JP4347150B2 - Air conditioning service support equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioning service support apparatus that performs service support related to air conditioning via a network, and more particularly to an air conditioning service support apparatus that realizes automatic failure determination of an air conditioner (hereinafter referred to as “air conditioner”). .

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a service support system that uses the Internet to deal with device malfunctions is known.
For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-115893 (Patent Document 1), when a user presses a service call button provided on a remote controller of an air conditioner, driving information and data such as a user are stored in a service. A technique for realizing a quick maintenance response by being transmitted to a maintenance company via a center is disclosed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-282944 (Patent Document 2) receives a symptom of a malfunction of a device from the user of the device via the Internet, and identifies and identifies the cause of the failure based on the received information. A technique for notifying a user of a cause of failure or a response to the response is disclosed.
JP 2002-115893 A JP 2001-282944 A

The service system disclosed in Patent Document 1 can realize a quick maintenance response. However, since a service person of a maintenance company must perform the determination of the failure and the cause of the failure after all, The burden was large. In particular, when identifying the cause of failure, such as so-called “combined multi”, where there are multiple indoor units and multiple outdoor units, it is necessary to make a judgment based on the complicated refrigerant flow and control details. There were problems such as being unable to make a judgment without having
On the other hand, in the service system disclosed in Patent Document 2 described above, the cause of equipment failure is automatically identified based on the complaint symptom keyword received from the user. There are benefits.
However, the failure mode search by keyword has a problem that it takes time to specify the cause of failure and the search accuracy is low for complex air conditioners such as so-called “combined multi”.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioning service support apparatus that can quickly make a failure determination with high accuracy by a simple method.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following means.
The present invention is an air conditioning service support device connected via a network to at least one terminal device that handles information related to an air conditioner, and when operating data of the air conditioner is received from the one terminal device, A failure determination unit that performs a failure determination based on the operation data; and a communication processing unit that transmits a determination result by the failure determination unit to the one terminal device. The failure determination is performed by obtaining a regression prediction value using a part of the actual measurement data of the operation data as a curve or a regression equation parameter, and comparing the regression prediction value with the predetermined actual measurement data of the operation data. gastric lines, a plurality of predetermined monitoring item measured value data is compared with the regression prediction value corresponding, in accordance with the combination of these comparison results, failure mode Identified, the communication processing means, including the determination result the failure mode, which provides an air-conditioning service support system to be transmitted to one of said terminal device.

According to the present invention, since a regression prediction value is obtained by calculation processing using a part of actual measurement data of operation data as a regression curve or regression equation parameter provided in advance, it is quick and highly reliable. A regression prediction value can be obtained. Thereby, failure determination can be performed promptly and accurately.
Further, since the actual measurement value data of a plurality of predetermined monitoring items are compared with the corresponding regression prediction values, the accuracy of failure determination can be improved. Furthermore, since the failure mode is specified according to the combination of these comparison results, more detailed information such as failure mode can be transmitted to the terminal device in addition to simple comparison of actually measured value data.
The monitoring items include, for example, the high pressure side pressure of the compressor, the low pressure side pressure of the compressor, the temperature of the discharge port, and the CT current (current by the current transformer).
The failure mode is specified by, for example, providing a table in which a combination of comparison results is set for each failure mode, and referring to this table.

The air-conditioning service support apparatus according to the present invention preferably includes a data storage unit that stores at least one of the operation data and a determination result by the failure determination unit.
According to the present invention, since the data storage means is provided, it is possible to check the failure determination history and operation data of each air conditioner as necessary.

In the air conditioning service support apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that the parameters include at least room temperature, outside air temperature, inverter frequency, indoor fan speed, and outdoor fan speed.
According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a regression prediction value from extremely small data such as room temperature, outside air temperature, inverter frequency, indoor fan speed, and outdoor fan speed, so that the processing burden can be greatly reduced. It becomes.

In the air-conditioning service support apparatus of the present invention, the failure determination unit extracts past operation data related to the air conditioner that is the target of the failure determination from the data storage unit, and the extracted past operation data and Preferably, the failure determination is performed based on the operation data received this time.
Furthermore, it is preferable that the failure determination unit compares a failure determination result of the past operation data with a failure determination result of the operation data received this time, and specifies a failure mode based on a combination of the comparison results. .

  According to the present invention, since the failure determination is performed in consideration of the past data of the air conditioner to be subjected to the failure determination, it is possible to obtain a more reliable failure determination result.

