JP6122248B2 - Energy information output device and data management system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an energy information output device that can output information on an energy usage status detected in the device or acquired from the outside to an external information processing device, and a data management system that uses the energy usage status.

  Due to recent advances in IT technology, an energy management system called HEMS (Home Energy Management System) has been developed. Even in general households, energy usage status such as power consumption can be ascertained on a daily or hourly basis. It has become easier to make efficient use of.

  In the above HEMS, the energy consumption used at each customer's home is measured at each customer's home, and the measured data is transmitted to a data management server installed in the management center via a communication network such as the Internet, and the data The management server collects and manages the energy consumption of each customer's home and performs various statistical processing on the collected measurement data to give each customer various statistical values and energy savings. Energy-related guidance is transmitted to an information processing terminal such as a personal computer or a mobile phone used by the customer via the communication network. Thereby, it is expected that the energy saving action at each customer's home is promoted by each customer browsing and referring to the information.

  However, in the HEMS, it is important that a device that measures energy consumption at each customer's home is connected to the communication network online. In other words, when the measurement device and the communication network are offline, complicated processing occurs in which each customer directly inputs measurement data of energy consumption manually into an information processing terminal etc. and sends it to the data management server. To do. By forcing the customer to perform complicated processing with the manual operation, the spread of HEMS is hindered, and the acquisition of accurate measurement data is hindered due to measurement data input errors.

  On the other hand, at customer premises where HEMS is newly introduced, in order to avoid the above-mentioned problem of manual operation, it is necessary to introduce communication equipment for online connection between the measuring equipment and the communication network and to construct new equipment. Installation costs are incurred.

  In order to solve the problem of introducing the HEMS, in Patent Document 1 below, a storage medium such as a flash memory, wireless communication between an energy utilization device that measures energy consumption at each customer's home and a communication device used by the customer It has been proposed to send and receive measurement data via a transmission path, display of image data, and imaging / decoding processing.

JP 2006-277661 A

  However, the solution proposed in Patent Document 1 has the following problems. First, in the exchange of data via a storage medium or a wireless transmission path, a connector, an adapter, an adapter, an existing energy utilization device side so that data can be exchanged by connecting to the storage medium or the wireless transmission path. It is necessary to have hardware and software such as drivers.

  Second, in the case where measurement data is exchanged through display of image data and imaging / decoding processing, a mobile phone capable of reading a barcode such as a QR code (registered trademark) as a communication device used by a customer Assuming the use of a personal computer with a camera function or a camera function, a graphic pattern such as a character string or QR code is displayed on the display unit of the remote control terminal on the energy utilization device side, and is captured by the camera of the communication device. The character string or the data obtained by decoding the graphic pattern is transmitted to the data management server. However, the amount of information required at one time cannot be displayed sufficiently only by displaying the character string, and if the image data of the character string is transmitted to the data management server as it is, a large amount of redundant data is transmitted, which is inefficient. . In addition, this method cannot be used in a remote control terminal that does not have a sufficient number of pixels in the display unit to display a graphic pattern.

  The present invention has been made in view of the problems associated with the introduction of HEMS, and its purpose is to provide a technology that enables the introduction of HEMS using existing equipment that does not have means for connecting to a communication network. There is to do.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a display unit including at least a 7-segment display element, lighting of a plurality of display segments including at least a plurality of first display segments constituting the 7-segment display element, and It has a display control unit that controls blinking individually,
In the energy information display mode in which the display control unit converts energy information related to energy usage into binarized data and displays it on the 7-segment display element, the binarized data by the first display segment. A first process of displaying a marker for alignment that defines the display range of the display by lighting or blinking a part of the first display segment or another display segment existing inside or on the outer periphery of the display range; And a second process for selectively lighting or blinking some or all of the plurality of first display segments within the display range and displaying the binarized data simultaneously or in a time-sharing manner. An energy information output device is provided that is configured as described above.

