JP2023059039A - Home electric appliance and home electric appliance network system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a home electric appliance capable of displaying an operation status of and information related to a home electric appliance that does not have a network communication function that directly communicates with an external server on a user's information display terminal via the external server.SOLUTION: A first home electric appliance includes: a simultaneous broadcast signal transmitting unit that transmits a type and a model of the appliance, information assigned uniquely to each appliance, and an operation status to vicinity of the appliance as a simultaneous broadcast signal; and a first operation control unit that performs operation control. The simultaneous broadcast signal transmitting unit transmits the type and the model of the appliance, the information assigned uniquely to each appliance, and an operation status information signal from the first operation control unit as the simultaneous broadcast signal to a second home electric appliance including a simultaneous broadcast signal receiving unit that receives the simultaneous broadcast signal, a communication control unit that transmits and receives signals to/from a network communication apparatus placed outside the apparatus, and a second operation control unit that performs operation control.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a home appliance having a simple broadcast signal transmission function and a home appliance network system that receives the broadcast signal and communicates with an external network.

In recent years, not only information equipment such as personal computers and smart phones, but also home appliances such as televisions, air conditioners, and washing machines, home appliances having network communication functions are becoming popular. A home appliance having such a network communication function communicates with an external server via a network, and an information display terminal such as a smartphone owned by a user via the server displays the operating status of the home appliance and information on the home appliance. It is possible to display information such as services and products related to the device.

The network system of Patent Document 1 includes home appliances connected to a communication line, and storage means (for example, server), and a communication terminal (for example, a personal computer, a smart phone) connected to a storage means via a communication line and having a display unit. The home appliance has a control unit that controls the operating state, an information setting unit that sets information according to the current state of the control unit, and a transmission unit that transmits the setting result of the information to the outside via the communication line. . In the communication terminal, it is described that specific advice is displayed on the display unit according to the data corresponding to the transmission result of the information from the home appliance among the plurality of data in the storage means.

JP 2018-139458 A

In order to perform network communication with an external server via the Internet, which is widely used in general households, a wired or wireless LAN circuit conforming to IEEE802.3 or IEEE802.11 and a control program that implements an IP communication protocol are required. Although development and implementation are necessary, as mentioned above, for large home appliances and autonomous running vacuum cleaners, etc., where network communication can appeal to significant functional improvements, network communication functions that directly communicate with external servers installation is becoming more common.

However, there is a problem that it is difficult to install a network communication function that directly communicates with an external server in relatively inexpensive cooking, beauty, and small household appliances due to equipment cost and development constraints.

An object of the present invention is to provide a home appliance network in which home appliances without a network communication function that directly communicates with an external server and home appliances and information display terminals that have a network communication function with an external server via the Internet are connected. In the system, the operating status of home appliances that do not have a network communication function that directly communicates with an external server, and information such as services and products related to home appliances are sent to the smartphone owned by the user via an external server. To provide a home appliance and a home appliance network system capable of displaying information on an information display terminal such as a home appliance.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the home appliance network system of the present invention transmits device identification information (for example, device type, model, and information unique to each device) and driving status information to the periphery of the device in a broadcast signal. and a first home appliance having a broadcast signal transmission unit that transmits as and a first operation control unit that performs operation control, and a broadcast signal reception unit that receives the broadcast signal from the first home appliance , a second home appliance having a communication control unit for transmitting and receiving signals with a network communication device connected to a network placed outside the device, and a second operation control unit for performing operation control; and a home appliance information management server that manages information from one home appliance and/or the second home appliance, and a user information display terminal used by a user connects to the network to connect to the home appliance information management server. and transmit/receive a signal to check the information of the first home appliance and/or the second home appliance. Other aspects of the present invention are described in embodiments below.

According to the present invention, even in a home appliance that does not have a network communication function that directly communicates with an external server, information such as operating conditions and services and products related to the home appliance can be sent to the user via the external server. It is possible to provide a home appliance capable of displaying information on an information display terminal such as a smartphone owned by a company.