  The present invention relates to a first terminal device used by an air conditioner dealer, a second terminal device used by a serviceman of an air conditioner maintenance company, and a centralized point for carrying out control monitoring of the air conditioner. An air conditioner connected to at least one of a monitoring device, a third terminal device used by a maintenance company, and a fourth terminal device used by an air conditioner manufacturing company via a network and transmitted from these devices It is preferable that various types of information are classified and stored in the data storage unit according to their attributes.

According to the present invention, since various pieces of information related to the air conditioner transmitted from each device connected to the network are classified and stored according to their attributes, various types of information related to the air conditioner are unified. It becomes possible to manage.
From the first terminal device, for example, customer data related to customers, sales data related to sales of air conditioners, etc. are received, stored and managed. Sales data includes, for example, the name of the building where the air conditioner is installed, the air conditioner model information (unit specifications, identification number, control version, etc.), installation information (address, combination of outdoor unit and indoor unit, length of piping) , Additional refrigerant amount, etc.).
In addition, for example, the operation data related to the air conditioner failure determination is received from the second terminal device, and stored and managed. This operation data is also used in the above-described failure determination.
Also, from the centralized monitoring device, for example, the operation data at the time of test operation performed after the installation of the air conditioner is received, the operation data at the time of normal operation is periodically received, and these operation data are received for each air conditioner. Store and manage.

According to the air-conditioning service support apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to quickly obtain a regression prediction value by a simple method, so that it is possible to perform failure determination quickly.
Furthermore, since the regression prediction value compared at the time of failure determination is also calculated using a part of the same air conditioner operation data, it becomes possible to perform individual failure determination for each air conditioner. The reliability of determination can be improved.

An embodiment of an air conditioning service support system to which an air conditioning service support device according to the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioning service support system according to the present embodiment.
As shown in this figure, the air conditioning service support system according to this embodiment is installed in an air conditioning service support device 1, a first terminal device 2 used by a store, a building where an air conditioner is installed, and the like. A central monitoring device 3 that centrally monitors a plurality of air conditioners, a second terminal device 4 that is used by a service person who goes to the building for maintenance and troubleshooting of the air conditioners, and a third device that is used by a maintenance company. Terminal device 5 and a fourth terminal device 6 used by an air conditioner manufacturer are provided as main components.
The air conditioning service support device 1, the first to fourth terminal devices 2, 4 to 6, and the central monitoring device 3 are connected to each other via the Internet 7, and can exchange information with each other. .

The air conditioning service support device 1 is a device that centrally manages information about air conditioners, and receives, stores, and manages various information about air conditioners from each of the terminal devices 2 to 7 that construct the air conditioning service support system. At the same time, information related to the air conditioner is provided in response to a request for information distribution received from each of the terminal devices 2 to 7.
The first terminal device 2 is, for example, a so-called personal computer, and is equipped with a dedicated application that handles customer data, sales data, and the like regarding sales of air conditioning.
The central monitoring device 3 is a terminal device that performs operation control of a plurality of air conditioners installed in a building, monitoring of an operation state, and the like, and has a communication function for transmitting and receiving information via the Internet 7.

The second terminal device 4 is a terminal device used by a service person. Examples of the second terminal device 4 include a personal computer, a PDA having a communication function, a mobile phone, and the like. From the second terminal device 4, test operation data immediately after installation and air conditioner operation data at the time of maintenance or failure are transmitted to the air conditioning service support device 1 via the Internet 7.
The third terminal device 5 is a so-called personal computer, for example, and is equipped with a dedicated application for handling maintenance data related to maintenance of the air conditioner.
The fourth terminal device 6 is various terminal devices connected to an in-house LAN constructed in the air conditioner manufacturing company, and is connected to the air conditioning service support device 1 via a gateway and the Internet 7. Specifically, the fourth terminal device 6 is a terminal device used by each department of the air conditioner manufacturing company, for example, the manufacturing department, the design department, and the quality department, and communicates with the air conditioning service support apparatus 1. With this, various data related to the air conditioner, for example, manufacturing data, design data, quality data, etc. are transmitted to the air conditioning service support device 1 and various data stored and managed by the air conditioning service support device 1 can be viewed. By doing so, data useful for each job can be obtained as appropriate.

