JP2001307250A - Network system for maintenance and control of inside store equipment, central control device, method for notifying warning and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network system for maintenance and control of inside store equipment to make it possible to reduce the work burden and raise the operating efficiency of all maintenance businesses. SOLUTION: An information processing device 4, a central server 10 and a portable terminal 11 can communicate with one another through a network 8. The information processing device 4 conducts central control over a state of each equipment (show cases 1A-1D and refrigerator 2) inside the store that it manages and a warning. When the warning is issued, the information processing device 4 makes an electric mail automatically by using each set data for sorting the mails that in advance is set and registered in response to each warning and notifies to the central server 10 by the electric mail that the warning is issued. For example, when issued warning means an urgent repair needs, the information processing device 4 transmits the electric mail not only to the central server 10 but also to the portable terminal 11 that each maintenance man has and make the man nearby the scene go for repair immediately.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an in-store equipment maintenance / management network system for monitoring / maintenance / management of a showcase or the like, a centralized management device thereof, and an alarm notification method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a plurality of showcases are centrally managed in an environment (for example, a store such as a supermarket) in which a large number of showcases each having a control device such as a freezing / refrigerated showcase are installed. A network system in which a dedicated centralized controller is provided, the control device of each showcase is connected to the centralized controller by wire / wireless, and the centralized controller collects state data of each showcase and controls devices. Has been proposed. Further, it is proposed to connect them to an information processing device such as a personal computer to manage data, and to transmit state data of each showcase to a center device or the like outside a store via a public line network. Have been.

Also, for example, in the invention of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-264147 (patent number: 2708316), a device for collectively managing a plurality of showcases and the like in a store uses a showcase when data including an alarm is received. In addition to switching to the state of displaying the installation form such as, the display that identifies the showcase etc. that is generating an alarm in that state is performed, and the showcase etc. installed anywhere in the store becomes abnormal A centralized management device has been proposed that enables the user to easily and quickly grasp whether or not the device is operating.

[0004]

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
According to the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 264147, it is possible to easily and quickly grasp where a showcase or the like that is installed is abnormal, but it is a task of monitoring / managing devices such as the showcase. It is also important that the entire monitoring / management work be performed smoothly without waste. For example, it is necessary to make it easier to grasp the state of the device (temperature, etc.) except when an alarm or the like occurs (that is, at a normal time, for example). In addition, when an alarm occurs, usually, a monitoring person or the like needs to determine a countermeasure in accordance with the content of the alarm and, if necessary, perform an operation such as instructing a maintenance person. It is important to be able to obtain quickly. Further, it is desired to reduce the work load itself such as such determination and instruction.

Further, for example, even if an alarm (abnormal / failure of a showcase or the like) occurs and it is determined that the maintenance staff or the like is to go to the site for checking or repairing the equipment, the maintenance staff or the like is immediately dispatched. Whether it is an emergency that requires urgent repair or a less urgent one,
It was necessary to determine whether it was necessary to send maintenance personnel to the site in the first place, but the burden on the center and other personnel was large.

Further, as a phenomenon peculiar to a showcase / refrigerator installed in a supermarket store, once an alarm is generated, the alarm may be canceled after a while. This is because, for example, the outside air temperature or the amount of air heat near each showcase becomes a load, which affects the degree of cooling of each showcase (the temperature inside the refrigerator) or the liquid refrigerant circulating between each showcase and the refrigerator. It occurs when the pressure value or the like temporarily exceeds a predetermined threshold value (threshold value for judging whether or not there is an abnormality) due to an influence on a pressure value or the like, and is one of the causes of false reports.

[0007] In such a case, when the maintenance staff and the like are sent to the site, when the vehicle arrives at the site, the alarm has already been released. This is one of the causes of the increase in cost burden and human burden, which has led to deterioration in work efficiency as a whole maintenance work.

An object of the present invention is to make it possible to quickly grasp the normal state of a showcase or the like and the details of an alarm at the time of an alarm, to further assist a maintenance person in making a decision on dispatching, or to automatically perform maintenance. By providing an in-store equipment maintenance / management network system, a centralized management device thereof, and a storage medium for an alarm notification method, in which a staff or the like can be directed to the site, thereby improving the work efficiency of the entire maintenance work. is there.

[0009]

According to the in-store equipment maintenance / management network system of the present invention, a centralized system for collectively managing the operating states of a plurality of devices installed in each store and installed in each store. In the in-store equipment maintenance / management network system including a management device, a center server device communicating with each central management device via a network, and a portable terminal device possessed by each maintenance person, the central management device includes: A mail section storing means for storing a mail section set corresponding to each alarm content, and a mail section corresponding to the alarm content is obtained from the mail section storing means when an alarm is generated in any of the devices. E-mail creation / transmission for creating and sending an e-mail for alarm generation notification to the center server device and / or each of the portable terminal devices according to the classification. And a stage, wherein the center server device side or the portable terminal apparatus side, when the display receives the email, so the corresponding method can be seen that for alarms said generated.

