JP2008097516A - Remote monitoring extension system and user terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote monitoring extension system with a document retrieval function capable of efficiently retrieving documents related to a monitoring target device on the basis of information supplied by a remote monitoring function. <P>SOLUTION: The remote monitoring extension system 1, in which display information for displaying operation conditions on a monitor 520 is supplied from a monitoring device 200 monitoring operation conditions of devices 110a to 110d to a user terminal 500, has further a document management device 400 for retrieving the documents from a document memory means 410. Location information for identifying the document management device 400 is memorized in the display information by correlating the location information. The user terminal 500 identifies the document management device 400 of a search destination from the display information of the search target and transmits a document demand including retrieving information based on the display information of the search target to the document management device 400 of the search destination. The document management device 400 retrieves a document from a document memory means 410 on the basis of the search information of the document demand, and then, the retrieved document is supplied to the user terminal 500. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote monitoring extended system having a monitoring function for remotely monitoring a predetermined device and a document search function for searching for a document in which an operation method or a maintenance method of a monitoring target is described, and a user in the remote monitoring extended system Regarding terminals.

  Monitoring of the operation status of machine tools, robots, and other devices installed in factories is centrally managed by a predetermined monitoring device, and the operation status is provided as text information or image information to the user terminal via a communication line. Such remote monitoring systems are already widely known (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 1). Also, document providing systems are known in which documents relating to devices such as device operation manuals and maintenance manuals are collectively managed by a document management device and documents are appropriately provided to user terminals (for example, Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3). reference).

JP 2004-38565 A JP 2003-150376 A JP 2003-150242 A [online], JPO homepage, standard technology collection, 2005, plant control and monitoring technology, 2-2-3 3D model status monitoring and display technology, [August 7, 2006 search], Internet < URL: http://www.jpo.go.jp/shiryou/s_sonota/hyoujun_gijutsu/plant/mokuji.htm>

  However, for example, a document related to the maintenance of the device is generally obtained from a maintenance manual attached to the device owned by the user, a document such as a maintenance record accumulated by the user on a daily basis, and a service company of the device from the maintenance experience. It is stored in a distributed manner, such as maintenance procedures that are created and stored. Therefore, even when an error is detected by the monitoring device, it is very difficult to efficiently search from a plurality of documents managed in a distributed manner with the optimum correspondence method.

  Even if the document is searchable, the user does not know the name of the device part to be searched, the name of the device part on the document is different for each device manufacturer, or the user normally uses it The name and the notation in the document are often different, and there is no document retrieval system in which a document relating to the apparatus is retrieved in consideration of such a situation. The above-mentioned problems are not only for the purpose of maintenance of the apparatus, but also for remote monitoring and operation management of production systems that are normally used within the user, and for operation support of remote factories, and It can also occur in situations such as setting up equipment related to the product being produced and retrieving documents related to production management such as product drawings and process schedules.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a remote monitoring extended system having a document search function for efficiently searching a document related to a monitoring target device based on information provided by the remote monitoring function, and a user terminal used in the remote monitoring extended system. The purpose is to provide.

  The present invention solves the above-described problems by the following means. In order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, reference numerals in the accompanying drawings are appended in parentheses, but the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment.

  The extended remote monitoring system (1) of the present invention is for monitoring target devices (110a ... 110d) for performing a predetermined work, and for obtaining the work status of the monitoring target device and displaying the work status in a predetermined display mode. A monitoring device (200) that provides display information to a predetermined providing destination, and monitors the work status in the predetermined display mode based on the display information provided from the monitoring device as the providing destination ( 520) is a remote monitoring extended system in which a predetermined document is provided to the user terminal by using a remote monitoring system connected to the user terminal (500) so as to be able to transmit and receive data, and relates to the monitoring target device A document management device (400) for retrieving a predetermined document from a document storage means (410) for storing a plurality of documents is further provided, and the monitoring device identifies the document management device. Display information storage means (220) for storing the display information associated with the location information for the display, and the user terminal specifies the display information provided from the monitoring device as a search target by the user And a search destination specifying means (550) for specifying the document management device corresponding to the display information as a search destination based on the location information associated with the specified display information, and the specified display information. Search request means (510, 550) for generating a document request including at least one search keyword as search information and transmitting the document request to the specified document management device; and the document management device Document display means (550) for displaying the document provided from the monitor on the monitor, and the document management device includes the user terminal When the document request transmitted from the user is received, by referring to the document storage unit, a search unit (420) for searching for a document to be provided to the user terminal based on the search information of the document request; The above-described problem is solved by including document transmission means (420, 440) for transmitting the document searched by the search means to the user terminal.

