JP2002140414A - Security system using water section equipment and its method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To highly precisely judge the presence or absence of the abnormality of a resident based on the using situation of life equipment in a house. SOLUTION: A plurality of water section equipment (toilet washer or the taps of a kitchen, a bathroom, or a washroom or the like) installed in a house are respectively provided with water flow sensors 11A-11D, and a front door is provided with a resident's absence setter 11E for allowing a resident to set whether or not he is absent. Then, signals from those sensors 11A-11E are received by a security server 12, and the use history of each water relevant equipment and the history of the resident's absence or presence is grasped so that the abnormality of the resident, the failure of the water relevant equipment, and the intrusion of outsiders in the resident's absence or the like can be detected based on the use history of the respective water relevant equipment and the resident's absence or presence history, and that a security company, the user himself, and the user's family or the like can be informed of the detected result.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a security system using a computer for detecting the presence or absence of an abnormality of a resident from the usage status of living equipment installed in a house and notifying a security company or a related person.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to be able to monitor the security of elderly and sick people living alone from a remote location, a system for detecting and reporting abnormalities of residents from the use of lighting equipment in a house, and a hot water supply pot. 2. Description of the Related Art There are known systems for detecting and reporting abnormalities of residents based on usage.

[0003]

However, since these prior arts judge an abnormality of a resident by relying on the use condition of a certain living device, the judgment result has sufficiently high reliability. I can't say it has. In particular, if the device breaks down, the result of the determination based on the usage status becomes completely unreliable. However, in the related art, it is impossible to know whether the device is normal or has failed.
In addition, the conventional technology is not limited to judging abnormalities of the resident, but performs security monitoring from various viewpoints, including whether there is a failure of the equipment and whether an outsider has entered the house. Can not.

[0004] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to make it possible to determine with high accuracy whether or not a resident has an abnormality based on the usage status of living equipment.

Another object of the present invention is not only to determine whether or not there is an abnormality in a resident based on the usage status of living equipment, but also from other viewpoints such as equipment failure or intrusion of an outsider into a house. The purpose is to enable security monitoring at the same time.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A security system according to the present invention is a living system which is particularly likely to be used every day, such as a water fountain (for example, a toilet flushing device for a toilet, a kitchen, a bathroom or a washroom). Faucets, water heaters, etc.
Is used to determine the presence or absence of an abnormality in the resident. And one
Rather than relying solely on one plumbing device, make a comprehensive decision based on the usage of multiple plumbing devices.

[0007] That is, a security system according to the present invention comprises a receiving means for receiving a use status signal indicating a use status of a plurality of water supply equipment provided in a house, and a plurality of the plurality of water supply devices based on the received use status signals. Storage means for grasping and storing the use history of the water supply equipment; abnormality determination means for determining the presence or absence of an abnormality of the resident based on the stored use history of the plurality of water supply equipment; and determining that there is an abnormality of the resident. When done
Means for issuing a notification to that effect.

[0008] According to this system, since the water-using equipment which a person would use every day is used and the usage status of a plurality of water-using equipment is checked, the abnormality of the resident is judged with higher accuracy than before. be able to.

In a preferred embodiment, the usage history of two or more predetermined water-supply equipment is monitored, and when none of the equipment has been used for a predetermined time or more until now, the resident is notified. Judge as abnormal. For example, as the two or more devices, those which are particularly likely to be used by normal persons, such as toilet flushing in toilets and faucets in kitchens, are suitable. And the length of time that both of these devices would be used at least once by a normal person, for example, 2
If it has not been used at all for four hours, it is determined that the resident has failed (unless the resident is out). In fact, in such a case, it is very likely that an abnormality has occurred in the resident, so that a highly reliable abnormality notification can be performed.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment, in combination with the above-mentioned judgment, the resident can be used even when the predetermined one water-supplying device has not been used for a predetermined second time period or more. Is determined to be abnormal. For example, a device that is supposed to be used from the human physiology, such as a toilet, can be used as one of the water supply devices. If the device has not been used for a period of time (usually longer than the time determined by the combination of the above two devices) which is supposed to be used in human physiology, for example, 48 hours,
Judge that there is something wrong with the resident (unless the resident is out). In fact, in such a case, it is very likely that an abnormality has occurred in the resident, so that a highly reliable abnormality notification can be performed.

In a preferred embodiment, a failure judging means for judging the presence or absence of a failure in each of the water circulating devices based on the usage history of the plurality of water circulating devices, and judging that there is a failure in any of the water circulating devices Means for notifying the user when the operation is performed. Thereby, not only the abnormality of the resident but also the failure of the device can be detected and notified, so that it is more secure. When the device is broken, the erroneous determination of the abnormality of the resident caused by the failure can be prevented.