That is, normally, when an alarm or the like occurs,
On the side of the center server device which has been notified that an alarm has been generated by some notification means such as e-mail, it is necessary to consider an appropriate countermeasure method and issue an instruction as necessary. For example, even if a maintenance worker is sent to the site to repair the vehicle, it is necessary to determine whether the repair is urgent or later, and the scheduling of dispatching the maintenance worker changes accordingly. In addition, such judgment /
If the person in charge of the center server device that performs the work is not a person with a certain level of experience, for example, a warning is issued that does not require the dispatch of maintenance personnel. The likelihood of occurrence is greater.

According to the in-store equipment maintenance / management network system, for each alarm content, a mail section indicating a corresponding response method is registered in advance, so that the person in charge can see, for example, the mail section. It is possible to understand how to respond to the generated alarm without having to make any determination.

Further, for example, when the mail section corresponding to the generated alarm is a section requiring urgent maintenance / repair, the electronic mail creating / transmitting means transmits the electronic mail for alarm generation notification to the electronic mail. The information is transmitted to the center server device and directly to the portable terminal device owned by each maintenance person.

[0013] As described above, depending on the mail classification, it is possible to notify each maintenance person directly and promptly go to the site without bothering the person in charge. Furthermore,
The centralized management device publishes the data indicating the operating status of the device that has generated the alarm for a predetermined time before and after the alarm is generated on the homepage, embeds the URL of the homepage in the email, and after the alarm is generated. Obtaining data indicating the operating state of the device that generated the alarm, and continuing to update the content of the home page with the data, the center server device is embedded in an e-mail sent from the central management device. The homepage is accessed by the URL to display the current operating state of the device that has generated the alarm.

[0014] This is the case where the mail classification is such that "the response method cannot be determined unless the actual state data of the device is viewed" or the above-mentioned "alarm is released a short while after the alarm is generated." In response to the phenomenon, the person in charge of the center server device can easily know the status of the device before the alarm is generated, when the alarm is generated, and the status of the device from when the alarm was generated until the present. If the alarm is canceled further on the way, you can immediately know this,
It is possible to prevent the maintenance staff from being unnecessarily dispatched, or to immediately recall the dispatched maintenance staff.

The centralized management device of the present invention is a centralized management device that collectively manages the operating states of a plurality of devices installed in a store. The centralized management device receives data on the operating conditions from the devices in real time. Data receiving means, layout data storage means for storing data relating to the installation layout of each device in a store, and displaying the layout of each device based on the data stored in the layout data storage means; Monitor display screen display means for displaying predetermined data in real time of the data related to the operation state of each device in association with the device, and when an alarm occurs in at least one of the devices, the monitor display screen Display means for switching and displaying an alarm content list display screen for displaying a list of the alarm content.

According to the above-mentioned centralized management device, usually,
The location of the equipment (showcase, etc.) in the store is displayed in an easy-to-understand manner, and when an alarm occurs, the screen is immediately switched to the alarm content list display screen to determine what type of alarm was generated. Can be grasped at a glance, and the subsequent response according to the contents of the alarm can be quickly performed.

Further, according to the alarm notification method of the present invention, in a centralized management device which is installed in each store and collectively manages the operation state of a plurality of devices installed in the store, any one of the devices An alarm notification method for creating an e-mail when an alarm is generated and notifying the external device of the occurrence of the alarm by the e-mail, using an e-mail section preset / registered corresponding to each alarm content, If it occurs, the e-mail is transmitted in a method / content according to the mail classification corresponding to the generated alarm.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an entire maintenance / management system for in-store equipment such as a showcase according to the present embodiment.

In the figure, showcases 1A, 1B,
1C and 1D are freezing and refrigeration showcases installed at various places in the store. Each showcase 1A-1D
Are provided with a controller (not shown), sensors for detecting various states such as temperature / humidity / wind speed of the showcase, various control devices, etc., and temperature control of each of the showcases 1A to 1D. (Temperature adjustment) control, defrost control, etc. are performed. The controller of each of the showcases 1A to 1D is connected to a system controller that centrally manages a plurality of showcases by a dedicated communication line (such as a dedicated serial communication line 5). And each showcase 1A-1
Various data indicating the state of D (temperature controlled temperature, output data of the solenoid valve, etc.) is sent to the system controller 3 via the dedicated serial communication line 5 and stored.

Similarly, for the (for example, large) refrigerator 2, a refrigerator controller (not shown) provided in the refrigerator 2 is connected to the system controller 3 by a dedicated communication line (a dedicated serial line or the like). I have. And
Various data indicating the state of the refrigerator 2 is sent to the system controller 3 via the dedicated serial communication line 5 to store the data.

