JP7398994B2 - Heating device operation system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention includes, for example, a heating device such as a fan heater, and an external communication terminal that can remotely control the heating device, and the heating device includes a burner-combustion type heating means for heating an object to be heated, and the external communication terminal that can remotely control the heating device. The present invention relates to a heating device operation system that includes device-side communication means that can communicate various information with a communication terminal via an information communication network, and operation control means that controls the operation of the heating device.

The heating device operation system described above is configured to enable wireless remote control of a heating device such as a gas fan heater using an external communication terminal such as a mobile phone or a smartphone. The heating device can be remotely controlled wirelessly using the . With this configuration, it is possible to start the operation of the heating device installed in the home from outside the home, and when the user of the external communication terminal returns home, the room in the residence to be heated will be in a heated state. This is convenient.

In such a system, conventionally, when operation start information instructing the heating device to start operation is communicated from an external communication terminal, regardless of the situation on the heating device side, burner combustion type such as gas burner It is configured to start a heating operation by the heating means and perform a heating operation (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP2019-44997A

Objects that should be avoided from being heated, such as spray cans filled with gas, placed near the hot air outlet of a heating device in a room in the residence that is being heated (hereinafter referred to as non-heatable objects) may be placed.

In the above conventional configuration, when a command to start operation is issued from an external communication terminal, the user of the external communication terminal does not know the status of the room in the residence that is being heated, so Even if there is an object that cannot be heated as described above, a command is issued to start operation. If this happens, there is a risk that the hot air will continue to hit the object, causing the object that cannot be heated to reach a high temperature and be damaged.

However, if there is an object near the hot air outlet of the heating device that is not an object that cannot be heated, but is less likely to be damaged or burnt out even if hot air is blown onto it, such as furniture or a wall in the room, , it is thought that there will be little problem even if heating operation is started.

An object of the present invention is to make it possible to remotely command the start of operation using an external communication terminal, while ensuring safety in use without unnecessarily narrowing the scope of use. The object of the present invention is to provide a possible heating device operation system.

The characteristic configuration of the heating device operation system according to the present invention is as follows:
A heating device and an external communication terminal that can remotely control the heating device are provided,
The heating device,
A burner-combustion heating means for heating an object to be heated, a device-side communication means capable of communicating various information with the external communication terminal via an information communication network, and an operation control means for controlling the operation of the heating device. A heating device operation system comprising:
image information acquisition means for acquiring image information of a nearby location in front of the device;
storage means for storing image information acquired in the previous heating operation by the image information acquisition means as reference image information;
image processing means for processing the image information;
movement detection means for detecting whether the heating device has moved to a different position ;
The image processing means includes:
When receiving operation start information instructing to start operation of the heating device from the external communication terminal, it is determined whether or not the current image information acquired by the image information acquisition means is different from the reference image information. configured to determine;
The operation control means includes:
When the image processing means determines that there is no difference between the current image information and the reference image information, heating operation is started, and when the current image information and the reference image information are determined to be different. If it is determined that
The image processing means includes:
If the movement detection means detects that the heating device has moved after the reference image information is stored and until the operation start information is received from the external communication terminal, the image information is acquired. The image information is acquired by the means and rewritten and stored in the storage means as the reference image information .

According to the present invention, when the heating device is performing heating operation, the image information acquisition means acquires image information of a nearby location in front of the device, and the image information is stored in the storage device. When heating is in progress, there are people in the room being heated, so make sure that there are no objects that cannot be heated, such as spray cans, near the front of the heating device that blows out hot air. First, it is assumed that such an object does not appear in the captured image.

When the operation start information is received from the external communication terminal, the image information acquisition means acquires image information (current image information) of a nearby location in front of the device, and the image processing means stores the current image information in the storage means. It is determined whether the image information (reference image information) is different. Then, if the current image information and the reference image information are not different based on the determination result of the image processing means, the operation control means operates the heating means to start the heating operation.

If the current image information and reference image information are different, it is assumed that an object that is not placed during normal heating operation is placed near the front of the device. At this time, the operation of the heating means is controlled so as not to start heating operation. As a result, the heating operation is not performed in a state where there is an object near the front of the heating device, so safety in use can be ensured.