  According to the remote monitoring extended system of the present invention, the display information displayed in advance on the monitor of the user terminal is stored in the display storage means in association with the information for specifying the document management apparatus as the search destination. Then, the document management apparatus associated with the display information designated by the user is specified as the search destination by the search destination specifying means, and the document request including the search keyword is made into the document management apparatus by the search request means. In the document management apparatus, the search unit searches for the document based on the search keyword included in the document request. As a method from when the monitoring device acquires the work status from the monitoring target device until the display information based on the work status is displayed on the monitor of the user terminal, a conventionally known method in a remote monitoring system may be used. As a result, by simply specifying display information using a conventional remote monitoring system, it is possible to retrieve a document inspection relating to the specified display information from the document storage means. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently search for documents related to the monitoring target device.

  The “monitored device that performs a predetermined operation” manages the progress of each device in a production system composed of a plurality of devices in addition to machine tools and robots that perform a predetermined operation for a predetermined operation. Including production management equipment. The search of the document by the search means may be a search by full-text search, or a search keyword is previously associated with each document and stored in the document storage means, and the search keyword associated with the document and the document request are stored. The search may be based on the search information. The “document regarding the monitoring target device” includes a document regarding the monitoring target device itself and a document regarding work performed in the monitoring target device.

  The “at least one search keyword based on display information” includes a case where the display information itself is used as a search keyword and a case where the search keyword is associated with display information in advance. Thereby, since the search keyword prepared by the system side can be used, the search keyword can be unified in the system when searching for a document. The search keyword associated with the display information in advance includes a case where the display keyword is directly associated with each display information and stored in advance in the display information storage means, and a fixed search keyword prepared in the user terminal. In some cases, any display information is associated.

  The mode in which the search destination specifying unit obtains the location information from the display information storage unit may be a mode in which the location information is provided to the user terminal together with the display information. Alternatively, the location information may be provided. The same applies to the manner in which the search keyword associated with the display information in the search request means is acquired.

  The document storage means may be configured to be accessible by the document management apparatus, and even if it is directly connected to the document management apparatus, it is connected to the document management apparatus via a communication line. Also good. The “connected so that data can be transmitted / received” includes a case where connection is made via a network such as the Internet or a LAN, and a case where connection is made directly.

  The monitoring apparatus of the present invention may provide location information associated with the display information together with the display information to the user terminal. Thereby, since a user terminal can acquire location information simultaneously with display information, the access frequency between a monitoring apparatus and a user terminal can be reduced, and a quick search can be implement | achieved.

  Further, at least one search keyword based on the display information may be stored in the display information storage unit in association with the display information as a search keyword, and provided to the user terminal together with the display information. Thereby, a search keyword specific to each display information can be associated with each display information.

  The display information is character information indicating a work status of the monitoring target device, the display information of the display information storage unit is associated with at least one search keyword including the character information, and the search request unit includes The document request may be generated using the at least one search keyword associated with the character information as the search information. Thereby, for example, when character information indicating an error is displayed as display information on the monitor of the user terminal, the character information is directly included in the search request as a search keyword, and a document relating to the character information can be obtained.

  Further, the display information is image information indicating a specific part of the monitoring target device, and the display information of the display information storage unit is associated with at least one search keyword related to the specific part, The search request unit may generate the document request using the at least one search keyword associated with the display information as the search information. Thereby, for example, when an image indicating the operation status of the monitoring target device is displayed on the monitor of the user terminal, the search keyword associated with the part is searched only by selecting a specific part of the monitoring target device. It is included in the request and a document regarding the part can be obtained.

  When the document management apparatus is specified by the search destination specifying means, the user terminal is associated with the display information on the search screen display means (550) for displaying a search screen on the monitor and the search screen. And a keyword editing means (550) that displays the search keyword and allows the user to edit the search keyword, and the search request means is edited on the search screen when the search instruction is given by the user. The document request including a search keyword as the search information may be generated. As a result, the user can edit the search keyword by adding or deleting the search keyword based on the search keyword prepared by the remote monitoring extension system 1 on the search screen. Keywords can be set.

  The monitoring device, the document management device, and the user terminal are connected via a network, the display information is information provided by the monitoring device to be displayed on the monitor as a Web page, and the search screen is It is a screen provided by the document management apparatus as a Web page, and each means in the user terminal may be realized by a Web browser. By using the functions of the Web page and the Web browser as a data transmission / reception method, it is possible to employ the Internet or LAN that can use the functions, and the versatility of the remote monitoring expansion system of the present invention is enhanced. In addition, since various tools for the Internet are generally prepared, the expandability is enhanced.

