JP7389630B2 - How to display information on home appliance systems, home appliances, video equipment, external servers, and home appliances - Google Patents

Description

The technology disclosed in this specification relates to a home appliance system, a home appliance, and a video device.

In recent years, home appliances that are equipped with wireless functions and can be connected to networks such as the Internet or LAN (abbreviation for Local Area Network) have become popular. Even if the user is located far away from the home appliance installed in the house (for example, outside the house), the user can check the status of the home appliance by using a mobile terminal (for example, a smartphone) that belongs to the same network as the home appliance. It is possible to perform confirmation, etc. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for transmitting notification information from a home appliance to a smartphone.

JP2017-134448A

However, users do not always carry mobile terminals such as smartphones. Therefore, the user may not be able to check the home appliance information transmitted from the home appliance using the mobile terminal. This specification provides a technology that allows a user to check home appliance information transmitted from a home appliance by using a video device different from a mobile terminal when the user is inside the house.

This specification discloses a home appliance system. The home appliance system includes a home appliance and a video device that can communicate with the home appliance, and the home appliance includes a transmitter that transmits home appliance information indicating a state of the home appliance when a predetermined condition is satisfied. , the video equipment includes a display, a receiving unit that receives the home appliance information transmitted by the transmitting unit, a notification screen based on the home appliance information received by the receiving unit, and a notification screen that is displayed on the generated notification screen. A display control unit for displaying information on a display is provided.

Details and further improvements of the technology disclosed in this specification will be explained in the following "Detailed Description of the Invention".

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a home appliance system according to an embodiment. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a home appliance system according to an embodiment. It is a diagram showing a plurality of parameters associated with home appliance information. It is a diagram showing a plurality of parameters associated with home appliance information. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing communication between home appliances and video equipment. 3 is a flowchart of a notification screen display process executed by the video device. This is an example of a setting screen regarding display/non-display of a notification screen. This is an example of a notification screen displayed on the display of the video device. This is an example of the position of a notification screen displayed on a display of a video device. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of how a notification screen is displayed on a display of a video device.

A home appliance system 2 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a home appliance system 2 is installed in a house 1. Note that the environment in which the home appliance system 2 is installed is not limited to a house, and may be, for example, a store or an office. The house 1 includes a plurality of spaces, such as a living room 4, a washroom 6, a toilet 7, a bedroom 8, and an entrance 9, which are partitioned from each other by walls.

The home appliance system 2 includes a washing machine 10, televisions 20 and 70, an air conditioner 30 (30a, 30b), a refrigerator 40, a microwave oven 50, a self-propelled vacuum cleaner 60, and a cloud server 100. Hereinafter, they may be referred to as home appliances 10 to 70. Note that the home appliances included in the home appliance system 2 are not limited to the above home appliances. Furthermore, in a modified example, the home appliances 10 to 70 included in the home appliance system 2 may not be installed in the same house.

A washing machine 10 is installed in a bathroom 6. A television 20, an air conditioner 30a, a refrigerator 40, and a microwave oven 50 are installed in the living room 4. Refrigerator 40 and microwave oven 50 are installed adjacent to each other. An air conditioner 30b and a television 70 are installed in the bedroom 8. The self-propelled vacuum cleaner 60 can move between multiple spaces. In FIG. 1, a self-propelled vacuum cleaner 60 is located in a bedroom 8. Cloud server 100 is a server installed on a communication network. Although details will be described later with reference to FIG. 4, the cloud server 100 includes a washing machine server 100a and a television server 100b. The washing machine server 100a is a server provided by the vendor of the washing machine 10, and the television server 100b is a server provided by the vendor of the television 20. Note that the cloud server 100 may include servers for other home appliances 30a, 30b, 40, 50, 60, and 70.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the configurations of the home appliances 10 to 70 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the home appliances 10 to 70 and the cloud server 100 are configured to be able to communicate with each other via the Internet 200. Note that the home appliances 10 to 70 and the cloud server 100 are configured to be able to communicate not only through public communication lines such as the Internet that can be used by an unspecified number of users, but also through specific communication lines that can be used only by specific users. Alternatively, some or all of the communication path may be able to communicate by wire, such as a power line, instead of wirelessly. Further, as in a modification described later, the home appliance system 2 may not include the cloud server 100, and in this case, communication may be performed directly between the home appliances 10 to 70.

First, the configuration of washing machine 10 will be explained. The washing machine 10 is a so-called drum type washer/dryer. The washing machine 10 includes an operating section 12, a display section 14, a control section 16, a transmitting section 18, and a washing tub 19.

The operation unit 12 includes a plurality of buttons such as a power button. When a button is operated by the user, the operation unit 12 transmits a signal according to the operated button to the control unit 16. The display unit 14 has a liquid crystal panel and displays images to be provided to the user. Note that the display section 14 may be configured with a touch panel, and in this case, the display section 14 also functions as the operation section 12.

The control unit 16 includes a CPU and memories such as RAM and ROM (not shown). The control unit 16 is controllably connected to each unit 12, 14, 18, and 19 by wiring (not shown). Control unit 16 stores a computer program for controlling each unit 12 , 14 , 18 , 19 of washing machine 10 .

When the washing machine 10 satisfies a predetermined condition, the transmitter 18 transmits home appliance information according to the predetermined condition to the cloud server 100 (washing machine server 100a in this embodiment). The home appliance information transmitted by the washing machine 10 includes information indicating that the source of the home appliance information is the washing machine 10 (corresponding to the item "home appliance" in the parameter table 116 described later), and the contents of a predetermined condition. information (corresponding to the item "notification content" in the parameter table 116). For example, when the washing performed by the washing machine 10 is finished, the transmitter 18 sends home appliance information indicating that the washing has been finished to the cloud server 100. Note that, as in a modification described later, the transmitter 18 may directly transmit the home appliance information to the television 20 instead of the cloud server 100. In addition, although information indicating a predetermined state such as the operating status of the washing machine 10 will be explained as "home appliance information" here, information on home appliances other than the washing machine 10 may also be used, such as the state of the home appliance or a change in the state. All generated information can be treated as "home appliance information".