Even if an object is placed near the front of the device and is shown in the current image information, if the object is also shown in the reference image information, heating operation will be started. It is thought that there will be no problem. Therefore, if there is no difference between the current image information and the reference image information, the heating operation is started, so that the range of use of the heating device is not unnecessarily narrowed.

Therefore, while it is possible to command the start of operation remotely using an external communication terminal, the heating system can ensure safety in use without unnecessarily narrowing the range of uses. We are now able to provide an operating system.

Furthermore, according to this configuration, when the heating device moves to a different position, the location from which hot air is blown from the heating device differs, so it is assumed that another object is present at that location. Therefore, when the movement detection means detects that the heating device has moved, the image information of the image information acquisition means is rewritten and stored as reference image information. By doing so, it is possible to ensure safety when starting operation by remote control next time.

The characteristic configuration of the heating device operation system according to the present invention is as follows:
A heating device and an external communication terminal that can remotely control the heating device are provided,
The heating device,
A burner-combustion heating means for heating an object to be heated, a device-side communication means capable of communicating various information with the external communication terminal via an information communication network, and an operation control means for controlling the operation of the heating device. A heating device operation system comprising:
image information acquisition means for acquiring image information of a nearby location in front of the device;
Storage means for storing image information acquired in the previous heating operation by the image information acquisition means as reference image information;
An image processing means for processing the image information,
The image processing means includes:
When receiving operation start information instructing to start operation of the heating device from the external communication terminal, it is determined whether or not the current image information acquired by the image information acquisition means is different from the reference image information. configured to determine;
The operation control means includes:
When the image processing means determines that there is no difference between the current image information and the reference image information, heating operation is started, and when the current image information and the reference image information are determined to be different. If it is determined that
The image processing means includes:
During the previous heating operation, the image information was acquired multiple times at time intervals, and among the multiple acquired image information, the number of times it was determined that it was not different from other image information was the largest. The point is that image information is stored as the reference image information.

According to the present invention, when the heating device is performing heating operation, the image information acquisition means acquires image information of a nearby location in front of the device, and the image information is stored in the storage device. When heating is in progress, there are people in the room being heated, so make sure that there are no objects that cannot be heated, such as spray cans, near the front of the heating device that blows out hot air. First, it is assumed that such an object does not appear in the captured image.
When the operation start information is received from the external communication terminal, the image information acquisition means acquires image information (current image information) of a nearby location in front of the device, and the image processing means stores the current image information in the storage means. It is determined whether the image information (reference image information) is different. Then, if the current image information and the reference image information are not different based on the determination result of the image processing means, the operation control means operates the heating means to start the heating operation.
If the current image information and reference image information are different, it is assumed that an object that is not placed during normal heating operation is placed near the front of the device. At this time, the operation of the heating means is controlled so as not to start heating operation. As a result, the heating operation is not performed in a state where there is an object near the front of the heating device, so safety in use can be ensured.
Even if an object is placed near the front of the device and is shown in the current image information, if the object is also shown in the reference image information, heating operation will be started. It is thought that there will be no problem. Therefore, if there is no difference between the current image information and the reference image information, the heating operation is started, so that the range of use of the heating device is not unnecessarily narrowed.
Therefore, while it is possible to command the start of operation remotely using an external communication terminal, the heating system can ensure safety in use without unnecessarily narrowing the range of uses. We are now able to provide an operating system.
Furthermore, according to this configuration, when the heating operation is being performed, for example, a person may walk past the area in front of the heating device. As a result, when the image information acquisition means acquires image information, if the imaging process is performed only once, there is a risk that passing people or other objects may be captured in the image. Therefore, by shooting multiple times and using the image that is considered appropriate as the reference image information, that is, the image that has been determined the most times as not different from other image information, we By excluding objects, the accuracy of object discrimination can be improved.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the image processing means determines whether or not the current image information and the reference image information are different based on an image recognition program.