It is a figure which shows the control block of the household appliance network system based on this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the communication between three persons, a 1st household appliance, a 2nd household appliance, and a household appliance information management server.

Modes for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate.
FIG. 1 is a control block diagram of a home appliance network system 100 according to an embodiment of the invention. The home appliance network system 100 includes a first home appliance 1, a second home appliance 4, a network communication device 8, a home appliance information management server 10, a user information display terminal 11 used by a user, and the like.

The first electric home appliance 1 has a broadcast signal transmission section 2 that transmits a broadcast signal to the periphery of the appliance, and a first operation control section 3 that controls the operation of the entire appliance. The simultaneous broadcast signal transmission unit 2 broadcasts device identification information (for example, device type, model, information unique to each aircraft) and operating status information from the first operation control unit 3 to the periphery of the device. Send as a signal.

The second home appliance 4 includes a broadcast signal receiving unit 5 that receives the broadcast signal transmitted from the first home appliance 1, a second operation control unit 6 that controls the operation of the entire device, and a broadcast signal It has a receiving unit 5 , a second operation control unit 6 , and a communication control unit 7 that communicates with devices placed outside the second home appliance 4 . The broadcast signal reception unit 5 receives the device identification information of the first home appliance transmitted from the broadcast signal transmission unit 2 of the first home appliance 1 (for example, the type and model of the device, information) and driving status information, it communicates with the communication control unit 7 and transmits the information.

The communication control unit 7 is a communication control unit that transmits and receives signals to and from the home appliance information management server 10 via a network communication device 8 placed outside the second home appliance 4 . Communicate with the operation control unit 6, transmit and receive the device identification information of the second home appliance 4 (for example, device type, model, information unique to each aircraft) and driving status information signals, and simultaneously broadcast It receives signals of device identification information (for example, device type, model, information unique to each device) and driving status information of the first home appliance 1 received from the signal receiving unit 5 .

The network communication device 8 is a communication device having a communication unit 8a that transmits and receives signals to and from the second home appliance 4, and a network communication control unit 8b that connects to the network and transmits and receives signals to and from the home appliance information management server . The network communication device 8 communicates with the communication control unit 7 of the second home appliance 4, and the device identification information of the second home appliance 4 (for example, device type, model, information unique to each aircraft) and driving status Information signals, etc., device identification information of the first home appliance 1 (device type, model, information unique to each aircraft) and driving status information signals are transmitted and received, and the home appliance is connected to the network 9. Communicate with the device information management server 10 . The network communication device 8 receives the device identification information of the second home appliance 4 (for example, the type and model of the device, information unique to each machine body), the driving status information signal, etc., and the device identification information of the first home appliance 1 (For example, the type and model of equipment, information unique to each aircraft) and signals of driving status information are transmitted and received.

The home appliance information management server 10 connects to the network 9 and communicates with the network communication device 8, and receives the device identification information of the second home appliance 4 (for example, the type and model of the device, information unique to each machine) and Sending/receiving and managing signals of driving status information, etc., device identification information of the first home appliance 1 (for example, device type, model, information unique to each aircraft) and signals of driving status information, and use Communicates with the user information display terminal 11, and provides information such as the operating status of the second home appliance 4 and the first home appliance 1, information such as services and products related to each home appliance, and user operation information on the displayed contents. Send and receive.

The user information display terminal 11 is connected to the network 9 and communicates with the home appliance information management server 10, transmits and receives user information, and displays the operating status of the second home appliance 4 and the first home appliance 1 and each You can check information such as services and products related to home appliances.

The home appliance information management server 10 individually identifies and manages each of the second home appliances 4 and the first home appliances 1 connected to the home appliance network system 100 and each user of the system. . As a result, it is possible to improve convenience for the user by utilizing the operation status, operation history, etc. of the second electric home appliance 4 and the first electric home appliance 1 .