Next, the configuration of the air conditioning service support apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG.
The air-conditioning service support apparatus 1 mainly includes a communication processing unit 11 for exchanging information via the Internet 7, a processing unit 12 for executing various processes, and a data storage unit (data storage unit) 13 for storing various data. It is prepared as a simple configuration.
The processing unit 12 includes a customer information management unit 121, a sales information management unit 122, an operation data management unit 123, a failure determination unit (failure determination unit) 124, a maintenance management unit 125, a complaint information management unit 126, part ordering and inventory. A management unit 127 and the like are provided. The processing realized by these units 121 to 127 will be described later.

The processing unit 12 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random) not shown.
Access Memory). A series of processing steps for realizing the functions of the above units is recorded in a nonvolatile memory such as a ROM in the form of a program, and the CPU reads the program into a volatile memory such as a RAM to process information. By performing the calculation, the processing described later is realized.

  The data storage unit 13 includes a customer database 131, a sales database 132, an operation database 133, a failure determination database 134, a claims database 135, a technical document database 136, and the like. Each of the databases 131 to 136 includes a communication processing unit 11. Various types of information related to the air conditioner received via the computer are stored according to their attributes.

Next, the processing content of each part which comprises the said process part 12 is demonstrated concretely.
(1) About Customer Information Management Unit 121 This customer information management unit 121 mainly stores customer data transmitted from the first terminal device 2 (see FIG. 1) used by the store in the customer database 131. When the customer data transmission request is received from the first terminal device 2 or the second terminal device 4, the corresponding customer data is extracted from the customer database 131 and transmitted.
The customer data includes, for example, customer number, customer name / name, address, building name where the air conditioner is installed, identification number of the air conditioner used, presence / absence of maintenance contract, detailed maintenance information (period, Etc.).

(2) About Sales Information Management Unit 122 For example, when an air conditioner is introduced in accordance with building construction, the first terminal device 2 is sold by operating the first terminal device 2 by the staff of the store. Data input processing and transmission processing are executed.
Thereby, the sales data is transmitted to the air conditioning service support apparatus 1 via the Internet 7. The sales information management unit 122 stores and manages the sales data received from the first terminal device 2 in this manner in the sales database 132 and sells it from the first terminal device 2 and the second terminal device 4. When a data transmission request is received, the corresponding sales data is extracted from the sales database 132 and transmitted.
Sales data includes the name of the building where the air conditioner is installed, the model information (unit specifications, identification number, control version, etc.) of the installed air conditioner, installation information (address, combination of outdoor unit and indoor unit, pipe length, additional Refrigerant amount, etc.).

(3) About the operation data management unit 123 The operation data management unit 123 is used by the central monitoring device 3 installed in a building or the like where an air conditioner is installed, or by a service person who visits the building due to air conditioner maintenance or the like. When the operation data of the air conditioner is received from the second terminal device 4, the operation data is stored in the operation database 133 and managed.
For example, when an air conditioner is installed in a building, a trial operation is performed to determine whether the air conditioner operates normally. At this time, the central monitoring device 3 automatically records the operation data during the trial operation in association with the identification number of the air conditioner, and transmits this operation data to the air conditioning service support device 1 via the Internet 7 at a predetermined timing. .
The operation data management unit 123 classifies the received operation data during the trial operation for each air conditioner identification number, and stores and manages the operation data in the operation database 133.

Similarly, at the time of maintenance or at the time of handling a failure or a complaint, the second terminal device 4 is operated by a service person who visits the site (building), so that operation data from the second terminal device 4 can be obtained. Is transmitted to the air conditioning service support device 1.
Similarly, for the operation data received from the second terminal device 4, the operation data management unit 123 classifies the operation data for each identification number of the air conditioner and stores the operation data in the operation database 133.

By performing the processing as described above by the operation data management unit 123, operation data from the trial operation of each air conditioner is accumulated in the operation database 133.
As a result, for example, when a failure occurs in the air conditioner, it is possible to extract a history of past operation data, and thus it is possible to specify the cause of the failure.

The central monitoring device 3 is equipped with a program that periodically transmits operation data to the air-conditioning service support device 1 so that the above-described operation data accumulation, failure determination described later, and the like can be performed periodically. It becomes possible, and it becomes possible to find the failure of the air conditioner quickly.
As shown in FIG. 3, the operation data includes actual measurement data for various monitoring items such as an operation mode, a set temperature, and a suction temperature.