The washing tub 19 has a bottomed cylindrical shape with an opening at the front. The washing tub 19 is rotatably supported inside the casing of the washing machine 10 via an outer tub (not shown). The washing tub 19 is rotated by a motor (not shown) that receives a signal from the control unit 16 .

The washing machine 10 performs a washing operation in which laundry is loaded into a washing tub 19 and performs a washing process, a rinsing process, a dehydration process, etc., and a drying operation in which a drying process is performed to dry the laundry. It is configured to be able to execute driving operations including. The washing machine 10 can perform an operation according to an operation course that is a combination of the above steps.

Next, the configuration of the television 20 will be explained. The television 20 includes a display 22, a receiving section 24, a control section 26, and a display control section 28. The display 22 is configured with an organic EL display, a liquid crystal display, or the like. The display control unit 28 causes the display 22 to display an image based on the radio waves received by the reception unit 24. Further, the display control unit 28 can retrieve a video from a storage device such as a Blu-ray recorder, and display the video on the display 22.

The receiving unit 24 can receive not only radio waves for displaying images on the display 22 but also home appliance information from the cloud server 100 (TV server 100b in this embodiment). Note that in a modified example, the television 20 may receive home appliance information directly from a home appliance (for example, the washing machine 10) without going through the cloud server 100. In response to receiving the home appliance information, the display control unit 28 generates a notification screen according to the home appliance information and causes the display 22 to display the notification screen. The notification screen is a screen for notifying the user that the washing has been completed, for example, when receiving home appliance information indicating that the washing performed by the washing machine 10 has been completed. The notification screen will be described in detail later with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9.

The control unit 26 includes a CPU and memories such as RAM and ROM (not shown). The control unit 26 is controllably connected to each unit 22, 24, and 28 by wiring (not shown). The control unit 26 stores a computer program for controlling each unit 22, 24, and 28 of the television 20.

The air conditioner 30, the refrigerator 40, the microwave oven 50, the self-propelled vacuum cleaner 60, and the television 70 each include the same operation section, display section, and transmission section as the washing machine 10. Further, the refrigerator 40, the microwave oven 50, and the self-propelled vacuum cleaner 60 each include a function execution device (washing tub 19 in the washing machine 10) for executing the functions of each home appliance. Further, the refrigerator 40, the microwave oven 50, and the self-propelled vacuum cleaner 60 are each communicatively connected to an operation section, a display section, a transmitting section, and a function execution device similarly to the control section 16, and are controlled to control each section. Department.

Next, the configuration of the cloud server 100 will be explained. Cloud server 100 includes a control section 110 and a communication section 120.

The control unit 110 includes a CPU 112 and a memory 114. Memory 114 includes a parameter table 116. The parameter table 116 is a table in which home appliance information transmitted from a home appliance (for example, the washing machine 10) is associated with information related to the home appliance information. The parameter table 116 will be explained later with reference to FIG. 3. Note that in this embodiment, the cloud server 100 has the parameter table 116, but in a modified example, the parameter table 116 may be included in each home appliance that transmits home appliance information, or may be provided in each home appliance that transmits home appliance information. The receiving television 20 may have it.

The communication unit 120 communicates with each of the home appliances 10 to 70 via the Internet 200. In the present embodiment, the communication unit 120 receives the home appliance information transmitted by a home appliance (for example, the washing machine 10), refers to the parameter table 116, specifies information related to the home appliance information, and identifies the home appliance information and the home appliance information. Related information is transmitted to the television 20. Note that in a modified example, the cloud server 100 does not need to have the parameter table 116, and in this case, upon receiving the home appliance information transmitted by the home appliance, the communication unit 120 transmits the home appliance information as it is to the television 20. You may.

Next, the parameter table 116 will be explained with reference to FIG. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the parameter table 116 includes a plurality of items "home appliance", "notification content", "notification screen display flag", "processing while display display is stopped", and " This is a table in which "notification display time", "notification waiting time", and "notification details" are associated with each other.

The item "home appliance" in the parameter table 116 is an item indicating a home appliance to which home appliance information is transmitted. The item "notification content" is an item indicating the content of the home appliance information transmitted from the home appliance. For example, as shown in Figure 3A, three notification contents are associated with the home appliance "washing machine": "Washing has finished," "The filter is clogged," and "An error has occurred." ing. These two items "home appliance" and "notification content" are items included in the home appliance information transmitted from the home appliance. Based on these two items included in the home appliance information transmitted from the home appliance, the cloud server 100 refers to the parameter table 116 to determine information related to the home appliance information (i.e., other items in the parameter table 116). ). For example, when receiving home appliance information from the washing machine 10 indicating that washing has finished, the cloud server 100 refers to the second line of FIG. When receiving home appliance information indicating that the appliance is clogged, the related information is identified with reference to the third line of FIG. 3A.

The item "notification screen display flag" is a flag that determines whether or not to display a notification screen according to the home appliance information on the display 22 when the television 20 receives the home appliance information from the cloud server 100. The item "notification screen display flag" indicates either "on" to display a notification screen according to home appliance information, or "off" to not display a notification screen according to home appliance information. The notification screen display flag can be set according to an external input operation (for example, an input operation from the user) (see also FIG. 6). Thereby, only necessary notifications can be displayed on the television 20 according to the user's request, improving convenience for the user. Note that in the modified example, the cloud server 100 does not need to transmit the home appliance information to the television 20 for home appliance information in which the notification screen display flag indicates "off."

