JP7457299B2 - Water supply equipment and management system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to remote management of managed devices such as water supply devices.

Patent Document 1 ([0021], [0024]) discloses that a communication device acquires operation information and failure information of a pump at regular intervals, such as every 250 ms, and transmits various acquired information to a remote management center via a network line. The remote control center reads the data from the communication device and converts it into information indicating the operating status of the pump, making it possible for the operator to monitor the operating status of the pump equipment, and further, It is disclosed that failure can be predicted from changes in operating conditions.

Patent Document 2 ([0009], [0010]) describes that the control unit of the water supply device has a web page generation unit that generates a web page for displaying information regarding the water supply device on a web browser, and that the water supply device A port is provided on which a web server section for transmitting a web page to an external device is installed, and the external device of the water supply device obtains information regarding the water supply device by accessing the web server section via the network. It has been disclosed that it is possible.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-19763 JP 2016-217073 A

The remote management center described in Patent Document 1 is assumed to manage operating information and failure information of one pump device. Since the pump device that is the source of the information cannot be specified from the operation information or failure information itself, the object of management by the remote management center described in Patent Document 1 cannot be simply expanded to include a plurality of pump devices.

On the other hand, according to the water supply device described in Patent Document 2, although it is possible to obtain information about the water supply device by viewing a web page generated by the water supply device, the web page does not contain information about other water supply devices. It naturally does not include device information. Therefore, simply by employing the water supply device described in Patent Document 2, it is not possible to remotely and centrally manage information on a plurality of water supply devices.

The purpose of the present invention is to enable remote centralized management of multiple managed devices.

A managed device according to one aspect of the present invention is capable of communicating with a server. The managed device includes a data acquisition section and a data reporting section. The data acquisition unit acquires operating state data representing the operating state of the managed device. The data reporting unit reports identification data for identifying the managed device and operating state data to the server. The server manages a database in which position data and operating state data of the managed device can be registered in association with identification data.

A server according to another aspect of the present invention includes a data acquisition unit and a database management unit. The data acquisition unit acquires, from each of a plurality of managed devices, identification data that identifies the managed device and operating state data that indicates the operating state of the managed device. The database management unit manages a database in which the identification data of each of the plurality of managed devices can be registered in association with location data and operating state data of the managed device identified by the identification data.

According to the present invention, remote centralized management of a plurality of managed devices is possible.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a water supply device according to an embodiment. 2 is a diagram illustrating a pump management system including the water supply device of FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a server according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a database stored in a database storage unit in FIG. 3 . 4 is a diagram illustrating map data created by the map creation section in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating map data created by the map creation section in FIG. 3. FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating map data created by a map creating unit in FIG. 3 . 4 is a diagram illustrating predicted order quantity data by model generated by an order quantity prediction unit in FIG. 3 . 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation related to reporting pump data of the water supply apparatus of FIG. 1 . 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the server in FIG. 3.

Below, the embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, hereafter, elements that are the same or similar to elements already described will be given the same or similar reference numerals, and duplicated descriptions will generally be omitted. For example, when there are multiple identical or similar elements, a common reference numeral may be used to describe each element without distinguishing between them, and a subnumber may be used in addition to the common reference numeral to describe each element with distinction between them.

Note that in the following description, for convenience, it is assumed that the managed device is a water supply device, but the managed device is not limited to this. For example, the managed device may be a device equipped with a pump for any purpose such as water pumping or drainage, or it may be a device equipped with a pump for any purpose such as water pumping or drainage, or various electrical or mechanical equipment different from such devices, such as a water heater, a computer, and an OA (Office Automation System). ) equipment, home appliances, robots, industrial machinery, etc. In addition, in the following explanation, the term "pump" or "water supply device" can be interpreted as a broader term "managed device" or "equipment" or as the name of another managed device as appropriate. .