  The document storage means may be distributed on a predetermined network accessible by the document management apparatus. As a result, the document management apparatus can retrieve documents managed in a distributed manner via the network. Therefore, even if a document is managed separately by each of a plurality of management entities, it is not necessary to concentrate physically on one document storage means, and the present invention can be realized while managing each document in a distributed state. can do.

  The user terminal (500) of the present invention includes a monitoring target device (110a ... 110d) that performs a predetermined work, and display information for acquiring the work status of the monitoring target device and indicating the work status in a predetermined display mode. A monitoring device (200) that provides a predetermined document to a predetermined destination, a document management device (400) that retrieves a predetermined document from a document storage unit (410) that stores a plurality of documents related to the monitoring target device, and the monitoring device The user terminal (500) showing the work status in the predetermined display mode on the basis of the display information provided from the user terminal (500) is connected so as to be able to send and receive data, and stored in the document storage means Each of the plurality of documents is stored in association with at least one search keyword, and the monitoring device manages the document related to the monitoring target device. Display information storage means (220) for storing the display information associated with location information for specifying a device, and the document management device refers to the document storage means, whereby the user terminal Based on the search information included in the document request transmitted from, search means (420) for searching for a document to be provided to the user terminal, and document transmission for transmitting the document searched by the search means to the user terminal When the display information provided from the monitoring device is designated as a search target by the user, the user terminal in the remote monitoring extended system having means (420, 440) is associated with the designated display information By acquiring the obtained location information, the document management device corresponding to the display information is specified as a search destination. The document request is specified by generating the document request including the search destination specifying means (550) and at least one search keyword based on the specified display information as the search information. By having search request means (510, 550) for transmitting to the management apparatus and display means (550) for displaying the document provided from the document management apparatus on the monitor, the above-mentioned problems are solved.

  This user terminal functions as a user terminal of the remote monitoring extension system of the present invention. The significance of each of the document management device, the search keyword, the search mode, and the mode connected so as to be able to transmit and receive data is the same as that in the remote monitoring extended system described above.

  As described above, according to the present invention, by associating location information for specifying a document management apparatus with display information provided as a monitoring status to a user terminal, the user terminal is designated as a search target. A document management apparatus as a search destination is specified from the displayed display information, and a document request including a search keyword based on the specified display information as search information is transmitted to the search destination document management apparatus. The document management device searches for a document based on a search keyword included in the document request from a document storage unit storing a document related to the monitoring target device, and provides the document to the user terminal. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a remote monitoring extended system having a document search function for efficiently searching for documents related to the monitoring target device based on information provided by the conventional remote monitoring function.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a remote monitoring extension system 1 according to the present invention. In the remote monitoring extended system 1, a device group 100, a monitoring server 200, a document management server 400, and a user terminal 500 are connected via the Internet 300. The apparatus group 100 includes a plurality of apparatuses, and in this embodiment, includes a machine tool 110a, a robot 110b, a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) 110c, and a production management apparatus 110d. The production management device 110d is a device that manages the production process in the production management system 120 that manages the production process for producing a predetermined product. The monitoring server 200 monitors the work status in each device with the devices 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d as monitoring target devices.

  The document management server 400 can access a plurality of document storage units 410 a, 410 b, 410 c via the Internet 300. Documents relating to the machine tool 110a, the robot 110b, the PLC 110c, and the production management apparatus 110d are distributed and managed in each document storage unit 410a, 410b, 410c. For example, the operation manual managed by the manufacturer is stored in the document storage unit 410a, the usage notes accumulated by the user based on experience are stored in the document storage unit 410b, and the maintenance managed by the machine maintenance company is stored in the document storage unit 410c. The manual is stored. Each document storage unit 410a, 410b, 410c includes a device (not shown) that manages a plurality of documents stored in each document storage unit 410a, 410b, 410c and controls communication with the document management server 400. Is provided. This device may be any device that performs communication control between a plurality of nodes distributed on the network by a conventionally known technique.

  Hereinafter, the devices 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d to be monitored are referred to as devices 110 when it is not necessary to distinguish them. Further, a concept in which a plurality of document storage units 410a, 410b, and 410c are combined is referred to as a document storage unit 410. In the remote monitoring extended system 1, the monitoring server device 200 monitors the device 110, provides the work status in the device 110 to the user terminal 500, and uses information based on the work status provided in the user terminal 500 as a search target. When specified, the document management server 400 searches the document storage unit 410 for a document related to the specified information. That is, the remote monitoring extended system 1 has a document search function in addition to the remote monitoring function.