According to this configuration, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not the images are different using an image recognition program which is a well-known technique. Recently, advances in technology have significantly improved the accuracy of image recognition, making it possible to accurately discriminate between images.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a heating device operating system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of a heating device operating system. FIG. 2 is a front view showing a schematic internal configuration of a gas fan heater. FIG. 2 is a vertical right side view showing a schematic internal configuration of the gas fan heater. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an operation section of the gas fan heater. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state where an object is present near the front of the gas fan heater. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of the control operation of a gas fan heater. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of the control operation of a smartphone. FIG. 2 is a front view of the smartphone showing a state where the home screen is displayed. FIG. 3 is a front view of the smartphone showing a state in which an abnormal operation screen is displayed. FIG. 3 is a front view of the smartphone showing a state where a normal operation screen is displayed. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing image information. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing image information.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the heating device operation system exemplified in this embodiment includes a gas fan heater (an example of a heating device) 1, a smartphone (an example of an external communication terminal) 2 that can remotely control the gas fan heater, It is equipped with

[About gas fan heater]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the gas fan heater 1 includes an operation control section 11 that allows direct operation by the user, and heats fluidized air to be heated by burning fuel (natural gas). A gas burner (an example of heating means) 12, a blower fan 13 that moves air toward the gas burner 12, and wireless communication (Wi-Fi, etc.) or a wired cable to the router RU connected to the Internet line I as an information communication network. A device-side communication means 14 connected through the device, a device-side control unit 15 that controls the operation of the gas fan heater, an infrared camera 16 as an image information acquisition device that photographs a nearby location in front of the device and acquires image information, and , a housing 17 that covers the outer periphery, and the like.

Further, the device-side control unit 15 includes an operation control means 100 for controlling the operation of the gas burner 12 and the blower fan 13, a storage means 101 for storing image information photographed by the infrared camera 16, and a storage means 101 for storing image information photographed by the infrared camera 16. An image processing means 102 is provided. The storage means 101 is composed of, for example, a non-volatile memory that is rewritable and can retain information even when no power is applied, such as an EEPROM or a flash memory, or a storage device such as a hard disk, so that it does not retain information even if the power is cut off. Can be memorized.

As shown in FIG. 1, the operation unit 11 is provided on the upper surface of the housing 17. As shown in FIG. 5, the operation unit 11 includes, as switches operated by the user, an operation switch 11A that enables operation to start and stop operation of the gas fan heater 1, and a selection of a good morning timer function. a good morning timer switch 11B that enables the user to select the sleep timer function, a sleep timer switch 11C that allows the user to select the sleep timer function, an eco-driving switch 11D that allows the user to select the eco-driving function, and allows the user to change the set temperature and set time. It is equipped with a setting switch 11E and the like. Additionally, a driving lamp 11a lights up when driving starts, a good morning timer lamp 11b lights up when the good morning timer function is selected, a sleep timer lamp 11c lights up when the sleep timer function is selected, and a sleep timer lamp 11c lights up when the eco driving function is selected. Also provided are an eco-driving lamp 11d that turns on when the vehicle is connected, a communication lamp 11e that turns on when communication is established with the smartphone 2, a temperature display section 11f, and the like.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the gas burner 12 injects the fuel gas and the combustion air by injecting the fuel gas toward the combustor 12A, which burns the mixture of the fuel gas and the combustion air, and the combustor 12A. an injection nozzle 12B that mixes the fuel gas, a gas pipe 12C that guides the fuel gas to the injection nozzle 12B, a first solenoid valve 12D and a second solenoid valve 12E that open and close the gas pipe 12C, and that enable the flow rate adjustment of the fuel gas. It is equipped with a proportional valve 12F. The combustor 12A includes an igniter 12b that ignites the fuel guided into the combustion chamber 12a, and a flame sensor 12c that detects a flame caused by ignition and enables detection of flame extinction.

As shown in FIG. 4, the housing 17 has a suction port 17A formed on its back surface and a hot air outlet 17B formed on its front surface. An air filter 18 for capturing dust that removes dust from the air sucked in from the suction port 17A, and a temperature sensor 19 that detects the temperature of the air sucked in from the suction port 17A as the current room temperature are provided on the back of the housing 17. ing.

The blower fan 13 sucks outside air through the suction port 17A of the housing 17 when the crossflow fan 13A rotates due to the operation of the fan motor 13B. A part of the sucked air is mixed with fuel gas and supplied to the combustion chamber 12a as combustion air. The remaining air bypasses the combustor 12A, is mixed with the combustion exhaust gas from the combustion chamber 12a, and after being heated, is blown out from the hot air outlet 17B as a hot air outlet. The heated flowing air is blown out from the hot air outlet 17B, thereby warming the room to be heated.

