JP6727183B2 - Home appliances - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to home appliances.

In recent years, household electric appliances such as vacuum cleaners, washing machines, refrigerators, and air conditioners have become able to connect to wide area networks such as the Internet, and it is possible to obtain and operate information on household electric appliances from outside the home. .. Before enabling the operation of home appliances from operation terminals such as smartphones, it is known to perform a process called authentication (pairing) between the operation terminal and home appliances in order to avoid illicit operations, etc. Has been. Home appliances can only be operated from the paired device. In this case, although it is possible to pair a plurality of operation terminals with one home electric appliance, a smooth process is realized when an operation request (command) is issued to the home electric appliances from a plurality of operation terminals at the same timing. Is desirable.

In Patent Document 1, the server 5 has an operation right management unit 5-3 that manages the operation right (0017,0043, FIG. 8).

JP, 2005-82778, A

In Patent Document 1, since the management of the control right is processed by the server, it is unclear how to manage the control of the controlled device, for example, when a situation in which the server cannot be connected occurs.

The present invention made in view of the above circumstances is a home electric appliance that has a transmitting/receiving unit capable of receiving a request from an operation terminal, and stores a determination unit that determines whether or not to accept a request, and stores operation terminal information as storage terminal information. And a processing unit that causes the home electric appliance to perform an operation. The determination unit compares the operation terminal information of the transmission source of the request with the storage terminal information, and accepts the request. The permission/prohibition is determined, and when the determination unit obtains the information that the operation terminal is transmitting the request from outside the house, an automatic drive command is possible, and the operation terminal transmits the request from inside the house. It is characterized in that an automatic drive command and a manual drive command can be issued when the information that the information indicates that it is being acquired is acquired .

Schematic diagram of the device control system of Example 1 Flowchart of request processing by the device control system of the first embodiment Schematic diagram of the device control system of Example 2

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

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the device control system of the present embodiment. The device control system includes a wide area network 2, operation terminals 3 and 5, a wireless LAN router 4, and home electric appliances 6.

[Operating terminals 3, 5]
The operation terminals 3 and 5 are preferably portable terminals owned by each user of the home electric appliance 6, for example. The operation terminals 3 and 5 are devices capable of communicating with the home electric appliance 6 using a wide area network protocol and a wireless communication protocol. In the case of communication using a wireless communication protocol, it is possible to communicate with the home electric appliance 6 via the wireless LAN router 4.

In the present embodiment, among the operation terminals 3 and 5, a terminal that is not in the wireless communication area with the wireless LAN router 4 is called a first operation terminal 3, and a terminal that is in the wireless communication area is called a second operation terminal 5. Further, for convenience, the area within the communication range with the wireless LAN router 4 is referred to as “inside the house”, and the area outside the communication range is referred to as “outside the house”.

[Wireless LAN router 4]
The wireless LAN router 4 uses the wide area network protocol and the wireless communication protocol to transfer the information transmitted to the wireless LAN router 4 to other devices (operation terminals 3, 5 and home appliances 6) that are destinations. It is a device that does.

[Home appliances 6]
The home electric appliance 6 is a device capable of communicating with the operation terminals 3 and 5 through communication with the wireless LAN router 4 using a wireless communication protocol. Examples of the home electric appliances 6 include, but are not limited to, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, and the like.

The home electric appliance 6 is started, driven, and stopped, and these are reserved and driven through operation of a switch or button arranged on the home electric appliance 6 or operation of the operation terminals 3 and 5 through communication. It is possible to accept a request (command) such as adjustment of the inside operation.

The home electric appliance 6 includes a transmission/reception unit 61, a determination unit 63 that determines acceptance/rejection of a request based on an acceptance/rejection condition, a processing unit 62 that interprets and executes a request that has been accepted, and terminal information storage that stores operation right information. The unit 64, and the timer unit 65 that measures the elapsed time from the latest operation of the determination unit 63 and the like are provided.

The transmission/reception unit 61 receives a request (command) from the operation terminals 3 and 5 and information unique to the operation terminals 3 and 5 (operation terminal information), and also a response such as a determination result of the determination unit 63 and a processing result of the processing unit 62. Is transmitted to the operation terminals 3 and 5.