The item “Processing while display display is stopped” is an item that defines a process that the television 20 performs when the display on the display 22 is stopped when the television 20 receives home appliance information from the cloud server 100. Here, "the television 20 has stopped displaying the display 22" refers to a state in which the main power of the television 20 is on, but the process for displaying images on the display 22 is not executed. Therefore, even when the television 20 has stopped displaying the display 22, the television 20 is still supplied with power and can receive home appliance information from the cloud server 100. The item "Processing while display display is stopped" has two options: "Notify" which starts displaying the notification screen in response to the start of display on the display 22, and "Notify" which starts displaying the notification screen even when display on the display 22 starts. Indicates either "Do not start" or "Do not notify".

The item "notification display time" indicates the time during which the display of the notification screen continues, that is, the time from the start of displaying the notification screen until the end of displaying the notification screen. For example, home appliance information indicating that the washing machine 10 has finished washing is associated with a notification display time of "10 minutes." Therefore, when the television 20 receives home appliance information from the washing machine 10 indicating that washing has finished, the television 20 displays the notification screen indicating that the washing has finished on the display 22, and 10 minutes have elapsed since then. Then, the display of the notification screen is stopped.

The item "notification standby time" indicates the time period during which the television 20 stores the home appliance information when the television 20 stops displaying the home appliance information on the display 22 when the television 20 receives the home appliance information from the cloud server 100. In other words, even if the display 22 starts displaying after the notification standby time has elapsed after receiving home appliance information when the television 20 has stopped displaying the display 22, the television 20 will not display the notification according to the home appliance information. Do not start displaying the screen. For example, home appliance information indicating that the washing machine 10 has finished washing is associated with a notification standby time of "30 minutes." Therefore, in a situation where the television 20 has stopped displaying the display 22, when receiving home appliance information from the washing machine 10 indicating that washing has been completed, the television 20 will When the display on the display 22 starts, a notification screen indicating that the washing is completed is displayed on the display 22. On the other hand, even if the display on the display 22 of the television 20 starts 30 minutes after receiving the home appliance information, the notification screen indicating that the washing is completed is not displayed on the display 22.

In addition, in a modification, the television 20 may continue to save the home appliance information for which the notification standby time has elapsed since receiving the home appliance information. In this case, the television 20 stores the home appliance information, but does not display a notification screen corresponding to the home appliance information on the display 22. In such a configuration, by storing the home appliance information, the user can check the history information of the home appliance information received by the television 20.

Further, the item "Notification waiting time" is useful information only when "Processing while display is stopped" indicates "Notify". Therefore, "notification standby time" is not set for home appliance information in which "processing while display display is stopped" indicates "no notification." For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, in the home appliance information indicating that the air conditioner 30 has started operation, "Processing while display display is stopped" indicates "Do not notify", and "Notification waiting time" indicates waiting for notification. A "-" indicating that no time is set is associated.

The item "notification details" indicates detailed information on notification content included in the home appliance information. For example, home appliance information indicating that the filter of the washing machine 10 is clogged is associated with information indicating the details of filter maintenance to be performed by the user. Further, the home appliance information indicating that an error has occurred in the washing machine 10 is associated with information indicating that repair is required and the repair procedure. Although details will be described later, in response to receiving a predetermined input operation from the user on the notification screen, the television 20 displays a detailed screen showing detailed information associated with the home appliance information corresponding to the notification screen (FIG. (See S26 and S40). In other words, the notification screen is a screen that represents part of the household appliance information transmitted from the household appliances. Further, for example, home appliance information indicating that the washing machine 10 has finished washing is associated with "-" indicating that detailed information is not set. In this way, there may be home appliance information for which detailed information is not set.

Note that the items associated with the parameter table 116 are not limited to the above items. For example, the parameter table 116 may include items such as "installation location", "model name", and "serial number" of the home appliance. Including such items makes it easy to identify the home appliance that is the source of the home appliance information. For example, in this embodiment, two air conditioners 30 are installed in the house 1, one air conditioner 30a is installed in the living room 4, and the other air conditioner 30b is installed in the bedroom 8. In such a case, the air conditioner 30a is associated with the installation location "living room" and the air conditioner 30b is associated with the installation location "bedroom". Thereby, the user can easily specify whether the air conditioner 30 that is the source of the home appliance information is the air conditioner 30a or the air conditioner 30b.

Further, as another example, the parameter table 116 may include "priority" regarding display of a notification screen according to home appliance information. As a result, in a situation where the television 20 receives a plurality of home appliance information while the display 22 is stopped, when the display 22 starts displaying the home appliance information, the home appliance information is displayed in order of priority associated with the home appliance information. It is possible to display a notification screen according to the

Next, communication between the home appliances 10, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 and the television 20 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, communication between washing machine 10 and television 20 will be described, but the same applies to communication between other home appliances 30 to 70 and television 20.

First, the washing machine 10 and the washing machine server 100a, and the television 20 and the television server 100b are individually connected. Specifically, at T5, the washing machine 10 and the washing machine server 100a are connected, and at T10, the television 20 and the television server 100b are connected.

Next, a cooperation procedure between the washing machine server 100a and the television server 100b is performed using OAuth. Specifically, at T20, in response to receiving a predetermined operation from the user to start OAuth authorization, the television 20 transmits an instruction signal instructing the television server 100b to start OAuth authorization. In response to receiving an instruction signal to start OAuth authorization from the television 20 at T20, the television server 100b transmits an authorization request to the washing machine server 100a at T22.