The preferred embodiment also includes a means for receiving an absence setting signal indicating whether or not the resident is absent from the house, and detecting when the resident is absent based on the received absent setting signal. The intrusion determination means that determines the presence or absence of an outsider into a house based on the usage history of a plurality of water-supply equipment, and when it is determined that an outsider has entered, And a means for notifying the user. As a result, it is possible to detect and notify not only the abnormalities of the residents but also the intruder outside while they are away. Misjudgment can also be prevented.

[0013] The preferred embodiment further checks based on the absence signal whether the resident has been absent for more than a predetermined period of time, and if so, determines that the resident is abnormal. The apparatus further includes means for determining. For example, if the absence state continues for a period in which the outing period is not likely to be as long as usual, for example, 72 hours, it is determined that the resident is abnormal. In fact, in such a case, it is possible that you may be having trouble on the go (unless you have been notified in advance that you will be going out for a long time). By doing so, safety can be further enhanced.

[0014]

FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of a security system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, two user houses A and B are taken as an example, but it goes without saying that the number of user houses is not limited in the present invention. In-house systems 10 and 20 are installed in these two houses A and B, respectively.

The home system 10 installed in the house A is:
A plurality of usage sensors 11, 11,... Respectively installed in a plurality of water-supply equipment installed in the house A, and usage status signals from the usage status sensors 11, 11,. And a security server 12 that detects abnormalities in the water supply equipment, failures of water supply equipment, intrusions of outsiders, and the like, and notifies a predetermined related organization or person concerned of the situation. The security server 12 has an external communication network 30
(For example, the Internet, a public telephone line, a mobile communication network, etc.), it is possible to connect to the computer system 60 of the security company. Notify the company. Also, the security server 12
Is an external communication network 30 or (not shown)
A telephone, a facsimile terminal or a personal computer installed in the house A through the in-house network in the house A, or a telephone installed in the work place of the user or a relative's house (also not shown) Or a facsimile terminal, a personal computer, or a mobile phone or PDA (also not shown) carried by the user or his / her family. It is also possible to notify the user of an event that may be unnoticed, or to notify the family or the like of an abnormality of the user.

Further, the security server 12 is connected via the communication network 30 to a computer system 50 of a construction shop for installing and repairing water supply equipment and a computer system 70 of an insurance company of various insurances to which the user has contracted. It may be possible to connect, so that the detected malfunction of the device can be notified to the construction shop, and the information on the detected abnormality, failure, intrusion, etc. can be transmitted to the insurance company. It may be.

The in-home system 20 in the other house B has a slightly different configuration from the system 10 in the house A. That is, the in-home system 20 includes a plurality of usage sensors 21, 21,... Installed on a plurality of water-supply equipment installed in the house B, and the usage sensors 2.
And a sensor server 22 that receives and accumulates usage status signals from 1, 21,.... The sensor server 1 is connected to an external security server 40 via the communication network 30.
And sends the stored usage signal to the security server 40. The security server 40, like the security server 12 of the house A, based on the usage signal received from the sensor server 22 of the house B,
Of the user, failure of the water supply equipment, intrusion of an outsider, and the like, and notify a predetermined related organization or person concerned. Therefore, in the house B, the same security service as that of the house system 10 of the house A is performed by the house system 20 and the security server 40. Note that the security server 40 can provide the same service as for the house B to a plurality of contracted houses.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the in-home system 10 of the house A.

In the house A, for example, five use condition sensors 11A to 11E are installed. The first usage status sensor 11A is for detecting the status of water usage in the toilet bowl. To be more specific, the presence / absence of water flow attached to the toilet bowl washer or the water supply pipe to the toilet washer. Is a water flow sensor that detects The second usage status sensor 11B is for detecting the usage status of water in the kitchen, and is, for example, a water flow sensor attached to a faucet of a kitchen sink or a water supply pipe there.
The third use condition sensor 11C is for detecting the use condition of water in the bathroom, and is, for example, a water flow sensor attached to a faucet in the bathroom or a water supply pipe to the faucet. The fourth use condition sensor 11D is for detecting the water use condition of the washroom, and is a water flow sensor attached to a faucet of a washbasin or a water supply pipe to the faucet, for example. Fifth usage sensor 11
E is an absence setting device for setting information on whether or not the resident of the house (the user of the above-mentioned water-supply equipment) is absent in the house, which is different from the previous four in the system. As a specific example, the absence setting device 11E is attached to an entrance wall or an outer wall surface beside the entrance door, and is used when the user goes out using a dedicated key (which may be the same as a lock key at the entrance). The device outputs an absence start signal when the absence setting device 11E is turned on, and outputs an absence completion signal when the absence setting device 11E is turned off when returning home.