  The outline of each structure of each server 200 and 400, the user terminal 500, and the apparatus 110 which comprises the remote monitoring extended system 1 is demonstrated using FIG. Each of the devices 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d includes monitoring control units 111a, 111b, 111c, and 111d that provide the work status to the monitoring server 200 as status information. For example, the work status of the machine tool 110a in which the physical operation is performed is the operation status of the physical operation, and the work status of the production management device 110d in which the production process is managed is the management status of the production process. . The production monitoring apparatus 111d further includes a production management unit that manages production processes, but illustration thereof is omitted.

  The monitoring server 200 includes a monitoring control unit 210, a page storage unit 220, an image storage unit 230, and a communication control unit 240. The communication control unit 240 controls data transmission / reception with each device 110 and the user terminal 500. The image storage unit 230 stores image data for representing each device 110 as a 3D model.

  The page storage unit 220 stores a monitoring Web page for providing the user terminal 500 with status information obtained from each device 110. The monitoring Web page is not only dynamically provided with status information of each device 110 in characters and numerical values (hereinafter referred to as “character information”), but also is animated using image data in the image storage unit 230. It is set to be provided as an image (hereinafter referred to as “image information”). Further, the monitoring Web page describes information for specifying the search destination document management server 400 in order to search for a document based on information provided by the monitoring Web page. The character information and image information function as display information, and the page storage unit 220 functions as display information storage means. The description content for specifying the document management server 400 will be described later.

  The monitoring control unit 210 includes a CPU and various peripheral circuits necessary for its operation, and controls various processes performed in the monitoring server 200. For example, the display of the monitoring Web page is controlled so that the sequentially changing status information obtained from each device 110 is dynamically provided to the user terminal 500 as image information and text information on the monitoring Web page. The document management server 400 includes a document management unit 420, a page storage unit 430, and a communication control unit 440. The communication control unit 440 controls data transmission / reception with the user terminal 500 and access to the document storage unit 410. The page storage unit 430 stores a search Web page provided to the user terminal 500. The search Web page will be described later.

  As described above, the document storage unit 410 is a concept that combines the document storage units 410a, 410b, and 410c, and documents related to the apparatus 110 are distributed and managed in the document storage units 410a, 410b, and 410c.

  The document management unit 420 includes a CPU and various peripheral circuits necessary for its operation, and controls various processes performed in the document management server 400. For example, the document storage unit 410 is accessed to perform processing related to retrieval of stored documents. Details of processing performed by the document management unit 420 will be described later.

  The user terminal 500 includes a communication control unit 510, a monitor 520, an input unit 530, a storage unit 540, and a terminal control unit 550. The communication control unit 510 controls data transmission / reception with the monitoring server 200 and the document management server 400. The monitor 520 displays various information on the screen. The input unit 530 includes, for example, a mouse and a keyboard, and accepts data input to the user terminal 500 by the user. The storage unit 540 stores various data necessary for processing performed in the user terminal 500, and has a configuration including both a volatile storage medium and a nonvolatile storage medium. The stored data includes, for example, a program necessary for the operation of the user terminal 500, a monitoring Web page, and a Web browser for browsing a search Web page. The terminal control unit 550 includes a CPU and various peripheral circuits necessary for its operation, and controls various processes performed in the user terminal 500. Details of processing in the user terminal 500 will be described later.

  Processing related to the monitoring function in the remote monitoring extended system 1, that is, processing from acquisition of status information of the device 110 to provision of image information and character information by a monitoring Web page may be the same processing as that of a conventionally known remote monitoring system. Hereinafter, processing related to the document search function in the remote monitoring extended system 1 will be described. In the remote monitoring extended system 1, a document based on information provided by the monitoring Web page can be searched.

  The search method includes a character search that can be provided when the state of the device 110 is provided as character information, and an image search that can be provided when the state of the device 110 is provided as image information. The character search is a method in which character information displayed on the monitor 520 is designated as a search target, and a document related to the character information is searched. The image search is performed on an animation image of the device 110 displayed on the monitor 520. This is a method in which a document relating to a specified part is searched by specifying a specific part as a search target.

  The contents described for specifying the search destination document management server 400 in the monitoring Web page will be described. First, for the character search, the name of the device 110, the status information item name, the status information value, and the like are searched in the description part for displaying the status of the device 110 on the monitor 520 as the character information. Location information for specifying the document management server 400 as a search destination is set as a keyword. The location information of this embodiment is information that designates a search page provided by the search destination document management server 400 as a link destination.

  That is, in the monitoring Web page, at least one search keyword and information for specifying the document management server 400 to be searched are associated with character information as display information to be searched. The status information item is an item name indicating the work status of the apparatus 110, and may be set according to the apparatus 100. For example, there are types of operations. The state information value is information indicating a specific state in the state information item, and is, for example, a value indicating the type of error or a value indicating the operation content with respect to the type of operation indicating the state information item.