In response to receiving the authorization request from the television server 100b at T22, the washing machine server 100a transmits authorization screen data to the television 20 via the television server 100b at T24. The authorization screen data is data for displaying on the television 20 an authorization screen that allows the user to input login information for the washing machine server 100a to authorize the television server 100b.

In response to receiving the authorization screen data from the washing machine server 100a at T24, the television 20 displays the authorization screen on the display 22 at T30. The authorization screen includes an input area for inputting login information such as a password. The user performs a login operation including inputting login information according to the authorization screen at T32, and transmits the input login information to the washing machine server 100a via the television server 100b at T34.

At T40, the washing machine server 100a receives the login information input at T32. In this case, since the correct login information is input by the user, the washing machine server 100a issues an authorization code indicating that it authorizes the television server 100b at T40, and transmits it to the television server 100b. The television server 100b receives the authorization code from the washing machine server 100a at T40.

Thereafter, at T50, the television server 100b requests an access token from the washing machine server 100a using the authorization code issued at T40. At T50, the washing machine server 100a verifies the authorization code in response to receiving a request for an access token using the authorization code. In this case, the authorization code is successfully verified, so the washing machine server 100a issues an access token at T52 and transmits it to the television server 100b. The television server 100b receives the access token issued at T50 from the washing machine server 100a at T52. This completes the cooperation between the washing machine server 100a and the television server 100b.

At T60, the television server 100b uses the access token received at T52 to transmit a home appliance information acquisition request to the washing machine server 100a. The home appliance information acquisition request is a signal requesting to transmit home appliance information indicating the state of the washing machine 10 to the television server 100b when the washing machine 10 satisfies a predetermined condition (for example, when a state change occurs). . At T60, the washing machine server 100a verifies the access token in response to receiving the home appliance information acquisition request using the access token. In this case, the access token is successfully verified, so the washing machine server 100a transmits a home appliance information acquisition response to the television server 100b at T62. The home appliance information acquisition response is a signal indicating that the washing machine server 100a will transmit home appliance information indicating the state of the washing machine 10 to the television server 100b if the washing machine 10 satisfies a predetermined condition from then on. In other words, the processes T60 and T62 are processes for performing initial settings for the television server 100b to receive home appliance information from the washing machine server 100a. Therefore, when the washing machine 10 satisfies the predetermined condition after T62, the washing machine server 100a can transmit the home appliance information to the television server 100b.

At T70, a state change occurs in the washing machine 10. The state change is, for example, the end of washing, filter clogging, occurrence of an error, etc. (see FIG. 3A). In response to the state change occurring at T70, the washing machine 10 transmits home appliance information indicating the content of the state change to the washing machine server 100a.

At T72, in response to receiving the home appliance information from the washing machine 10, the washing machine server 100a refers to the parameter table 116 (see FIG. 3A) and identifies parameters related to the home appliance information. In this case, since the washing machine server 100a has a portion of the parameter table 116 that corresponds to the home appliance "washing machine", the washing machine server 100a can specify the parameters related to the home appliance information. . In addition, in a modification, the television server 100b may have the parameter table 116. In this case, the washing machine server 100a transmits the home appliance information received from the washing machine 10 as is to the television server 100b, and the television server 100b may refer to the parameter table 116 to identify parameters related to the home appliance information.

At T76, the washing machine server 100a transmits home appliance information including the parameters specified at T74 to the television server 100b. Then, in T78, the television server 100b transmits the home appliance information including the specified parameters received from the washing machine server 100a to the television 20. Thereafter, the television 20 executes notification screen display processing S10 based on the home appliance information.

Next, notification screen display processing S10 will be explained with reference to FIG. The process in FIG. 5 is started in response to the receiving unit 24 of the television 20 receiving home appliance information.

In S12, the CPU of the television 20 determines whether the notification screen display flag included in the received home appliance information is on. If the notification screen display flag indicates on, the CPU determines YES in S12 and proceeds to S14. On the other hand, if the notification screen display flag indicates OFF, the CPU determines NO in S12, and ends the process of FIG. 5 without executing the process from S14 onwards.

As mentioned above, the notification screen display flag can be set by the user. Here, an example of a method for setting the notification screen display flag will be described with reference to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 shows a setting screen displayed on the display of smartphone 300. The smartphone 300 is configured to be able to communicate with each of the home appliances 10 to 70 and the cloud server 100 via the Internet 200. 6(A) is a setting screen for a notification screen display flag regarding home appliance information transmitted by the washing machine 10, and FIG. 6(B) is a setting screen for a notification screen display flag regarding home appliance information transmitted by the air conditioner 30. . The setting screen can be displayed on the smartphone 300 by using, for example, an application provided by the vendor of each home appliance.

A setting screen for a notification screen display flag related to home appliance information transmitted by washing machine 10 in FIG. 6(A) will be described. The setting screen includes notification contents of the home appliance information transmitted by the washing machine 10 and a switch for setting on/off of a notification screen display flag associated with the home appliance information including each notification contents. The user can set the notification screen display flag by operating a switch corresponding to the notification content for which the user wants to turn on/off the notification screen display flag. Note that in a modification, the notification screen display flag may be settable by operating each of the home appliances 10 to 70, or may be settable by operating the television 20.

In this way, since the notification screen display flag can be set by the user, only the notification screen corresponding to necessary home appliance information can be displayed on the display 22 according to the user's request. Therefore, user convenience is improved.

Returning to the explanation of FIG. 5 again. In S14, the CPU of the television 20 determines whether or not display on the display 22 is being performed. When determining that the display 22 is being displayed, the CPU determines YES in S14, skips the processes of S16 to S22, and proceeds to S24. On the other hand, if the CPU determines that the display on the display 22 is stopped, it determines NO in S14 and proceeds to S16.

