JP2020140298A - Hot water supply device and hot water supply system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a hot water supply device and a hot water supply system capable of preventing a user of a portable terminal device from performing useless confirmation coping by correctly notifying the portable terminal device of an abnormality of a person inside a bathroom.SOLUTION: A hot water supply device 10 includes: a human sensor 125 for detecting a motion of a person inside a bathroom; a notification section (speaker 126) placed inside the bathroom; an abnormality detection section 123a for detecting an abnormality of a person based on a detection result of the human sensor 125; a state confirmation section 123b for making an inquiry to a person inside the bathroom about a state with the use of the notification section (speaker 126) based on a fact that the abnormality detection section 123a has detected an abnormality; and an abnormality determination section 123c for performing processing to notify a portable terminal device of an abnormality via an external communication network 40 when there is no response indicating absence of an abnormality from a person inside the bathroom with respect to an inquiry by the state confirmation section 123b.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a hot water supply device that can be connected to an external network and a hot water supply system that includes the hot water supply device.

Conventionally, in a hot water supply device, various settings have been made by a remote controller installed in a bathroom, a living room, or a kitchen. On the other hand, recently, a system for remotely controlling a hot water supply device using a mobile terminal device such as a mobile phone has been studied. For example, the following Patent Document 1 describes a system for remotely controlling a hot water supply heater using a mobile phone.

In addition, the hot water supply device is provided with a function of monitoring whether the bather has an abnormality. For example, the following Patent Document 2 describes a configuration in which an abnormality of a person is determined based on the movement of the person in the bathroom, and an alarm is issued when the abnormality is determined to have occurred.

Japanese Patent No. 4771846 Japanese Patent No. 3972590

When the above-mentioned monitoring function is applied to the remote control system of the hot water supply device, a configuration can be assumed in which the detection result of the abnormality is transmitted from the hot water supply device to the mobile terminal device via the external communication network. As a result, the user of the mobile terminal device can confirm the abnormality of the person in the bathroom from outside the house.

However, in this case, since the determination of a person's abnormality is made based on the movement of the person in the bathroom being stopped for a certain period of time, when the movement of the person in the bathroom happens to be stopped due to a factor other than the abnormality. However, an abnormality is notified to the mobile terminal device. In this case, since the user of the mobile terminal device outside the house does not know the state inside the house at all, the person who is in the bathroom using his / her own mobile terminal device one after another even for the notification of such an abnormality. It will take measures to confirm the safety of.

In view of such a problem, the present invention provides a hot water supply device and a hot water supply system capable of more accurately notifying a mobile terminal device of an abnormality of a person in a bathroom and preventing unnecessary confirmation by a user of the mobile terminal device. The purpose is to provide.

The first aspect of the present invention relates to a hot water supply device that can be connected to an external communication network. The hot water supply device according to this aspect detects a human abnormality based on a motion sensor for detecting the movement of a person in the bathroom, a notification unit arranged in the bathroom, and a detection result of the motion sensor. In response to the abnormality detection unit, the status confirmation unit that inquires about the situation from the person in the bathroom by the notification unit based on the detection of the abnormality by the abnormality detection unit, and the inquiry by the status confirmation unit. It is provided with an abnormality notification unit that performs a process for notifying the mobile terminal device of the abnormality via the external communication network when there is no response from the person indicating that there is no abnormality.

According to the hot water supply device according to this aspect, when an abnormality is detected in a person in the bathroom by the abnormality detection unit, the situation confirmation unit further confirms the situation in the person in the bathroom. Then, when it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in a person in the bathroom based on this confirmation, the notification of the abnormality is given to the mobile terminal device. Therefore, it is possible to more accurately notify the mobile terminal device of a person's abnormality in the bathroom, and thereby it is possible to prevent the user of the mobile terminal device from confirming and responding to unnecessary abnormalities.

The hot water supply device according to this aspect may be configured to include a voice input unit arranged in the bathroom. In this case, the abnormality notification unit may be configured to perform a process for notifying the abnormality when there is no voice input indicating that there is no abnormality via the voice input unit in response to the inquiry.

According to this configuration, the safety of the person is confirmed by the voice from the person in the bathroom. Therefore, the person in the bathroom only needs to emit a voice according to the situation, and the situation of the person in the bathroom can be confirmed easily and accurately.

Further, the hot water supply device according to this aspect may be configured to include an operation input unit arranged in the bathroom. In this case, the abnormality notification unit may be configured to perform a process for notifying the abnormality when a predetermined input is not made to the operation input unit in response to the inquiry.

According to this configuration, the safety of the person is confirmed by the operation input by the person in the bathroom. Therefore, it is possible to accurately confirm the situation of a person in the bathroom.