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing communication between the first home appliance, the second home appliance, and the home appliance information management server. Description of the control operation in this embodiment will be described with reference to the control block diagram of FIG.

First, the second home appliance 4 acquires the device identification information of the second home appliance 4 (for example, the type, model, and information unique to each aircraft) and the driving status information from the second operation control unit 6. (process S41), and transmits the signal as the device-specific information to the home appliance information management server 10 via the communication control unit 7, the network communication device 8, and the network 9 (process S42). The home electric appliance information management server 10 receives the machine specific information (process S101).

The home appliance information management server 10 individually identifies and manages each of the second home appliances 4 and each user of the system, and the machine-specific information of each second home appliance 4 and each user information are It is associated with when a person starts using each aircraft. As a result, it is possible to display the operating status of each associated second home appliance 4 and information related to each home appliance on the user information display terminal 11 of each user.

On the other hand, the first home appliance 1 acquires the device identification information of the first home appliance 1 (for example, the type of device, the model, information unique to each aircraft) and the driving status information from the first operation control unit 3. (process S11), and is transmitted as a simple broadcast signal from the broadcast signal transmitting section 2 (process S12).

Here, when the broadcast signal receiving unit 5 of the second home appliance 4 receives the broadcast signal from the first home appliance 1 (process S43), the first home appliance 1 included in the broadcast signal device identification information (for example, device type, model, and information unique to each aircraft) and a signal of operation status information from the first operation control unit 3 are transmitted to the communication control unit 7 . The broadcast signal receiving unit 5 can receive each broadcast signal from the broadcast signal transmitters 2 of the different first electrical appliances 1 and transmit them to the communication control unit 7 .

The communication control unit 7 acquires the device-specific information of each second home appliance 4 from the second operation control unit 6 (processing S44), and obtains the device-specific information of the second home appliance 4 acquired from the second operation control unit 6. is used as each machine-specific information signal, and after adding the machine-specific information signal of each first home appliance 1 received from the broadcast signal receiving unit 5 to the signal, via the network communication device 8 and the network 9 , to the home appliance information management server 10 (process S45). The information signal unique to each aircraft is a signal obtained by integrating the signals of the device identification information (for example, the type and model of the device, information unique to each aircraft) and the driving situation information. The home appliance information management server 10 receives each machine specific information signal (process S102).

When the home appliance information management server 10 recognizes that the machine specific information signal of the first home appliance 1 is added to the received signal, the home appliance information management server 10 together with the machine specific information signal of the second home appliance 4 transmitted at the same time Each machine specific information signal of the first home appliance 1 is individually identified and managed.

The first home appliance 1 of the present embodiment includes a broadcast signal transmission unit 2 that transmits the type and model of the device, information unique to each aircraft and operating conditions as a broadcast signal to the periphery of the device, operation control The broadcast signal transmitter 2 transmits and receives signals to and from a broadcast signal receiver 5 for receiving the broadcast signal and a network communication device placed outside the device. For the second home appliance 4 having the communication control unit 7 and the second operation control unit 6 that performs operation control, the device type, model, information unique to each aircraft, and the operation status from the first operation control unit The information signal is transmitted as a broadcast signal. As a result, it is possible to display the operating status of a home appliance that does not have a network communication function for direct communication with an external server and information related to the home appliance on the user's information display terminal via the external server. It is possible to provide home appliances that can

According to the present embodiment described above, the first home appliance 1 is equipped with the broadcast signal transmission unit 2 and the second home appliance 4 is equipped with the broadcast signal reception unit 5, thereby managing external home appliance information. Even in the first home appliance 1 that does not have a network communication function for direct communication with the server 10, the user can obtain information such as the operating status peculiar to each machine and the service and product related to the device via the Internet. It is possible to provide a home appliance network system capable of displaying on the user information display terminal 11 .