In the energy information output device of the above feature, the energy information is energy usage status data relating to an energy usage status for each of one or a plurality of energy types per unit period of a predetermined time length,
The display control unit is composed of time data indicating one unit period and at least one data among one or a plurality of the energy usage status data for each energy type in the one unit period. The binarized data is displayed by selectively lighting or blinking the first display segment in one second process, and the second process is repeated a plurality of times to obtain a plurality of unit data. It is preferable to display binarized data.

  In the energy information output device having the above characteristics, it is preferable that the display control unit executes the first process between the second process and the second process when the second process is repeated a plurality of times.

  In the energy information output device having the above characteristics, it is preferable that the first display segment used for displaying the binarized data is not used for displaying the marker.

  In the energy information output device having the above characteristics, the display unit is preferably a display unit provided in a remote control terminal of an energy consuming device.

  Furthermore, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes an energy information output device having the above characteristics, and an energy information generation unit that detects the use status of the energy, generates the energy information, and provides the energy information output device. Imaging the binarized data displayed on the display unit of the energy information output device, extracting the binarized data from the obtained image data, and inversely converting it into the energy information, And a data management server that receives and manages the energy information transmitted by the communication terminal, and provides a data management system.

  In the data management system of the above feature, the communication terminal stores the inversely converted energy information or the binarized data in a storage device, and further converts the data into character data or image data that can be identified by a person. It is preferable to display on the display screen.

  Furthermore, the present invention provides an energy information output device having the above characteristics, an energy information generation unit that detects a use state of the energy, generates the energy information, and provides the energy information output device, and the energy information output device The binarized data displayed on the display unit is imaged, the binarized data is extracted from the obtained image data, and inversely converted into the energy information, and the inversely converted energy information or the 2 A data management system comprising: a data processing terminal that stores the valuation data in a storage device, and further converts the data into character data or image data that can be identified by a person and displays the data on a display screen. I will provide a.

  According to the energy information output device having the above characteristics, when HEMS is introduced, a customer who needs to introduce a communication device for online connection between a measuring device for measuring an energy utilization state and a communication network and a work for the communication device. In addition, a display unit provided in a remote control terminal or the like including at least a seven-segment display element used for displaying numerical information such as a set temperature and time of an energy consuming device such as a water heater that is widely used in general When energy information is displayed in decimal using the 7-segment display element by binarizing the energy information and assigning and displaying 1 bit to each display segment of the display element A large amount of data can be displayed.

  Further, by displaying the alignment marker for defining the display range related to the display of the binarized data of energy information separately from the display of the binarized data, the mobile phone with a camera used by the customer When the display screen of the binarized data is imaged on a portable information terminal such as a smartphone or the like, the correspondence relationship between each display segment and each bit of the binarized data can be reliably matched. Therefore, on the portable information terminal side, the binarized data can be recognized from the relative positional relationship of the display segment that is lit (or blinking) on the imaged screen with the marker, and the binarized data can be recognized. By decoding, the original energy information can be obtained, and the obtained energy information is transferred to the data management server, or the energy information and various data obtained by statistical processing of the energy information are stored in the portable information terminal. It can be displayed on the display screen.

The block diagram which shows schematic structure of the energy information output device and data management system which concern on this invention The figure which shows typically an example of the screen structure of the display part of the energy information output device which concerns on this invention. The flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of a main-body control part and a remote control part in energy information display mode The figure explaining the correspondence of the breakdown of the binarized data displayed on the display part of the energy information output device which concerns on this invention, and a 1st display segment. The flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of the portable information processing terminal with a camera in the data management system which concerns on this invention The block diagram which shows the other schematic structure of the energy information output device and data management system which concern on this invention

  An embodiment of an energy information output apparatus according to the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “the present apparatus” as appropriate) and a data management system using the present apparatus (hereinafter referred to as “the present system” as appropriate) are described with reference to the drawings. I will explain.