Further, an information processing device 4 such as a personal computer or a network adapter (hereinafter referred to as NA) is installed in the store.
(Centralized management device), system controller 3 (or directly with each showcase 1A-1D or refrigerator 2)
And the information processing apparatus 4 can communicate with each other, and the information processing apparatus 4 can display the status of each of the showcases 1A to 1D and the state of the refrigerator 2 and analyze the display. In this case, since the dedicated serial communication line 5 cannot be directly connected to the general information processing device 4, the information
An interface conversion mechanism (serial communication conversion mechanism 6) for connecting 2C or the like and converting serial data flowing on the dedicated serial communication line 5 into an RS-232C communication system is provided.

The information processing apparatus 4 is connected to a dial-up router 7 via Ethernet (registered trademark) or the like, and is configured to be able to communicate with the center server 10 via the network 8 by the dial-up router 7. ing. The network 8 is a general public line (telephone line, ISDN or the like), a network such as a PHS or a mobile phone, or the Internet. Incidentally, the center server 10 is also connected to the dial-up router 9 via Ethernet or the like. As is well known,
Dial-up routers have a function of performing routing by automatically connecting to a network. Recent dial-up routers include a hub (HUB), a terminal adapter (TA), and a DSU (Digital Service Uniform).
Some models have all t) built-in.

The information processing device 4 and the center server 1
0 can naturally communicate with other information processing terminals and communication terminals via the network 8. In this example, the mobile terminal 11 carried by a maintenance person or the like will be described as an example. The mobile terminal 11 may be in any form, but it is necessary that the mobile terminal 11 has at least a communication function that enables communication via a network 8 wirelessly or by wire, and further has a function of sending and receiving e-mail and a function of using the Internet. It ’s desirable to have one (mobile phones,
Some PHSs have such a function.)

As described above, the system configuration itself is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 11-15217 filed by the applicant of the present invention.
No. 9, etc., and will not be described in further detail here.

The information processing device 4 has a function of monitoring the status of the showcase 1 / refrigerator 2 or the like, displaying an error content, and a function of transferring operation status data. These functions are provided by dedicated functions stored in the device. The program is realized by a CPU or the like executing the program.

FIG. 2 is a schematic hardware configuration diagram of the information processing apparatus 4. The schematic hardware configuration of the center server 10 is also substantially the same as that of FIG.

In FIG. 2, the information processing device 20 (4)
Comprises a CPU 21, a storage unit 22 (including a portable storage medium 22a), a memory 23, a display unit 24, an operation unit 25, an input / output interface unit 26, a communication unit 27, and the like.

The CPU 21 is a central processing unit that controls the entire information processing apparatus 20. The storage unit 22 stores at least the status of the above-described showcase 1 / refrigerator 2 and the like.
This is a storage device such as an HDD in which a program for realizing an abnormality content display function and an operation status data transfer function is stored. Alternatively, the storage unit 22 may be a combination of a portable storage medium 22a and its drive / reading device (for example, a floppy disk (FD) and a floppy (registered trademark) disk drive (FDD)). The portable storage medium 22a includes a CD-ROM, a memory card, a DVD,
MO and others.

The memory 23 temporarily stores a program stored in the storage unit 22 and stores the program in the CPU.
21 to be executed by the RAM 21 or the like. The display unit 24
A display case or the like, and a showcase 1 as described later.
/ The state of the refrigerator 2 is displayed in real time, and when an alarm occurs, the screen is switched to a screen for displaying the details of the failure.

The operation section 25 is a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and the user uses the operation section 25 to perform a desired operation such as a screen switching display operation described later. I / O interface 2
6 connects a communication line such as the RS232C, for example,
This is an interface for inputting status data, alarm data, and the like of each of the showcases 1A to 1D and the refrigerator 2.

The communication unit 27 has a generally well-known configuration for connecting to, for example, the above-described Ethernet or the like so that a dial-up router can communicate with another information processing apparatus via the network 8.

Here, the present invention is not limited to the apparatus itself such as the information processing apparatus 4 and the center server 10, but stores a program for realizing various functions according to the present invention when used by a computer. It can also be configured as a computer-readable recording medium (storage medium) itself.

In this case, the “recording medium” includes, for example, FIG.
CD as an example of the portable storage medium 22a
A portable storage medium such as a ROM 28, a floppy disk 29, or the like (of course, not limited to these examples, an MO, a DVD, a removable hard disk, etc., as long as they are in the category of a "portable storage medium"). Not only that, but also a “recording medium” of any external information processing device (not shown) communicable via the network 8 is included. Naturally, the storage device (RAM / RO) in the information processing device 20 is used.
M or a hard disk).

FIG. 3 is an example of a normal monitor screen displayed on the display unit 24 of the information processing apparatus 4. Like the display screen 30 shown in the figure, the information processing device 4 has a function of performing layout display so that the installation positions of the showcase, the refrigerator, and the like in the store can be seen at a glance. Specifically, it will not be described in detail. For example, in a manner similar to the above-described related art, data on an installation mode of a showcase or the like may be stored, and a layout may be displayed based on the data. In addition, in the figure, still images 31 of each showcase, refrigerator, and the like are displayed, but the present invention is not particularly limited to such a display mode. Similarly, above the still image of each showcase, the name indicating the type of showcase, such as each showcase, such as "lunch box", "daily case", etc., is displayed (of course, these names are set in advance. It is not necessary to limit to such a display form.