  The document management server 400 that is a search destination is a document management server 400 that manages documents related to the monitoring target device 110. For example, when the device 110a performs a search on a monitoring Web page to be monitored, a document related to the device 110a is stored. A document management server 400 to be managed. FIG. 3 shows an example in which the location information 221 and the search keyword 222 are added to the part describing the character information in the monitoring Web page. Thereby, in the monitoring Web page, the location information 221 and the search keyword 222 are associated with the character information. The search keyword 222 is a status information value obtained from the monitoring control unit 210.

  On the other hand, for the image search, for example, the name of the device 110, the name of the part, etc. are added as search keywords to the image information of the part to be searched in the image data of the apparatus 110 as necessary. Location information for specifying the document management server 400 is set in advance. As described above, the location information of this embodiment is information that designates a search page managed by the search destination document management server 400 as a link destination. As a result, at least one search keyword and location information are associated with the image information as display information to be searched for in the monitoring Web page. The document management server 400 serving as a search destination is a document management server 400 that manages a document related to the monitoring target device 110. For example, when a part of the device 110a is designated, the document management server 400 manages the document related to the device 110a. This is a document management server 400.

  The description of the Web page for image search differs depending on the description language of the image data. For example, in the case of VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language), a search keyword and location information may be associated with a part to be searched in image data using a WWWAnchor node. In addition, in the case of XVL (extensible virtual world description language, registered trademark) of Lattice Technology Co., Ltd., each part to be searched in image data is defined as a group object, and the “link / annotation assignment” function of XVL Thus, a search keyword and location information may be associated with each part. Note that the names of the devices and the names of parts associated with the search keywords are names unified within the remote monitoring expansion system 1.

  First, regarding the processing performed in each of the document management server 400, the monitoring server 200, and the user terminal 500 in the character search, the case where the apparatus 110a is the monitoring target and the document management server 400 is the search destination is taken as an example in FIG. This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of processing in character search, and FIGS. 5 to 8 show examples of monitoring Web pages displayed on the monitor 520. Each process in the document server 400, the monitoring server 200, and the user terminal is controlled by the document management unit 420, the monitoring control unit 210, and the terminal control unit 550, respectively.

  When the monitoring server 200 is accessed from the user terminal 500, a monitoring Web page to be displayed on the monitor 520 is provided. When a predetermined operation is performed by the user so that the status of the device 110a is displayed as character information on the monitoring Web page, a status list table 600 indicating the status of the device 110a as character information is displayed on the monitor 520 (step S1). ). When “NC alarm” is designated by the user as character information to be searched in the situation list table 600, document management of a search destination associated with the designated character information (hereinafter referred to as “search character information”). The server 400 is specified (step S2). In this embodiment, as described above, the location information associated with the search character information, that is, the information specifying the link destination search Web page is specified.

  When a page request is transmitted from the user terminal 500 to the search destination, the document management server 400 activates the search page and provides it to the user terminal 500 (step S3). The user terminal 500 displays the provided search page 610 on the monitor 520 in a state where the search keyword associated with the search character information is set in the keyword column 611 (step S4). In the example of FIG. 6, the search character information “NC alarm” displays the name “PV4” and the status information value “NC alarm” of the device 110a associated with the search keyword.

  Subsequently, the user terminal 500 is ready to accept editing of the search keyword set in the keyword field 611 (step S5). The user can add, delete, or change a search keyword by an operation on the input unit 530 as necessary.

  When the search button 612 on the search page 610 is clicked as an operation for designating search execution, a document request including the search keyword in the keyword column 611 is generated, and the generated document request is transmitted to the document management server 400 ( Step S6). The document management server 400 that has received the document request accesses the document storage unit 410 to search for a document having all the search keywords included in the document request (step S7). Subsequently, the document management server 400 transmits document list information, which is information for causing the monitor 520 to display a list of searched documents, to the user terminal 500.

  The user terminal 500 that has received the document list information displays the document list 620 on the monitor 520 (step S8). When one document is selected from the document list by the user, the selection information is transmitted to the document management server 400 that is the search destination, and the document selected by the document management server 400 is provided as document information (step S9). . The user terminal 500 that has received the document information displays the document 630 on the monitor 520 based on the document information (step S10). Note that the processes in steps S6 to S10 may be performed in the same manner as a document search process using a conventionally known Web page.