In the hot water supply device according to this aspect, it is preferable that the abnormality detection unit, the status confirmation unit, and the abnormality notification unit are arranged in the remote controller installed in the bathroom.

According to this configuration, the process of detecting and determining the abnormality of a person in the bathroom can be established only inside the remote controller in the bathroom without communicating with other devices. Therefore, it is possible to smoothly detect and confirm an abnormality of a person in the bathroom by a simple process.

A second aspect of the present invention relates to a hot water supply system. The hot water supply system according to this aspect includes the hot water supply device according to the first aspect and a server connected to the external communication network. Here, the server manages the hot water supply device in association with the mobile terminal device, and based on receiving the notification of the abnormality from the abnormality notification unit, the mobile phone associated with the hot water supply device. Information for abnormality notification is transmitted to the terminal device.

According to the hot water supply system according to this aspect, it is possible to more accurately notify the mobile terminal device of an abnormality of a person in the bathroom, as in the first aspect. As a result, it is possible to prevent the user of the mobile terminal device from confirming and responding to unnecessary abnormalities.

As described above, according to the present invention, the hot water supply device and the hot water supply system capable of more accurately notifying the mobile terminal device of an abnormality of a person in the bathroom and preventing unnecessary confirmation by the user of the mobile terminal device. Can be provided.

The effects or significance of the present invention will be further clarified by the description of the embodiments shown below. However, the embodiments shown below are merely examples when the present invention is put into practice, and the present invention is not limited to those described in the following embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a hot water supply system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a circuit block of each device constituting the hot water supply device according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process for watching over a person in the bathroom according to the embodiment. 4 (a) to 4 (d) are diagrams showing operations in the process for confirming the situation of a person in the bathroom according to the embodiment, respectively. FIG. 5A is a flowchart showing a process performed by the server in response to receiving an abnormality notification from the hot water supply device according to the embodiment. FIG. 5B is a flowchart showing a process performed by the mobile terminal device in response to receiving an abnormality notification from the server according to the embodiment. 6 (a) to 6 (d) are diagrams showing the operation in the process for confirming the situation of a person in the bathroom according to the modified example, respectively. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a circuit block of each device constituting the hot water supply device according to another modified example. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a circuit block of each device constituting the hot water supply device according to still another modified example.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a hot water supply system 1 according to an embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the hot water supply system 1 includes a hot water supply device 10 and a server 50. The hot water supply device 10 is connected to the external communication network 40 via the router 20. The server 50 manages the hot water supply system 1. The hot water supply device 10 can be remotely controlled by a mobile terminal device 30 paired in advance.

The hot water supply device 10 includes a water heater 11 and remote controllers 12 and 13. The water heater 11 is a gas water heater that supplies hot water using gas as fuel. The hot water generated by the water heater 11 is supplied to the faucet of the kitchen, the bathtub, the curan, etc. via the pipes connected to the hot water supply port 11a. When the water heater 11 has a floor heating function, a bathroom heating function, and a heating function by a panel heater, hot water is supplied from the water heater 11 to a device that realizes these functions.

The remote controllers 12 and 13 are connected to the water heater 11 and are used to make various settings for each function of the water heater 10. The remote controllers 12 and 13 include display units 121 and 131 and operation input units 122 and 132, respectively. By operating the operation input units 122 and 132 according to the screens displayed on the display units 121 and 131, the operator can make arbitrary settings for hot water filling, hot water supply temperature adjustment, and the like. The remote controller 12 is installed in the bathroom, and the remote controller 13 is installed in the kitchen or the like. The remote controllers 12 and 13 are provided with audio windows 12a and 13a for inputting and outputting audio.

Hereinafter, the remote controller 12 installed in the bathroom will be referred to as a "bathroom remote controller 12", and the remote controller 13 installed in the kitchen or the like will be referred to as a "kitchen remote controller 13".

The router 20 is a wireless router for connecting each device existing in the building (here, the home H10) to the server 50 via the external communication network 40. The router 20 is a communication repeater for connecting the device of the home H10 to the external communication network 40.

The kitchen remote controller 13 is connected to the router 20 by wireless communication. Further, when the mobile terminal device 30 exists in the home H10, the mobile terminal device 30 is connected to the router 20 by wireless communication and can communicate with the server 50. The mobile terminal device 30 is, for example, a mobile phone. In addition, the mobile terminal device 30 may be another portable terminal device such as a portable tablet terminal. The external communication network 40 is, for example, the Internet.