The determination unit 63 determines whether or not to accept the request received by the transmission/reception unit 61, based on a preset permission/denial condition. The determination unit 63 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes the operation terminal information unique to each of the operation terminals 3 and 5 that is the transmission source of the request received by the transmission/reception unit 61, and the operation terminal information stored in the terminal information storage unit 64 (hereinafter referred to as “operation terminal information”). , Storage terminal information) to determine acceptance/rejection. Specifically, if there is no storage terminal information, or if the operation terminal information included with the request received by the transmission/reception unit 61 and the storage terminal information match, acceptance of the request is permitted, and if not, not allowed.
Further, the determination unit 63 can store the operation terminal information in the terminal information storage unit 64.

The processing unit 62 interprets the request accepted by the determination unit 63 and causes the home electric appliance 6 to execute a process corresponding to the request. For example, when the request is to drive the home electric appliance 6, the home electric appliance 6 is driven accordingly. In addition, it is possible to comply with various requests such as imaging by the imaging unit attached to the home electric appliance 6 and reply of imaging data.

The terminal information storage unit 64 can set (store) the stored terminal information in response to the request from the determination unit 63. The storage terminal information can be erased according to the timekeeping of the timekeeping unit 65. When the transmission/reception unit 61 receives the operation terminal information when the storage terminal information is not set, the determination unit 63 sets the operation terminal information in the storage terminal information.
As described above, in this embodiment, when the transmitter/receiver 61 receives a request from any one of the operation terminals 3 and 5 when the storage terminal information is not set, the operation terminal information of the operation terminal is set as the storage terminal information. It is done (the operation right is given). The determination unit 63 is allowed to accept the request from the operation terminal to which the operation right is given.

The time counting unit 65 is the time elapsed since the last operation time of the home electric appliance 6, for example, more specifically, the transmission/reception unit 61, the determination unit 63, or the processing unit 62 (for example, the time when the processing unit 62 executes the last processing). Measure time. When the predetermined time has elapsed, the storage terminal information is deleted.

The transmission/reception unit 61 is, for example, a wireless communication board, the determination unit 63 and the processing unit 62 are, for example, processors, the terminal information storage unit 64 is, for example, a semiconductor memory medium, and the clock unit 65 can be, for example, a clock counter.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the home electric appliance 6 stores the terminal information storage unit 64 that stores the operation terminal information, the determination unit 63 that determines whether or not to accept the request and the operation right is given, and the time counting unit 65 that deletes the operation right. Have. For this reason, for example, when it is desired to update the conditions for granting the operation right and the conditions for erasing, the software (firmware) is updated for each home electric appliance 6, or the latest software is manufactured when the new home electric appliance 6 is manufactured. It can be supported by installing it. In this respect, for example, if a server is separately provided and the server manages the operation right, it is likely to be necessary to maintain the server in order to update the grant condition, and this may affect all home electric appliances handled by the server. .. That is, according to the present embodiment, when updating the applying conditions and the like, the range of influence can be reduced.

[Commands from operation terminals 3 and 5]
Programs (applications) that enable the home appliances 6 to be commanded are installed in the operation terminals 3 and 5. The application is configured to send a command using a wide area network protocol when an instruction is issued from outside the home to the home electric appliance 6, and when an instruction is issued from inside the home, a wireless LAN is established by a wireless communication protocol. The command is sent via the router 4. However, if the user is in the house, the communication can be switched to the communication using the wide area network protocol by the user's selection.

Regardless of whether the operation terminal is inside or outside the house, when a plurality of operation terminals 3 and 5 try to make a request to the same home electric appliance 6 at the same time, if all the requests are accepted, which operation terminal is accepted. There is a possibility that an operation or the like different from the intention of the user of 3 or 5 may be performed. For this reason, it is desirable that only one of the operation terminals 3 and 5 temporarily possesses the operation right and that the operation right is erased at the timing when the request from this operation terminal 3 or 5 is completed. In this embodiment, the home appliance 6 manages the operation right.

[Setting of operation right and processing of request to home electric appliance 6]
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of request processing and operation right management by the device control system of this embodiment.