  First, a schematic configuration of the apparatus of the present invention will be described assuming a case where a remote controller terminal of a gas water heater (corresponding to an energy consuming device) used in a general home is used. In addition, as the usage status of energy handled in the present embodiment, each of electric power, city gas, and tap water used in the entire customer's house where the apparatus of the present invention is installed is set for each fixed time (for example, in units of one hour). Assumes usage. In this embodiment, tap water is also handled as a kind of energy.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the device of the present invention and the system of the present invention. The gas water heater 1 includes a main body 2 and one or a plurality of remote control terminals 3. In the main body 2, low-temperature water supplied from the water supply is heated by heat exchange with city gas combustion gas to generate high-temperature water. For example, hot water taps for bathtubs, kitchens, washrooms, bathrooms, etc. Hot water supply to hot water, reheating hot water in the bathtub, circulating hot water supply to hot water supply and heating terminals such as floor heating. The main body unit 2 is provided with a main body control unit 4 that controls the combustion of the city gas described above so that the temperature of the generated high-temperature water becomes a predetermined set temperature. Since the combustion control is not the gist of the present invention, a detailed description is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the remote control terminal 3 sets the hot water supply temperature (bath water filling temperature, hot water supply temperature to the hot water tap), starts / stops the operation of the water heater, and starts / stops the automatic water filling operation of the bathtub. , Switches 5 for setting the current time, setting the timer time, switching the operation mode, and the like, and a display unit for displaying the state (time, set temperature, operating state, etc.) during and after the operation of the switches 6 and a speaker 7 (or buzzer) for generating a sound signal for operation confirmation and state confirmation are provided on the surface of the casing of the remote control terminal 3. In addition, the remote control terminal 3 receives an input operation for the switches 5, transmits a control signal based on the input operation to the main body control unit 4, and further indicates the operation state of the main body unit 2 from the main body control unit 4. A remote controller control unit 8 is provided that receives the status signal and displays output information based on the status signal on the display unit 6 or performs control generated from the speaker 7. Accordingly, the main body control unit 4 and the remote control unit 8 are connected by a wired or wireless dedicated transmission path 9 so that data can be transmitted and received between them. The normal operations of the respective units 5 to 8 of the remote control terminal 3 are well-known technical contents and are not the gist of the present invention, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the display unit 6 of the remote control terminal 3 is provided with, for example, six segment display elements 10 for displaying numerical information such as time and set temperature at six locations. Each display element 10 includes seven display segments 11 (corresponding to first display segments). In the example of FIG. 2, in the normal operation mode, the upper two display elements 10 are used for temperature display, and the lower four display elements 10 are used for time display. In addition to the display segment 11, the display unit 6 is provided with a display segment 12 for confirming combustion, and a dedicated display segment 13 indicating other operation states, display modes, and the like. The remote controller control unit 8 functions as a display control unit that individually controls lighting and blinking of the display segments 11 to 13 of the display unit 6. The number and layout of the display elements 10 and the number, type and layout of the other display segments 12 and 13 are not limited to the example of FIG. Moreover, as each display segment 11-13, the thing of various display (light emission) systems, such as a liquid crystal display device and LED (light emitting diode), can be utilized, and it is not limited to the thing of a specific display system.

  In the present embodiment, a power meter 20, a gas meter 21, and a water meter 22 dedicated to the system of the present invention are installed outside the gas water heater 1, and each of the measuring devices 20 to 22 shows a measurement result. The signal is transmitted to the main body control unit 4 via a wired or wireless indoor transmission path 23. Each measuring instrument 20-22 measures the usage-amount of electricity, city gas, and tap water used in the whole user's house using this invention system. In the present embodiment, the main body control unit 4 is not configured to directly send and receive data to and from the data management server 25 of the system of the present invention, which will be described later, via an outdoor communication network 24 such as the Internet. . The measurement signal of each of the measuring instruments 20 to 22 may be an analog signal whose signal amplitude is an instantaneous value (analog value) of the measured power, gas flow rate, and tap water flow rate, and the measured power and gas flow rate. The pulse signal may change the signal amplitude every time the accumulated value of the tap water flow rate becomes a constant value, and the measured power, gas flow rate, and tap water flow rate every fixed time (for example, 1 It may be a digital signal indicating a cumulative value of minutes to 60 minutes.