In S16, the CPU of the television 20 determines whether or not the display display stop process included in the received home appliance information is "notify". If the process while the display is stopped is "notify", the CPU determines YES in S16 and proceeds to S18. On the other hand, if the process while the display is stopped is "no notification", the CPU determines NO in S16, and ends the process of FIG. 5 without executing the process from S18 onwards.

As a result, the CPU of the television 20 does not start displaying a notification screen corresponding to the home appliance information even if the display 22 starts displaying the home appliance information with predetermined content. For example, regarding home appliance information such as starting/stopping an air conditioner, which is unlikely to be useful information if the user cannot confirm it immediately, it is preferable to not start displaying a notification screen corresponding to the home appliance information. In this way, when the display 22 starts displaying, such as when the user starts watching the television 20, a notification screen corresponding to the home appliance information that is unlikely to be useful information for the user is displayed on the display 22, so that the user This can prevent discomfort from occurring.

In S18, the CPU of the television 20 determines whether the receiving unit 24 has received predetermined information. The predetermined information is predetermined for the notification content of the home appliance information. When determining that the predetermined information has been received, the CPU determines YES in S18, and ends the process of FIG. 5 without executing the processes after S20. On the other hand, if the CPU determines that the predetermined information has not been received, the CPU determines NO in S18 and proceeds to S20. Note that when the process in FIG. 5 is terminated by receiving the predetermined information (YES in S18), the process in FIG. 5 is restarted using the reception of the predetermined information received in S18 as a trigger for the process in FIG. .

For example, if the trigger for the process in FIG. 5 is the reception of home appliance information indicating that the air conditioner has started operating, the CPU determines that the predetermined information has been received when determining that the home appliance information indicating that the air conditioner has stopped operating is received. do. In this case, "home appliance information indicating that the air conditioner has started operating" and "home appliance information indicating that the air conditioner has stopped operating" correspond to examples of "first home appliance information" and "second home appliance information", respectively. As a result, when the display 22 starts displaying, the notification screen corresponding to the home appliance information indicating that the air conditioner has stopped operating is not started, and the notification screen corresponding to the home appliance information indicating that the air conditioner has stopped operating does not start displaying. Display starts. In this way, when it is determined that the contents of the home appliance information transmitted from the home appliance are already in a situation different from the current situation, the usefulness of the previous home appliance information for the user decreases. Therefore, by not displaying the notification screen according to the previous home appliance information on the display 22, it is possible to prevent the user from feeling uncomfortable.

In another example, if the trigger for the process in FIG. 5 is the reception of home appliance information indicating that an error has occurred in the washing machine, the CPU sends the message because the error in the washing machine has been resolved for some reason. When it is determined that the change information has been received, it is determined that the predetermined information has been received. As a result, when the display 22 starts displaying, the display of the notification screen corresponding to the home appliance information indicating that an error has occurred in the washing machine does not start. In such a situation, since the error in the washing machine has been resolved, if a notification screen indicating that an error has occurred in the washing machine is displayed, incorrect information will be notified to the user. Therefore, when the display on the display 22 starts, such as when the user starts watching the television 20, it is possible to prevent the user from feeling uncomfortable due to a notification screen notifying incorrect information being displayed on the display 22. .

In S20, the CPU of the television 20 determines whether the notification standby time included in the received home appliance information has elapsed since the home appliance transmitted the home appliance information. The home appliance information includes information regarding the time when the home appliance transmits the home appliance information. If the notification standby time has elapsed since the home appliance information was transmitted, the CPU determines YES in S20, and ends the process of FIG. 5 without executing the process from S22 onwards. On the other hand, if the notification standby time has not elapsed since the home appliance information was transmitted, the CPU determines NO in S20 and proceeds to S22.

In this way, when the notification standby time has elapsed after the home appliance transmits the home appliance information, the CPU of the television 20 ends the process of FIG. 5 without displaying the notification screen (YES in S20, end). That is, even if the display 22 starts displaying the home appliance information for which a predetermined period of time has passed since the home appliance transmitted it, the display of the notification screen corresponding to the home appliance information is not started. As shown in FIG. 3, the notification standby time is set for each content of home appliance information. Therefore, depending on the content of the notification, for example, the waiting time until the notification screen is displayed for a notification that washing is completed is relatively short, and the waiting time is relatively long before the notification screen for an error occurrence is displayed. You can save home appliance information for a long time.

In S22, the CPU of the television 20 determines whether or not display on the display 22 has started. When determining that the display on the display 22 has started, the CPU determines YES in S22 and proceeds to S24. On the other hand, if it is determined that the display on the display 22 has not started, the process returns to S18. That is, the CPU monitors the reception of the predetermined information and the elapse of the notification waiting time until the display 22 starts displaying the information.

In S24, the CPU of the television 20 causes the display 22 to display a notification screen according to the received home appliance information. Specifically, the CPU supplies the home appliance information received by the receiving section 24 to the display control section 28, and the display control section 28 generates a notification screen based on the supplied home appliance information, and displays the notification screen on the display 22. to be displayed.

When the home appliance information is received, if the television 20 is displaying on the display 22, for example, when the user is watching the television 20, the display of a notification screen corresponding to the home appliance information starts immediately. (YES in S14, S24). Therefore, the user can know the home appliance information transmitted from the home appliances in real time.

In addition, if the television 20 has stopped displaying on the display 22 when the home appliance information is received, the notification screen may be changed according to the home appliance information in response to the display 22 starting to be displayed thereafter. Start displaying (NO in S14, YES in S16 to S20 and S22). Therefore, the user can know the home appliance information transmitted from the home appliance in response to the start of display on the display 22, such as when the user starts watching the television 20.