A server 50 for managing remote control (remote control and remote monitoring) of the hot water supply device 10 is connected to the external communication network 40. The kitchen remote controller 13 communicates with the server 50 via the router 20 and the external communication network 40. When the mobile terminal device 30 exists in the home H10, the mobile terminal device 30 communicates with the server 50 via the router 20 and the external communication network 40. When the mobile terminal device 30 is outside the home, the mobile terminal device 30 is connected to the external communication network 40 via a router 60 or a base station 70 installed outside, and communicates with the server 50.

The application program of the hot water supply system 1 is downloaded from the server 50 and installed in the kitchen remote controller 13 and the mobile terminal device 30. This application program contains address information (for example, an IP address) for accessing the server 50. The kitchen remote controller 13 and the mobile terminal device 30 access the server 50 and perform communication based on this address information.

The address information of the kitchen remote controller 13 is transmitted to and held by the server 50 at the time of initial setting. At the same time, the ID information (identification information) of the kitchen remote controller 13 is transmitted from the kitchen remote controller 13 to the server 50. As the address information of the kitchen remote controller 13, for example, the MAC (Media Access Control) address held in the wireless communication unit 135 (see FIG. 2) of the kitchen remote controller 13 is used. As the address information of the kitchen remote controller 13, the global IP address of the wireless communication unit 135 of the kitchen remote controller 13 may be used. As the ID information of the kitchen remote controller 13, for example, THING of the wireless communication unit 135 of the kitchen remote controller 13 is used. As the ID information of the kitchen remote controller 13, the MAC address of the wireless communication unit 135 of the kitchen remote controller 13 may be used.

Further, in the server 50, a mobile terminal device 30 capable of remotely controlling (remote control and remote monitoring) the hot water supply device 10 is registered in advance in association with the hot water supply device 10. That is, the hot water supply device 10 and the mobile terminal device 30 are paired and registered in the server 50 by a predetermined pairing process. For example, the ID information of the hot water supply device 10 and the ID information and the address information of the mobile terminal device 30 are registered in the server 50 in association with each other as pairing information. The ID information and address information of the mobile terminal device 30 registered as pairing information are, for example, the MAC address and THING of the wireless communication unit of the mobile terminal device 30.

Further, at the time of the pairing, the ID information of the hot water supply device 10 (kitchen remote controller 13) of the pairing destination is registered in the mobile terminal device 30. At this time, the user of the mobile terminal device 30 inputs and registers an identification mark such as "home" or "grandparent's house" in the hot water supply device 10 of the pairing destination. The mobile terminal device 30 stores the input identification mark in association with the ID information of the hot water supply device 10 (kitchen remote controller 13) of the pairing destination.

In this way, the user of the mobile terminal device 30 can perform remote control (remote control and remote monitoring) on the hot water supply device 10 by using the mobile terminal device 30 both inside the house H10 and outside the house.

That is, regardless of whether the mobile terminal device 30 is located inside the home H10 or outside the home, the setting request input from the operator to the mobile terminal device 30 is once transmitted to the server 50 via the external communication network 40. .. In response to this, the server 50 transmits the received setting request to the hot water supply device 10 previously associated with the mobile terminal device 30 that has received the setting request. As a result, the setting request is transmitted to the kitchen remote controller 13 of the corresponding hot water supply device 10 via the external communication network 40 and the router 20. In this way, the setting of the content requested by the operator is applied to the hot water supply device 10 by remote control.

Further, the state information of the hot water supply device 10 is transmitted from the kitchen remote controller 13 to the server 50 via the router 20 at any time in a predetermined cycle. The state information is information indicating the current setting state of the hot water supply device 10. The server 50 manages the received status information for each hot water supply device 10. The remote monitoring viewing request input from the operator to the mobile terminal device 30 is once transmitted to the server 50 via the external communication network 40. In response to this, the server 50 obtains the state information of the hot water supply device 10 designated by the browsing request among the hot water supply devices 10 previously associated with the mobile terminal device 30 that has received the browsing request. Send to. As a result, the state of the hot water supply device 10 is output to the mobile terminal device 30. In this way, the operator can confirm the state of the hot water supply device 10 both inside and outside the house.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a circuit block of each device constituting the hot water supply device 10.

The water heater 11 includes a control unit 111, a communication unit 112, a drive unit 113, and a sensor unit 114. The control unit 111 includes a microcomputer and controls each unit in the water heater 11 according to a program stored in the built-in memory.

The communication unit 112 communicates with the bathroom remote controller 12 and the kitchen remote controller 13 according to the control from the control unit 111. The communication unit 112 is connected to the communication units 124 and 134 by a two-core communication line. The 2-core communication line is also used to supply power to the bathroom remote controller 12 and the kitchen remote controller 13. By superimposing the communication signal on the power supply voltage, communication is performed between the communication units 112, 124, and 134.