Here, in the information processing apparatus 4 of the present embodiment, as shown in the figure, not only the type of each showcase and the installation position in the store are displayed so as to be understood, but also
Displays the temperature of each showcase in real time. FIG.
As described above, the information processing device 4 is configured to be able to communicate with each of the showcases 1A to 1D / the refrigerator 2 and the system controller 3, so that, for example, each of the showcases 1A to 1D
A to 1D / The current internal temperature data of the refrigerator 2 is sampled and collected at regular intervals (for example, every 5 seconds), and this is collected at a position corresponding to the showcase or the refrigerator (in the example of the figure, below the still image). Side) 32.

As described above, in order to monitor the state of each showcase or refrigerator (for example, the temperature in the refrigerator), especially in a normal state, what kind of showcase or refrigerator at which position in the store is currently used. The user can easily understand at a glance what the state is.

Further, as shown in the figure, not only the layout of the showcase and the like but also the layout of other components (for example, a display shelf, a cashier counter, a book shelf, etc.) are displayed. That is, usually, only a showcase or the like is not installed in a store. Therefore, even if a layout of only a showcase is displayed, it is often difficult to understand when actually going to the place. Therefore, by displaying the layout of another configuration together, the installation position of the showcase or the like can be grasped more easily.

As described above, in a normal state, the state of a showcase or the like is monitored while looking at the display screen 30 shown in FIG. 3, but when an abnormality (alarm) occurs in any of the showcases or the like, A popup 40 for notifying the occurrence of an alarm as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed at an arbitrary position (anywhere) on the display screen 30. At the same time, a warning sound (buzzer or the like) for notifying the occurrence of the warning may be sounded.

In this state, it is only known that some alarm has been generated in any of the showcases. However, the observer or the like operates the mouse or the like and clicks the OK button in the pop-up 40. When the user clicks 41, the screen is switched to an alarm content list display screen 50 as shown in FIG. In this alarm content list display screen 50, the case number is displayed. 51, the use 52, the abnormal lamp 53, and the contents 54 are displayed in a list for all showcases, refrigerators, and the like installed in the store.

Case NO. In the column of 51, an identification number given in advance to each showcase or the like is displayed (in this example, the serial numbers are 1 to 6). Use 52
Column indicates the actual use of each device (showcase, refrigerator, etc.) (for example, for a lunch box case, a daily delivery case, a walk-in, etc.). The entered data is displayed. In the column of the abnormal lamp 53, a mark is displayed when an alarm is generated for the corresponding device, and in addition, the content of the alarm is displayed in detail in the column of the content 54. For example, as shown in the example of the figure, the content of the alarm is displayed concretely / detailed, not simply indicating the status data such as the internal temperature, such as “the temperature has risen above the high temperature alarm setting”. As described later, setting and input are made in advance in correspondence with each alarm.)

The processing contents of the information processing device 4 when the above-mentioned alarm occurs will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, in the storage unit 22 of the information processing device 4, the data for displaying the alarm content list is stored in a table format in a form corresponding to the display screen shown in FIG.

Therefore, here, the table is not specifically shown, and the list in FIG. 5 will be described as a table. That is, case NO. 51, use 5
2, the abnormal lamp 53 and the contents 54 will be described as fields constituting the table.

First, as described above, the information processing apparatus 4 communicates with each device or the system controller 3 in order to collect status data of each device in real time as described above. The data received from the system controller 3 includes an alarm bit (alarm flag) indicating whether or not an alarm has been generated. If the alarm bit is set, data for notifying that an alarm has been generated is received. It is determined that the operation has been performed (step S11). The alarm notification data further includes an identification number (case number) of the device in which the alarm has occurred and text data indicating the content of the alarm. , The data of the contents of the alarm is extracted (step S12).
Is used as a key and the case NO. A search is made for 51 fields (step S13).

Then, the flag of the abnormal lamp 53 of the record having the matching key is turned on, and text data indicating the contents of the alarm extracted from the received data is stored in the field of the contents 54 (step S14).

If there are a plurality of alarm notifications, the processes in steps S12 to S14 are repeated. In this way, when it is ready to display the alarm list screen, the pop-up of FIG. 4 is displayed on the screen of FIG. 3 (step S1).
5). In addition, the sentence “An error has occurred in the monitored device” in the pop-up in FIG. 4 is input and stored in advance by the user or the like.

When the user or the like clicks the OK button 41 (step S16, YES), an alarm content list display screen 50 as shown in FIG.
(Step S17).

After that, processing / display etc. according to the user's operation are performed. In parallel with such display processing, an electronic mail automatic transmission processing described later is also performed.

As described above, when any kind of alarm is generated in any of the devices, simply clicking the OK button 41 of the pop-up 40 for notifying the generation of the alarm immediately switches to a screen listing the contents of the alarm. You can quickly understand what kind of alarm occurred on which device,
Further, it is possible to quickly determine whether or not to request maintenance / repair. Further, even if a failure or the like occurs in a plurality of devices as shown in the figure, the details of each failure can be known at a time.