An infrared camera 16 is provided above the hot air outlet 17B on the front surface of the housing 17. The infrared camera 16 can capture image information near the front of the hot air outlet 17B even if the place where the gas fan heater 1 is installed is dark at night.

A movement detection sensor 20 is provided at the bottom of the housing 17 and is capable of detecting whether the gas fan heater 1 is carried by a user and moved to a different position. The movement detection sensor 20 is configured with an ultrasonic sensor and can measure the distance to the floor. If the gas fan heater 1 remains at the same position, the distance to the floor detected by the movement detection sensor 20 is constant and small. However, when the gas fan heater 1 moves, the distance to the floor surface measured by the movement detection sensor 20 temporarily increases, so that it is possible to determine that the gas fan heater 1 has moved.

The device-side control section 15 is composed of a microcomputer or the like having an arithmetic processing function, an information storage function, etc., and the operation control means 100 and the image processing means 102 are provided in the form of a control program. The device-side control section 15 controls the operations of the gas burner 12, the ventilation fan 13, the infrared camera 16, and the device-side communication means 14 based on the operation of the operation section 11 or the remote control from the smartphone 2.

That is, the device-side control unit 15 executes the following processing.
When the heating operation is being performed, the operation of the infrared camera is controlled so as to take an image of the front part of the casing 17 where the warm air blown from the hot air outlet 17B is blown. , the acquired image information is stored in the storage means 101 as reference image information. If the movement detection sensor 20 detects that the gas fan heater 1 has moved after the reference image information is stored and until the operation start information is received from the smartphone 2, the movement detection sensor 20 detects that the gas fan heater 1 has moved. After a predetermined period of time has elapsed, image information is acquired by the infrared camera 16 and is rewritten and stored in the storage means 101 as reference image information.

Further, when the operation start information is received from the smartphone 2, the infrared camera 16 is activated so as to photograph a location near the front of the hot air outlet 17B and obtain image information (current image information). Then, it is determined whether the current image information photographed by the infrared camera 16 is different from the reference image information stored in advance, using an image identification processing method using image processing, which is a well-known technique.

If it is determined that there is no difference between the current image information and the reference image information stored in advance, the heating operation is started, and if it is determined that the current image information and the reference image information are different, the heating operation is started. The operation of the gas burner 12 is controlled so that it does not start.

When starting heating operation, an operation start process is executed. In this operation start process, the gas burner 12 and the blower fan 13 are started to start heating the flowing air by the gas burner 12, and the operation lamp 11a is turned on. When the operation start process is executed, the gas burner 12 starts a combustion operation by opening the first solenoid valve 12D and the second solenoid valve 12E and igniting the igniter 12b.

After execution of the operation start process, combustion control is performed to set the set temperature set by the user as the control target temperature and operate the gas burner 12 so as to maintain the current room temperature detected by the temperature sensor 19 at the control target temperature. Execute.

When the operation of the gas fan heater 1 is stopped using the operation switch 11A while the gas fan heater 1 is in operation, a stop process for stopping the operation of the gas fan heater 1 is executed. In this stop processing, the first solenoid valve 12D and the second solenoid valve 12E are closed, the combustion operation of the gas burner 12 is stopped, and the operation lamp 11a is turned off, and then the blower fan 13 is operated for a set time. The gas burner 12 is cooled down.

In addition to this, when the good morning timer switch 11B is operated, the device side control unit 15 executes the operation start process when the preset scheduled operation start time comes by the good morning timer function. Further, when the sleep timer switch 11C is operated, the device-side control unit 15 executes stop control after the set time has elapsed by the sleep timer function. In the eco-driving function, the gas burner 12 is operated in an eco-driving mode in which the control target temperature is a temperature 1° C. lower than the set temperature in the normal operating mode.

[About smartphones]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the smartphone 2 is capable of inputting various input information through direct operation by the user, and has a touch panel type image display as a display means for displaying various images, information, etc. 21, an audio output section 22 that outputs audio, a call function section 23 that enables calls with other telephones, a terminal-side communication means 24 that is connected to the Internet line I for wireless communication, and the operation of the smartphone 2. It is configured to include a terminal-side control means 25 for controlling the terminal side, a housing 26 surrounding the periphery, and the like. The terminal-side control means 25 is composed of a microcomputer or the like having an arithmetic processing function, an information storage function, and the like.