The drive unit 113 includes a drive motor for an air supply fan that supplies air to the combustor, an electromagnetic valve arranged in a pipe or a gas pipe, and the like. The sensor unit 114 includes various sensors for hot water supply, such as a water level sensor for detecting the water level of the bathtub to which the hot water supply device 10 is connected.

In addition to the above-mentioned display unit 121 and operation input unit 122, the bathroom remote controller 12 includes a control unit 123, a communication unit 124, a motion sensor 125, a speaker 126, a microphone 127, a voice synthesis unit 128, and voice recognition. A unit 129 is provided.

The display unit 121 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal panel. The operation input unit 122 includes various operation buttons such as a temperature setting button. The display unit 121 may be a touch panel.

The control unit 123 includes a microcomputer and performs predetermined control according to a program stored in the built-in memory. The communication unit 124 communicates with the water heater 11 and the kitchen remote controller 13 according to the control from the control unit 123.

The motion sensor 125 detects the entry and exit of a person to and from the bathroom and the movement of a person in the bathroom. The motion sensor 125 is, for example, an infrared pyroelectric sensor. The motion sensor 125 may be a motion sensor of a type other than the infrared pyroelectric sensor.

The speaker 126 outputs voice based on the voice signal generated by the voice synthesis unit 128. The microphone 127 outputs a voice signal corresponding to the collected voice to the voice recognition unit 129. The speaker 126 and the microphone 127 output sound and collect sound through the sound window 12a of FIG.

The voice synthesis unit 128 generates a predetermined voice signal in response to the control from the control unit 123, and supplies the generated voice signal to the speaker 126. The voice recognition unit 129 converts the voice signal supplied from the microphone 127 into text information and outputs it to the control unit 123.

The control unit 123 executes the functions of the abnormality detection unit 123a, the status confirmation unit 123b, and the abnormality notification unit 123c by the program stored in the built-in memory.

The abnormality detection unit 123a detects an abnormality of a person in the bathroom based on the detection result of the motion sensor 125. Specifically, the abnormality detection unit 123a determines that an abnormality has occurred in a person in the bathroom when the movement is not detected for a predetermined time by the output from the motion sensor 125.

The situation confirmation unit 123b makes an inquiry about the situation to a person in the bathroom based on the fact that the abnormality is detected by the abnormality detection unit 123a. Specifically, the status confirmation unit 123b executes a process of inquiring the status to a person in the bathroom via the speaker 126.

The abnormality notification unit 123c notifies the mobile terminal device 30 of the abnormality via the external communication network 40 when there is no response from a person in the bathroom indicating that there is no abnormality in response to the inquiry by the status confirmation unit 123b. Perform the processing of. Specifically, the abnormality notification unit 123c transmits an abnormality notification to the server 50 when no voice indicating safety is input to the microphone 127 from a person in the bathroom.

Details of the functions of the abnormality detection unit 123a, the status confirmation unit 123b, and the abnormality notification unit 123c will be described later with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 (a) to 4 (d).

In addition to the display unit 131 and the operation input unit 132 described above, the kitchen remote controller 13 includes a control unit 133, a communication unit 134, a wireless communication unit 135, a speaker 136, and a voice synthesis unit 137.

The display unit 131 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal panel. The operation input unit 132 includes various operation buttons such as a temperature setting button. The display unit 131 may be a touch panel.

The control unit 133 includes a microcomputer and performs predetermined control according to a program stored in the built-in memory. The communication unit 134 communicates with the water heater 11 and the bathroom remote controller 12 according to the control from the control unit 133. The wireless communication unit 135 is a wireless communication module capable of wireless communication with the router 20. The wireless communication unit 135 holds the above-mentioned MAC address.

The speaker 136 outputs a voice based on the voice signal generated by the voice synthesis unit 137. The speaker 136 outputs sound through the sound window 13a of FIG. The voice synthesis unit 137 generates a predetermined voice signal in response to the control from the control unit 133, and supplies the generated voice signal to the speaker 136. The kitchen remote controller 13 may further include a microphone.

Next, the monitoring function by the abnormality detection unit 123a, the status confirmation unit 123b, and the abnormality notification unit 123c will be described.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process for watching over a person in the bathroom.

The control unit 123 of the bathroom remote controller 12 monitors whether or not a person has entered the bathroom by the output from the motion sensor 125 (S101). When it is detected that a person has entered the bathroom (S101: YES), the control unit 123 starts the monitoring function by the abnormality detection unit 123a, the status confirmation unit 123b, and the abnormality notification unit 123c (S102).

