JP2003259468A - Monitoring apparatus and monitoring system for equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a monitoring apparatus and a monitoring system for surely monitoring operations of equipment. <P>SOLUTION: The monitoring apparatus 1 is provided with a storage apparatus 11 and an operation judging section 12. The apparatus 11 has power consumption information 11a of each of the equipment 31, 32, 33 and so on. The section 12 monitors operations of the equipment 31 and so on, the basis of the information owned by the apparatus 11 and the information directly or indirectly obtained from a power consumption measurement means 2 for measuring the power consumption of the equipment 31 and so on. Also, the apparatus 1 is connected to an information terminal device 4 through the Internet 50. This device 4 can receive the result of monitoring of the operations of the equipment 31 and so on from the apparatus 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a monitoring device and a monitoring system, and more particularly to a monitoring device and a monitoring system for monitoring the operation of facility equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is a technique for monitoring the operation of equipment in a remote place. For example, there is a technique of acquiring operation information or operation information of a facility device from a remote place via a public telephone line or a dedicated line connected to the facility device and monitoring the operation of the facility device.

However, in operation monitoring based on operation information,
This is a pseudo operation monitoring, and there are cases where the actual movement of the equipment is inconsistent. For example, in an unmanned building such as an absence house, when the equipment under operation control does not operate due to a failure or the like, the operation monitoring based on the operation information gives an erroneous monitoring result. In addition, the equipment is low-priced,
When the equipment has a low function, the equipment does not always have means for notifying the outside of the operation information of the equipment.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned prior art, the operation monitoring of the equipment having no means for notifying the operation information to the outside is a pseudo monitoring based on the operation information, and it is difficult to surely carry out the operation. is there. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a monitoring device and a monitoring system that reliably monitor the operation of equipment.

[0005]

A monitoring device according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a storage device and an operation determination unit. The storage device is built in or connected to the monitoring device, and is, for example, a recording medium such as a hard disk, a memory, a CD-R, and the recording device thereof. The storage device has power consumption information of the equipment. The power consumption information is, for example,
Power consumption characteristics created based on the standard power consumption of facility equipment and the power consumption history of facility equipment. The motion determination unit
The operation of the equipment is monitored based on the information stored in the storage device and the information obtained from the power consumption measuring means for directly or indirectly measuring the power consumption of the equipment. Further, the power consumption measuring means is a power consumption measuring device built in the equipment, a power consumption measuring device connected to the equipment, or a power consumption measuring device capable of measuring the total power consumption of a plurality of the equipment. Or a device that collectively manages power consumption measurement values measured by a plurality of power consumption measurement devices.

Here, the operation judging section monitors the operation of the equipment based on the power consumption of the equipment. In the conventional operation monitoring of facility equipment based on the operation history of the facility equipment, when a failure occurs in the equipment, a discrepancy occurs between the monitoring result and the actual operation of the equipment. However, in the operation monitoring of the equipment of the present invention based on the power consumption of the equipment, the monitoring result reflects the actual operation of the equipment, and the operation of the equipment can be reliably monitored. .

Further, the operation judging section, based on the result of operation monitoring,
It is possible to determine whether the operation of the equipment is a normal operation or an abnormal operation from the power consumption information included in the storage device and the information obtained from the power consumption measurement device. A monitoring device according to a second aspect is the monitoring device according to the first aspect, and has a power consumption measuring device capable of measuring the total power consumption of a plurality of equipment devices as the power consumption measuring means.

Here, the total power consumption of a plurality of equipments is measured. The operation determination unit monitors the operation of the equipment based on the obtained total power consumption and the power consumption information stored in the storage device. As a result, it is not necessary to install a power consumption measuring device for each facility device for which the operation is monitored, and the operation can be monitored efficiently and economically. A monitoring device according to claim 3 is the monitoring device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the storage device has facility equipment operation information.
The equipment device operation information is information about the operation of the equipment device created by the monitoring device, such as the operation history, operation history, and operation schedule of the equipment device.