The smartphone 2 is configured to be able to download an application program (hereinafter referred to as a remote control application) for wirelessly remotely controlling the gas fan heater 1 from an external server 27 via the Internet line I. By the way, this remote control application allows the smartphone 2 to start or stop the operation of the gas fan heater 1 via the Internet line I, and is intended to be used by the manufacturer of the gas fan heater 1, etc. provided by. The external server 27 is managed by the manufacturer of the gas fan heater 1 or the like.

The terminal-side control means 25 in the smartphone 2 transmits an operation start signal as operation start information for starting the operation of the gas fan heater 1 from the terminal-side communication means 24 via the Internet line I and the external server 27 to the gas fan heater. The information is configured to be transmitted to the device-side communication means 14 of No. 1.

[Remote control operation]
Next, the control operations of the device-side control section 15 and the terminal-side control means 25 when remotely controlling the gas fan heater 1 using the smartphone 2 will be explained based on the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, respectively. Note that when remotely controlling the gas fan heater 1 using the smartphone 2, it is necessary to start a remote control application installed in advance. FIGS. 7 and 8 show a series of processes from when the gas fan heater 1 starts operating after receiving a command to start operating, until it stops operating thereafter.

As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8, when the remote control application is started, the terminal-side control means 25 of the smartphone 2 displays a home screen as shown in FIG. 9 on the image display 21 (step #21). When the user operates the operation start operation section 21A on the home screen to issue a command to start heating operation (step #22), the gas fan heater is An operation start signal is transmitted to the device side communication means 14 of No. 1 (Step #23).

As shown in FIG. 7, upon receiving the operation start signal transmitted from the terminal-side communication means 24 of the smartphone 2 (step #1), the device-side control unit 15 photographs a location near the front of the hot air outlet 17B. The operation of the infrared camera 16 is controlled to acquire image information (step #2). Then, the reference image information taken during the previous heating operation stored in the storage means 101 in advance is compared with the current image information acquired this time, and it is determined whether or not they are different. Image discrimination processing is executed (step #3). Specifically, it is determined whether the current image information and the reference image information are different using an image identification processing method using image processing, which is a well-known technique. As an image processing method, for example, an image recognition program configured from a two-class classification algorithm may be used for determination. Note that at the time of first operation, the reference image information in the storage means 101 is not stored, but in that case, it is determined that the reference image information is the same as the current image information.

For example, when reference image information as shown in FIG. 13 is stored, if an image is taken as the current image information as shown in FIG. Since different objects BT are shown near the front of the mouth 17B, it is determined that these images are different.

In the determination process of step 3, if it is determined that the reference image information and the current image information are different (step #4), the communication means 14 on the device side without starting the combustion operation of the gas burner 12. An operation disable signal indicating that heating operation cannot be performed is transmitted to the terminal-side communication means 24 of the smartphone (step #5). Although not shown, when the device-side control unit 15 receives the driving start signal from the smartphone 2, it turns on the communication lamp 11e.

The terminal-side control means 25 of the smartphone 2 receives the response signal from the device-side communication means 14 of the gas fan heater 1 (step #24), and if the signal is an operation-disabled signal (step #25), then FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, an abnormal state indicating that the heating operation cannot be started is displayed on the image display 21 due to the presence of an obstacle near the gas fan heater 1 (step #30).

If the device-side control unit 15 determines that there is no difference between the reference image information and the current image information in the determination process of step 3 (step #4), the device-side control unit 15 starts the operation of the gas fan heater 1. Start processing is executed (step #6). After that, combustion control is executed (step #7). That is, the fuel supply amount is adjusted and the gas burner 12 is operated so that the indoor temperature detected by the temperature sensor 19 is maintained at the control target temperature set by the user.

By receiving the operation start signal from the smartphone 2 in this way, when executing the operation start process, the device side communication means 14 notifies the terminal side communication means 24 of the smartphone 2 that the heating operation has started. Send an operation start signal (step #8).