First, the abnormality detection unit 123a monitors whether or not an abnormality has occurred in a person in the bathroom (S103). Specifically, the abnormality detection unit 123a detects the movement of a person in the bathroom by the output from the motion sensor 125, and when the movement of the person is not detected for a predetermined time (for example, about several minutes), It is determined that the person concerned has an abnormality. When it is determined that there is no abnormality in the person in the bathroom (S103: NO), the abnormality detection unit 123a proceeds to the process in step S104. After that, the abnormality detection unit 123a repeatedly executes the process of step S103 until it detects that a person has left the bathroom (S104).

On the other hand, when the abnormality detection unit 123a determines that an abnormality has occurred in a person in the bathroom (S103: YES), the situation confirmation unit 123b executes a process of inquiring the person in the bathroom about the situation (S105). Here, the inquiry is made by voice. In step S105, the situation confirmation unit 123b controls the voice synthesis unit 128 to output a predetermined voice for inquiring about the situation from the speaker 126.

After that, the abnormality notification unit 123c determines the presence or absence of an abnormality based on the response to the above inquiry. Here, the abnormality notification unit 123c refers to the identification result input from the voice recognition unit 129 for a predetermined time (for example, several tens of seconds) after the above inquiry is made, and the identification result indicating that it is safe within the time. Is determined from the voice recognition unit 129 (S106). When the identification result indicating safety is input (S105: YES), the abnormality notification unit 123c confirms that there is no abnormality in the person in the bathroom, and proceeds to the process in step S104. After that, the process of step S103 is repeatedly executed by the abnormality detection unit 123a until it is detected that a person has left the bathroom (S104).

On the other hand, if the identification result indicating safety is not input from the voice recognition unit 129 within the predetermined time (S106: NO), the abnormality notification unit 123c determines that an abnormality has occurred in the person in the bathroom, and determines that an abnormality has occurred. A notification indicating an abnormality (abnormality notification) is transmitted to the kitchen remote controller 13 via the communication unit 124 (S107). The transmitted abnormality notification is transmitted from the kitchen remote controller 13 to the server 50 together with the ID information of the kitchen remote controller 13. When the abnormality notification is transmitted in this way, the control unit 123 terminates the watching function (S108). Further, even when a person leaves the bathroom without any abnormality (S104: YES), the control unit 123 terminates the watching function (S108). As a result, the control unit 123 ends the process.

4 (a) to 4 (d) are diagrams showing the operation in the process (steps S105 and S106 of FIG. 3) for confirming the situation of a person in the bathroom, respectively.

When an abnormality is detected in a person in the bathroom, as shown in FIG. 4A, a voice for inquiring about the situation is output from the voice window 12a of the bathroom remote controller 12. Here, for example, a voice asking "Is it okay" to a person in the bathroom is output from the speaker 126 of FIG. 2 through the voice window 12a.

In response to this question, the person in the bathroom emits a voice indicating that he / she is safe, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), when he / she has no abnormality. At this time, the person in the bathroom makes a voice saying, for example, "It's okay". This voice is collected by the microphone 127 of FIG. 2 through the voice window 12a, and further voice-recognized by the voice recognition unit 129. The abnormality notification unit 123c holds in advance a table of text groups indicating that there is no abnormality. The abnormality notification unit 123c compares the voice recognition result with the table of text groups indicating that there is no abnormality, and determines whether or not the voice recognition result matches any of the texts in the table.

When the voice recognition result matches any text in the table, the abnormality notification unit 123c determines that there is no abnormality in the person in the bathroom. In this case, the determination in step S106 of FIG. 3 is YES, and the abnormality notification is not transmitted.

On the other hand, when the person in the bathroom has an abnormality, the person in the bathroom cannot respond appropriately to the question shown in FIG. 4A, or a voice for notifying that the abnormality has occurred. Emit. For example, when a person in the bathroom is faint, as shown in FIG. 4C, no sound is emitted from the person in the bathroom. In this case, the voice recognition result is not input from the voice recognition unit 129 to the control unit 123 within a predetermined time. Therefore, the determination in step S106 of FIG. 3 becomes NO, and the abnormality notification unit 123c transmits the abnormality notification to the kitchen remote controller 13.

Further, when the person in the bathroom is conscious but unable to move, the person in the bathroom emits a voice saying "No", for example, as shown in FIG. 4 (d). In this case, although the voice recognition result is transmitted from the voice recognition unit 129 to the abnormality notification unit 123c, the voice recognition result does not match any text in the table, so the determination in step S106 of FIG. 3 is NO. Become. As a result, the abnormality notification unit 123c transmits the abnormality notification to the kitchen remote controller 13.

In this way, when the abnormality notification is transmitted from the bathroom remote controller 12 to the kitchen remote controller 13, the kitchen remote controller 13 transmits the abnormality notification to the server 50 together with its own ID information.

