JP2000242882A - Data recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make performable remote operation and to make transmittable a trend waveform picture of measurement data to a host device by providing a remote control function for transmitting the measurement data, compressed trend waveform picture, etc., to the host device and controlling the operation of a device at a request from the host device. SOLUTION: A microprocessor 2, on once receiving a result to transmit a trend waveform picture from the host device 20, compresses the trend waveform picture stored in an image memory 7 to, for example, a JPEG data format by a file compressing means in a program ROM 4 and outputs the picture to a communication means 6. Further, the microprocessor 2, on once receiving a setting change command such as a start and a stop command for data recording and a range change command, controls a data recording device so as to comply with those requests according a remote control function in a program ROM 4. Consequently, the trend waveform picture can be transmitted to the host device and the data recording device can remotely be controlled by the host device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data recording device that can be remotely managed from a higher-level device installed at a distant place by using a communication technique such as the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional data recording device. In the figure, the input signal Vin is
The data is converted into a digital value by the input processing circuit 1 of the data processing device 50, and this value is read by the microprocessor 2 and the program ROM 4 and stored in the storage circuit 3. The stored data is displayed on the display 5 as a trend. However, the display 5 is not essential. The measurement data stored in the storage circuit 3 is transmitted by the communication means 6 via the communication line 53 to the host device 5 such as a computer.
1 for processing such as display and storage. Here, FIG. 5 is a view of the data processing device 50 as viewed from the front, and FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram in the case where 1 is connected by a communication line 53.

When the configuration shown in FIG. 6 is adopted, software for collecting, displaying, storing, etc., data of the data recording device 50 operates in the host device 51. With this software, a data reference request command is transmitted from the host device 51 to the data recording device 50 via the communication means 6, and the data recording device 50 sends out necessary data in response to the command. Further, in order to correctly display the measured data on the screen of the host device 51, it is necessary to simultaneously receive additional information such as a range, a span, and a unit from the data recording device 50 in addition to the measured data.

In a conventional data recording apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 6, it can be used as a data logger for collecting and storing data, or as a data monitor for only monitoring data.

[0005]

However, in the conventional data recording device, it is necessary to mount dedicated software on a host device regardless of whether the data recording device is used as the data logger or the data monitor. was there.

When a data recording device is used as a data monitor, it is generally desirable that data of the data recording device can be referred to from a plurality of higher-level devices. For this purpose, dedicated software is required for all target higher-level devices. It needs to be installed, and the software cost for that number is required. In addition, when the specifications of the data recording device are changed, there is also a problem that all the dedicated software installed in the host device must be changed.

Further, the data monitor monitors input signals of each data recording device while sequentially switching a large number of data recording devices. In such a case, the higher-level device collects a large amount of measurement data range information and the like from each data processing device, and displays a trend of the measurement data on the screen of the higher-level device. For this reason, there is also a problem that, in the host device, it is necessary to store past measurement data in order to display a trend of the measurement data on the data monitor screen even though it is not necessary to store the measurement data. . This means that the host device is always connected to the data recording device and performs data communication, and this is a serious problem in a data monitor that needs to switch and monitor a plurality of data recording devices.

[0008] The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems. By using the Internet technology, it is possible to perform remote control without installing dedicated software for a data recording device in a higher-level device, and to obtain measurement data. It is an object of the present invention to provide a data recording device capable of transmitting the trend waveform screen to a host device.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an input processing circuit for measuring an input signal and performing AD conversion on the input signal in the data recording apparatus. A storage circuit for storing the measurement data from the memory, a trend waveform screen generating means for generating a trend waveform screen from the measurement data stored in the storage circuit and storing the generated trend waveform screen in a built-in image memory, and a trend stored in the image memory. File compression means for compressing the waveform screen,
Communication means for transmitting and receiving information to and from the host device using the Internet technology, and a microprocessor for controlling the entire device, transmitting the measurement data and the compressed trend waveform screen and the like to the host device and transmitting data from the host device. A remote control function for controlling the operation of the apparatus according to a request is provided.