When the terminal side control means 25 of the smartphone 2 receives the operation start completion signal from the device side communication means 14 of the gas fan heater 1 (step #25), as shown in FIG. 1 displays the normal operating state indicating that the heating operation is being performed satisfactorily (step #26). In addition, when it is desired to stop the heating operation, an operation stop signal can be transmitted to the device side communication means 14 by operating the stop operation section 21B on the image display 21.

After starting the heating operation based on the operation start command from the smartphone 2, the device-side control unit 15 photographs a location near the front of the hot air outlet 17B every time a set time elapses to obtain image information. The operation of the infrared camera 16 is controlled as follows (steps #9 and 10). The photographed image information is sequentially stored in the storage means 101. At this time, for example, when a predetermined number of image information is stored, it is preferable to always store a set number of the latest images, such as rewriting the oldest image information with newly captured image information.

While the heating operation is being performed, the device side control unit 15 receives an operation stop signal from the terminal side communication means 24 of the smartphone 2, or when an operation stop operation is performed using the operation switch, and the device side control unit 15 starts the operation. When a stop command is issued (step #11), the combustion operation of the gas burner 12 is stopped, and the heating operation is stopped (step #12). At that time, among the plurality of image information stored as described above, the image information that has been determined most times as not different from other image information is stored in the storage means 101 as reference image information ( Step #13). At this time, it is determined whether or not the image information is different from other image information using an image identification processing method using image processing, which is a well-known technique.

After storing the reference image information as described above, by determining whether the distance to the floor surface measured by the movement detection sensor 20 has temporarily increased, the gas fan heater 1 is It is detected whether or not the user has moved to the location (step #14), and when it is detected that the user has moved, the infrared camera 16 acquires new image information and rewrites and stores it in the storage means 101 as reference image information (step #14). #15). The reference image information stored in this way is used for image information discrimination processing when issuing the next operation start command.

In the flowchart shown in FIG. 7, steps #1, #5 to #8, #11, and #12 correspond to the operation control means 100, and steps #2 to #4, #9, and #12 correspond to the steps #2 to #4, #9, and #12. 10, the processing from #13 to #15 corresponds to the image processing means 102.

According to the above configuration, when starting the operation of the gas fan heater 1 by wireless remote control using the smartphone 2, the location near the front of the hot air outlet 17B that was placed during the previous heating operation is detected. When an object that was not present is present, the heating operation can be prevented from being performed, and safety can be sufficiently ensured.

[Another embodiment]
(1) In the above embodiment, the image processing means 102 selects the image information that has been determined most times as not different from other image information among the plurality of image information acquired during the previous heating operation. Although the reference image information is stored as the reference image information, instead of this configuration, an image taken by the infrared camera 16 at the end of the previous heating operation may be stored as the reference image information. An image taken only once during the previous heating operation may be used automatically or by a manual command.

(2) In the above embodiment, after the reference image information is stored, when the movement detection sensor 20 detects that the gas fan heater 1 has moved, the reference image information is rewritten and stored. Alternatively, without using the movement detection sensor 20, for example, when the user moves the gas fan heater 1, the user may manually instruct the writing and storage process of the reference image information. The following configuration can be used. In short, it is sufficient to acquire image information of a nearby location in front of the device during the previous heating operation.

(3) In the above embodiment, the infrared camera 16 is used as the image information acquisition means, but the infrared camera 16 is not limited to the infrared camera 16, but it is equipped with a general image capturing camera and a lamp to illuminate the front of the device. It may be configured to allow photographing even in the state.

(4) In the above embodiment, the movement detection sensor 20 made of an ultrasonic sensor is used as the movement detection means, but instead of this configuration, for example, a light emitter that projects light and a device that receives reflected light can be used. A reflective optical sensor with a light receiver, an optical sensor that simply detects brightness, a contact sensor that is equipped with a contact piece that is grounded on the floor and that detects movement by swinging as the contact piece moves. Detection means of various configurations can be used, such as a vibration sensor that detects vibrations.

(5) In the above embodiment, the storage means 101 and the image processing means 102 are provided in the device-side control section 15 of the gas fan heater 1, but instead of this configuration, for example, the storage means 101 and the image processing means 102 , image processing means 102 may be provided in the external server 27, or may be provided in an external personal computer, tablet terminal, etc. connected via a communication line.