  The main body control unit 4 measures the power consumption P (n), the gas usage G (n), and the water usage W (n) for each unit period based on the measurement signals received from the measuring instruments 20 to 22. Data (corresponding to energy information) is generated, and measurement data for each usage amount is stored in a predetermined storage area of a storage device provided inside or outside the main body control unit 4. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the time length of the unit period is 1 hour, but is not limited to 1 hour, and may be, for example, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 2 hours, or the like. In addition, the variable n in parentheses of each measurement data is given for convenience of explanation, and is a measurement period in which measurement data is measured by an ordinal number indicating the order of unit periods starting from midnight on January 1 of the target year. Indicates which unit period. When the time length of the unit period is 1 hour, n = 1 indicates that the measurement period is a unit period from midnight to 1 am on January 1. Each actual measurement data includes information on a measurement period T (n) such as a measurement year and a measurement date. The main body control unit 4 and the measuring devices 20 to 22 correspond to an energy information generation unit.

  Further, the main body control unit 4 further includes an untransmitted power usage amount P (n), a gas usage amount G (n), a water usage amount W (n), and a measurement period T (n) in an energy information display mode to be described later. ) Measurement data D (n) is sequentially read from the storage area for each unit period, and sequentially transmitted to the remote control unit 8 at a fixed timing.

  The device according to the present invention includes the display unit 6 and the remote control unit 8 of the remote control terminal 3. On the other hand, in addition to the apparatus of the present invention, the system of the present invention collects and manages the measurement data D (n) of the main body control unit 4 of the main body unit 2, the measuring instruments 20 to 22, and the plurality of users. In the server 25 and an energy information display mode to be described later, the binarized data of the measurement data D (n) displayed on the display unit 6 is imaged, converted back to the measurement data D (n), and subjected to the reverse conversion. A camera-equipped portable information processing terminal 26 (hereinafter simply referred to as “portable terminal 26”, which corresponds to a communication terminal and a data processing terminal) that transmits data D (n) to the data management server 25 via the communication network 24. It is prepared for.

  The data management server 25 functions as a WEB (web) server and a database server, and is configured by one or a plurality of server computers. The details of the data management server 25 are not the main points of the present invention, but will be briefly described. The basic function of the data management server 25 is to access the mobile terminal 26 and other Internet-connectable computers by specifying a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). On the other hand, a communication path capable of transmitting and receiving data via the communication network 24 is established, and transmission of the measurement data D (n) from the portable terminal 26 is accepted, and the measurement data D (n) and measurement data that have already been accepted Provides retrieval and browsing of D (n) statistical processing data and the like. Statistical processing for the measurement data D (n) includes statistics such as annual cumulative values, monthly cumulative values, daily cumulative values, average values thereof, and year-on-year comparison values for each energy type of the measurement data D (n) for each user. A value is calculated, or the same statistical processing for each belonging user in the same region or the same family structure, comparison or ranking of each statistical value among the belonging users, and the like are performed. Also, energy saving advice and the like for each user based on these statistical processing results are created.

  As the mobile terminal 26, it is assumed that a mobile phone (including a smartphone or the like) or a small computer having a camera function and a connection function with the communication network 24 is used. A mobile phone or the like having such a function can be used that is already in the market. Further, the portable terminal 26 processes an image obtained by imaging the binarized data of the measurement data D (n) displayed on the display unit 6 to recognize the binarized data, and the recognized binarized data is displayed. A dedicated application (software) for executing a series of processes for inversely converting to measurement data D (n) and transferring the data to the data management server 25 is installed in advance. The above-described series of processing can be executed by being activated on the hardware.

  Hereinafter, operations of the main body control unit 4 and the remote control unit 8 in the energy information display mode will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure of the main body control unit 4 and the remote control unit 8. FIG. 4 shows an example of how the binarized data of the measurement data displayed on the display unit 6 is displayed on each display segment 11 of the display unit 6. In FIG. 4, lighting and extinguishing of the display segments 11 to 13 indicate that the black portion is turned on and the white portion is turned off.