[0010] Thus, it becomes possible to transmit a trend waveform screen showing the tendency of past measurement data to the host device. Also, it becomes possible to remotely control the data recording device from the host device via the communication means.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the data recording device can be remotely controlled via the Internet.

According to the third aspect of the invention, it is possible to remotely control the data recording device from a browser screen of a higher-level device connected to the Internet.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to remotely control the data recording device using a WWW browser which is a general-purpose browser mounted on most computers connected to the Internet.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to easily notify an alarm of the data recording device to the host device by electronic mail.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to compress and transmit the trend waveform screen stored in the data recording device in the JPEG format which is standardly supported by most computers.

According to the invention described in claim 7, the above-described operation can be realized between a data recording device and a higher-level device connected by a local area network using Ethernet or the like.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a data recording device according to the present invention. 4 differs from FIG. 4 described in the conventional example in that an image memory 7 is mounted, and although not particularly shown, the communication means 6 has an Internet server function, the program ROM 4 has a storage circuit 3 A trend waveform screen generating means for generating a trend waveform screen from the measured data and storing it in the built-in image memory 7; a file compressing means for compressing the trend waveform screen stored in the image memory 7; It has a remote control function of transmitting a trend waveform screen or the like to the host device 20 and controlling the operation of the device in accordance with a control command signal from the host device 20. The other configuration is the same as that of the conventional example, and the description is omitted here.

In FIG. 1, an input signal Vin is converted into a digital signal by an input processing circuit 1 and stored in a storage circuit 3 as in the conventional example. Here, the microprocessor 2 develops the measured data stored in the storage circuit 3 into the image memory 7 as a trend waveform screen according to the trend waveform screen generating means of the program ROM 4.

The microprocessor 2 is a host device 2
When a transmission request for a trend waveform screen is received from 0, the trend waveform screen stored in the image memory 7 according to the file compression means of the program ROM 4 is converted to, for example, JPEG.
(Joint Photographic Expert Group) The data is compressed into a data format and output to the communication means 6.

Similarly, when the microprocessor 2 receives a setting change command such as a data collection start / stop command or a range change command from the host device 20, the microprocessor 2 receives the data recording device according to the remote control function of the program ROM 4 to satisfy these requests. Control.

Here, the communication means 6 provided in the data recording apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, data recording devices 10 to 12 and host devices 21 to 23 are connected to the Internet 30 via a local area network or directly. The communication means (not shown) of the data recording devices 10 to 12 has an Internet server function, and operates as an application in an Internet browser that satisfies the above-described remote control function (hereinafter referred to as application software). Is installed.

The host devices 21 to 23 are, for example, WWW
(World Wide Web) browser and an HTTP (Hyper Text Trans)
The communication is performed using a protocol such as ferProtocol). That is, in such a connection form, the Internet 1
The host devices 21 to 23 connected to 0 are computers on the client side, and the data recording device 10 is a server.

Therefore, when the application software of the data recording device 10 is acquired from, for example, a higher-level device (hereinafter, referred to as a client computer) 21 via a browser and executed on the client computer 21, the operation of operating the client computer 21 is performed. Is provided with a graphical user interface with which the operator can interact with the data recording device 10.

For example, when an address corresponding to the application software of the data recording device 10 is designated from the browser screen of the client computer 21, a screen 40 as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the screen of the client computer 21.

An operator can remotely control the data recording device 10 using the screen 40. For example, when a tab 41 for acquiring a trend waveform screen stored in the image memory of the data recording device 10 from the screen 40 of FIG. 3 is clicked with the mouse of the client computer 21, this request is transmitted to the data recording device 10, In accordance with this request, the data recording device 10 compresses the trend waveform screen stored in the image memory 10 into the JPEG format and transmits the JPEG format to the client computer 21. The client computer 21 decompresses the transmitted trend waveform screen compressed in the JPEG format and displays it on the display area 45 on the screen 40. Thereby, the worker can grasp the tendency of the input signal input to the data recording device 10.