Here, the notification screen displayed on the display 22 of the television 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9. The notification screen is displayed superimposed on the video being displayed on the display 22. FIG. 7 is an example of a notification screen corresponding to two different pieces of home appliance information. FIG. 8 is an example of the position of the notification screen displayed on the display 22. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of how a notification screen is displayed on the display 22.

FIG. 7(A) shows the display 22 on which a notification screen NSC1 corresponding to the home appliance information indicating that the washing machine 10 has finished washing is displayed. The notification screen NSC1 includes a message indicating that washing has been completed and an OK button. The diagram on the left side of FIG. 7(B) shows the display 22 on which a notification screen NSC2 is displayed in accordance with household appliance information indicating that the filter of the washing machine 10 is clogged. The diagram on the left side of FIG. 7(B) includes a message indicating that the filter is clogged and a details button. The diagram on the right side of FIG. 7(B) shows the display 22 on which a detailed screen DSC2 is displayed according to the home appliance information indicating that the filter of the washing machine 10 is clogged. The diagram on the right side of FIG. 7(B) includes a message indicating the contents of cleaning the filter and an OK button.

In FIG. 7A, the notification screen NSC1 is displayed in the lower right corner area of the display area of the display 22. However, as shown in FIGS. 8(A) to 8(D), the notification screen NSC1 is displayed in any of the four corner areas (i.e., lower right, upper right, lower left, and upper left) of the display area of the display 22. may be displayed. In this way, by displaying the notification screen NSC1 in one of the four corner areas of the display area of the display 22, it is possible to prevent the user from overly hiding the video the user is viewing. can be informed of home appliance information.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the notification screen NSC1 is not suddenly displayed on the display 22 after the process of S24 is executed, but is displayed while moving so as to gradually appear from the edge of the display 22. . That is, when the process of S24 is executed in the state of FIG. 9(A) where the notification screen is not displayed on the display 22, the notification screen NSC1 is displayed on the display after going through the states of FIG. 9(B) and FIG. 9(C). The state shifts to the state shown in FIG. 9(D), which is displayed in the lower right corner area of 22. In this way, the notification screen is displayed in a moving manner so as to gradually appear from the edge of the display 22, allowing the user to understand that the notification screen is information with different attributes from the video the user is viewing. Can be easily identified. Note that the display format of the notification screen is not limited to the format described in FIG. 9, and may be any format that allows the user to easily identify that the video being viewed and the notification screen are information with different attributes. .

Returning to the explanation of FIG. 5 again. In S26, the CPU of the television 20 determines whether or not a detailed screen display operation for the notification screen displayed in S24 has been accepted. In response to receiving a predetermined input operation on the notification screen from the user, the CPU determines that the operation to display the detailed screen has been accepted (YES in S26), and proceeds to S40. On the other hand, when determining that the predetermined input operation on the notification screen has not been received from the user for a certain period of time, the CPU determines that the display operation on the detailed screen has not been received (NO in S26), and proceeds to S28.

For example, as shown on the left side of FIG. 7(B), the notification screen NSC2 includes a details button. In response to receiving the selection operation of the details button included in NSC2 from the user, the CPU determines YES in S26, and displays the details screen DSC2 as shown on the right side of FIG. 7(B) (S40). Further, in response to not accepting a detailed button selection operation from the user for a certain period of time, the CPU determines NO in S26, and proceeds to S28. Further, as shown in FIG. 7(A), the notification screen NSC1 does not include a details button. This is because, as shown in FIG. 3A, no notification details are set in the home appliance information indicating that washing has been completed. In such a case, the CPU determines NO in S26 after a certain period of time has elapsed, and proceeds to S28.

In S28, the CPU of the television 20 determines whether a display stop operation for the notification screen displayed in S24 has been received. In response to receiving a predetermined input operation on the notification screen from the user, the CPU determines that a display stop operation has been received (YES in S28), and skips the process of S30 and proceeds to S32. On the other hand, if the CPU determines that the predetermined input operation on the notification screen has not been received from the user for a certain period of time, the CPU determines that the display stop operation has not been received (NO in S28), and proceeds to S30.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7(A), the notification screen NSC1 includes an OK button. In response to receiving the selection operation of the OK button included in NSC1 from the user, the CPU determines YES in S28 and proceeds to S32. Further, in response to not accepting an OK button selection operation from the user for a certain period of time, the CPU determines NO in S28, and proceeds to S30. Further, as shown on the left side of FIG. 7(B), the notification screen NSC2 does not include an OK button. In such a case, the CPU determines NO in S28 after a certain period of time has elapsed, and proceeds to S30. Note that in a modified example, the notification screen NSC2 may include both an OK button and a details button.

In S30, the CPU of the television 20 determines whether the notification display time included in the received home appliance information has elapsed since the display control unit 28 started displaying the notification screen in S24. If the notification display time has elapsed since the start of displaying the notification screen, the CPU determines YES in S30 and proceeds to S32. On the other hand, if the notification display time has not elapsed since the start of displaying the notification screen, the CPU determines NO in S30 and returns to S26. That is, the CPU monitors the receipt of detailed screen display operations and display stop operations from the time the display of the notification screen is started until the notification display time has elapsed.

In S32, the CPU of the television 20 stops displaying the notification screen that started displaying in S24. When the process of S32 ends, the process of FIG. 5 ends.

In this way, the CPU of the television 20 stops displaying the notification screen after the notification display time has elapsed after starting to display the notification screen in S24 (YES in S30, S32). In other words, the CPU continues to display the notification screen according to the home appliance information until a time (notification display time) determined according to the contents of the home appliance information has elapsed. As shown in FIG. 3, the notification display time is set for each content of home appliance information. Therefore, the notification screen can be displayed for an appropriate amount of time depending on the content of the notification, such as a relatively short notification of the end of washing and a relatively long notification of an error, for example.