  First, the user operates the switches 5 of the remote control terminal 3 to shift from the normal operation mode (hot water supply operation state or standby state) of the gas water heater 1 to the energy information display mode (step # 1). The transition to the energy information display mode by the user's input operation is an example, and is performed once a month at the beginning of the month.

  When the remote control unit 8 recognizes the operation input of the user and shifts to the energy information display mode, the remote control unit 8 executes a start display indicating that the mode has shifted to the energy information display mode, and sends an untransmitted message to the main body control unit 4. Electric power consumption P (n), gas usage G (n), water usage W (n), and measurement data D (n) for the measurement period T (n) are stored for each unit period from the storage area. The data are sequentially read out, and instructions for transmission to the remote control unit 8 are sequentially given at a fixed timing (step # 2). The start display repeats blinking of the display segment 12 for combustion confirmation at a constant time interval (for example, every 1 second) for a certain period (for example, about 5 to 20 seconds). The display segment that blinks in the start display is not limited to the display segment 12 for confirming combustion.

  When the start display of step # 2 ends, as shown in FIG. 4A, the remote control unit 8 is located at the upper left of the display range of the binary data of the measurement data (displayed by a broken line frame in FIG. 4). The display segment 12 for confirming combustion and the four display segments 11 located at the lower right of the display range are lit for a certain period (for example, about 5 seconds) as alignment markers (step # 3).

  Immediately before the end of the first marker display in step # 3, the main body control unit 4 determines the power consumption P (n), gas usage G (n), and water usage W ( n) and measurement data D (n) composed of the measurement period T (n) are sequentially read out from the storage area for each unit period and sequentially sent to the remote control unit 8 at a fixed timing. The transmission operation is started (step # 4). In the present embodiment, the fixed timing is, for example, an interval of 100 milliseconds. In this case, the measurement data D (n) for 10 unit periods can be transmitted per second, and when the time length of the unit period is 1 hour, the measurement data D (n) for one day is 2.4 seconds. Thus, the measurement data D (n) for 30 days is transmitted in 72 seconds. The reading and transmission of the measurement data D (n) in step # 4 are repeated by the number M (= K × L) obtained by multiplying the number of days K of the previous month or the untransmitted month by the number of unit periods L of one day. Note that the reading and transmission of the measurement data D (n) in the first step # 4 are executed during the first marker display in step # 3.

  In the present embodiment, date data of the first day of the untransmitted measurement data D (n) or the last day of the transmitted measurement data D (n) is stored in the main body control unit 4 or the remote control unit 8 in a nonvolatile manner. Thereby, even if the user has not performed the transition operation to the energy information display mode one or more times, the measurement data D (n) of the untransmitted month can be processed without exception.

  When receiving the first measurement data D (n) for one unit period from the main body control unit 4, the remote control unit 8 converts the measurement data D (n) into 38-bit binary data, Each bit of the binarized data is made to correspond to 38 display segments 11 except for 4 used for marker display within the display range, and further, the bit value “1” is turned on, and the bit value “0” is set. The binarized data is displayed in correspondence with the extinction (step # 5). The display of the binarized data in step # 5 continues for 50 milliseconds, for example. The remote controller 8 ends the first marker display in step # 3 immediately before the first binarized data display in step # 5. For the subsequent 50 milliseconds, the same marker display as in step # 3 is performed (step # 6).

  In FIG. 4B, all nine display segments 11 that display 9-bit binary data corresponding to decimal numbers of 1 to 365 (or 366) indicating the month and day of the measurement period T (n) are turned on. Indicates the state of the The month / day data indicates what day the measurement date falls from January 1st. FIG. 4C shows five displays for displaying 5-bit binarized data corresponding to the order (1 to 24) of the unit period (time length is 1 hour) of each day of the measurement period T (n). The state where all the segments 11 are turned on is shown. FIG. 4D shows a state where all the eight display segments 11 that display the 8-bit binarized data corresponding to the power usage amount P (n) are lit. FIG. 4E shows a state in which all the eight display segments 11 that display the 8-bit binarized data corresponding to the gas use amount G (n) are turned on. FIG. 4F shows a state where all the eight display segments 11 that display the 8-bit binarized data corresponding to the water usage W (n) are turned on.

