JP2005028066A - Remote cleaning management system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quickly and appropriately respond to trouble occurring in various places in unattended coin-operated laundries from a headquarters. <P>SOLUTION: The unattended laundries and the headquarters are connected by using a public telephone line for remote monitoring and operation. Video-phones, robot cameras, washing and drying machines and the like are arranged in the laundries and connected to a multi-controller. The laundry has a pushbutton switch to be pressed by a user to contact the headquarters. The headquarters can make an appropriate response while watching the video-phone of the headquarters. The remote management, remote monitoring, remote operation system allows even laundry owners to watch through cellular phone communication. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

Industrial application fields

  The present invention relates to a laundry management system.

  Conventionally, coin laundry stores have basically been equipped with washing machines, dryers, detergent dispensers, detergent vending machines, money changers, and telephones so that they can be operated unattended.

Problems to be solved by the invention

  There are a lot of inquiries about the trouble that the washing machine does not work even though coins generated at an unmanned coin laundry store have been inserted, and the owner of the coin laundry does not know the situation by telephone. It was.

Means for Solving the Invention

W-CDMA mobile phone FOMA is in 3G-324M mode, and conventional videophone is H.264. A dual-mode videophone capable of 320 mode is arranged in a store, and a multi-controller for remotely controlling a robot camera and a washing machine dryer using a DTMF signal used in the telephone is connected.
This multi-controller works well even with the button confirmation sound of a mobile phone, performs remote control of the robot camera such as pan, zoom and tilt, remotely controls the washing machine dryer etc. by parallel connector output, and connects by infrared signal Remote control of TV remote control operation.
The robot camera and the multi-controller are connected by a cascade cable, and the robot camera is controlled by a serial signal.
The robot camera has pan 340 ° tilt 90 ° zoom 16 times, and has the performance that an object 16M ahead appears to be 1M ahead.
From the headquarters, the same dual-mode videophone as the store is arranged to perform remote monitoring and remote operation. However, when the user goes out, the remote monitoring and remote operation can be performed from the outside using a mobile phone FOMA.
On the store side, a switch and a relay circuit that automatically connects a videophone to the headquarters by operating a push button switch are incorporated into the dual mode videophone.
Furthermore, the output of the condenser microphone is connected to the audio input for the dual-mode videophone on the store side, and the audio output of the dual-mode videophone is connected to the speaker input.
The lines to be used are ISDN (INS net 64) and FOMA network.

Action

By setting and using as described above, the cleaning remote management system of the present invention can be connected to a dual-mode videophone connected to a store-side dual-mode videophone from a videophone installed on the headquarters side to a robot camera installed in an unattended coin laundry store. Remote monitoring with images can be performed by the controller.
In addition, if a coin laundry user is in trouble, he / she can press the push button switch to contact the headquarters, and the headquarters can respond appropriately while checking the situation on the site from the videophone on the headquarters side.
In the case of a failure of the cleaning device, an open collector signal output from the multi-controller can be used to make it possible to use an alternative machine for the defective cleaning device from a remote location.
Since the dual-mode videophone on the store side can communicate with the W-CDMA mobile phone FOMA in 3G-324M mode, the coin laundry owner can use his / her mobile phone FOMA to view his / her store at any time.