Further, when receiving a display stop operation for the notification screen, the CPU of the television 20 stops displaying the notification screen (YES in S28, S32). Therefore, once the user confirms the notification screen, the display of the notification screen can be stopped even if the notification display time has not elapsed. That is, user convenience is improved.

Further, when accepting a detailed screen display operation for the notification screen (YES in S26), the CPU of the television 20 starts displaying the detailed screen in S40. Specifically, the CPU supplies notification details included in the home appliance information corresponding to the notification screen displayed in S24 to the display control unit 28, and the display control unit 28 displays the details screen based on the supplied notification details. The detailed screen is generated and displayed on the display 22. For example, as shown in FIG. 7(B), when the CPU receives a selection operation of the details button included in the notification screen NSC2 from the user (YES in S26), the CPU starts displaying the details screen DSC2.

Generally, the amount of information included in the details screen is greater than the amount of information included in the notification screen, and therefore the details screen is larger than the notification screen. That is, the area occupied by the detail screen on the display 22 of the television 20 is larger than the area of the notification screen. If the detailed screen is displayed on the display 22 from the beginning, compared to displaying the notification screen on the display 22, the area that hides the video the user is viewing becomes larger, causing discomfort to the user. There is a risk. Regarding this point, in this embodiment, the details screen is displayed in response to the user selecting the details button included in the notification screen. That is, the display of a relatively large detailed screen is started according to the user's intention. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the user from feeling uncomfortable. Further, the user can know the status of the home appliance, the actions and operations to be performed on the home appliance, etc. by checking the detailed screen. Therefore, the user does not need to check the manual of the home appliance, etc., and the user's convenience is improved.

In S42, the CPU of the television 20 monitors acceptance of an operation to stop displaying the detailed screen. If the CPU determines that the operation to stop displaying the detailed screen has been received, it stops displaying the detailed screen in S44, stops displaying the notification screen in S32, and ends the process of FIG. 5. In addition, in the modified example, even if the CPU does not receive an operation to stop displaying the detailed screen, if a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the start of displaying the detailed screen, the CPU stops displaying the detailed screen and the notification screen. Good too.

According to the above process, each of the home appliances 10, 30 to 70 of the home appliance system 2 transmits home appliance information indicating the status of the home appliance to the television 20 when a predetermined condition such as a change in the status of the home appliance is satisfied. The television 20 generates a notification screen based on the received home appliance information, and causes the display 22 to display the generated notification screen. Thereby, when the user is inside the house, especially when the user is watching the television 20, it is possible to check the household appliance information transmitted from the household appliances using the television 20.

Furthermore, as described above, the home appliances 10 to 70 included in the home appliance system 2 do not have to be installed in the same house. For example, the home appliance system 2 may include home appliances installed in a house where a family that lives apart lives. According to such a configuration, it is possible to check the home appliance information of home appliances in a house where a family member who lives apart lives.

Note that the process in FIG. 5 described above is executed based on the television 20 receiving the home appliance information. However, when the main power of the television 20 is off, the television 20 cannot receive home appliance information. In this case, when the main power of the television 20 is turned on in a situation where the home appliance information is stored in the television server 100b, the television server 100b transmits the stored home appliance information to the television 20. The process of FIG. 5 is started in response to the television 20 receiving the home appliance information.

(Correspondence) The television 20 is an example of a "video device." Home appliance information in which the process while the display is stopped is "do not notify" is an example of "home appliance information with predetermined content." The operation of a switch on the setting screen displayed on the smartphone 300 is an example of an "external input operation." The detailed screen display operation and display stop operation performed by the user are examples of a "first external input operation on the notification screen" and a "second external input operation on the notification screen," respectively. Cloud server 100 is an example of an "external server."

Although specific examples of the technology disclosed in this specification have been described above in detail, these are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the claims. The techniques described in the claims include various modifications and changes to the specific examples illustrated above. Modifications are listed below.

(Modification 1) The video device is not limited to a television, but may be other home appliances such as a refrigerator or a washing machine equipped with a display having a video function. In this case, the notification screen may be displayed superimposed on an image based on the function of a home appliance equipped with a display.

(Modification 2) The home appliance information transmitted by a home appliance may not be information indicating the state of the home appliance.

(Modification 3) When receiving home appliance information in a situation where the display 22 is displaying, it is not necessary to start displaying a notification screen according to the home appliance information in response to the reception of the home appliance information. good. For example, the display of the notification screen may be started in response to receiving a notification screen display operation from the user. In this case, the television 20 may have a configuration that allows the user to recognize that the television 20 has received the home appliance information (for example, by flashing or lighting a lamp, etc.).

(Modification 4) In the above embodiment, when receiving home appliance information in a situation where the video equipment such as the television 20 has stopped displaying the display 22, the notification screen is displayed after the display 22 starts displaying. I explained that. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and for example, a function may be provided to restart the display from a state in which the display 22 has stopped displaying without user operation, so that when the television 20 has stopped displaying the display 22. Also, when home appliance information including specific content is received, the display 22 starts displaying without waiting for the user's operation to start displaying the display 22, and displays a notification screen according to the home appliance information. You may start. With such a configuration, a notification screen corresponding to highly urgent household appliance information can be immediately displayed regardless of whether the display on the display 22 is executed or stopped. Furthermore, such a configuration of automatic display of the display 22 may be executed on the condition that it is detected that there is a user who can watch the television 20. The user can be detected by using a human sensor, analyzing a photographed image of the space around the television 20, or using other methods. With such a configuration, it is possible to suppress starting display on the display 22 even though no user is present around the television 20.