When the alarm sound is set to sound, clicking the alarm sound stop button 33 stops the sound.
To return to the normal monitoring screen of FIG. 3, the layout screen button 55 may be clicked. Conversely, when it is desired to switch from the screen of FIG. 3 to the screen of FIG. 5, the list screen button 34 may be clicked.

As described above, when an alarm occurs in a device such as a showcase or the like, the information processing device 4 such as a personal computer of the store immediately switches to the alarm content list display screen 50 to determine what kind of alarm is displayed. Can be seen at a glance, but the work as a whole monitoring / management task does not end there. For example, depending on the contents of the alarm, it is necessary to call a maintenance person for repair, and it is necessary to determine whether repair is required urgently or to some extent later. You also have to decide if you want to go for repairs.

Usually, such a determination and a decision to dispatch a maintenance person are made by a person in charge of the center server 10 after receiving a notification of an alarm from the information processing device 4 by e-mail or the like. It was time-consuming, and had to be assigned to a skilled person who could judge what kind of response was necessary depending on the contents of the alarm (otherwise, for example, If maintenance personnel are dispatched at the time of an alarm that is not necessary, maintenance personnel may be dispatched unnecessarily, and the overall efficiency of monitoring / management operations may be reduced, and the cost of labor and other costs may increase. According to the monitoring / management system for a showcase or the like of the present embodiment, the information processing apparatus 4 transmits the e-mail itself automatically transmitted when an alarm is generated, as described below, to the judgment of the person in charge and the maintenance staff. of To what can reduce the time and effort of work related to the dynamic or the like, or have been to allow the business as a person in charge to some extent anyone.

First, automatic transmission of an electronic mail when an alarm occurs will be described. The e-mail automatic transmission function has already been filed by the applicant of the present invention and will not be described in detail here.
This will be schematically described with reference to the setting / input screen of FIG.

First, FIG. 7 shows a network setting screen 60.
It is a figure showing an example of. Since this only performs necessary network-related settings, it will not be described in detail. For example, as shown in the figure, the IP address 61, the subnet mask 62, the default gateway 63, the SM
Enter the settings in the input boxes for the TP server 64, domain name 65, mail account 66, administrator name 67, administrator affiliation department 68, administrator email address 69, management user name 70, and management password 71. Then, when the setting button 74 is clicked, the input setting contents are registered / stored. Further, in order to newly enter / change the setting contents, the user must enter the user name 72 and the password 73 to obtain permission.

FIG. 8 shows an e-mail destination setting screen 80.
It is a figure showing an example of. The destination set / input on this screen is determined not only to send an e-mail to the center server 10 side but also to a mobile terminal or the like owned by each maintenance / management staff, as described later. In this case, the email address of each mobile terminal.

As shown in the figure, the maintenance / management personnel are input into the input boxes of the name 81, the department 82, and the mail address 83, respectively, and when the setting button 84 is clicked, the setting contents are registered / stored. I do.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the event notification setting screen 90, which is related to the feature of the present embodiment. This is a screen for setting / registering whether to send an e-mail.

The setting / registration is performed in correspondence with each occurrence event 91 (alarm content). That is, for each occurrence event 91, a field 92 for setting whether or not to transmit to the administrator, a field 93 for setting whether or not to transmit to other destinations, a field 94 for inputting the contents of an e-mail message, a mail classification 9
5, necessary settings / inputs are made respectively.

The columns 92, 93 and 94 need not be particularly described. What is necessary is just to make a desired setting or to create a message of a sentence in which the contents of the alarm are transmitted in an easily understandable manner.

Although the mail section 95 will be described later in detail, in this example, four mail sections corresponding to the contents of the failure are prepared, and e-mail transmission is performed according to the mail section, and the mail section itself is set at the center. By notifying the person in charge at the server 10 side, the judgment burden on the person in charge can be reduced.

In the example shown in the figure, as the mail section 95 corresponding to each occurrence event 91, “9. Ice bank occurrence”, “7. Frost warning”
As for “high temperature abnormality”, “fluorescent lamp replacement time notice” is set / input. It should be noted that other than the occurrence events 91, the mail section 95 is not particularly shown, and the mail section is actually set / input.

The setting / input of the mail section is desirably performed by a skilled person or the like who can judge what kind of alarm should be taken when an alarm occurs. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the user is also made to selectively input in the selection / input area of the periodic log transmission setting (administrator only) 96 and the event log transmission setting 97. In the selection / input area of the periodic log transmission setting 96, whether or not to periodically transmit the log information of each device to the center server 10 is set. In the example shown in the figure, there are three options of “not transmit”, “transmit as daily report”, and “transmit as weekly report”, and “transmit as daily report” is selected.

In the selection / input area of the event log transmission setting 97, when an event, that is, an alarm or the like occurs,
The user is allowed to set whether or not to transmit the log information of the device on which the alarm has occurred.