Note that, as long as the home appliance network system has such a configuration, the home appliance may have a configuration in which the broadcast signal receiving unit 5 of the second home appliance 4 is integrated with the communication control unit 7 . Further, when the second home appliance 4 is a device that moves during operation, such as an autonomously traveling vacuum cleaner, the broadcast signal transmission unit 2 from each of the first home appliances 1 arranged in a plurality of rooms This makes it easy to receive broadcast signals, and many first home appliances 1 can be incorporated into the home appliance network system of this embodiment.

1 first home appliance 2 broadcast signal transmitting unit 3 first operation control unit 4 second home appliance 5 simultaneous broadcast signal reception unit 6 second operation control unit 7 communication control unit 8 network communication device 8a communication unit 8b network communication Control Unit 9 Network 10 Home Appliance Information Management Server 11 User Information Display Terminal 100 Home Appliance Network System

Claims (5)

a broadcast signal transmission unit that transmits a broadcast signal to the periphery of the device;
and an operation control unit that controls the operation of the device,
The household electrical appliance, wherein the broadcast signal transmission section transmits the device identification information and the driving status information signal from the operation control section as a broadcast signal. A broadcast signal receiving unit for receiving a broadcast signal from the home appliance according to claim 1;
an operation control unit that controls the operation of the equipment;
The broadcast signal receiving unit, the operation control unit, and a communication control unit that transmits and receives signals to and from an external device,
The home appliance, wherein the communication control unit adds the received broadcast signal to a signal of the device identification information and the operating status information from the operation control unit, and transmits the signal to the home appliance information management server. . The home appliance according to claim 2,
A home appliance, wherein the broadcast signal receiving unit is integrated with the communication control unit. a first home appliance having a broadcast signal transmission unit that transmits a broadcast signal around the device and a first operation control unit that controls the operation of the device;
a broadcast signal receiving unit for receiving a broadcast signal from the first home appliance, a second operation control unit for controlling operation of the appliance, the broadcast signal reception unit, the second operation control unit, and a second home appliance having a communication control unit that transmits and receives signals to and from an external device;
a network communication device having a communication unit that transmits and receives signals to and from the second home appliance, and a network communication control unit that connects to a network and transmits and receives signals;
a home appliance information management server that is connected to the network and manages the information of the first home appliance, the second home appliance, and the user;
a user information display terminal capable of confirming each information by connecting to the network;
From the broadcast signal transmission unit, the device identification information of the first home appliance and the driving status information signal from the first operation control unit are transmitted as a broadcast signal,
When receiving the broadcast signal from the broadcast signal transmission unit, the broadcast signal reception unit transmits each machine-specific information signal of the first home appliance included in the broadcast signal to the communication control unit. send to
The communication control unit receives the signal of the device identification information and the driving status information of the second home appliance from the second operation control unit, and receives the device-specific information of the first home appliance from the broadcast signal reception unit. After adding a signal, it is transmitted to the home appliance information management server via the network communication device,
The home appliance information management server, in a state of transmitting/receiving each machine specific information signal of the first home appliance and the second home appliance with the user information display terminal, together with each machine specific information of the second home appliance A home electric appliance network system, wherein information related to the device-specific information of each of the first electric home appliances is displayed on the user information display terminal. a first home appliance having a broadcast signal transmission unit that transmits the device identification information and the operating status information to the periphery of the device as a broadcast signal, and a first operation control unit that performs operation control;
A broadcast signal receiving unit for receiving a broadcast signal from the first home appliance, a communication control unit for transmitting/receiving signals to/from a network communication device connected to a network placed outside the device, and performing operation control. a second home appliance having a second operation control unit;
a home appliance information management server that connects to the network and manages information from the first home appliance and/or the second home appliance;
The user information display terminal used by the user connects to the network, transmits and receives signals to and from the home appliance information management server, and confirms the information of the first home appliance and/or the second home appliance. home appliance network system.

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