(4) Failure determination unit 124 When the failure determination unit 124 receives the above-described operation data (see FIG. 3) via the communication processing unit 11, the failure determination unit 124 automatically determines the failure of the air conditioner based on the operation data. Do it.
For failure determination, a regression prediction value at the balance point is obtained by using a part of the actual measurement data of the operation data as a regression curve or regression equation parameter, and the regression prediction value and the operation data are predetermined. This is done by comparing the measured value of
In the present embodiment, the failure determination includes the high pressure side pressure of the compressor (hereinafter referred to as “high pressure”) Hp, the low pressure side pressure of the compressor (hereinafter referred to as “low pressure”) Lp, and the temperature of the discharge port (hereinafter referred to as “discharge temperature”). .) Td, CT (current transformer) current (hereinafter referred to as “CT current”) CTA's four monitoring items (hereinafter referred to as “determination target items”). As done.

In addition, the failure determination unit 124 includes regression equations f _Hp , f _Lp , f _Td , and f _CTA for _obtaining a regression prediction value that is a comparison value for each of the determination target items.
The regression equation f _Hp or the like is a functional equation derived from experience based on measured value data at the balance point. Here, the balance point is the operating point obtained by convergent calculation of the point where the performance of the compressor, the performance of the radiator to cool, and the performance of the evaporator to absorb heat are kept in thermal equilibrium ( Mainly compressor discharge pressure, suction pressure, discharge gas temperature, current, etc.).
In the present embodiment, for any of the above regression equations f _Hp , f _Lp , f _Td , and f _CTA , five measured value data of room temperature, outside air temperature, inverter frequency, indoor fan speed, and outdoor fan speed are parameters. Used as.

Hereinafter, the failure determination process performed by the failure determination unit 124 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
First, the failure determination unit 124 selects five parameters including room temperature, outside air temperature, inverter frequency, indoor fan speed, and outdoor fan speed that are used as parameters from the actually measured value data corresponding to the various monitoring items shown in FIG. Actual measurement data is extracted (step SP1).
Subsequently, by inputting the five actual measurement data extracted in step SP1 as parameters to the regression equations f _Hp , f _Lp , f _Td , and f _CTA prepared in advance, the regression prediction is performed for each determination target item. Values Hp ′, Lp ′, Td ′, and CTA ′ are calculated (step SP2).

Next, actual value data corresponding to each determination target item, that is, the high pressure Hp, the low pressure Lp, the discharge temperature Td, and the current CTA is extracted from the operation data shown in FIG. 3 (step SP3).
Subsequently, the actual measurement value data Hp and the like extracted in step SP3 are compared with the regression prediction value Hp ′ and the like calculated in step S2 (step SP4).
This comparison is determined by whether or not the actual measurement value is within the error range of the regression prediction value.
For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the actual measurement data of the high pressure Hp is 3.1 (MPa), the regression prediction value is 3.4 (MPa), and the error range is ± 0.5 (MPa), Since the actual measurement value is within the error range of the regression prediction value, the comparison result is “0” indicating a normal value.
In this way, the same determination is made for the low pressure Lp, the discharge temperature Td, and the current CTA.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the comparison results are high pressure Hp “0”, low pressure Lp “0”, discharge temperature Td “−1”, and current CTA “0”.
Here, “0” indicates normal, “−1” indicates that the actually measured value is below the normal range, and “1” indicates that the actually measured value exceeds the normal range.
Note that the error range shown in Fig. 5 depends on the area where the air conditioner is used (Hokkaido, Okinawa, urban area, suburb area, etc.) and the timing of the input data collection (winter, summer, intermediate period, etc.). It is possible to have multiple values.

Subsequently, the failure determination unit 124 specifies a failure mode based on the combination of the determination results (step SP5 in FIG. 4).
Here, the failure mode is performed by referring to the first failure mode table shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the failure mode is roughly divided into a refrigerant system, a wind system, and a functional product system. The refrigerant system is mode A gas leakage, mode B overcharge, the wind system is mode C indoor fan blockage, the mode D outdoor fan blockage, the functional system is the mode E indoor EEV malfunction, the mode F It is divided into the malfunction of outdoor EEV. Moreover, about each mode AF, two types, heating and cooling, are set, and the combination of the determination result is set with respect to each of these.
The failure determination unit 124 determines whether the combination of the comparison results obtained in step SP4 in FIG. 4 corresponds to any combination set in the failure mode table, and specifies the failure mode. .
For example, when a comparison result as shown in FIG. 5 is obtained, it does not correspond to any of the failure modes set in FIG. 6, and therefore the failure mode cannot be specified in the automatic failure determination. .