As described above, the data input on the setting / input screens of FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 is stored in the storage unit 22. Alternatively, it is stored in the memory 23. FIG.
(A)-(c) is a figure which shows an example of the data storage format.

The network-related setting data 101 shown in FIG. 10A only shows a state in which the data set and input in FIG. 7 is stored as it is, and therefore will not be particularly described. The data 102 of the destination address of the e-mail shown in FIG. 10B is obtained by inputting the names and e-mail addresses of ten maintenance personnel on the setting / input screen of FIG. Only the address is shown. Of course, it is not shown, but also stores data such as names.

FIG. 10C shows a state in which the settings on the screen of FIG. 9 are stored in a table format. The table 103 shown in the figure is almost the same as the setting contents on the screen of FIG. 9, and corresponds to each of the generated events 104, the administrator 105, the other person 106, and the message storage address 10.
7. Each data of the mail section 108 is stored. Note that, in the administrator 105 and the other person 106, columns 92 and 93 in FIG.
Is set to "1" when "transmit" is set, and "0" is stored otherwise. The message storage address 107 stores the address of the storage area where the message document input in the column 94 in FIG. 9 is stored. In the mail section 108, for example, “3” is in the mail section 95 in FIG.

Using the data set and stored as described above, when an alarm occurs, an e-mail is transmitted by the processing shown in FIG. 11 according to the contents of the alarm (abnormal). Note that the processing shown in the figure is performed following the processing in step S12 in FIG.

First, the field of the occurrence event 104 in the table 103 is searched using the alarm content extracted from the received alarm notification data as a key (step S21).
An e-mail is transmitted to the administrator on the center server 10 side and / or each maintenance person depending on whether the bit is “1” or “0” by referring to the fields of the administrator 105 and the other person 106 of the matching record. Is determined (step S
22).

First, a mail header is created (step S23). To do this, first use the "subject:
The name of the generated event 104 is used as the “subject”. For example, “subject: commercial power supply error”. Next, a destination is created. For example, when the bit of the administrator 105 is “1”, the destination is the “administrator mail address” in the network-related setting data 101 shown in FIG. Further, if the bit of the other person 106 is “1”, at least one or all or all of the mail addresses are obtained from the destination address data 102 shown in FIG. Each,
Create an e-mail to be the destination (or cc). Next, a sender name is created. The sender name is "" mail account "+" domain name "in the network-related setting data 101.

After the e-mail header is created as described above, the e-mail body is created (step S2).
4). First, the case number of the received alarm data. Is inserted into the body of the e-mail. Further, the alarm occurrence time is obtained from the internal clock IC. Further, from the table 103, the message document data stored at the address of the message storage address 107 of the corresponding record is acquired. Then, these are inserted into the body of the e-mail. Further, although not particularly described so far, when an alarm occurs, the contents of the alarm such as the alarm list screen switched and displayed on the display unit 24 and the detailed status data (temperature data, etc.) are automatically generated by the homepage automatic creation function ( The function of the invention, which has already been filed by the applicant of the present invention, will not be described in detail), and is posted on a homepage. The “IP address” of the network-related setting data 101 is the address of the homepage, and a URL (http: // “IP address”) is created using the “IP address”.
Embed this in the body of the email. The e-mail recipient can refer to the homepage by clicking the position where the URL is embedded. The technique of linking to the home page by clicking the URL in the body of the e-mail is already well known.

Further, the data of the mail section 108 is inserted into the body of the electronic mail. Then, the created e-mail is transmitted (step S25). As a result, for example, a screen as shown in FIG. 12 is displayed on the center server 10 or the portable terminal 11 of each maintenance worker, and the contents of the e-mail can be viewed. From this, first, an alarm is issued for which NO. , What time the alarm occurred, what the content of the alarm is, what the mail classification is, and so on. When actually transmitting an e-mail, the “SMTP server address” of the network-related setting data 101 is acquired, and the e-mail is transmitted according to the SMTP.

Here, in the present embodiment, a method for responding to an alarm is determined in advance according to the mail classification. In the case of the mail classification, urgent maintenance / repair is required. For example, when an ice bank occurs, the showcase or the like does not cool down at all, and the freshness of the product drops sharply. Therefore, the occurrence of an ice bank is indicated by “mail classification;” in the body of the e-mail, and the person in charge of the center server 10 needs to immediately perform maintenance / repair without any judgment. You can see that. Further, when the mail classification is, the column 93 in FIG. 9 is set so as to be always "send". From this, not only the center server 10,
An e-mail is also automatically sent to the mobile terminal 11 of each maintenance person, and a nearby person can immediately go to the corresponding store, remove the ice bank, etc., and prevent the quality of the product from deteriorating. This eliminates the need for a person in charge of the center server 10 to instruct maintenance personnel to head to the site.