  In synchronization with the main body control unit 4 repeating the reading and transmission of the measurement data D (n) in step # 4 M times, for example, at 100 millisecond intervals, the remote control control unit 8 performs step # 5-2. The display of the value data and the marker display in step # 6 are repeated M times. The measurement data (n) used to display the binarized data in step # 5 of the i-th (i = 2 to M) is the (i−1) -th binarized data display and step # 5. 6 from the main body control unit 4 during the marker display period.

  In the above manner, the reading and transmission of the measurement data D (n) at step # 4 by the main body control unit 4, the display of the binarized data at step # 5 and the marker display at step # 6 by the remote control unit 8 are as follows. If it is repeated M times (YES branch in determination of the number of repetitions of steps # 7 and # 8), the remote controller control unit 8 measures the measurement period T (n) included in the Mth measurement data D (n). The day or the next day is stored in a predetermined storage area as data for specifying the date data of the first day of the untransmitted measurement data D (n) in the next energy information display mode. (Step # 9).

  Next, the operation of the mobile terminal 26 in the energy information display mode will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the mobile terminal 26. Steps # 2, # 3, # 5, and # 6 in the following description indicate operation steps of the remote control unit 8 shown in FIG.

  The user operates the switches 5 of the remote control terminal 3 to operate the portable terminal 26 before and after the transition to the energy information display mode to start the above-described application (step # 11). The application is activated until the start display in step # 2 ends. Subsequently, when the first marker display in step # 3 is started, the user adjusts the angle of view so that the marker displayed on the display unit 6 is within the imaging range of the camera of the mobile terminal 26, and performs imaging. Start (step # 12). When imaging starts, the first marker display in step # 3 is automatically imaged (step # 13), the first marker display ends, and the first binarized data in step # 5 is displayed. When the display starts, the display is automatically recognized, the relative position of the lit display segment 11 is recognized based on the position of the marker imaged in step # 13, and binarization of 38 bits is performed. The data is recognized, converted back into measurement data D (n) for each unit period, and temporarily stored in a predetermined storage area of a storage device provided in the portable terminal 26 (step # 14). Subsequently, the second marker display in step # 6 after a predetermined time (in this embodiment, 50 milliseconds) has elapsed since the first display of the binarized data is imaged (step # 15). In this embodiment, based on the position of the marker displayed for the second time, the binarized data is recognized with respect to the display of the second binarized data in step # 5, and the measurement data D (n) is inversely converted and stored. Is executed. Accordingly, the process of step # 14 is repeated M times and the process of step # 15 is repeated M-1 times in order, and the measurement data D (n) of M unit periods is stored in the storage area in the portable terminal 26. Is done.

  When the process of step # 14 is completed M times (YES branch in the determination of the number of repetitions of step # 16), the measurement data D (n) of M unit periods is read from the storage area, and the data for specifying the user And data indicating the measurement year, etc., and further applying a predetermined compression process or encryption process as necessary, and accessing the data management server 25 via the communication network 24 in the manner described above. D (n) is transmitted (step # 17). When the transmission of the measurement data D (n) is finished, the application is automatically finished, or a data display mode described later is entered.

  Next, the process of the portable terminal 26 when the mode is changed to the data display mode will be described. On the mobile terminal 26 side, the measurement data D (n) for each unit period obtained by repeating step # 14 according to the storage capacity of the storage device built in the mobile terminal 26 is, for example, 1 year. Minutes are saved. When the storage capacity is small, for example, only the past 1 to 3 months may be stored. After the processing in step # 17 or before the processing, predetermined calculation processing is performed on the measurement data D (n) for the most recent month, for example, the total power consumption, total gas usage, The usage amount is calculated, and the total usage amount of the previous month and the total usage amount of the same month of the previous year are compared, and the calculation results are displayed on the display screen. Alternatively, the measurement data D (n) may be graphed to display changes in each usage amount during one day.