Here, based on the result of the operation monitoring of the equipment and the equipment operation information, the operation judging unit compares the operation of the equipment with the daily operation history or the operation schedule to determine whether the operation is normal or abnormal. It can be determined whether or not the operation. A monitoring device according to a fourth aspect is the monitoring device according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the storage device has power consumption measuring means information. The power consumption measuring means information is information relating to the connection relationship between the power consumption measuring device of the power consumption measuring means and the equipment.

Thus, when the power consumption measuring means has a plurality of power consumption measuring devices, it is possible to easily monitor the operation of the equipment. With one monitoring device, it is possible to process the information obtained from the power consumption measuring means having a plurality of power consumption measuring devices and monitor the operation. Therefore, efficient and economical monitoring is realized. Claim 5
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a monitoring system including the monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and an information terminal device connected to the monitoring device via a communication network. Here, the communication network is, for example, a connection means capable of communication such as a dedicated line, a public line, the Internet, and a LAN, and may be wired or wireless. The information terminal device is a mobile phone, a portable computer, a personal computer, an Internet TV, a car navigation system, or the like.

In this case, the information terminal equipment, as a result of the operation monitoring of the equipment, the result of the judgment of the normal operation or the abnormal operation, a report summarizing the results, the power consumption of the equipment obtained from the power consumption measuring means. Measurement values and the like can be received from the monitoring device. As a result, it is possible to monitor the operation of the equipment and devices from a remote location and efficiently maintain the equipment.

A monitoring system according to a sixth aspect is the fifth aspect.
The information terminal device can request the monitoring device to perform operation control of the equipment device and execution of failure determination. Here, the failure of the specific equipment can be determined from the information terminal device. As a result, for example, it is possible to prevent the user from knowing the failure of the equipment only when he / she visits the installation location of the equipment from a remote place. It is possible to take countermeasures such as repair and replacement of the defective device in advance, which improves convenience of maintenance of the equipment.

The monitoring system according to claim 7 is the monitoring system according to claim 5.
Alternatively, in the monitoring system according to 6, the information held by the storage device can be set and changed from the information terminal device. Accordingly, the user can deal with the fact that the power consumption information of the storage device is changed based on the power consumption measurement value received by the information terminal device, and the operation of the equipment can be monitored more reliably.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION <System Configuration> FIG. 1 shows a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system includes a monitoring device 1 installed in a house 6 and equipments 31, 32,
Power consumption measuring means 2 for measuring the power consumption of 33, ...
And the information terminal device 4 connected to the monitoring device 1 via the Internet 50.

<Structure of House 6> Inside the house 6, a monitoring device 1 and a power consumption measuring means 2 for measuring the power consumption of the equipment 31 are installed. The monitoring device 1 is connected to the power consumption measuring means 2 and the equipment 33 by wire or wirelessly. The monitoring device 1 can receive the power consumption measurement value from the power consumption measuring means 2 and can control the operation of the equipment 33.

<Structure of Monitoring Device 1> The monitoring device 1 has a storage device 11 and an operation judging section 12. Storage device 11
Has power consumption information 11a, facility equipment operation information 11b, and power consumption measurement means information 11c. Power consumption information 1
1a is the standard power consumption of the equipment 31 and the equipment 31
It is a power consumption characteristic of the equipment 31 and the like created based on the power consumption history of the above. The equipment device operation information 11b is information regarding the operation of the equipment device 31, such as the operation history, operation history, and operation schedule of the equipment 31 and the like. The power consumption measuring means information 11c is information regarding the connection relationship between the power consumption measuring device of the power consumption measuring means 2 and the equipment 31 and the like. The information stored in the storage device 11 can be set and changed by the monitoring device 1 or the information terminal device 4.

The operation judging section 12 is a program having an information transmitting / receiving function and an information judging function. The information transmission / reception function includes reception of information obtained from the power consumption measuring means 2, operation control of the equipment 33, reception of information in the storage device 11, update of information in the storage device 11, and information terminal device 4 Functions such as receiving and sending information to and from. As the information judgment function, there is a function of combining the information obtained from the power consumption measuring means 2 and the information held in the storage device 11 to monitor the operation of the equipment 31 and the like and make a failure judgment.