Subsequently, the failure determination unit 124 obtains a failure determination result (see FIG. 7) including a comparison result (FIG. 5) of each determination target item obtained by the above process and a failure mode (only when specified) as the operation data. For example, the second terminal device 4 in FIG. 1 (step SP6 in FIG. 4).
As a result, the failure determination result is displayed on the display unit of the second terminal device 4. For example, a service person at the site can perform further detailed failure analysis and the like on the site while referring to the failure determination result.
Subsequently, the failure determination unit 124 stores information including the operation data in the failure determination result as one file in the failure determination database 134 of the data storage unit 13 (see FIG. 2) (step of FIG. 4). SP7), the failure determination process is terminated.
As a result, the failure determination database 134 accumulates and stores failure determination results and the like for each air conditioner. Finally, the failure determination database 134 stores the trial operation data during maintenance and the failure at that stage. The determination result, the test operation data after repairing the failure, the failure determination result at that stage, and the like are all accumulated. Further, for example, when a service person visits the site in response to a service call from the user (for example, a call from the user that does not cool / warm, etc.), the second terminal device 4 shown in FIG. When the trial run data is transmitted, the trial run data and the failure judgment result are also stored in the failure judgment database 134.

(5) Maintenance Management Unit 125 As described in the description of the customer information management unit 121, the customer database 131 stores customer data including the presence / absence of a maintenance contract and detailed maintenance information. The maintenance management unit 125 periodically refers to the information related to the maintenance stored in the customer database 131, and the third terminal device 5 (FIG. 1) used by the maintenance company for those that are approaching the maintenance deadline. In response, refer to the dispatch of service personnel.
In addition, you may make it transmit about a required item among customer data with the said dispatch instruction | indication.
As described above, since the dispatch instruction of the service person can be automatically performed, it becomes possible to reliably perform maintenance management and the like.

(6) About the complaint information management unit 126 The complaint information management unit 126 mainly stores and manages the complaint information transmitted from the first terminal device 2 used by the store in the complaint database 135, and This complaint information is transferred to the third terminal device 5 used by the maintenance company and the fourth terminal device 6 installed in the air conditioner manufacturing company.
Thereby, since the complaint information can be promptly notified to the maintenance company, it is possible to quickly deal with the complaint, for example, dispatch a service person.
In addition, by notifying the maintenance company as well as the air conditioner manufacturer, the engineer in the design department can perform a design reflecting the claim information.
The claim information includes, for example, a customer number, an air conditioner identification number, an operation state (such as an error code or an abnormal situation), and the like.

(7) Part Ordering and Inventory Management Unit 127 The part ordering and inventory management unit 127 receives this part ordering information from the first terminal device 2 or the second terminal device 4, for example. Based on the information, order parts and check inventory.
Thereby, for example, when there is a request for parts order from a customer, the staff of the sales store operates the first terminal device 2 to send the part order information requested by the customer to the air conditioning service support device 1. By transmitting, it is possible to easily order parts.
Similarly, a service person who visits the maintenance of the air conditioner, trouble repair, etc. can easily order the necessary parts from the second terminal device 4. It is also possible to browse and grasp the stock status.

(8) Others When the air conditioning service support device 1 receives information related to technological development from the fourth terminal device 6 used by the air conditioner manufacturer, or technical information on countermeasures for failure and maintenance, Is stored in the technical document database 136 of the data storage unit 13 and managed.
As a result, for example, when technical inquiry information such as failure repair is received from a maintenance company, it is possible to send back the corresponding technical information triggered by these reception processes, which is effectively utilized for failure countermeasures. be able to.