First, the home electric appliance 6 determines whether it has received a request from the operation terminals 3 and 5 (step S10). If the request has been received (step S10, Yes), it is confirmed whether the storage terminal information exists (step S100). Even if the request has not been received (step S10, No), it is confirmed whether the storage terminal information exists (step S20).

In step S100, if the storage terminal information is set (step S100, Yes), it is confirmed whether the operation terminal information of the request transmission source operation terminal matches the storage terminal information (step S200).
When the storage terminal information is not set (step S100, No), the operation terminal information of the operation terminal of the request transmission source is set to the storage terminal information (step S110), and the processing according to the request is executed by the processing unit 62. Then (step S111), the process returns to step S10.

In step S20, when the storage terminal information is set (step S20, Yes), it is confirmed whether the time measured by the time measuring unit 65 has passed a predetermined time (step S30).
When the storage terminal information is not set (step S20, No), the process returns to step S10.

In step S30, if the predetermined time has elapsed (step S30, Yes), the storage terminal information is deleted (operation right is deleted) (step S40), and the process returns to step S10.
When the predetermined time has not elapsed (No in step S30), the process returns to step S10.

Next, in step S200, if they match (step S200, Yes), the processing unit 62 is caused to execute a process in response to the request (step S300), and the clock unit 65 is reset to start clocking (step S301). It returns to step S10.
If they do not match (No in step S200), the sender of the request is notified of refusal to accept the request (step S210), and the process returns to step S10. As a mode of notification of acceptance refusal, only the fact of refusal may be notified, or the operation terminal to which the operation right is currently given is notified, or the operation of the operation terminal to which the operation right is given is finally It may be possible to notify how much time has passed since it was performed (count status of the time counting unit 65).

[Setting of instruction types that can be used inside and outside the home]
The determination unit 63 of the present embodiment can acquire information regarding whether the operation terminals 3 and 5 are transmitting the request from inside the house or outside the house, and can perform the determination using the information.
The types of commands that can be given to the home electric appliances 6 when outside the home may be the same as the types of commands that can be performed inside the home, or may be less than that. Examples of the command include a start reservation of the home electric appliance 6, a start command, an end reservation, an end command, an automatic (autonomous) drive command, a manual drive command, and browsing of information such as a reservation status. .. Of these, for example, a manual drive command (for example, a command to move forward or jump from the current position) has a high degree of freedom by the commander, and therefore may be enabled only in the home mode from the viewpoint of security. Further, for example, it is possible to allow only the information to be browsed both inside and outside the house, and to accept the request regarding the operation of the home electric appliance 6 only from inside the house. As described above, depending on the type of the command, the command can be executed only in the in-home mode, so that it is possible to reduce the possibility that a person other than the user of the home electric appliance 6 illegally executes the command. This setting may be changeable when the operation terminals 3 and 5 are present in the house, or may be changed by operating a switch or the like of the home electric appliance 6.

[Alternative to the timekeeping unit 65]
Instead of the clock unit 65, a storage terminal information deleting unit that deletes the operation terminal information stored in the terminal information storing unit 64 due to some event may be provided. For example, the operation right may be deleted when a representative right is given to any of the operation terminals 3 and 5 and a request for deleting the operation terminal information is received from the operation terminal.

[Setting priority order of operation terminals 3 and 5]
The terminal information storage unit 64 of this embodiment may be configured to be able to store the priority order information of the operation terminals 3 and 5. For example, the user of the home electric appliance 6 can set in advance that one of the operation terminals 3 and 5 has priority over the other through operation of the home electric appliance 6 or the operation terminals 3 and 5. In the present embodiment, the operation terminal 3 will be described as being set to have priority.

In this case, the first operation terminal 3 makes a request to the home electric appliance 6 while the operation terminal information of the second operation terminal 5 is stored in the terminal information storage unit 64 (the second operation terminal has the operation right). Suppose you sent it. At this time, the determination unit 63 detects that the first operation terminal 3 that has currently received the request has a higher priority than the second operation terminal 5 that has the operation right, and instead of step S210, for example, the operation terminal 3 is used. Then, a part or all of the following information (1) to (3) is notified, and the operating terminal 5 is notified of the next information (4) or 5.
(1) Storage terminal information is currently set in another terminal.
(2) Storage terminal information is currently set in the operation terminal 5.
(3) Information of the storage terminal information erasing unit. For example, the measurement time of the timer 65.
(4) Another operation terminal having a higher priority than itself sends the request.
(5) The first operation terminal 3, which is an operation terminal having a higher priority than itself, transmits the request.