<Structure of Power Consumption Measuring Means 2> The power consumption measuring means 2 has a power consumption measuring device 21 and a power consumption measuring device 22. The power consumption measuring device 21 is the equipment 3
It is installed so that the total power consumption of 1, the equipment 32, and the equipment 33 can be measured. Power consumption measuring device 22
Is installed so that the power consumption of the equipment 33 can be measured. The power consumption measuring device 21 and the power consumption measuring device 22 are connected to the monitoring device 1 and transmit the respective power consumption measurement values to the monitoring device 1.

<Structure of Information Terminal Equipment 4> Information Terminal Equipment 4
Is connected to the monitoring device 1 via the Internet 50. Specific examples of the information terminal device 4 include a mobile phone, a portable computer, a personal computer, an Internet TV, a car navigation system, and the like. <Operation of System> The operation determination unit 12 receives the power consumption measurement values measured by the power consumption measurement device 21 and the power consumption measurement device 22 at fixed intervals that are arbitrarily set.
Based on the obtained power consumption measurement value and the information stored in the storage device 11, the operation determination unit 12 executes operation monitoring of the equipment 31 and the like.

<Operation Monitoring> The procedure of the operation monitoring executed by the operation judging unit 12 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The operation determination unit 12 obtains power consumption measurement values from the power consumption measurement unit 2 at arbitrarily set constant intervals (step S201).

Regarding the measured power consumption value notified by the power consumption measuring device 21, the following procedure is executed. The operation determination unit 12 refers to the power consumption measurement means information 11c, and the power consumption measurement value notified by the power consumption measurement device 21 indicates the power consumed by the equipment 31, the equipment 32, and the equipment 33. (Step S202). Therefore, the operation determination unit 12 calculates a value obtained by subtracting the power consumption measurement value notified by the power consumption measurement device 22 from the power consumption measurement value notified by the power consumption measurement device 21 (step S).
203). Next, the operation determination unit 12 is step S203.
Equipment 31 showing the power consumption closest to the value obtained in
And the operating state of the equipment 32 are selected, and the operation / stop state of the equipment 31 and the equipment 32 is determined (step S204).

Regarding the power consumption measurement value notified by the power consumption measuring device 22, the following procedure is executed. The operation determining unit 12 refers to the power consumption measuring means information 11c, and the power consumption measurement value notified by the power consumption measuring device 22 is the equipment 3
It is determined that only the power consumed by 3 is indicated (steps S202 and S203). Therefore, the operation determination unit 12 determines that the equipment 33 is operating if the power is consumed (step S20).
4).

Based on the result of the above judgment, the motion judging unit 1
2 notifies the information terminal device 4 of the determination result as needed (step S205). <Determination of Normal Operation or Abnormal Operation> Based on the result of the operation monitoring, the operation determination unit 12 can determine whether the operation of the equipment 31 or the like is a normal operation or an abnormal operation.
The determination includes a determination based on power consumption and a determination based on operation time. The determination based on the power consumption means the equipment 31
Etc. are determined to be operating, and when the measured power consumption value shows a large deviation from the allowable range as compared with the power consumption information of the equipment 31 etc., the equipment 31 etc. is operating abnormally. It is to judge that there is. The determination based on the operation time means that the equipment 31 or the like is not operated when the result of the operation monitoring of the equipment 31 or the like does not match the operation history or operation history of the storage device 11 or the operation state determined from the operation schedule. It is to judge that the operation is abnormal. Moreover, the operation determination unit notifies the information terminal device 4 of the results of these determinations as necessary.

<Functions of Information Terminal Equipment 4> Information Terminal Equipment 4
May receive from the monitoring device 1 the results of operation monitoring of the equipment 31 and the like, the result of determination of normal operation or abnormal operation, a report summarizing the results, the power consumption status of the equipment 31 and the like. it can. Further, the information terminal device 4 can set and change the information that the storage device 11 has. Further, the information terminal equipment 4 is the equipment equipment 3
It is possible to request the monitoring device 1 to execute the operation control of 3 and the failure determination.

<Execution of Failure Judgment from Information Terminal Equipment 4>
The information terminal device 4 can request the monitoring device 1 to execute the failure determination of the equipment device 33 in the stopped state. With reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3, the information terminal device 4
The failure determination procedure executed by the operation determination unit 12 when the failure determination is requested by the following will be described.