A case where the cleaning remote management system is applied to a coin laundry store as a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
On the store side, a robot camera 1 is attached to the ceiling surface of the store. The video line 2 and the control signal line 3 are connected to a multi-controller 4, and the multi-controller 4 is connected to a dual-mode videophone 5, and a dual-mode TV. The telephone 5 is connected to the ISDN line 7 via the DSU 6.
In addition, a condenser microphone 8 is connected to the multi-controller to pick up sound from the store side, and is connected to a sequencer 10 built in the cleaning device dryer 9 by a control signal line 11.
The image of the robot camera 1 and the sound of the condenser microphone 8 are distributed to the dual mode videophone 5 and the hard disk recorder 13 by the audio video distributor 12, and an image is sent to the headquarters when connected via the dual mode videophone 5, and the store image Is always recorded on the hard disk recorder 13.
The dual mode videophone 5 is connected to a head office call push button switch 14 provided in a store via a relay circuit.
It is possible to view the store at any time on the videophone 15 at the headquarters, but if a customer who is in trouble at the store presses this headquarters call push button switch 14, the headquarters automatically confirms the image of the videophone 15 that has been set up. And can respond immediately.
Since this robot camera 1 can be rotated 340 degrees left and right and 100 degrees up and down and zoomed from 1 to 16 times, it is connected to the dual-mode videophone 5 on the store side by the DTMF sound from the videophone 15 on the headquarters side, and DTMF is connected by the multi-controller 4 The robot camera 1 is operated by converting the sound into a robot camera control signal.
An IR remote controller 17 is installed on the large TV 16 in the store and is connected to the multi-controller 4.
It is also possible to switch the input of the large TV 16 from the headquarters and project the headquarters video from cable broadcasting.
Furthermore, when the sequencer 10 receives a control signal from the multi-controller 5, the other dryers 20 and other dryers 21 with respect to the dryer 9 or the washing machine 18 and the detergent sales machine 19 predetermined from the sequencer 10 have failed. In this case, the sequencer 10 issues a signal so that it can be activated by remote control as an alternative machine, and can be used only once.
Finally, the sequencer 10 sends a signal to the customer who has encountered a problem so that the detergent vending machine 19 issues one detergent.
The exchange for these failure occurrence situations will be explained from the headquarters using the videophone 15, and the explanation will be shown on the large television 16 in the store.
When going out, the third-generation mobile phone FOMA 22 can be connected to the dual-mode videophone 5 on the store side for remote monitoring and remote control.
If it is a model that produces DTMF sound, the same operation as the videophone 15 on the headquarters side is possible.
As a second embodiment, a case where the cleaning remote management system is operated on the coin laundry store side will be described with reference to FIG.
Basically, a tone dialer 23 for generating a DTMF sound is connected to the multi-controller 4 in addition to the configuration shown in FIG.
As a result, even when the camera position is changed from the headquarters, it is possible to set the position and magnification that the store wants to record.

The invention's effect

As explained above, by using the cleaning remote management system of the present invention, when the user is troubled with the equipment of the coin laundry store, it is possible to inquire the headquarters by pressing the push button switch, and at that time the headquarters side displays the image. It is possible to respond according to the situation at the site.
At that time, the headquarters can expand the store's situation up to 16 times, check the image with a robot camera swinging 170 degrees left and right, 90 degrees up and down remotely, and answer by voice, when necessary Since the image of the person who corresponds to the headquarters side can be displayed on the large TV set in the store, the specific operation can be taught using the panel.
In this way, when the cause is found to be a device failure and the laundry device cannot be recovered, the alternative device can be used remotely.
In addition, a detergent is given as a gift from the detergent vending machine.
Normally, remote monitoring is performed as regular work at regular intervals from the headquarters to confirm the operational status and operational status of each store.
In this way, it became possible to remotely manage the cleaning of coin laundry stores that have many stores.
The present invention has been described by taking the cleaning industry centering on a coin laundry as an example, but it goes without saying that the present invention is applicable to all types of business that develop multiple stores in remote locations.

Connection diagram of remote cleaning management system applied to headquarters and laundromat Connection diagram that uses a remote cleaning management system and can be operated at the store.

Explanation of symbols

1 Robot Camera 2 Video Line 3 Control Signal Line 4 Multi-controller 5 Dual Mode Videophone 6 DSU (Digital Service Unit)
7 ISDN line 8 Condenser microphone 9 Dryer 10 Sequencer 11 Control signal line 12 Audio video distributor 13 Hard disk recorder 14 Push button switch 15 Video phone 16 Large TV 17 IR remote control 18 Washing machine 19 Detergent vending machine 20 Other washing machine 21 etc. Dryer 22 3rd generation portable FOMA
23 Tone Dialer

Claims (3)

  When the operation is unknown at a coin laundry store where the user uses a washing machine, etc., when a trouble occurs, the remote headquarters converts the DTMF sound of the videophone and IP videophone to a control output signal and remotely operates the laundry substitute machine Cleaning remote management system characterized by enabling.   If the user is troubled by the usage method etc. in claim 1, he / she can talk with the laundromat headquarters by pressing a push button switch installed in the store, and the user can actually operate the robot camera remotely from the headquarters side. Cleaning remote management system characterized by being able to check the status of   The present situation of the store can be remotely monitored from any place and any place according to claim 1 by using a third-generation mobile phone compatible with a videophone such as a W-CDMA system, a CDMA2000 system, etc. Cleaning remote management system characterized by being able to do things.

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