(Modification 5) When receiving two pieces of home appliance information that are related to each other, the television 20 may display only the notification screen that corresponds to the information on one of the home appliances, or may display two notification screens that correspond to the information on each home appliance. Two notification screens may be displayed in sequence.

(Modification 6) Even if the notification display time associated with the home appliance information has elapsed, the television 20 continues to display the notification screen according to the home appliance information until it receives an operation to stop displaying the notification screen from the user. It doesn't have to stop. Alternatively, the notification screen may not have an interface for accepting an operation to stop displaying the notification screen, and in this case, the notification screen may stop displaying according to the elapse of the notification display time. Good too.

(Modification 7) Regarding home appliance information for which detailed information is set, a detailed screen corresponding to the detailed information set in the home appliance information may be displayed without displaying a notification screen corresponding to the home appliance information.

The technical elements described in this specification or the drawings exhibit technical utility alone or in various combinations, and are not limited to the combinations described in the claims as filed. Furthermore, the techniques illustrated in this specification or the drawings can achieve multiple objectives simultaneously, and achieving one of the objectives has technical utility in itself.

2: Home appliance system 10: Washing machine 18: Transmitting section 20, 70: Television 22: Display 24: Receiving section 28: Display control section 30, 30a, 30b: Air conditioner 40: Refrigerator 50: Microwave oven 60: Self-propelled vacuum cleaner 100: Cloud server 100a: Washing machine server 100b: TV server 200: Internet

Claims (16)

home appliances and
A home appliance system comprising: a video device capable of communicating with the home appliance,
The home appliance includes a transmitting unit that transmits home appliance information indicating a state of the home appliance when a predetermined condition is satisfied,
The video equipment includes a display, a receiving unit that receives the home appliance information transmitted by the transmitting unit, and a notification screen that is generated based on the home appliance information that the receiving unit receives, and displays the generated notification screen on the display. The display control unit causes the home appliance information to be displayed when the display is stopped, and the display control unit then displays the home appliance information according to the home appliance information based on the start of display on the display. A home appliance system comprising: the display control unit that starts displaying a notification screen . The home appliance system according to claim 1, wherein, when the state of the home appliance changes, the transmitting unit transmits the home appliance information including information regarding the content of the state change. The home appliance system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the display control unit starts displaying the notification screen according to the home appliance information when the home appliance information is received while displaying the display. . The display control unit is configured to display the home appliance information corresponding to the notification screen that has not started displaying, even if the display of the home appliance information with predetermined contents is started on the display. The home appliance system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the home appliance system does not start displaying a notification screen. The display control unit may cause the display to start displaying the home appliance information corresponding to the notification screen that has not started displaying, and for which a predetermined period of time has passed since the home appliance transmitted the home appliance information. 5. The home appliance system according to claim 1, wherein the home appliance system does not start displaying the notification screen according to the home appliance information even if the home appliance information is displayed. The video device receives second home appliance information including content related to the first home appliance information in a situation where the first home appliance information corresponding to the notification screen that has not started to be displayed is stored. In this case, the display control unit displays the notification screen according to the second home appliance information without displaying the notification screen according to the first home appliance information. The home appliance system described in item (1) above. The transmitting unit transmits change information indicating the change when there is a change in the state of the home appliance indicated by the home appliance information after the home appliance information is transmitted;
Claims 1 to 6 , wherein the display control unit does not display the notification screen corresponding to the home appliance information when receiving the change information for the home appliance information corresponding to the notification screen that has not started displaying. The home appliance system described in any one of the above. According to any one of claims 1 to 7 , the display control unit continues to display the notification screen according to the home appliance information until a time determined according to the content of the home appliance information has elapsed. Home appliance system described. Whether or not the notification screen is displayed on the video device can be set according to an external input operation,
The home appliance system according to any one of claims 1 to 8 , wherein whether or not the notification screen is displayed on the video device can be set depending on the content of the home appliance information. The notification screen is a screen that represents part of the home appliance information transmitted from the home appliance,
10. The display control unit according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit displays a detailed screen representing more detailed information than the notification screen on the display in response to receiving a first input operation from the outside on the notification screen. The home appliance system described in any one of the items. The home appliance system according to any one of claims 1 to 10 , wherein the display control unit stops displaying the notification screen in response to receiving a second input operation from the outside on the notification screen. The notification screen is a part of the display area of the display, and is displayed in one of four corner areas of the display. home appliance system. 13. The home appliance system according to claim 1, wherein the notification screen is displayed while moving so as to gradually appear from an edge of the display. The home appliance system further includes an external server capable of communicating with the home appliance and the video device,
The home appliance system according to any one of claims 1 to 13 , wherein the home appliance information transmitted by the transmitter of the home appliance is transmitted to the video device via the external server. A video device that can communicate with home appliances,
display and
a receiving unit that receives home appliance information indicating the status of the home appliance transmitted from the home appliance;
A display control unit that generates a notification screen based on the home appliance information received by the receiving unit and displays the generated notification screen on the display, the display control unit configured to display the generated notification screen on the display, Regarding the home appliance information, the video device further comprises: the display control unit that starts displaying the notification screen according to the home appliance information based on the fact that the display starts displaying the home appliance information. A method for displaying home appliance information using a home appliance and a video device capable of communicating with the home appliance, the method comprising:
when the home appliance satisfies a predetermined condition, transmitting home appliance information indicating the state of the home appliance;
the video device receiving the home appliance information;
The step of displaying a notification screen generated by the video device based on the home appliance information on the display of the video device, with respect to the home appliance information generated when the display is stopped, A method for displaying home appliance information, comprising the step of starting to display the notification screen according to the home appliance information based on the start of display on a display.

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