When the mail classification is, maintenance / repair is required, but no urgency is required. For example, when a frost alarm occurs, the water in the drain tank (a tank for defrosting and collecting dew in the case) must be drained unless water overflows from the tank and the floor becomes flooded. It takes some time. From this, the person in charge of receiving the e-mail of the mail section; knows that it is not necessary to perform maintenance / repair immediately, and schedules maintenance / repair so that maintenance can be performed before water overflows from the tank. In addition, efficient maintenance / repair scheduling can be established.

If the mail classification is, it is impossible to judge how to cope with it without looking at the actual state data of the device. For example, when a high-temperature abnormality occurs, the threshold value for determining a high-temperature abnormality may be inappropriate depending on the device (or depending on the surrounding environment of the installation location). However, the temperature in the refrigerator may temporarily rise. In such a case, even if it is a high temperature abnormality, it cannot be said that a failure has occurred. Therefore, the person in charge of receiving the e-mail of the mail classification; clicks the above URL to refer to the homepage (FIG. 13 described later, etc.) and refer to the actual state data of the device in which the alarm has occurred, or By observing the change over time in the status data for a while, it is determined whether or not a failure has occurred, that is, whether or not it is necessary to dispatch a maintenance person.

When the mail classification is, there is no need to dispatch a maintenance person. For example, when the fluorescent lamp replacement notice is given, the fluorescent lamp inside the showcase is dirty,
Or the illuminance is low due to long use.
In this case, it is necessary to clean and replace the fluorescent lamp, but the maintenance staff does not have to do much work, but only the employees of the store need to do it. In this case, the person in charge of the center server 10 is
Since it is only necessary to recommend that the person in the store replace the fluorescent lamp by telephone or e-mail, the maintenance staff is not wasted.

As described above, the person in charge of the center server 10 can understand how to respond by looking at the mail classification of the received e-mail. Can be Further, in the case of the mail classification, since an e-mail notifying the occurrence of an alarm is automatically sent to each maintenance staff, the trouble of arranging the maintenance staff can be omitted and the occurrence of the alarm can be dealt with promptly.

Next, as described above, the alarm may be canceled after a while even if the alarm is generated. In such a case, it is wasteful to dispatch the maintenance staff.
Or, if you have already been dispatched, you want to recall before you arrive at the site.

As described above, when an alarm is generated, the information processing apparatus 4 publishes the status data of the device that has generated the alarm and the status data (history data) of the device before the alarm is generated on the homepage. During this time, the status data of the device is continuously obtained, and thereby the content of the homepage is continuously updated.

When the center server 10 accesses the home page by clicking the URL, a latest operation information display screen 110 as shown in FIG. 13, for example, is displayed. Are displayed (such as internal temperature data).
The person in charge of the center server 10 waits for a while on this screen 110 after receiving the e-mail notifying of the occurrence of the alarm, and dispatches a maintenance staff if the alarm does not clear. To

By doing so, useless dispatch of maintenance personnel can be reduced, and costs can be reduced. Further, if the maintenance person is notified that the alarm has been released on the screen 110 after dispatching the maintenance person, the person in charge may, for example, send an e-mail message indicating that the alarm has been released before the maintenance person arrives at the site. Has been done. " Thus, if the maintenance staff returns before arriving at the site, wasteful labor can be reduced as much as possible.

In the description of the above-described embodiment, an example in which an alarm is notified to the portable terminal 11 by electronic mail has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a pager or the like may be used.

Recently, the homepage and the like can be viewed on the portable terminal 11. Therefore, each maintenance person may be able to refer to the homepage on his / her own portable terminal 11.

[0082]

As described above in detail, according to the in-store equipment maintenance / management network system, the centralized management device, and the alarm notification method of the present invention, the normal state of a showcase or the like and the alarm state are displayed. It is possible to promptly grasp the contents of alarms, etc., to further assist in judgment / work related to dispatch of maintenance personnel, or to automatically send maintenance personnel to the site, or to dispatch maintenance personnel in vain. It is possible to reduce the possibility that the maintenance work will be performed, or to immediately call back during the operation, thereby reducing the work load / improving the work efficiency as a whole of the maintenance work and reducing the human cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an entire maintenance / management system for in-store equipment such as a showcase.

FIG. 2 is a schematic hardware configuration diagram of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an example of a normal monitor screen displayed on a display unit of the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a display example of a pop-up notifying that an alarm has occurred;

FIG. 5 is an example of an alarm content list display screen that is switched and displayed.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of the information processing apparatus when an alarm occurs.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network setting screen.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an e-mail transmission destination setting screen.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of an event notification setting screen.

FIGS. 10A to 10C are diagrams illustrating an example of a data storage format of data input on the setting / input screens of FIGS. 7, 8, and 9;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a procedure of an electronic mail transmission process when an alarm occurs.