Similarly, when the operator clicks the tab 42 for changing the setting of the data recording device 10 from the screen 40 with the mouse of the client computer 21, the data processing device 10 is displayed on the display area 45 of the screen 40.
A setting change screen (not shown) that allows the user to change settings and start / stop is displayed. The operator can change the setting of the data processing device 10 and start / stop the operation from this screen.

Further, it is possible to notify an alarm of the data recording device to the client computer by using the electronic mail technology.

Although the above description has been made on the case where the communication means is connected to the Internet, the same operation can be performed when the communication means is connected to a local area network not connected to the Internet. is there.

The foregoing description has been directed to specific preferred embodiments for the purpose of describing and illustrating the invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes many more modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.
This includes deformation.

Therefore, the screen of the client computer shown in FIG. 3 is not limited to the one described above, but can also display real-time data of measured values, and can also display a list of alarms and the like. It is.

Further, in the embodiment, the trend waveform screen is displayed in JP
Although the case of compressing to the EG data format has been described, the same operation as described above can be performed by compressing the trend waveform screen using another compression format.

[0032]

As is apparent from the above description,
According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the data recording device, it is possible to transmit a trend waveform screen indicating a tendency of past measurement data to the host device. When a data recording device is used as a data monitor, it is often possible to achieve the purpose if the overall tendency is grasped. In such a case, rather than collecting a lot of measurement data and ranges from the data recording device and displaying detailed measurement data values on the screen of the host device, it is more efficient and more suitable for the purpose to display the trend waveform screen immediately. ing. Therefore, by transmitting and displaying the trend waveform screen to the host device, the data communication amount can be significantly reduced, and the tendency of past measurement data can be immediately grasped.

According to the second to sixth aspects of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, since the remote control of the data recording device can be performed using general-purpose Internet technology, the data processing is performed by the higher-level device. Eliminates the need for special software to remotely control the device. Many personal computers are provided with hardware and browser software necessary for an Internet connection at the time of purchase. Therefore, there is no cost for remote control other than the purchase cost of the main unit, and even if the specifications of the data recording device are changed, only the modification of the data processing device side is required for the host device. No remodeling is required, maintenance is easy, and functions can be easily added or changed.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the above-described operation is connected by a local area network using Ethernet or the like regardless of whether or not the Internet is connected. It can be realized between the data recording device and the host device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a data recording device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a connection diagram of a data recording device according to the present invention with a host device.

FIG. 3 is a web screen diagram of the data recording device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional data recording device.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a conventional data recording device.

FIG. 6 is a connection diagram of a conventional data recording device with a host device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Input processing device 2 Microprocessor 3 Storage circuit 4 Program ROM 5 Display 6 Communication means 7 Image memory 10, 11, 12 Data processing device 21, 22, 23 Host device 30 Internet

Claims (7)

[Claims] An input processing circuit for measuring an input signal and performing A / D conversion, a storage circuit for storing measurement data output from the input processing circuit, and a measurement data stored in the storage circuit. A trend waveform screen generating means for generating a trend waveform screen from the image memory and storing it in a built-in image memory; a file compressing means for compressing the trend waveform screen stored in the image memory; and a communication means for transmitting and receiving information to and from a higher-level device A microprocessor for controlling the entire apparatus, and a remote control function for transmitting the measurement data and the compressed trend waveform screen and the like to a higher-level apparatus and controlling the operation of the apparatus according to a request from the higher-level apparatus. Characteristic data recording device. 2. The data recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said communication means is configured to be connected to the Internet. 3. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein said communication means has an Internet server function, and is configured to be capable of remote control from a host device connected to the Internet via a web browser. Data recording device as described. 4. The data recording device according to claim 3, wherein the web browser uses a WWW browser. 5. The data recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the remote control function is configured to be able to perform an alarm notification by e-mail. 6. The data recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said file compression means compresses information stored in said image memory into a JPEG data format. 7. The data recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said communication means is configured to be connected to a local area network.