FIG. 5A is a flowchart showing a process performed on the server 50 when an abnormality notification is received from the hot water supply device 10 (kitchen remote controller 13).

When the abnormality notification is received from the kitchen remote controller 13 (S201: YES), the server 50 refers to the ID information of the kitchen remote controller 13 received together with the abnormality notification, and causes the mobile terminal device 30 paired with the ID information to be abnormal. It is specified as a notification destination (S202). Here, when a plurality of mobile terminal devices 30 are paired with the ID information, the server 50 identifies all the paired mobile terminal devices 30 as abnormality notification destinations. Then, the server 50 transmits an abnormality notification to the specified mobile terminal device 30 together with the ID information of the kitchen remote controller 13 (S203).

FIG. 5B is a flowchart showing a process performed by the mobile terminal device 30 when an abnormality notification is received from the server 50.

When the abnormality notification is received from the server 50 (S301: YES), the mobile terminal device 30 displays the abnormality notification screen on its own display unit (S302). At this time, the mobile terminal device 30 refers to the ID information of the hot water supply device 10 (kitchen remote controller 13) received together with the abnormality notification, and includes the marking information associated with the ID information in the abnormality notification screen. As described above, the title information is input in advance by the user of the mobile terminal device 30 when the mobile terminal device 30 is paired with the hot water supply device 10, and is registered in the mobile terminal device 30.

For example, when the received ID information is the ID information of the hot water supply device 10 (kitchen remote controller 13) of the grandparents'house, the mobile terminal device 30 has the mark of "grandparents' house" and "a person's abnormality has been detected in the bathroom". An abnormality notification screen including the notification text of and is displayed on its own display unit. As a result, the user of the mobile terminal device 30 can grasp that a person's abnormality has occurred in the bathroom of the grandparent's house, and can take measures such as making a phone call to the grandparent's house. After referring to the abnormality notification screen, the user operates the confirmation button included in the abnormality notification screen (S303: YES). As a result, the mobile terminal device 30 ends the process.

<Effect of embodiment>
According to this embodiment, the following effects can be achieved.

When an abnormality is detected in a person in the bathroom by the abnormality detection unit 123a, the situation confirmation unit 123b further confirms the situation in the person in the bathroom. Then, when it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in a person in the bathroom based on this confirmation, the notification of the abnormality is given to the mobile terminal device 30. Therefore, it is possible to more accurately notify the mobile terminal device 30 of the abnormality of a person in the bathroom, and thereby it is possible to prevent the user of the mobile terminal device 30 from confirming and responding to unnecessary abnormalities.

Further, the abnormality notification unit 123c responds to an inquiry by the status confirmation unit 123b when there is no voice input indicating that there is no abnormality via the microphone 127 (voice input unit) (S106: NO in FIG. 3). Is performed (S107). According to this configuration, the safety of the person is confirmed by the voice from the person in the bathroom, so that the person in the bathroom only needs to make a voice according to the situation, and the situation of the person in the bathroom can be simplified. It can be confirmed accurately.

Further, in the present embodiment, the abnormality detection unit 123a, the status confirmation unit 123b, and the abnormality notification unit 123c are arranged in the bathroom remote controller 12. Therefore, the process of detecting and determining the abnormality of a person in the bathroom can be established only inside the bathroom remote controller 12 without communicating with other devices such as the water heater 11 and the kitchen remote controller 13. Therefore, it is possible to smoothly detect and confirm an abnormality of a person in the bathroom by a simple process.

<Change example>
In addition to the above, various modifications can be made to the embodiment of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the confirmation of the situation of a person in the bathroom is performed by passing voice, but the method of confirming the situation of a person is not limited to this. For example, the response to an inquiry to a person in the bathroom may be performed by operating the operation input unit 122 of the bathroom remote controller 12.

6 (a) to 6 (d) are diagrams showing the operation in the process for confirming the situation of a person in the bathroom according to the modified example, respectively.

In this modification, as shown in FIG. 6A, first, a voice inquiring about the safety of a person is output from the voice window 12a, and then, as shown in FIG. 6B, any of the operation input units 122. A voice prompting the operation of the button is output from the voice window 12a. These voice outputs are performed via the voice synthesis unit 128 and the speaker 126 by the function of the status confirmation unit 123b of FIG.

After that, as shown in FIG. 6C, when a person in the bathroom operates any button of the operation input unit 122 within a predetermined time, the determination in step S106 in FIG. 3 becomes YES, and the person in the bathroom It is confirmed that no abnormality has occurred in. On the other hand, if any button of the operation input unit 122 is not operated within a predetermined time, the determination in step S106 of FIG. 3 becomes NO, and it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in the person in the bathroom. In this case, the abnormality notification is transmitted from the abnormality notification unit 123c to the kitchen remote controller 13 in step S107 of FIG. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6D, a voice output notifying the mobile terminal device 30 that an abnormality is to be communicated may be output from the speaker 126 via the voice window 12a. This point is the same in the cases of FIGS. 4 (c) and 4 (d).