Hereinafter, another embodiment will be described.
<1> In the above embodiment, the measurement data D (n) includes three types of energy usage, that is, power usage P (n), gas usage G (n), and water usage W (n). However, the amount of energy used is not limited to the three types. For example, it may be configured to include one or two of the three types of energy usage, or may include other types of energy usage. Furthermore, in the said embodiment, although each energy usage amount assumed the usage amount used in the whole customer's house, it may be limited to what is used with a specific energy consumption apparatus (for example, gas water heater). good.

<2> In the above embodiment, it is assumed that each of the measuring devices 20 to 22 transmits each measurement data or measurement signal to the main body control unit 4 via the wired or wireless indoor transmission path 23. As shown in FIG. 6, instead of the main body control unit 4, for example, a remote control unit 8a of a remote control terminal 3a different from the remote control terminal 3 constituting the device of the present invention is used. The measurement data reception and storage operation to be performed, and the measurement data D (n) reading and transmission operation in the energy information display mode may be executed. Thereby, the load of the main body control unit 4 can be reduced. Furthermore, you may make it give the function of the main body control part 4 to any one or each of the above-mentioned measuring devices 20-22.

<3> In the above embodiment, it is assumed that the device of the present invention is configured using a remote control terminal of a gas water heater (corresponding to an energy consuming device), but the energy consuming device to be used is limited to the gas water heater. In addition, instead of the display unit and the control unit of the remote control terminal, a display unit and a control unit provided in the main body of the energy consuming device may be used.

<4> In the above embodiment, the combustion confirmation display segment 12 and a part of the display segment 11 are used for marker display in the energy information display mode. However, the alignment marker is limited to these display segments. It is not a thing. The alignment markers only need to exist inside or on the outer periphery of the display range of the binarized data, and all of the display segments 11 may be used, or only the display segments other than the display segment 11 may be used. Also good.

<5> In the above embodiment, it is assumed that the measurement data D (n) is converted into 38-bit binarized data, but the number of bits of the binarized data is not limited to 38 bits.

  When the number of display segments 11 used for displaying the binarized data is smaller than the number of bits of the binarized data, the binarized data of the measurement data D (n) in one unit period is divided into two or more. You may make it display on the display segment 11 in 2 steps or more. Further, part or all of the display segment 11 used for the alignment marker may be used for displaying the binarized data.

<6> In the above embodiment, the repetition period of the binarized data display in step # 5 and the marker display in step # 6 in the energy information display mode is set to 100 milliseconds, but the repetition period is set to 100 milliseconds. It is not limited. Further, the time ratio between the periods of the binarized data display at step # 5 and the marker display at step # 6 is not limited to 1: 1 (50 milliseconds versus 50 milliseconds).

  Further, in the above embodiment, the second and subsequent marker displays in step # 6 are repeated every time following step # 5. However, step # 6 is not performed at all, or step # 5 is continuously performed a plurality of times. After the repetition, the marker display in step # 6 may be executed intermittently.

  In the present embodiment, on the mobile terminal 26 side, the alignment marker and the binarized data that are switched and displayed every 50 milliseconds are imaged every 50 milliseconds, and the binarized data is recognized and measured data. Inverse conversion to D (n) and storage need to be processed in a cycle of 100 milliseconds, but image processing (such as JPEG compression) and data storage performed after normal imaging are not necessarily required, so the above application is executed. The processing burden on the portable terminal 26 side can be reduced. When the processing capability on the portable terminal 26 side is low, the repetition cycle may be lengthened.

<7> In the above embodiment, it is assumed that the transition to the energy information display mode by the user's input operation is performed every month, but the transition to the energy information display mode may be performed every week or every day instead of every month. Further, it may be performed irregularly. If the energy information display mode process is performed irregularly, the measurement data D (n) that has not been transmitted from the previous process to the previous day may be processed.

<8> In the above-described embodiment, the case where only the binarized data of the measurement data D (n) is displayed on the display unit 6 in the energy information display mode has been described, but besides the measurement data D (n), Maintenance information and the like of the energy consuming equipment used for the configuration of the apparatus of the present invention may be acquired and the information may be displayed together.