As described above, according to the air-conditioning service support apparatus of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.
First, when the operation data of the air conditioner is received from at least one terminal device that handles information related to the air conditioner, for example, the central monitoring device 3 or the second terminal device 4, a failure determination is made based on the operation data. And a communication processing unit 11 that transmits a determination result by the failure determination unit 124 to a terminal device that is a transmission source of the operation data. The failure determination unit 124 has a regression curve that is held in advance. Or, by using a part of the actual measurement data of the operation data as the regression equation parameters, the regression prediction value at the balance point is obtained, and by comparing this regression prediction value with the predetermined actual measurement data of the operation data Since the determination is performed, it is possible to obtain a regression prediction value quickly and by a simple method, and it is possible to perform the failure determination quickly.
Especially in complex air conditioners where multiple outdoor units such as so-called “combined multi” and multiple indoor units are connected to the same refrigerant pipe, there are few service personnel who can judge this operating state. By using the air-conditioning service support device of the present invention, it is not necessary for a service person to perform specialized failure determination, etc., so that comprehensive service improvement (reduction of service time, correct processing, etc.) at the site is achieved. Can do.

  Secondly, as the parameters of the regression curve or the regression equation, actual value data measured by the air conditioner itself such as room temperature, outside air temperature, inverter frequency, indoor fan speed, outdoor fan speed, etc. is used. It is possible to obtain a regression prediction value from very little actual measurement value data, and the processing burden can be greatly reduced. In addition, since the regression prediction value is obtained by using the actual measurement data of each air conditioner, it is possible to perform individual failure determination, so that the reliability of failure determination can be improved.

  Thirdly, the failure determination unit 124 compares the actual measurement value data of a plurality of predetermined monitoring items with the corresponding regression prediction values, specifies the failure mode according to the combination of these comparison results, and the communication processing unit 11. Since the failure mode is included in the determination result and transmitted to the terminal device that is the source of the operation data, more detailed information such as the failure mode can be transmitted to the terminal device as well as the comparison of the actual measured value data. There is an effect.

  Fourthly, since the data storage unit 13 that stores the operation data and the determination result by the failure determination unit 124 is provided, the terminal device connected via the network provides the air conditioning service support device 1 with these information. By making the distribution request, it is possible to acquire and browse the failure determination history and operation data of each air conditioner.

  Fifth, the first terminal device 2 used by an air conditioner dealer, the second terminal device 4 used by a serviceman of an air conditioner maintenance company, and control monitoring of the air conditioner The centralized monitoring device 3, the third terminal device 5 used by the maintenance company, the fourth terminal device 6 used by the air conditioner manufacturing company, etc. are connected via the Internet 7 and transmitted from these devices 2-6. Since various types of information related to the air conditioner are classified according to their attributes and stored in the data storage unit 13 and managed in an integrated manner, each device can receive these various types of information via the Internet 5 from the air conditioning service support device. By being provided, it is possible to share common information with each other and to extract consistent information from manufacturing and sales to maintenance.

For example, in the design department of an air conditioner manufacturing company, it is possible to receive provision of complaint information and the like stored in the air conditioning service support device 1 by using the fourth terminal device 6. It is possible to design next-generation air conditioners that reflect this.
Similarly, in the sales department (not shown), receiving customer data etc. from the air conditioning service support device 1 makes it unnecessary to manage customer data within the company, and uses this customer data for sales and services, etc. It becomes possible to do.

[Other Embodiments]
Next, another embodiment of the failure determination process performed by the failure determination unit 124 in the above-described air conditioning service support apparatus 1 of the present invention will be described.
In the present embodiment, the failure determination unit 124 determines a failure by referring to past operation data. Details will be described below with reference to FIG.

For example, a service person visiting maintenance of an air conditioner installed in a building operates the second terminal device 4 shown in FIG. 1 to input operation data and perform a transmission operation. In this case, operation data during maintenance is transmitted from the second terminal device 4 to the air conditioning service support device 1 via the Internet 7.
When the failure determination unit 124 in the air conditioning service support device 1 receives this operation data via the communication processing unit 11, it performs the following failure processing.

First, the failure determination unit 124 extracts the actual measurement value data of the determination target item from the operation data, and compares the extracted actual measurement data with the corresponding regression prediction value to calculate the difference (step SP11). ).
As a result, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, a difference is calculated for each determination item for the current operation data.
In addition, about the process which concerns on extraction of the actual value data of the said determination object item, calculation of a regression prediction value, etc., it implement | achieves by performing the process similar to step SP1-SP3 shown in FIG.

  Subsequently, the previous operation data of the air conditioner is extracted from the failure determination database 134 (see FIG. 2) (step SP12), and the extracted operation data is subjected to processing similar to the above-described processing, thereby obtaining measured value data. And the difference between the regression prediction values (step SP13). As a result, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, with respect to the previous operation data, a difference is calculated for each determination target item.