  Further, a situation list table 600 'showing character information when the monitoring target apparatus is the production management apparatus 110d is as shown in FIG. For example, the character information for displaying the product name “PRODUCT01-001” in the status list table 600 ′ includes “PRODUCT01-001” as a search keyword and the location of the document management server 440 that manages documents related to the production management apparatus 110d. Information is associated. In this case, when “PRODUCT01-001” is selected as the character information to be searched in the situation list table 600 ′, “PRODUCT01-001” is set in the keyword column 611 ′ as a search keyword as shown in FIG. The search page 610 ′ is displayed in the state.

  Next, with respect to processing performed in each of the document management server 400, the monitoring server 200, and the user terminal 500 in the image search, the case where the apparatus 110a is set as a monitoring target and the document management server 400 is set as a search destination is illustrated in FIG. Description will be made with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of processing in image search, and FIGS. 12 to 15 show examples of monitoring Web pages displayed on the monitor 520. Each process in the document server 400, the monitoring server 200, and the user terminal 550 is controlled by the document management unit 420, the monitoring control unit 210, and the terminal control unit 550, respectively.

  When the monitoring server 200 is accessed from the user terminal 500, a monitoring Web page to be displayed on the monitor 520 is provided. When a predetermined operation is performed by the user so that the work status in the device 110a is displayed as an image on the monitoring Web page, image information indicating the work status in the device 110a is sent from the monitoring server 200, and the work status of the device 110a is displayed. An animation screen 700 expressed by the operation of the 3D animation image 110a ′ of the device 110a is displayed on the monitor 520 (step S20).

  When a specific part of the animation image 110a 'is designated as search target image information by the user on the animation screen 700, the search destination document management server 400 associated with the designated part is specified (step S21). In this embodiment, as described above, the location information associated with the search target in the monitoring Web server, that is, the information specifying the link destination search Web page is specified. Hereinafter, in this embodiment, a case where an image of the “main axis” 702 is designated by the cursor 701 as the designated portion will be described as an example.

  When a page request is transmitted from the user terminal 500 to the search destination, the document management server 400 activates the search page and provides it to the user terminal 500 (step S22). The user terminal 500 displays the provided search page 710 on the monitor 520 with the search keyword associated with “main axis” set in the keyword column 711 (step S23). The user terminal 500 is ready to accept editing of the search keyword set in the keyword column 711 (step S24). The user can add, delete, or change the search keyword in the keyword column 711 by operating the input unit 530 as necessary.

  In the example of FIG. 13, the name “PV4” of the device 110a and the name “main axis” of the device 110a associated with the “main axis” 702 in the image data are displayed in the keyword column 711, and the user searches for “abnormal”. Indicates that a keyword has been added.

  When the search button 712 on the search page 710 is clicked as an operation for specifying search execution, a document request including the search keyword in the keyword column 711 is generated, and the generated document request is transmitted to the document management server 400 that is the search destination. (Step S25). Upon receiving the document request, the document management server 400 accesses the document storage unit 410 and searches for a document having a search keyword that matches all the search keywords included in the document request (step S26). Subsequently, the document management server 400 transmits document list information, which is information for causing the monitor 520 to display a list of retrieved documents, to the user terminal 500.

  The user terminal 500 that has received the document list information displays the document list 720 on the monitor 520 (step S26). When one document is selected from the document list by the user, the selection information is transmitted to the document management server 400, and the selected document is provided as document information (step S27). The user terminal 500 that has received the document information displays the document 730 on the monitor 520 based on the document information (step S28). Note that the processes in steps S25 to S28 may be performed in the same manner as a document search process using a conventionally known Web page.

  Through step S7 and step S26, the document management unit 420 functions as a search unit, and through step S9 and step S27, the document management unit 420 functions as a document transmission unit. Note that the processing in steps 7 to S9 and steps 26 to S27 in the document management server 400 may use a conventionally known search method.

  FIGS. 16 to 19 show other parts associated with the part designated in the animation image 110a 'and the part. FIG. 16 shows search keywords displayed in the keyword column 711 of the search page 710 when the image of the emergency stop button 703 is selected by the cursor 701. In this embodiment, in the provided monitoring Web page, the names “PV4” and “emergency stop” of the monitoring target device 110a are associated with the image information of the emergency stop button 703 as search keywords.

  FIG. 17 shows search keywords displayed in the keyword field 711 of the search page 710 when the image of the handle 704 is selected by the cursor 701. In this embodiment, in the provided monitoring Web page, the names “PV4” and “handle” of the monitoring target device 110a are associated with the image information of the handle 704 as search keywords. FIG. 18 shows search keywords displayed in the keyword column 711 of the search page 710 when the image of the start button 705 is selected by the cursor 701. In this case, in the provided monitoring Web page, the names “PV4” and “activation” of the monitoring target device 110a are associated with the image information of the activation button 705 as search keywords.