The above-mentioned use condition sensors 11A to 11E are merely examples, and it goes without saying that the place of use, the type and the number of use condition sensors are different depending on each house. However, it is desirable to attach a use condition sensor to at least toilet and kitchen plumbing equipment, which is supposed to use water at least for the life.

The security server 12 receives the usage signal each time the usage sensors 11A to 11E emit a usage signal. Usage status sensor 11A for water supply equipment such as toilets, kitchens, bathrooms and washrooms
11D indicates whether or not water is flowing in each water-circulating device, and in response to this, the security server 12 grasps the start date and time and the end date and time of the water flow in each water-circulating device. I do. Also, the absence setting device 11E
As described above, the use status signal issued by the security server 12 is the absence start signal and the absence end signal of the resident, and the security server 12 receiving this signal sets the absence start date / time (outgoing date / time) and end date / time (return home time) of the resident. Figure out. The security server 12 has a usage history table 121, which is configured as shown in FIG.
There, the start date and time and the end date and time of the water flow of the toilet, kitchen, bathroom and lavatory, etc., which are grasped based on the signals from the use condition sensors 11A to 11E, and the start date and time and the end date and time of the absence of the resident are used as the use history. Record. In the usage history table 121, usage histories for a certain period in the recent past, for example, in the past one week, are always accumulated. As will be described in detail later, the security server 12 periodically refers to the use history, for example, at the same time every day, and based on the reference, determines whether there is an abnormality in the resident, whether there is a failure in each water supply device, and whether the Then, the presence or absence of an outsider intrusion is determined, and if an abnormality, failure, or intrusion of an outsider is detected, the fact is notified to a security company, the user, or the like.

In the home system 20 of the house B, the external security server 40 performs the same function as the security server 12 of the home system 10 of the house A described above.

FIGS. 4 to 6 show the security server 12.
(Or 40) shows a specific operation flow.

As shown in step S1 of FIG. 4, the security server 12 receives the usage status signal each time the usage status sensor 11 issues a usage status signal, grasps the usage history of each device based on the usage status signal, and uses the usage history signal. The history is recorded in the usage history table 121.

Further, the security server 12 reads the usage history from the usage history table 121 at a predetermined time every day (or at regular time intervals or as needed) (S2). Is determined. First, it is determined whether or not the user is currently absent from the house based on the use history of the absence setting device (S3).
As a result, if the person is at home, then, based on the usage history of the toilet flusher, whether or not water has flowed into the toilet flusher at least once within the last 24 hours (whether or not toilet flushing has been performed) Is checked (S4). As a result, if the water flow has been performed once or more, it is checked whether or not the water flow has continuously flowed for a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes) for water leak determination (S5). As a result, if the continuous water flow is longer than 10 minutes, it is determined that there is a possibility of water leakage in the toilet flusher (S6), and the user is connected to the user's telephone, facsimile terminal, personal computer, or the like to leak water. Is notified (S7). When the user is notified of the water leakage, it is checked whether or not the user has received a notification that the user has confirmed by himself / herself whether or not the water leakage has occurred within a certain period of time (for example, 30 minutes) (S8). If not, it connects to the security company system 60 and notifies the security company of water leakage (S9).

Checking the above steps S4 to S9
The operation is performed not only for the toilet but also for all the water supply devices such as the kitchen, bathroom, and lavatory (S10).

Thereafter, the process proceeds to the process shown in FIG. First, based on the result of the above-mentioned check, the toilet bowl washer and the water in the kitchen were set for the latest predetermined time (for example, 24 hours) (provided that the user was at home for 24 hours). It is determined whether or not both of the stoppers have been used once (that is, no water flow has been detected) (S1).
1). In addition, the toilet urinal of the toilet has not been used at least once in the latest predetermined time (for example, 48 hours) (provided that the user has been at home for the last 48 hours) (that is, the water flow is It is determined whether or not it has been detected at all) (S12). If at least one of the two determinations is YES, it is determined that there is a possibility that an abnormality has occurred in the user (S13), and the system 6 of the security company is determined.
0 and notifies the security company of the user abnormality (S14).

On the other hand, by checking at step S3 in FIG.
If the user is currently absent, the process proceeds to the process shown in FIG. First, it is checked whether or not the user has been out of the office for more than 72 hours (provided that a long-term outing has not been notified in advance by the user) (S).
12). If the result is YES, it is determined that there is a possibility that the user has an abnormality (trouble on the go) (S22), and the user is connected to the security company system 60 to notify the security company of the user abnormality. Notify (S
23).