Next, the first operation terminal 3 receives an inquiry from the home electric appliance 6 as to whether or not to acquire the operation right. When desiring (compulsory) acquisition of the operation right, the determination unit 63 deletes the operation right of the second operation terminal 5 and sends the operation right to the first operation terminal 3 by returning a request to the home electric appliance 6. Is given.

The configuration of this embodiment can be similar to that of the first embodiment except for the following points.
[Server 1]
The server 1 is a device that can communicate with other devices using a wide area network protocol. The server 1 can communicate with other devices from the home electric appliance 6 by communication using a wireless communication protocol and a wide area network protocol in advance, for example.

In the present embodiment, when the first operation terminal 3 (outside the home) that cannot communicate using the wireless communication protocol attempts to send a request to the home electric appliance 6, the request is sent to the server 1. There is. This request includes a number (home appliance number) unique to the target home appliance 6. The home appliance number is acquired by the operation terminals 3 and 5 performing an authentication process with the home appliance 6.

On the other hand, the home electric appliance 6 is configured to periodically inquire of the server 1 whether there is a request, or to be constantly connected to the server 1 so as to be able to immediately receive the request reaching the server 1. There is. When making an inquiry, the server 1 is notified of its own home appliance number, and the server 1 confirms whether there is a request for a matching home appliance number. If the corresponding request is found, the server 1 sends the request to the home electric appliance 6. With this configuration, it is possible to improve security.
The present invention can be applied not only to home electric appliances but also to devices having a communication function.

1 Server 2 Wide Area Network 3 First Operation Terminal 4 Wireless LAN Router 5 Second Operation Terminal 6 Home Appliance 61 Transmitter/Receiver 62 Processor 63 Judgment 64 Terminal Information Storage 65 65 Timekeeping (Memory Terminal Information Erase)

Claims (4)

A home electric appliance having a transmitter/receiver capable of receiving a request from an operation terminal capable of communicating with the home electric appliance using a wide area network protocol and a wireless communication protocol ,
A determination unit that determines whether or not to accept the request,
A terminal information storage unit that stores operating terminal information as storage terminal information;
A processing unit that causes the home electric appliance to perform an operation,
The determination unit compares the operation terminal information of the transmission source of the request with the storage terminal information to determine whether or not to accept the request ,
The determination unit is capable of automatically driving command when the operation terminal acquires information that the request is transmitted from outside the house, and the operation terminal is transmitting the request from inside the house. Home appliances characterized by being able to issue automatic and manual drive commands when information is acquired . A storage terminal information deleting unit that deletes the storage terminal information,
When the transmission/reception unit receives a request after the storage terminal information deletion unit erases the storage terminal information, the terminal information storage unit stores the operation terminal information of the operation terminal that is the transmission source of the request. The home electric appliance according to claim 1, which is set to. As the storage terminal information erasing unit, has a timekeeping unit for timing,
The home electric appliance according to claim 2, wherein the storage terminal information is erased when the timer keeps a predetermined time or more. It is possible to distinguish the operating terminals by prioritizing them,
When the transmission/reception unit receives a request from an operation terminal having a higher priority than the operation terminal corresponding to the storage terminal information, the operation terminal having a higher priority has a part of the following information (1) to (3). The home appliance according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the following information (4) or (5) is notified to the operation terminal corresponding to the storage terminal information or all or all of them. ..
(1) Storage terminal information is currently set in another terminal.
(2) Storage terminal information is currently set in the operation terminal corresponding to the storage terminal information.
(3) Information of the storage terminal information deleting unit.
(4) Another operation terminal having a higher priority than itself sends the request.
(5) The operation terminal with the higher priority, which is the operation terminal with the higher priority than itself, transmits the request.

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