First, the operation judging section 12 determines the information terminal equipment 4
When the request for the failure determination of the equipment 33 is received from (step S401), the power consumption measurement value is acquired from the power consumption measuring means 2 (step S402). Next, the operation determination unit 12 commands the equipment 33 to start operation (step S403). The operation determination unit 12 again acquires the power consumption measurement value from the power consumption measurement unit 2 (step S40).
4) The acquired power consumption measurement value is compared with the value obtained in step S402 (step S405). When the operation determination unit 12 determines that the power consumption measurement value does not change,
The information terminal device 4 is notified that the facility device 33 may be out of order (step S406).

The operation determination unit 12 is
The power consumption measurement value is periodically acquired (step S40).
7) and compare with the value obtained in step S404 (step S408). When the operation determination unit 12 determines that the amount of power consumed by the equipment 33 has changed, the operation determination unit 12 refers to the power consumption information 11a held by the storage device 11, and if there is a possibility of malfunction, the information terminal The device 4 is notified (step S409). When there is no change in the power consumption measurement value for a certain period of time, the operation of the equipment 33 is considered to be good, and the information terminal device 4
(Step S410).

After the notifications in steps S406, S409, and S410, the operation determination unit 12 commands the equipment 33 to stop the operation (step S411). <Effect of System> This system monitors the operation of the equipment 31 and the like based on the measured power consumption value obtained from the power consumption measurement means 2 and the information stored in the storage device 11. The operation determination unit 12 does not need to obtain operation information from the equipment 31 or the like when monitoring the operation of the equipment 31 or the like. Therefore, it is possible to reliably monitor the operation of low-priced, low-function equipment that cannot notify the operation information to the outside. In addition, this system can also monitor the operation of the facility devices 31 and 32 whose power consumption cannot be directly measured. It is not necessary to install a power consumption measuring device for each equipment, and an efficient and economical monitoring system is constructed. Furthermore, this system uses the storage device 11 and the result of operation monitoring of the equipment 31 and the like.
It is possible to determine whether the operation of the equipment 31 or the like is a normal operation or an abnormal operation based on the information included in the information and the information obtained from the power consumption measurement device.

Further, this system is provided with the information terminal device 4 and can receive the monitoring result at a remote place. This allows
System users can feel secure about equipment maintenance. In addition, like the equipment 33, the monitoring device 1
The failure determination can be performed for equipment that is connected to and can receive operation control from the outside. As a result, it is possible to obtain detailed information about the state of the equipment and to maintain the equipment in a stable manner.

<Monitoring System for Equipment Installed in Plural Houses> The system shown in FIG. 1 can be modified into the system shown in FIG. When the communication network is an external communication network such as the Internet 50, the monitoring device 1 includes not only the equipment 31 of the house 6 in which the monitoring device 1 is installed but also the monitoring device 1
It is possible to monitor the operation of the equipment of the house 7 apart from. An efficient and economical monitoring system can be constructed by collectively monitoring the operation of equipment in several houses. Moreover, this system can be applied to the life monitoring of the elderly living alone.
The power consumption of the equipment installed in the house 7 of the elderly living alone is monitored, and when there is no fluctuation in the power consumption for a long time, or when the equipment of the house 7 is compared with the past operation history In the case shown, the information terminal device 4 is notified as an operation abnormality of the equipment of the house 7. It should be noted that this system has an information gateway 8 connected to the power consumption measuring device and facility equipment in the house 7 as a power consumption measuring means in order to efficiently communicate with the monitoring device 1. The power consumption measuring device and the equipment can be directly connected to the Internet 50.