  FIG. 19 shows search keywords displayed in the keyword field 711 of the search page 710 when the image of the cover 706 is selected by the cursor 701. In this case, in the provided monitoring Web page, the name “PV4” of the monitoring target device 110a and the name “cover” of the part 706 are associated with the image information of the activation button 705 as a search keyword. As described above, the document can be searched by the name of the apparatus or the name of the part unified in the system only by specifying the part with the cursor 701.

  A document acquisition process performed in the user terminal 500 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The document acquisition process is performed in a state where the character information screen 600 or the animation screen 700 is displayed on the monitor 520 when the monitoring web page is provided from the monitoring server 200 to the user terminal 500. Each process in the document acquisition process is controlled by the terminal control unit 550. First, it is determined whether or not character information indicating a specific part of the animation image 110 ′ indicating the state of the apparatus 100 or the work status of the apparatus 100 is designated as a search target (step S <b> 30). If it is determined that there is a designation, the process proceeds to step S31 to specify a search destination. In this embodiment, the location information associated with the designated part or character information (hereinafter referred to as “search designation information”) is specified by referring to the description of the monitoring Web page. Thereby, the terminal control unit 550 functions as a search destination specifying unit.

  In step S32, a page request is made to the link destination specified by the location information. When a search page is provided from the search destination document management server 400, the search pages 610 and 710 are displayed on the monitor 520 in step S33. At this time, the search keywords associated with the search designation information are set in the keyword fields 611 and 711 of the search pages 610 and 710 with reference to the description of the monitoring Web page. When the search web page is displayed on the monitor 520, the process proceeds to step S34, and the user terminal 500 is ready to accept edits of the search keyword by the user. Thereby, the terminal control unit 550 functions as a search screen display unit and an editing unit. Subsequently, in step S35, it is determined whether or not there is a search execution instruction. When it is determined that there is no search execution instruction, the process returns to step S34, and when it is determined that there is a search execution instruction, the process proceeds to step S36.

  In step S36, a document request including the search keyword set in the keyword fields 611 and 711 is generated and transmitted to the document management server 400 specified as location information. Thereby, the terminal control unit 550 functions as a search request unit. After the transmission, the process proceeds to step S37, and when document list information for listing a plurality of documents searched by the document management server 400 is acquired, the document list tables 620 and 720 are stored in the monitor 520 based on the document list information. indicate. When one document is selected from the document list 620, 720 by a predetermined operation by the user, selection information is transmitted to the document management server 400 in step S38. In step S39, when the document information of the selected document is acquired, the selected documents 630 and 730 are displayed on the monitor 520. Thereby, the terminal control unit 550 functions as a document display unit.

  The present invention is not limited to the form described above, and may be implemented in various forms. For example, a document may be directly searched from a search keyword associated with specified search target information without displaying a search page and giving the user an opportunity to edit the search keyword. In the above-described embodiment, the Web page function of the Internet is used for data transmission / reception. The document search is not a full-text search, but one or more search keywords are associated with each document in advance, and the document is searched based on the search keyword associated with each document and the search keyword included in the document request. You may go.

  Further, the document management unit 410 may be configured to be directly connected to the document management unit 420 without going through the network with the document management server 400. Further, the remote monitoring extended system 1 may have a configuration in which, for example, a different document management server 400 is provided for each manufacturer, and a plurality of document management servers 400 exist. The device group 100, the monitoring server 200, the document management server 400, and the user terminal 500 are not limited to the Internet 300 but may be connected by a network using a dedicated line, or may be directly connected.

The figure which shows an example of the remote monitoring extended system of this invention. The function block diagram of the remote monitoring extended system shown in FIG. The figure which shows the part in which the search destination and the search keyword were described in the monitoring web page. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram when character information is designated as a search target. The figure which shows the status list table displayed on the monitor of a user terminal. The figure which shows the search page displayed on the monitor of a user terminal. The figure which shows the document list displayed on the monitor of the user terminal. The figure which shows the document displayed on the monitor of a user terminal. The figure which shows the example of the status list table in case a production management apparatus is a monitoring object apparatus. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a search page when a product name is selected as a search target in the situation list table shown in FIG. 9. The sequence diagram when the image information of a spindle is designated as a search target. The figure which shows the animation screen displayed on the monitor of a user terminal. The figure which shows the search page displayed on the monitor of a user terminal. The figure which shows the document list displayed on the monitor of the user terminal. The figure which shows the document displayed on the monitor of a user terminal. The figure which shows the animation screen and search page when the image information of an emergency stop button is designated as search object. The figure which shows the animation screen and search page when the image information of a handle | steering-wheel is designated as search object. The figure which shows the animation screen and search page when the image information of a start button is designated as search object. The figure which shows the animation screen and search page when the image information of a cover is designated as search object. 10 is a flowchart showing a process flow in document acquisition processing.