<9> In the above embodiment, it is assumed that the mobile terminal 26 has both a camera function and a connection function between the communication network 24, but the connection function with the communication network 24 is necessarily provided. There is no. The portable terminal 26 can exchange data with another information processing terminal (for example, a personal computer) having a connection function with the communication network 24 online or offline via a USB cable or a memory card. If present, the measurement data D (n) inversely converted by the portable terminal 26 may be transferred to another information processing terminal and then transmitted to the data management server 25.

<10> In the above embodiment, when the binary data of the measurement data D (n) is displayed using the display segment 11, the bit value “1” is turned on and the bit value “0” is turned off. However, the correspondence relationship may be reversed, or may be blinked instead of lighting. Also, the marker display may be blinked instead of lighting the display segment used for marker display. However, when the display segment 11 is blinked in the display of the binarized data or the marker, it is necessary to capture the blinking state in several times in order to identify the blinking state by the mobile terminal 26.

  The energy information output device and data management system according to the present invention can be used for an energy management system for general households such as HEMS.

1: Gas water heater 2: Main body part 3, 3a: Remote control terminal 4: Main body control part 5: Switches 6: Display part 7: Speaker 8, 8a: Remote control part 9: Dedicated transmission path 10: 7 segment type display Element 11: 7-segment display element display segment (first display segment)
12: Display segment for combustion confirmation 13: Display segment 20: Power meter 21: Gas meter 22: Water meter 23: Indoor transmission path 24: Communication network (Internet)
25: Data management server 26: Mobile information processing terminal with camera (communication terminal, data processing terminal)

Claims (8)

A display unit including at least a 7-segment display element; and a display control unit for individually controlling lighting and blinking of the plurality of display segments including at least a plurality of first display segments constituting the 7-segment display element. ,
The display control unit
In the energy information display mode in which energy information including measurement data of energy usage related to energy usage is converted into a plurality of bits of binary data and displayed on the 7-segment display element.
The display of the markers for positioning which defines the display range of the binary data by the first display segment, the first display segment or other display segments of some existing outside peripheral portion of the display range A first process performed by lighting or flashing;
A part or all of the plurality of first display segments in the display range is associated with each bit of the binarized data, and the plurality of associated first display segments are selectively lit or blinked. A second process for displaying the binarized data simultaneously or in a time-sharing manner;
An energy information output device configured to execute
The energy information is energy usage status data related to energy usage status for each of one or more energy types per unit period of a predetermined time length,
The display control unit
Binary data of unit data composed of time data indicating one unit period and at least one data among one or a plurality of the energy usage status data for each energy type in the one unit period. Is displayed by selectively lighting or blinking the first display segment in one time of the second processing,
The energy information output device according to claim 1, wherein the second process is repeated a plurality of times to display a plurality of binarized data of the unit data. The display control unit
3. The energy information output device according to claim 1, wherein when the second process is repeated a plurality of times, the first process is executed between the second process and the second process.   The energy information output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first display segment used for displaying the binarized data is not used for displaying the marker.   The energy information output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is a display unit provided in a remote control terminal of an energy consuming device. The energy information output device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
An energy information generation unit that detects a use state of the energy, generates the energy information, and provides the energy information output device;
The binarized data displayed on the display unit of the energy information output device is imaged, the binarized data is extracted from the obtained image data, is converted back to the energy information, and is transmitted via a communication network. A communication terminal that transmits
A data management server that receives and manages the energy information transmitted by the communication terminal.   The communication terminal stores the inversely converted energy information or the binarized data in a storage device, and further converts the data into character data or image data that can be identified by a person and displays the data on a display screen. The data management system according to claim 6, wherein: The energy information output device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
An energy information generation unit that detects a use state of the energy, generates the energy information, and provides the energy information output device;
The binarized data displayed on the display unit of the energy information output device is imaged, the binarized data is extracted from the obtained image data, is inversely converted to the energy information, and is inversely converted. A data processing terminal that stores energy information or the binarized data in a storage device, and further converts the data into character data or image data that can be identified by a person and displays the data on a display screen. Data management system.

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