[0031]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the operation judging section monitors the operation of the equipment based on the power consumption of the equipment. In the conventional operation monitoring of facility equipment based on the operation history of the facility equipment, when a failure occurs in the equipment, a discrepancy occurs between the monitoring result and the actual operation of the equipment. However, in the operation monitoring of the equipment of the present invention based on the power consumption of the equipment, the monitoring result reflects the actual operation of the equipment, and the operation of the equipment can be reliably monitored. . Further, the operation determination unit determines whether the operation of the equipment is a normal operation or an abnormal operation based on the result of the operation monitoring, the power consumption information of the storage device, and the information obtained from the power consumption measurement device. Can be determined.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the total power consumption of a plurality of equipments is measured, and the operation determining unit determines the equipments based on the obtained total power consumption and the power consumption information of the storage device. Perform the operation monitoring of. As a result, it is not necessary to install a power consumption measuring device for each facility device for which the operation is monitored, and the operation can be monitored efficiently and economically.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, based on the result of the operation monitoring of the equipment and the operation information of the equipment, the operation determining unit determines that the operation of the equipment is normal by comparing with the daily operation history and the operation schedule. It is possible to determine whether it is an operation or an abnormal operation. In the invention according to claim 4, when the power consumption measuring means has a plurality of power consumption measuring devices, it is possible to easily monitor the operation of the equipment. With one monitoring device, it is possible to process the information obtained from the power consumption measuring means having a plurality of power consumption measuring devices and monitor the operation. Therefore, efficient and economical monitoring is realized.

In the invention according to claim 5, the information terminal equipment is obtained from the result of the operation monitoring of the equipment, the result of the determination of the normal operation or the abnormal operation, a report summarizing the results, and the power consumption measuring means. It is possible to receive a measured value of power consumption of the equipment from the monitoring device. As a result, it is possible to monitor the operation of the equipment and devices from a remote location and efficiently maintain the equipment.

In the invention according to claim 6, it is possible to determine the failure of the specific equipment from the information terminal equipment. As a result, for example, it is possible to prevent the user from knowing the failure of the equipment only when he / she visits the installation location of the equipment from a remote place. It is possible to take countermeasures such as repair and replacement of the defective device in advance, which improves convenience of maintenance of the equipment. According to the invention of claim 7, the user can change the power consumption information of the storage device based on the power consumption measurement value received by the information terminal device, and more reliably monitor the operation of the facility device. can do.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for monitoring the operation of equipment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an execution procedure of failure determination from the information terminal device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a monitoring system for facility equipment installed in a plurality of houses

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Monitoring device 2 Power consumption measuring means 4 Information terminal equipment 11 Storage device 11a Power consumption information 11b Equipment operation information 11c Power consumption measuring means information 12 Motion judgment unit 31, 32, 33 Equipment 50 Internet

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G06F 17/60 138 G06F 17/60 138 G08B 25/04 G08B 25/04 Z 25/08 25/08 A F Term (reference) 5C087 AA02 AA03 AA24 AA25 BB03 BB12 BB74 DD08 DD33 EE08 FF01 FF04 FF19 FF20 GG08 GG11 GG14 GG19 GG23 GG31 GG32 GG66 GG67 GG67 GG70 GG70 GG70 BB07 DB01

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A storage device (11) having power consumption information (11a) of equipment (31, 32, 33, ...), Information held by the storage device (11) and the equipment (31, 32, 33, ...) Based on the information obtained from the power consumption measuring means (2) for directly or indirectly measuring the power consumption by the equipment (31, 32,
33, ...) The operation judging unit (1
2) and the monitoring device (1) provided with. 2. The power consumption measuring means (2) has a power consumption measuring device (21) capable of measuring the total power consumption of a plurality of the equipments (31, 32, 33).
Monitoring device according to 1. 3. The storage device (11) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the storage device (11) has facility equipment operation information (11b) including information relating to the operation of the equipment (31, 32, 33, ...). Monitoring device (1). 4. The power consumption measuring device (21, 22, 22) included in the power consumption measuring means (2) of the storage device (11).
...) and the equipment (31, 32, 33, ...)
The monitoring device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which has a connection relationship with the power consumption measuring means information (11c). 5. A monitoring device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and an information terminal device (4) connected to the monitoring device (1) via a communication network (50). Equipped monitoring system. 6. The information terminal device (4) according to claim 5, wherein the monitoring device (1) can be requested to control the operation of the facility device (33) and execute a failure determination. Surveillance system. 7. The monitoring system according to claim 5, wherein the information terminal device (4) can set and change information held in the storage device (11).