According to this modified example, the safety of the person is confirmed by the operation input by the person in the bathroom. Therefore, it is possible to accurately confirm the situation of a person in the bathroom.

In the example of FIG. 6B, the notification for prompting the operation to the operation input unit 122 is performed by voice, but the method for notifying the operation is not limited to this. For example, by blinking each button of the operation input unit 122, a notification prompting the operation of the operation input unit 122 may be made. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6B, the operation may be notified by voice and the operation on the operation input unit 122 may be notified by blinking each button of the operation input unit 122. In addition, the display unit 121 may display a display prompting the operation input unit 122 to operate. The method of notifying the operation input unit 122 to be operated can be changed in various ways. That is, the notification unit is not limited to the speaker 126, and various changes can be made.

Further, in the above embodiment, the abnormality detection unit 123a, the status confirmation unit 123b, and the abnormality notification unit 123c are integrated in the bathroom remote controller 12, but these functional units do not necessarily have to be integrated in the bathroom remote controller 12. .. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, only the functions of the abnormality detection unit 123a are arranged in the control unit 123 of the bathroom remote controller 12, and the functions of the status confirmation unit 133a and the abnormality notification unit 133b are arranged in the control unit 133 of the kitchen remote controller 13. May be done.

In this case, the abnormality detection unit 123a transmits the abnormality detection result to the control unit 133 on the kitchen remote controller 13 side at any time via the communication unit 124, and the status confirmation unit 133a inquires about the status of a person in the bathroom. An instruction to output voice is transmitted to the control unit 123 of the bathroom remote controller 12 via the communication unit 134. Further, the control unit 123 transmits the recognition result by the voice recognition unit 129 to the control unit 133 on the kitchen remote controller 13 side at any time via the communication unit 124, and the abnormality notification unit 133b on the kitchen remote controller 13 side receives the recognition result. Based on, it is determined whether or not the person in the bathroom has an abnormality. In this way, the flowchart of FIG. 3 is executed.

Even with this modification, the same effect as that of the above embodiment can be achieved. However, in this modification, since it is necessary to send and receive information between the two control units 123 and 133 in order to execute the flowchart of FIG. 3, the processing becomes complicated as compared with the above embodiment. Therefore, in order to perform the processing more easily, it is preferable that the abnormality detection unit 123a, the status confirmation unit 123b, and the abnormality notification unit 123c are integrated in the bathroom remote controller 12 as in the above embodiment.

Further, in the above embodiment, the movement of a person in the bathroom is detected by using the motion sensor 125 built in the bathroom remote controller 12, but the motion sensor arranged separately from the bathroom remote controller 12 is used to detect the person. Movement may be detected. For example, an imaging sensor such as an artificial retina sensor may be used to detect the movement of a person in the bathroom.

In this case, apart from the bathroom remote controller 12, a sensor unit for detecting the movement of a person is installed in the bathroom. In this case, the sensor unit may be provided with the functions of the abnormality detection unit 123a, the status confirmation unit 123b, and the abnormality notification unit 123c in the above embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a circuit block of the hot water supply device 10 when the sensor unit 14 is used.

The sensor unit 14 includes a control unit 141, a communication unit 142, a motion sensor 143, a speaker 144, a microphone 145, a voice synthesis unit 146, and a voice recognition unit 147.

The control unit 141 includes a microcomputer and performs predetermined control according to a program stored in the built-in memory. The communication unit 142 communicates with the communication unit 134 of the kitchen remote controller 13 according to the control from the control unit 141.

The motion sensor 143 detects the entry and exit of a person to and from the bathroom and the movement of a person in the bathroom. The motion sensor 143 is, for example, an artificial retina sensor. The motion sensor 143 may be a motion sensor of a type other than the artificial retina sensor.

The speaker 144 outputs voice based on the voice signal generated by the voice synthesis unit 146. The microphone 145 outputs a voice signal corresponding to the collected voice to the voice recognition unit 147.

The voice synthesis unit 146 generates a predetermined voice signal in response to the control from the control unit 141, and supplies the generated voice signal to the speaker 144. The voice recognition unit 147 converts the voice signal supplied from the microphone 145 into text information and outputs it to the control unit 141.

The control unit 141 executes the functions of the abnormality detection unit 141a, the status confirmation unit 141b, and the abnormality notification unit 141c by the program stored in the built-in memory. The functions of the abnormality detection unit 141a, the status confirmation unit 141b, and the abnormality notification unit 141c are the same as the functions of the abnormality detection unit 123a, the status confirmation unit 123b, and the abnormality notification unit 123c in the above embodiment.