Explanation of symbols

Remote monitoring expansion system 1
Monitoring target devices 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110
Monitoring server (monitoring device) 200
Internet 300
Document management server (document management apparatus) 400
User terminal 500
Document storage unit (document storage means) 410a, 410b, 410c, 410
Display information storage means 220
Search specifying means 550
Search request means 550
Document display means 550
Search means 420
Document transmission means 420

Claims (9)

A monitoring target device that performs a predetermined work, a monitoring device that obtains a work status of the monitoring target device and provides display information for indicating the work status in a predetermined display mode to a predetermined providing destination, and the providing destination As a predetermined document using a remote monitoring system connected to a user terminal that shows the work status on the monitor in the predetermined display mode based on the display information provided from the monitoring device so that data can be transmitted and received Is a remote monitoring extension system provided to the user terminal,
A document management device that retrieves a predetermined document from a document storage unit that stores a plurality of documents related to work in the monitoring target device;
The monitoring device has display information storage means for storing the display information associated with location information for specifying the document management device,
The user terminal is
When the display information provided from the monitoring device is specified as a search target by the user, the document management device corresponding to the display information is set as a search destination by the location information associated with the specified display information. A search destination identification means to identify;
Search request means for generating a document request including at least one search keyword based on the specified display information as search information, and transmitting the document request to the specified document management device;
Document display means for displaying the document provided from the document management device on the monitor;
The document management apparatus includes:
When the document request transmitted from the user terminal is received, search means for searching for a document to be provided to the user terminal based on the search information of the document request by referring to the document storage means;
A remote transmission expansion system comprising: a document transmission unit that transmits the document retrieved by the retrieval unit to the user terminal.   The remote monitoring expansion system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring apparatus provides the user terminal with location information associated with the display information together with the display information.   The at least one search keyword based on the display information is associated with the display information as a search keyword, stored in the display information storage unit, and provided to the user terminal together with the display information. Item 3. The remote monitoring expansion system according to item 2. The display information is character information indicating a work status of the monitoring target device,
The display information of the display information storage means is associated with at least one search keyword including the character information,
The remote monitoring expansion system according to claim 3, wherein the search request unit generates the document request using the at least one search keyword associated with the character information as the search information. The display information is image information indicating a specific part of the monitoring target device,
The display information of the display information storage means is associated with at least one search keyword related to the specific part,
4. The remote monitoring expansion system according to claim 3, wherein the search request unit generates the document request using the at least one search keyword associated with the display information as the search information. The user terminal, when the document management device is specified by the search destination specifying means, search screen display means for displaying a search screen on the monitor;
Keyword search means for displaying a search keyword associated with the display information on the search screen and enabling editing by a user;
The search request means generates the document request including a search keyword edited on the search screen as the search information when a search execution instruction is issued by the user. The remote monitoring expansion system according to any one of 3 to 5.   The monitoring device, the document management device, and the user terminal are connected via a network, the display information is information provided by the monitoring device to be displayed on the monitor as a Web page, and the search screen is The remote monitoring expansion system according to claim 6, wherein the remote management expansion system is a screen provided by the document management apparatus as a Web page, and each unit in the user terminal is realized by a Web browser.   The remote monitoring expansion system according to claim 1, wherein the document storage unit is distributed on a predetermined network accessible by the document management apparatus. A monitoring target device that performs a predetermined work, a monitoring device that obtains a work status of the monitoring target device and provides display information for indicating the work status in a predetermined display mode to a predetermined providing destination, and the monitoring target A document management device that retrieves a predetermined document from a document storage unit that stores a plurality of documents related to the device, and the work status in the predetermined display mode based on the display information provided from the monitoring device as the provision destination A user terminal shown on a monitor is connected to be able to transmit and receive data, and the monitoring device displays the display information associated with location information for identifying the document management device that manages the document related to the monitoring target device. Display information storage means for storing, and the document management apparatus refers to the document storage means to respond to a document request transmitted from the user terminal. The remote monitoring expansion system includes: search means for searching for a document to be provided to the user terminal, and document transmission means for transmitting the document searched by the search means to the user terminal based on search information to be read. A user terminal,
When the display information provided from the monitoring device is designated as a search target by the user, the document management device corresponding to the display information is obtained by acquiring the location information associated with the designated display information. A search destination specifying means for specifying as a search destination,
Search request means for generating the document request including at least one search keyword based on the specified display information as the search information, and transmitting the document request to the specified document management device;
A user terminal comprising: display means for displaying a document provided from the document management apparatus on the monitor.

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