If the result of the check in step S21 is NO, then it is checked whether or not water has flowed into the toilet bowl at least once during the recent absence (S24).
If the result is yes, it is checked whether it is a continuous water flow for more than 10 minutes (S25), and if the result is yes, water leakage with respect to the toilet bowl (this includes the low tank in the toilet bowl low tank) (Including a defect such as a ball tap being caught) (S26).
It connects to the security company system 60 and notifies the security company of the water leakage (S27).

If the result of the check in step S25 is NO, it is determined that there is a possibility that an outsider has entered while absent (S28), and the system is connected to the security company's system 60 and the outsider is notified to the security company. To notify the intruder (S
29).

The processing of steps S24 to S29 is
The operation is performed not only for the toilet but also for all the water supply devices such as the kitchen, bathroom, and lavatory (S30).

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.
The above embodiment is merely an example for describing the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention to only the above embodiment. Therefore, the present invention can be implemented in various modes other than the above-described embodiment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a security system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an in-home system 10 of a house A.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a usage history table 121;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a specific operation flow of the security servers 12 and 40;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a specific operation flow of the security servers 12 and 40;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a specific operation flow of the security servers 12 and 40;

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 20 Home system 11, 21 Usage sensor 12, 40 Security server 30 Communication network 60 Security company system 121 Usage history table

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Sugiyama 2-1-1 Nakajima, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu-city, Fukuoka Prefecture Tochiki Kiki Co., Ltd. Chome 1-1 Toto Kiki Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Taketo Fujii 2-1-1 Nakajima, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu-shi, Fukuoka Tochi Kiki Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Koichi Hirohata Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture 2-1-1 Nakajima, Kokurakita-ku, Tochi F-term (reference) 5B049 BB00 CC00 CC45 CC48 5C087 AA02 AA03 BB74 DD05 DD08 DD24 EE05 EE08 EE18 FF01 FF04 GG19 GG66 GG70 GG83

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A receiving means for receiving a use status signal indicating a use status of a plurality of water circulating devices provided in a house, and grasping a use history of the plurality of water circulating devices from the received use status signal. Storage means for storing; abnormality determining means for determining the presence or absence of an abnormality of the resident based on the stored use history of the plurality of water-supplying devices; and And a means for issuing a notification. 2. A failure judging means for judging the presence or absence of a failure in each of the water circulating devices based on the use history of the plurality of water circulating devices.
2. The security system according to claim 1, further comprising means for transmitting a notice to that effect. 3. A means for receiving an absence setting signal indicating whether or not the resident is absent from the house; and detecting when the resident is absent based on the received absent setting signal; The intrusion judging means for judging the presence or absence of an outsider into the house based on the use history of the plurality of plumbing devices; and 2. A security system according to claim 1, further comprising means for issuing a notification to the effect. 4. The resident is abnormal when none of the predetermined two or more water supply devices has been used for a first time length or more by the present time. The security system according to claim 1, wherein: 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the abnormality determining means further comprises:
The security system according to claim 4, wherein the resident is determined to be abnormal when two water-supply devices have not been used for a second time period or more until now. 6. A means for receiving an absence setting signal indicating whether or not the resident is absent in the house; and the abnormality determining means further comprising: an absent state based on the received absence signal. 2. The security system according to claim 1, wherein the resident is determined to be abnormal when the resident has continued for a predetermined time or more. 7. A step of ascertaining and storing usage histories of a plurality of water circulating devices provided in a house, and judging whether or not a resident is abnormal based on the stored usage histories of the plurality of water circulating devices. An operation method of a security system using a water supply device, comprising: a step of notifying a predetermined person or institution when it is determined that there is an abnormality of the resident. 8. A step of judging the presence or absence of a failure in each of the water-supply devices based on the usage history of the plurality of water-supply devices; and when it is determined that any of the water-supply devices has a failure,
8. Notifying a predetermined person or institution of the fact. 9. A step of ascertaining when the resident is absent from the house, and regarding the time when the resident is absent, the outside to the house is determined based on a use history of the plurality of water-circulating devices. 8. A method according to claim 7, further comprising the steps of: determining whether or not an intruder has entered; and, when it is determined that an intruder has intruded, notifying a predetermined person or institution thereof.
The described method. 10. In the step of judging the abnormality, any of the predetermined two or more water-circulating devices has been the first to the present.
The method according to claim 7, wherein the resident is determined to be abnormal when the resident has not been used for more than a predetermined time length. 11. The step of judging the abnormality further includes the step of determining whether the resident is abnormal even when the predetermined one water-supplying device has not been used for a second time length or more until now. 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein it is determined that there is. 12. A step of determining whether or not the resident is absent in the house; and when the resident is absent for a predetermined time or more until now, the resident is abnormal. Determining that the method is: