JP2007122588A - Equipment monitoring device and method for displaying error of equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an equipment monitoring device capable of improving recognition performance so that an error is not overlooked by a user, and improving operability so that an error status can be checked without having to switch screens manually. <P>SOLUTION: When an error occurs on connected equipment, a display control means of the equipment monitoring device in which a screen display content is dynamically changed according to the operational state of the connected equipment displays an error state indication 22 in a pop-up window of the display means, and displays an error occurrence indication 21 in a part of the screen in a fixed manner. When the error is going on, the display control means allows the error state indication 22 to be canceled or redisplayed by a predetermined operational input, and displays the error occurrence indication 21 in a part of the screen in a fixed manner at all times. When the error ceases to occur, the display control means cancels the error state indication 22 and the error occurrence indication 21. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an equipment monitoring apparatus provided with a display means for dynamically displaying the operation status of a connected device to be monitored, and to an error display method for a device when an error occurs.

  In equipment monitoring equipment equipped with a display means that dynamically changes the display contents according to the operating status of the connected device to be monitored, it is generally recognized that an error has occurred when the connected device becomes abnormal. Is displayed as an error status display. Conventionally, as an automatic mode, for example, which is displayed on a remote control display such as a water heater, an operation status display that is an operation status display and an error status display that is a detailed error status display are periodically switched. A method has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In addition, as a manual mode, a method of manually switching between operation status display and error status display has also been proposed (see also Patent Document 1).

JP-A-8-161668

  However, in the method of periodically switching between the operation status display and the error status display of the above-mentioned conventional technology, when the user views the screen at the timing when the operation status display is displayed when an error occurs, an error occurs. There was a problem of overlooking. In addition, when it is desired to check the operation status when an error occurs, there is also a problem that while the error status display is displayed, it is necessary to wait until the next operation status display is switched and displayed.

  On the other hand, in the method of switching the display manually, there is a problem that the user misses the occurrence of an error when the normal operation screen is selected when an error occurs. Furthermore, even if the user has not missed the occurrence of an error, in order for the user to check the details of the error status, the user must manually switch the screen to the error status display for confirmation, and the operability is poor. There was a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and improves the cognition so that the user will not miss when an error occurs in the connected device to be monitored, and manually when an error occurs. An object of the present invention is to provide an equipment monitoring apparatus and an apparatus error display method capable of realizing an improvement in operability such that an error state can be confirmed without switching screens.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the equipment monitoring apparatus of the present invention is a display means in the equipment monitoring apparatus in which the display content of the screen dynamically changes depending on the operation status of the connected equipment connected, A device communication unit that communicates with the connection device to obtain the operation status and error status of the connection device, an operation input unit that receives an operation input, and displays an operation status display on the display unit based on the operation status Display control means for switching the operation status display based on the operation input means, and the display control means displays an error status display on the display means in a pop-up window when an error occurs in the connected device. The error status display is fixedly displayed on a part of the screen, and when the error continues, the error status is displayed by a predetermined operation input. The error existence display can be erased and redisplayed, and the error presence display is fixedly displayed constantly on a part of the screen, and when the error disappears, the error status display and the error presence display are erased. It is characterized by.

  Further, the error display method of the device of the present invention displays an error status display on the screen in a pop-up window when an error occurs in the device and displays the error presence display fixedly on a part of the screen, While the error continues, the error status display can be erased and redisplayed by a predetermined operation input, and the error presence display is always displayed fixedly on a part of the screen, and the error disappears. Is characterized in that the error status display and the error presence display are erased.

  According to the present invention, an error status display indicating the content of the error is displayed as a pop-up window, and the error status display can be erased / redisplayed by a predetermined operation input. Since the error presence display is always fixedly displayed on a part of the screen even when the screen is deleted, the cognitive property that the user will not miss it when an error occurs in the equipment monitoring device or equipment. It is possible to realize an improvement and an operability improvement in which an error state can be confirmed without manually switching the screen when an error occurs.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of an equipment monitoring apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the equipment monitoring apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the facility monitoring apparatus 100 is connected to connection devices 200 </ b> A, 200 </ b> B, 200 </ b> C, and 200 </ b> D to be monitored via a communication path 9. The facility monitoring apparatus 100 obtains the operation status and error status of these connected devices via the communication path 9. The equipment monitoring apparatus 100 indicates to the user the device communication means 3 that communicates with these connected devices, and the status of the connected devices using icons, etc., and the operation status display changes dynamically according to the operating status of each connected device. Display means 7 to be displayed, screen management means 6 for managing image data displayed on the display means 7, position information of the images, the number of displays, etc., and an arbitrary image to the user from the screen displayed on the display means 7 And a pointing device 8 which is an operation input means for selecting a position. The position information obtained from the pointing device 8 is used by the screen management means 6.

  Furthermore, the equipment monitoring apparatus 100 provides information such as whether the operation status of each of the connected devices 200A, 200B, 200C, and 200D is an operating state, a stopped state, and in what mode the operation is in the operating state. Device management means 4 to be managed, and error management means 5 for acquiring information from the device management means 4 when the connected device is in an error state, and managing what kind of error state each connected device has From the communication information obtained from the device communication means 3, the number and state of connected devices can be grasped, the data held by the screen management means 6, the display means 7 and the pointing device 8 can be transmitted to each necessary means, Control means 2 for controlling the operation is provided. Here, the control unit 2, the device management unit 4, the error management unit 5, and the screen management unit 6 display the operation status display on the display unit 7 based on the operation status of each connected device, and input to the pointing device 8. The display control means 10 which switches an operation status display based on it is comprised.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display screen displayed on the display means 7 in the present embodiment. FIG. 2A shows a display state of the normal operation screen 20 displayed as an operation status display. In the normal operation screen 20, for example, the operation display unit 27 that displays the temperature of the connected device together with the adjustment button and the normal operation of each connected device in order to operate the corresponding connected devices 200A, 200B, 200C, and 200D. Operation buttons 28A, 28B, 28C and 28D for icon display for switching to the operation screen 20 are displayed.

  FIG. 2B shows a display state in which the error screen 22 which is an error status display for notifying the occurrence of the error and the content of the error is displayed as a pop-up window on the normal operation screen 20 of FIG. Show. The error screen 22 also displays a close button 23 used when closing (erasing) the error screen 22. On the other hand, FIG. 6 also shows a display state in which an error button 21 that is an error presence display is fixedly displayed at a predetermined position in the upper right of the screen. Here, “fixed display” means that even if the display is switched to another screen, it is always displayed in the same place. For this reason, the display position of the error button 21 is set so as not to interfere with the display contents of all screens.

  FIG. 2C shows the display state of the display screen displayed when the close button 23 is pressed on the screen shown in FIG. The display screen shown in the figure is in a state where the error button 21 is displayed on the normal operation screen 20.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure when an error screen is displayed in the equipment monitoring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. The operation will be described with reference to FIG. First, device status information including operation status information is sent from the connected devices 200A, 200B, 200C, and 200D to the facility monitoring apparatus 100 through the communication path 9. In the equipment monitoring apparatus 100, the equipment communication means 3 receives this equipment status information and sends it to the control means 2 as communication information. The control unit 2 extracts operation information information (connected device information) as necessary information from the received communication information, and transmits the extracted connected device information to the device management unit 4 and the screen management unit 6.

  Based on the received connected device information, the screen management unit 6 determines the image data of the screen to be displayed on the display unit 7, the position information of the images, the number of displays, and the like, and generates a display screen. The screen management means 6 transmits the generated display screen to the display means 7 via the control means 2, and the display means 7 displays the screen shown in FIG. 2A based on the display screen.

  The device management means 4 always keeps track of the occurrence of an error by managing the status of the connected devices 200A, 200B, 200C, and 200D to be monitored based on the received connected device information (step S30). When an error occurs in any of 200B, 200C, and 200D, or when communication with these connected devices is interrupted, the state of the connected device is recognized as an error state.

  When the device management unit 4 recognizes that any one of the connected devices is in an error state (step S30; Yes), the device management unit 4 transmits the information to the error management unit 5. When the error management unit 5 receives information indicating that the error state is recognized, the error management unit 5 generates error information indicating that the target connected device is in an error state, and controls the generated error information. The information is transmitted to the screen management means 6 via the means 2.

  The screen management means 6 generates a display screen based on the received error information and outputs it to the display means 7. Specifically, the screen management means 6 generates an error screen 22 for informing the error content and a display screen for the error button 21 and transmits the error screen 21 to the display means 7 via the control means 2. Based on the display screen generated by the screen management unit 6, the display unit 7 displays a screen including an error screen 22 and an error button 21, which is a pop-up window notifying an error content as shown in FIG. (Step S31).

  Thereafter, when the error is released (step S32; Yes), information (return information) returned from the error state from the monitored connected device is transmitted to the control unit 2 via the communication path 9 and the device communication unit 3. The control unit 2 further transmits return information to the device management unit 4. The device management means 4 changes the state of the target connected device based on this return information, and notifies the error management means 5 of the changed connected device information of the target connected device. The error management means 5 checks which connected device error has been resolved, and as a result, if all errors of all connected devices are resolved, error resolution information is transmitted to the control means 2. Upon receipt of the error resolution information, the control means 2 transmits the information to the screen management means 6, and the screen management means 6 performs processing for deleting the error screen 22 and the error button 21 for notifying the error contents from the display screen, and generates them. The display screen is transmitted to the display means 7. The display means 7 displays, as a display screen, the normal operation screen 20 shown in FIG. 2A in which the error screen 22 that informs the error content and the error button 21 that is always displayed are deleted (step S37).

  On the other hand, before the error is released (step S32; No), the user confirms the error screen 22 informing the error content of the display screen shown in FIG. 2B on the display means 7, and the pointing device 8 is used. When the close button 23 on the error screen 22 is pressed (step S33; Yes), the pointing device 8 transmits this pressing information to the screen management means 6 via the control means 2. When the screen management unit 6 receives the pressing information, the screen management unit 6 recognizes that the close button 23 has been pressed, generates a display screen in which the error screen 22 is closed (erased), and displays the display screen. Tell the display means 7. Thereby, the display means 7 erases the error screen 22 (step S34). At that time, the display means 7 keeps the error button 21 displayed at the same time that is displayed at the same time when an error occurs being displayed. As a result, the display means 7 displays the screen shown in FIG. 2C in which the error button 21 is added to the normal operation screen.

  Thereafter, when the error is canceled (step S35; Yes), the same processing as that in case of Yes is performed in step S32, and the display means 7 adds to the error screen closed in step S34. Then, the normal operation screen 20 shown in FIG. 2A in which the error button 21 is also deleted is displayed as a display screen (step S37).

  Further, when the user wants to confirm the error contents again while the screen of FIG. 2C is displayed before the error is released (step S35; No), the display shown in FIG. When the error button 21 that is always displayed on the screen is pressed using the pointing device 8 (step S36; Yes), the pointing device 8 transmits the pressing information to the screen management unit 6 via the control unit 2. Upon receiving the pressing information, the screen management means 6 recognizes that the error button 21 that is always displayed is pressed, generates a display screen that displays the error screen 22 again, and displays the display screen. Tell 7 The display means 7 displays the error screen 22 again as shown in FIG. 2B (step S31).

  As described above, in the equipment monitoring apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment, the error screen 22 (error status display) indicating the content of the error is displayed as a pop-up window, and the error status display is erased / re-executed by a predetermined operation input. In addition, even on the screen where the error status display that was made this pop-up window was deleted, the error presence display was fixedly displayed constantly on a part of the screen, so an error occurred in the equipment monitoring device It is possible to realize an improvement in cognition so that the user does not miss it sometimes, and an improvement in operability in which an error situation can be confirmed without manually switching the screen when an error occurs.

  Further, the operation input means is a pointing device 8 for selecting an arbitrary image or position from the screen of the display means 7, and the operation input position for redisplaying the error screen 22 (error status display) of the pointing device 8 is an error. Since it is the position of the button 21 (error presence display), the error screen 22 (error status display) can be redisplayed by an operation suited to the user's sensitivity, and the operability can be further improved.

  In the first embodiment, if one connected device is in an error state, the error button 21 that is always displayed on the operation screen corresponding to any connected device is displayed, but the connected device in which an error has occurred is displayed. A method of displaying the error button 21 only on the corresponding operation screen is also conceivable. With this display method, the perception of an error that an error has occurred in one of the connected devices is somewhat inferior, but conversely, the error of which connected device is in an error state. Cognition improves.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the second embodiment, the error screen display method is changed by using the importance of the error according to the error content. In addition to the function of the first embodiment, the error management means 5 of the second embodiment further has a function of determining the importance of the error according to the content of the error. That is, the error management means 5 generates error information including not only the presence / absence of an error in each connected device but also the importance of each error. The error management means 5 determines the importance of the error based on, for example, the relationship between a predetermined error type and the corresponding importance (for example, maximum, large, medium, other). Decide which importance the content corresponds to.

  In addition to the function of the first embodiment, the control unit 2 further includes a function of instructing the screen management unit 6 so that the error screen display method varies depending on the importance of the error. That is, when an error occurs, the control means 2 receives information on the importance of the error included in the error information, determines the importance of the error from the received information on the importance of the error, and responds to the determination result An instruction to perform an error display method is transmitted to the screen management means 6. For example, an instruction to perform a different error display method is transmitted to each of cases where the error importance is maximum, large, medium, and other cases.

  Furthermore, in addition to the function of the first embodiment, the screen management unit 6 is based on the error information based on an instruction from the control unit 2 to perform an error display method according to the determination result of the importance of the error. It further has a function of changing the error screen of the display screen generated.

  Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the control unit 2 selects a display method of the error screen 22 that notifies the error content in the second embodiment, and FIG. 5 notifies the error content in the second embodiment. It is a figure which shows the display screen at the time of highlighting the error screen. Since the operation from when an error occurs until the error management means 5 generates error information indicating the content of the error is the same as in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

  When an error occurs, the error management means 5 determines the importance of the error from the error content as error information, generates error information including the determined importance of the error, and uses the generated error information as the control means 2. Output to.

  When the error information is received, the control means 2 determines whether or not the error importance is maximum based on the error importance information included in the error information (step S40). If the degree of importance of the error is the maximum as a result of this determination, a display image of the error screen 24 notifying the error content shown in FIG. 2B is generated, and the screen management is performed so that it does not close even if the close button 23 is pressed. The means 6 is instructed (step S43). Thereby, it is possible to prevent the error screen 24 from being erased even if the user presses the close button 23 by mistake.

  On the other hand, if the importance of the error is not the maximum as a result of the determination, the importance is rechecked in the next step to determine whether the importance is large (step S41). If the degree of importance is large (step S41; Yes), a white display screen as shown in FIG. 5A is generated on the upper portion 24a of the error screen 24 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the display of the colored display is repeated, and even if the error screen 24 for notifying the error content is closed by pressing the close button 23, the error content shown in FIG. The screen management means 6 is instructed to generate a display screen of the error screen 24 that informs the user (step S44). By blinking the display, it is possible to notify the user that an error having a high importance has occurred.

  Further, if the importance of the error is not large (step S41; No), the control unit 2 rechecks the importance in the next step and determines whether the importance is medium (step S42). If it is in the middle (step S42; Yes), even if the error screen 24 for notifying the error content is deleted by pressing the close button 23, the display screen of the error screen 24 for automatically informing the error content again after 5 minutes. The screen management means 6 is instructed to generate (step S45).

  If the importance level of the error is not medium (step S42; No), the screen management unit 6 is instructed not to automatically generate an error screen 24 for notifying the error content after the close button 23 is pressed. (Step S46). However, the error button 21 that is always displayed instructs the screen management means 6 to be generated as a displayed display screen.

  In this way, the importance is specified by the error content, and the display method is changed according to the specified importance, so that the user can visually understand the importance of the error, and the cognition is improved. To do.

  In the second embodiment, the control means 2 instructs the screen management means 6 not to close even when the close button 23 is pressed when the importance of the error is maximum. Not limited to this, the control means 2 may instruct the screen management means 6 to display the error screen 24 informing the error contents at all times without displaying the close button 23 itself.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In the third embodiment, the number of errors is grasped, and when there are a plurality of errors, a plurality of error screens with a display indicating that a plurality of errors exist on the error screen 22 of the first embodiment are generated. Will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display screen generated when a plurality of errors occur in the equipment monitoring apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In addition to the function of the first embodiment, the error management means 5 of the third embodiment further has a function of generating error information including not only the presence / absence of errors of each connected device but also the number of each error.

  Further, in addition to the function of the first embodiment, the control means 2 determines whether or not there are a plurality of errors, and if there are a plurality of error screens, a plurality of error screens indicating that there are a plurality of errors exist. It further has a function of instructing the screen management means 6 to generate a display screen. That is, when an error occurs, the control unit 2 receives information on the number of errors included in the error information, determines whether there are a plurality of errors from the received information on the number of errors, and outputs a determination result. It further has a function of transmitting to the screen management means 6 an instruction to perform the display contents of the corresponding error screen.

  Furthermore, in addition to the function of the first embodiment, the screen management means 6 has a function of generating a display screen using a plurality of error screens indicating that a plurality of errors exist if there are a plurality of errors. Also have. That is, based on an instruction from the control means 2 to generate an error screen corresponding to the determination result of the number of errors, the error screen of the display screen generated based on the error information is changed to a plurality of error screens. . If it is determined that the number of errors is plural, an error screen shown in FIG. 6 is generated. FIG. 6A shows a plurality of error screens. In FIG. 6, a next button 25 for displaying an error screen for the next error is shown. The order in which the error screens are arranged may be, for example, the order of importance of errors, the order of monitored devices, or the order of error types, but is not limited to this.

  When a plurality of errors occur, the error management unit 5 determines the number of errors, generates error information including the number of errors determined as error information, and outputs the generated error information to the control unit 2. When the control means 2 receives the error information, the control means 2 determines whether there are a plurality of errors based on the number of errors included in the error information. If the result of this determination is that there are a plurality of errors, the screen management means 6 is instructed to generate a plurality of error screens. Upon receiving an instruction to generate a plurality of error screens, the screen management means 6 generates a display screen of the error screen 22 that informs the error content of FIG. The next button 25 is prepared together with the close button 23 at the lower part of the error screen 22 for informing the error content, and the error is sequentially displayed every time the next button 25 is pressed.

  Note that the error screen for plural use is not limited to that shown in FIG. 6A. For example, the error screen 22 shown in FIG. 6B can be moved forward and backward by adding the forward button 26. Good.

  In this way, if the number of errors is grasped and there are multiple errors, an error screen with a display indicating that multiple errors exist is generated as a display screen, so there are multiple errors. However, since each error can be displayed on the error screen that is almost the same as when it is a single error, the recognition is further improved, and multiple error screens can be selected and displayed. The operability when doing so is improved.

  As described above, the equipment monitoring apparatus according to the present invention is useful when the operation status of the connected device is displayed and monitored on the display means, and particularly when the error generated in the connected device is displayed on the display means. Is suitable.

It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the equipment monitoring apparatus of Embodiment 1 concerning this invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a change in the display screen displayed on the display means in the first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure when an error screen is displayed in the first embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure when a control unit selects a display method of an error screen that notifies an error content in the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display screen when highlighting an error screen according to the importance of an error in the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display screen generated when a plurality of errors occur in the third embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

2 control means 3 equipment communication means 4 equipment management means 5 error management means 6 screen management means 7 display means 8 pointing device (operation input means)
10 Display control means 20 Normal operation screen 21 Error button (error existence display)
22, 24 Error screen (error status display)
23 Close button 25 Next button 26 Previous button 27 Operation display unit 28 Operation button 100 Equipment monitoring device 200A, 200B, 200C, 200D Connected device

Claims (9)

In equipment monitoring equipment where the display content of the screen changes dynamically depending on the operating status of the connected device,
Display means;
Device communication means for communicating with the connection device to obtain the operation status and error status of the connection device;
Operation input means for receiving operation input;
Display operation status display on the display means based on the operation status, and display control means for switching the operation status display based on the operation input means,
The display control means includes
When an error occurs in the connected device, an error status display is displayed on the display means by a pop-up window and an error presence display is fixedly displayed on a part of the screen,
When the error is continuing, the error status display can be erased and redisplayed by a predetermined operation input, and the error presence display is constantly displayed on a part of the screen,
When the error disappears, the error monitoring display and the error presence display are deleted. The equipment monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit dynamically changes the error status display in accordance with the degree of importance of errors or the number of error occurrences. When an error has occurred in a plurality of the connected devices, the display control unit creates the error status display for each connected device, and sequentially switches to the error status display for each connected device by the operation input. The equipment monitoring apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The equipment monitoring apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the operation input unit is a pointing device that selects an arbitrary image or position from a screen of the display unit. The equipment monitoring apparatus according to claim 4, wherein an operation input position for redisplaying the error status display of the pointing device is a position of the error presence display. The equipment monitoring apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the display control means displays the operation status display using an icon. When an error occurs in the device, the error status display is displayed on the screen in a pop-up window and the error presence display is fixedly displayed on a part of the screen.
During the continuation of the error, the error status display can be erased and redisplayed by a predetermined operation input, and the error presence display is constantly displayed on a part of the screen,
An error display method for a device, wherein when the error disappears, the error status display and the error presence display are deleted. The apparatus error display method according to claim 7, wherein the error status display is dynamically changed according to the degree of importance of errors or the number of error occurrences. 9. When there are a plurality of errors, the error status display is created for each error, and the operation input is sequentially switched to the error status display for each error. The error display method of the equipment described in 1.

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