FIG. 12 is an example in which an e-mail notified when an alarm occurs is displayed on a display screen of a center server or a mobile terminal.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a latest operation information display screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D Showcase 2 Refrigerator 3 System controller 4 Information processing device 5 Dedicated serial communication line 6 Serial communication conversion mechanism 7 Dial-up router 8 Network 9 Dial-up router 10 Center server 11 Mobile terminal 20 Information processing device 21 CPU 22 Storage unit 22a Portable storage medium 23 Memory 24 Display unit 25 Operation unit 26 Input / output interface unit 27 Communication unit 28 CD-ROM 29 Floppy disk 30 Display screen 31 Still image 32 Temperature display 33 Alarm sound stop button 34 List screen button 40 Pop-up 41 OK button 50 Alarm contents list display screen 51 Case No. 52 Application 53 Error lamp 54 Contents 55 Layout screen button 60 Network setting screen 61 IP address 62 Subnet mask 63 Default gateway 64 SMTP server 65 Domain name 66 Email account 67 Administrator name 68 Administrator section 69 Administrator email address 70 Management User name 71 Management password 72 User name 73 Password 74 Setting button 80 E-mail destination setting screen 81 Name 82 Affiliation department 83 Email address 84 Setting button 90 Event notification setting screen 91 Event notification setting screen 91 Occurrence event (alarm content) 92 Send to administrator Field for setting whether or not to send 93 Field for setting whether or not to send to other destinations 94 Field for inputting the content of e-mail message 95 Mail category 96 Periodical log transmission setting 97 Event log transmission setting 101 Network-related setting data 102 Destination address data 103 Table 104 Occurring events 105 Administrator 106 Others 107 Message storage address 108 Mail classification 110 Latest operation information display screen

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04M 11/04 H04M 11/04 (72) Inventor Dai Togashi 1-1-1 Tanabe Nitta, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture No.F-term (reference) in Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. BB03 BB12 BB14 BB20 BB48 BB74 BB76 CC52 DD08 DD33 EE14 FF01 FF04 FF19 FF20 FF23 GG07 GG21 GG22 GG24 GG30 GG31 GG32 GG43 GG50 GG51 GG57 GG70 5K101 KK02 KK14 LL01

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A centralized control device installed in each store and collectively managing the operation state of a plurality of devices installed in the store, and a center server device communicating with each centralized control device via a network And an in-store equipment maintenance / management network system comprising a portable terminal device owned by each maintenance person, wherein the centralized management device stores a mail classification set corresponding to each alarm content. When an alarm is generated in any of the devices, a mail classification corresponding to the contents of the alarm is obtained from the mail classification storage means, and an alarm is generated in the center server device and / or each of the portable terminal devices according to the mail classification. E-mail creation / transmission means for creating and transmitting an e-mail for notification, wherein the center server device side or the mobile terminal device side comprises:
The in-store equipment maintenance / management network system, wherein when the electronic mail is received and displayed, a method of responding to the generated alarm is known. 2. The electronic mail creating / transmitting means according to claim 1, wherein, if a mail category corresponding to the generated alarm is a category requiring urgent maintenance / repair, the electronic mail for alarm generation notification is sent to a center server. 2. The in-store equipment maintenance / management network system according to claim 1, wherein the data is transmitted to the device and directly to a portable terminal device carried by each maintenance person. 3. The central management device publishes, on a homepage, data indicating the operation status of the device that has generated the alarm for a predetermined time before and after the alarm is generated, and embeds the URL of the homepage in the electronic mail. Even after the alarm is generated, the data indicating the operating state of the device that generated the alarm is acquired, and the content of the homepage is continuously updated with the data. 3. The in-store equipment maintenance / management network system according to claim 1, wherein the homepage is accessed by using the embedded URL, and an operation state of the equipment which has generated the alarm up to the present time is displayed. 4. A centralized management device that collectively manages operating states of a plurality of devices installed in a store, a data receiving unit that receives data on the operating conditions from each of the devices in real time, and each of the devices. A layout data storage unit for storing data relating to an installation layout in a store, and displaying a layout of each device based on the data stored in the layout data storage unit, and associating each device with the displayed device. Monitor display screen display means for displaying predetermined data in real time among the data relating to the operation state, and when an alarm occurs in at least one of the devices,
Display means for switching and displaying from the monitor display screen to an alarm content list display screen for displaying a list of the alarm content. 5. A centralized management device which is installed in each store and collectively manages the operation status of a plurality of devices installed in the store, wherein an e-mail is created when an alarm is generated in any of the devices. An alarm notification method for notifying an external device of the occurrence of an alarm by the e-mail, using an e-mail section which is set / registered in advance corresponding to each of the contents of the alarm, and responding to the generated alarm when the alarm is generated. An alarm notification method, wherein the electronic mail is transmitted in a method / content according to a mail classification. 6. When used in a computer which is installed in each store and collectively manages the operation status / alarms of a plurality of devices installed in the store, it is set corresponding to each alarm content. A mail section storing means for storing a mail section; and an alarm section corresponding to the content of the alarm is obtained from the mail section storing means when an alarm is generated in any of the devices. E-mail creating / sending means for creating and sending an e-mail for notification of alarm occurrence to the device; and a computer-readable recording medium storing a program for realizing the following.