(6) In the above embodiment, the device side communication means 14 of the gas fan heater 1 was configured to be connected to the Internet line I via the router RU, but instead of this, networks with different standards may be relayed. The configuration may be such that the gateway is connected to the Internet line I via short-range wireless communication, or the configuration may be configured to be directly connected to the base station of the mobile phone network via a communication line. Further, in the above embodiment, the smartphone 2 and the gas fan heater 1 communicate information via the Internet line I and the external server 27. The smartphone 2 and the gas fan heater 1 may be directly communicably connected via distance wireless communication.

(7) In each of the above embodiments, when the gas fan heater 1 does not start the operation of the gas burner 12 even though the operation start information has been transmitted from the smartphone 2, this is displayed on the image display 21 of the smartphone 2. However, instead of this configuration, a configuration may be adopted in which the image display 21 does not display the image.

(8) Although a gas fan heater is illustrated as the heating device, a heating device such as an oil fan heater may be used.

(9) In the above embodiment, a smartphone is used as the external communication terminal, but instead, a conventional mobile phone, a tablet terminal, etc., or a stationary personal computer, etc. may be used.

Note that the configuration disclosed in the above embodiment (including other embodiments, the same applies hereinafter) can be applied in combination with the configuration disclosed in other embodiments, as long as there is no contradiction, and The embodiments disclosed in this specification are illustrative, and the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the purpose of the present invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be applied to a heating device operation system that includes a heating device such as a gas fan heater and an external communication terminal that remotely operates the heating device.

1 Gas fan heater (heating device)
2 Smartphone (external communication terminal)
12 Gas burner (heating means)
14 Device side communication means 16 Infrared camera (image information acquisition means)
20 Movement detection sensor (movement detection means)
100 Operation control means 101 Storage means 102 Image processing means

Claims (4)

A heating device and an external communication terminal that can remotely control the heating device are provided,
The heating device,
A burner-combustion heating means for heating an object to be heated, a device-side communication means capable of communicating various information with the external communication terminal via an information communication network, and an operation control means for controlling the operation of the heating device. A heating device operation system comprising:
image information acquisition means for acquiring image information of a nearby location in front of the device;
Storage means for storing image information acquired in the previous heating operation by the image information acquisition means as reference image information;
image processing means for processing the image information;
movement detection means for detecting whether the heating device has moved to a different position ;
The image processing means includes:
When receiving operation start information instructing to start operation of the heating device from the external communication terminal, it is determined whether or not the current image information acquired by the image information acquisition means is different from the reference image information. configured to determine;
The operation control means includes:
When the image processing means determines that there is no difference between the current image information and the reference image information, heating operation is started, and when the current image information and the reference image information are determined to be different. If it is determined that
The image processing means includes:
If the movement detection means detects that the heating device has moved after the reference image information is stored and until the operation start information is received from the external communication terminal, the image information is acquired. A heating device operating system that acquires image information using means and rewrites and stores the image information in the storage means as the reference image information . A heating device and an external communication terminal that can remotely control the heating device are provided,
The heating device,
A burner-combustion heating means for heating an object to be heated, a device-side communication means capable of communicating various information with the external communication terminal via an information communication network, and an operation control means for controlling the operation of the heating device. A heating device operation system comprising:
image information acquisition means for acquiring image information of a nearby location in front of the device;
Storage means for storing image information acquired in the previous heating operation by the image information acquisition means as reference image information;
An image processing means for processing the image information,
The image processing means includes:
When receiving operation start information instructing to start operation of the heating device from the external communication terminal, it is determined whether or not the current image information acquired by the image information acquisition means is different from the reference image information. configured to determine;
The operation control means includes:
When the image processing means determines that there is no difference between the current image information and the reference image information, heating operation is started, and when the current image information and the reference image information are determined to be different. If it is determined that
The image processing means includes:
During the previous heating operation, the image information was acquired multiple times at time intervals, and among the multiple acquired image information, the number of times it was determined that it was not different from other image information was the highest. A heating device operating system that stores image information as the reference image information. The heating device operation system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the image processing means determines whether or not the current image information and the reference image information are different based on an image recognition program. The heating device operation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the image information acquisition means is an infrared camera.

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