313 corresponding to the phenomenon category 1312 set by the phenomenon category 1406 is set for the phenomenon. To do. For example, when the elapsed period category to be diagnosed is 2 (medium term), the display order weight setting master 1310 causes the priority 1313 to be 10 (2) (medium term phenomenon) when the phenomenon category 1312 is 1 (initial phenomenon). In this case, the priority 1313 is set to 30, 3 (late phenomenon), and the priority 1313 is set to 20. In the model-specific phenomenon-related master 1400, the phenomenon classification 1406 is set to 2 (medium term) for the record having the phenomenon NO 1402 of 3. Therefore, the priority is 30. This is because the phenomenon frequency corresponding to the period in which the occurrence frequency is assumed to be high is preset for each phenomenon using the characteristic that the frequency of occurrence of the phenomenon changes according to the elapsed period, and priority is given according to the elapsed period. The degree can be set.

Next, based on the past diagnosis count for each phenomenon acquired in step S508, the priority set for each phenomenon set above is corrected. As an example of the correction method,
・ Priority = priority before correction × (1 + number of occurrences × coefficient)
Can be corrected. According to the above formula, when the number of past diagnoses is 0, the set priority remains, and the priority increases as the number of diagnoses increases. This temporarily corrects the priority according to the actual situation when a deviation occurs due to an environmental change or a sudden event with respect to the priority for the elapsed period for each phenomenon assumed in advance. In addition, the correction process may be omitted if the product is not affected by environmental changes or the like and can be stably diagnosed according to the elapsed period.

  In step S510, the failure diagnosis server 102 displays the phenomenon selection screen 900 (FIG. 9) on the display 210 of the client 101. In the phenomenon selection screen 900, according to the display priority of each phenomenon determined in step S509, the phenomena are displayed in the phenomenon list 901 in descending order of display priority. In the display example of FIG. 9, when the period subject to diagnosis is 2 (medium-term period), the phenomenon No. 4 in the model-specific phenomenon-related master 1400 (“power is not turned on”) is the phenomenon category 2 ( The display priority is 30 and is displayed at the top.

  This is the end of the description of the phenomenon selection screen display process of FIG.

  According to the above, according to the elapsed period of the diagnosis target, a phenomenon that is highly likely to occur is displayed at the top, and the user can select the phenomenon accurately and easily. Further, even when a deviation occurs in the priority set in advance, it can be corrected according to the actual situation.

  In the present embodiment, the failure diagnosis server 102 executes processing, and the Web browser method of the client 101 performs display and operation / input reception. However, the data stored in the failure diagnosis server 102 is stored in the Web application method. A configuration may be adopted in which the client 101 reads and executes the processing in a stand-alone manner. Further, a server client system configuration in which dedicated software is installed in the client 101 may be used.

  It should be noted that the configuration and contents of the various data described above are not limited to this, and it goes without saying that the various data and configurations are configured according to the application and purpose.

  Although one embodiment has been described above, the present invention can take an embodiment as, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, or recording medium, and specifically includes a plurality of devices. The present invention may be applied to a system including a single device.

  The program according to the present invention is a program that allows a computer to execute the processing methods of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 to 5. Is remembered. The program according to the present invention may be a program for each processing method of each apparatus shown in FIGS.

  As described above, a recording medium that records a program that implements the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus stores the program stored in the recording medium. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention can also be achieved by executing the reading.

  In this case, the program itself read from the recording medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the recording medium storing the program constitutes the present invention.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, DVD-ROM, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, EEPROM, silicon A disk, solid state drive, or the like can be used.

  Further, by executing the program read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) operating on the computer based on an instruction of the program is actually It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the processing and the processing is included.

  Furthermore, after the program read from the recording medium is written to the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board is based on the instructions of the program code. It goes without saying that the case where the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  Further, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or apparatus. In this case, by reading a recording medium storing a program for achieving the present invention into the system or apparatus, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention.

  Furthermore, by downloading and reading a program for achieving the present invention from a server, database, etc. on a network using a communication program, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention.

  In addition, all the structures which combined each embodiment mentioned above and its modification are also included in this invention.

100 fault diagnosis system 101 client 102 fault diagnosis server 104 network

Claims (5)

An information processing device that identifies the type of failure that has occurred in a product,
Management means for managing a plurality of symptoms that can identify the type of failure of the product that occurred during the use period, for each use period that is a period during which the product has been used,
Accepting means for receiving information that can specify the product and the period of use;
According to the period of use identified from the received product and the received information, the symptom corresponding to the failure of the product that occurred during the period of use of the received product is identified from the plurality of symptoms to be managed, An information processing apparatus comprising: display control means for preferentially displaying the identified symptom among the plurality of managed symptoms. A history storage means for storing a history including a product, a period of use of the product, and a symptom specifying a type of failure that occurred in the product during the period of use;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit adjusts an order in which the specified symptoms are displayed according to the received product and the history corresponding to the specified usage period. . The management means further manages the symptom and a coping method for the type of failure identified from the symptom in association with each other,
It comprises a presenting means for presenting a coping method for the type of failure identified from the symptom for which the selection is accepted by accepting selection of one symptom from the plurality of symptoms displayed by the display control means, The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. Information that identifies the type of failure that has occurred in the product, with a management means that manages multiple symptoms that can identify the type of failure of the product that occurred during the period of use that is the period of use of the product A method for controlling a processing apparatus, comprising:
An accepting step for accepting information capable of specifying a product and a usage period;
A symptom corresponding to a failure of the product that occurred during the use period of the received product among the plurality of symptoms managed by the display control means according to the use period specified from the received product and the received information And a display control step for preferentially displaying the identified symptom among the plurality of managed symptoms. A program that can be executed by an information processing device that identifies the type of failure that has occurred in a product,
The information processing apparatus;
Management means for managing a plurality of symptoms that can identify the type of failure of the product that occurred during the use period, for each use period that is a period during which the product has been used,
Accepting means for receiving information that can specify the product and the period of use;
According to the period of use identified from the received product and the received information, the symptom corresponding to the failure of the product that occurred during the period of use of the received product is identified from the plurality of symptoms to be managed, A program that functions as display control means for preferentially displaying a specified symptom among a plurality of managed symptoms.

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