Subsequently, the difference between the determination target items of the current driving data calculated in step SP11 is compared with the difference of the determination target items of the previous driving data calculated in step SP13 to calculate the amount of change (step). SP14).
Thereby, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the amount of change is obtained for each determination target item.

Next, the failure determination unit 124 specifies a failure mode based on the combination of the change amounts (step SP15).
For example, the failure determination unit 124 identifies the failure mode by referring to the second failure mode table shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, the second failure mode table is a table in which combinations of change amount thresholds are set for each failure mode.
The failure determination unit 124 determines whether or not the combination of changes obtained in step SP14 in FIG. 8 corresponds to any combination set in the second failure mode table shown in FIG. Then, the failure mode is specified.

Next, the failure determination unit 124 uses the communication processing unit 11 to output the failure determination result including the amount of change of each determination target item and the failure mode (only when specified) obtained by the above processing. A reply is made to the transmission source, for example, the second terminal device 4 of FIG. 1 (step SP16).
Thereby, the failure determination result is displayed on the display unit of the second terminal device 4, and the determination result can be provided to the service person. As a result, the service person at the site can perform the maintenance at the site while referring to the failure determination result.

Subsequently, the failure determination unit 125 stores the information including the current operation data in the failure determination result as one file in the failure determination database 134 of the data storage unit 13 (see FIG. 2) (see FIG. 8). Step SP17), the failure determination process is terminated.
As a result, failure determination results are accumulated in the failure determination database 134 for each air conditioner.

As described above, the failure determination unit 125 performs failure determination using the operation data received in the past, so that it is possible to obtain a more reliable failure determination result.
Further, the failure determination unit 125 may identify the failure mode by executing both the failure determination process illustrated in FIG. 6 and the failure determination process illustrated in FIG. Thus, it is possible to further improve the reliability of the failure determination by performing the failure determination by two methods.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail with reference to drawings, the specific structure is not restricted to this embodiment, The design change etc. of the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention are included.
For example, the terminal devices connected via the Internet are not limited to the first to fourth terminal devices and the central monitoring device 3.
In addition, the failure determination unit 125 performs the above-described failure determination process when the operation data is received. However, the operation data reception timing and the operation data transmission source terminal are not particularly limited.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the air-conditioning service assistance system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the air-conditioning service assistance apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of driving | operation data. It is a flowchart of the failure determination process performed by the failure determination part shown by FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the comparison result of each determination object item in a failure determination process. It is a figure which shows an example of a failure mode table. It is a figure which shows the failure determination result in a failure determination process. It is a flowchart of the failure determination process which concerns on other embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the comparison process performed by the failure determination process which concerns on other embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a 2nd failure mode table.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air-conditioning service assistance apparatus 2 1st terminal device 3 Central monitoring apparatus 4 2nd terminal device 5 3rd terminal device 6 4th terminal device 11 Communication processing part 12 Processing part 13 Data storage part 124 Failure determination part

Claims (5)

An air-conditioning service support device connected via a network to at least one terminal device that handles information related to an air conditioner,
A failure determination means for performing failure determination based on the operation data when the operation data of the air conditioner is received from the one terminal device;
Communication processing means for transmitting the determination result by the failure determination means to the one terminal device,
The failure determination means includes
A regression prediction value is obtained by using a part of the actual measurement data of the operation data as a regression curve or a regression equation parameter held in advance, and the regression prediction value is compared with predetermined actual measurement data of the operation data. There line the failure determination by,
Compare the measured value data of a plurality of predetermined monitoring items with the corresponding regression prediction values, and specify the failure mode according to the combination of these comparison results,
The air conditioning service support device , wherein the communication processing means includes the failure mode in a determination result and transmits the failure mode to the one terminal device.   The air conditioning service support apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a data storage unit that stores at least one of the operation data and a determination result by the failure determination unit.   The air conditioning service support apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the parameters include at least a room temperature, an outside air temperature, an inverter frequency, an indoor fan speed, and an outdoor fan speed. The failure determination means extracts past operation data related to the air conditioner that is the target of the failure determination from the data storage means,
The air conditioning service support apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a failure determination is made based on the extracted past operation data and the operation data received this time. The air conditioning service support apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein a failure determination result of the past operation data is compared with a failure determination result of the operation data received this time, and a failure mode is specified based on a combination of the comparison results.

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