In this modification, the flowchart of FIG. 3 is performed by the control unit 141 of the sensor unit 14 (functions of the abnormality detection unit 141a, the status confirmation unit 141b, and the abnormality notification unit 141c). In this case, in step S107 of FIG. 3, an abnormality notification is transmitted from the sensor unit 14 to the kitchen remote controller 13.

Even with this modification, the same effect as that of the above embodiment can be achieved. Even in the configuration of FIG. 8, the functions of the abnormality detection unit 141a, the status confirmation unit 141b, and the abnormality notification unit 141c do not have to be integrated in the sensor unit 14. For example, these functions may be distributed to the sensor unit 14 and the bathroom remote controller 12. In this case, a microphone and a voice recognition unit are added to the bathroom remote control 12 as appropriate, and the speaker 144, the microphone 145, the voice synthesis unit 146, and the voice recognition unit 147 are omitted from the sensor unit 14.

In addition, the functions of the abnormality detection unit 123a, the status confirmation unit 123b, and the abnormality notification unit 123c may be integrated in the kitchen remote controller 13, or may be integrated in another control device. The arrangement destinations of the functions of the abnormality detection unit 141a, the status confirmation unit 141b, and the abnormality notification unit 141c can be changed as appropriate.

Further, in the above embodiment, the wireless communication unit 135 is provided in the kitchen remote controller 13 constituting the hot water supply device 10, but the wireless communication unit may be provided in the water heater 11 and the water heater 11 may be connected to the router 20. .. In this case, in step S107 of FIG. 3, the abnormality notification is transmitted to the water heater 11, and the abnormality notification is transmitted from the control unit 111 of the water heater 11 to the server 50. Alternatively, a control unit provided with a wireless communication unit other than the water heater 11, the bathroom remote controller 12, and the kitchen remote controller 13 may be arranged in the hot water supply device 10, and the control unit may be connected to the router 20. In this case, in step S107 of FIG. 3, the abnormality notification is transmitted to the control unit, and the abnormality notification is transmitted from the control unit to the server 50.

The terminal device for remotely controlling the hot water supply device 10 may include a stationary terminal device that is not portable and is installed at a predetermined place. Further, the hot water supply device 10 is not limited to the one using gas fuel, and may be a hot water supply device using oil as fuel. The hot water supply device 10 may be of a storage type using a storage tank, or may be configured to further include a power generation unit such as a fuel cell.

In addition, various modifications of the embodiment of the present invention can be made as appropriate within the scope of the claims.

1 Hot water supply system 10 Hot water supply device 12 Bathroom remote controller 30 Mobile terminal device 40 External communication network 50 Server 122 Operation input unit 123a, 141a Abnormality detection unit 123b, 133a, 141b Status confirmation unit 123c, 133b, 141c Abnormality notification unit 125, 143 Motion detector Sensor 126 Speaker (notifier)
128 Speech synthesis unit (notification unit)

Claims (5)

A water heater that can be connected to an external communication network
A motion sensor for detecting the movement of a person in the bathroom,
The notification unit arranged in the bathroom and
An abnormality detection unit that detects a person's abnormality based on the detection result of the motion sensor,
A status confirmation unit that inquires about the situation from the person in the bathroom by the notification unit based on the abnormality detected by the abnormality detection unit.
When there is no response from the person indicating that there is no abnormality in response to the inquiry by the status confirmation unit, the abnormality notification unit performs a process for notifying the mobile terminal device of the abnormality via the external communication network. , With
A hot water supply device characterized by this. In the hot water supply device according to claim 1,
It is equipped with a voice input unit arranged in the bathroom.
The abnormality notification unit performs a process for notifying the abnormality when there is no voice input indicating that there is no abnormality via the voice input unit in response to the inquiry.
A hot water supply device characterized by this. In the hot water supply device according to claim 1,
The operation input unit arranged in the bathroom is provided.
The abnormality notification unit performs a process for notifying the abnormality when a predetermined input is not made to the operation input unit in response to the inquiry.
A hot water supply device characterized by this. In the hot water supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The abnormality detection unit, the status confirmation unit, and the abnormality notification unit are arranged in a remote controller installed in the bathroom.
A hot water supply device characterized by this. The hot water supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
A server connected to the external communication network is provided.
The server
The hot water supply device and the mobile terminal device are associated and managed.
Based on the receipt of the abnormality notification from the abnormality notification unit, information for abnormality notification is transmitted to the mobile terminal device associated with the hot water supply device.
A hot water supply system that features this.

Images