(Embodiment)
The water supply device according to the embodiment may be, for example, the water supply device 10 in FIG. 1 . The water supply device 10 is, for example, a so-called direct connection pressure increase type water supply device that is directly connected to a water main, directly increases the pressure of water flowing through the water main, and supplies water to a destination such as a faucet or shower head installed in a building. could be.

This water supply device 10 includes a pump device 100, a pressure sensor 110, a control panel 200, and suction piping and discharge piping (not shown). The water supply device 10 uses a pump device 100 to take in water on the primary side via a suction pipe, and supplies water to the secondary side via a discharge pipe. The suction pipe connects, for example, a water branch pipe branched from a water main pipe and the pump device 100. The discharge piping connects the pump device 100 and its secondary water supply destination.

Note that the water supply device 10 may include a plurality of pump devices 100. In this case, the water supply device 10 can perform alternate operation in which a plurality of pump devices 100 are driven alternately, parallel operation in which a plurality of pump devices 100 are driven simultaneously, and the like.

The pressure sensor 110 is attached to a suction pipe and a discharge pipe of the water supply device 10 and can detect the suction pressure and discharge pressure of the pump.

The control panel 200 is electrically connected to (the motor of) the pump device 100 and controls the pump device 100. Although details will be described later, the control panel 200 controls the drive of the motor of the pump device 100 via the inverter 231 based on sensing signals from various sensors.

For example, the control panel 200 may perform, for example, estimated terminal pressure constant control or target pressure constant control while the pump is operating, based on the sensing signal from the pressure sensor 110. Further, the control panel 200 can control the motor to be driven at a desired rotation speed while the pump is in operation, and increases or decreases the rotation speed of the motor as necessary.

Furthermore, the control panel 200 determines that the flow rate is a small amount of water based on a sensing signal from a flow rate sensor that is attached to the piping on the secondary side of the pump included in the pump device 100 and is capable of detecting the flow rate of water flowing through the piping. If this is detected, the pump can be stopped. When the control panel 200 detects that the pressure on the secondary side of the pump has decreased below a predetermined starting pressure based on the sensing signal from the pressure sensor 110, it re-drives the pump.

Furthermore, the control panel 200 reports pump data in addition to controlling the pump device 100. The control panel 200 can communicate with the server 20 according to the embodiment via a network as illustrated in FIG. 2. As will be described in detail later, the control panel 200 continuously acquires pump data from the pump device 100, for example, once a day, and reports the acquired data to the server 20. This allows the server 20 to remotely and centrally manage multiple water supply devices 10.

In this way, the water supply device 10 of FIG. 1 can be incorporated into a pump management system. This pump management system includes water supply devices 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, . . . , a server 20, and a server 30, as illustrated in FIG.

Note that the number of each device in FIG. 2 is merely an example. For example, server 20 or server 30 may be made redundant as multiple servers. The number of water supply devices 10 is arbitrary, so the number of water supply devices 10 may be more or less than three.

The server 20 is, for example, a cloud server, and collects pump data from each water supply device 10, aggregates and accumulates the data. For example, the server 20 may accumulate pump data regarding the water supply device 10 in association with a manufacturing number corresponding to the individual identification number of the water supply device 10 (or pump device 100). Further, the server 20 may utilize the accumulated pump data. In addition, the server 20 may optionally provide pump data or other data (e.g., manual , software, firmware) to an external device.

The server 30 is an on-premises server operated by a company that produces, sells, and/or maintains the water supply device 10, for example. The server 30 can centrally manage and utilize pump data in cooperation with the server 20. For example, the server 30 may request the server 20 to register the serial number of the newly manufactured water supply device 10 or pump device 100. Note that using a cloud server and an on-premises server together is an option, and the server 20 and server 30 can be integrated with either one.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the control panel 200 includes an I/O section 201, a communication I/F (interface) 202, a processor 210, and a memory 220. Further, the control panel 200 (I/O section 201 thereof) is connected to the pump device 100 and the pressure sensor 110.

The I/O unit 201 is, for example, an input/output interface such as a port. The I/O unit 201 receives various inputs such as pump data (which may include a sensing signal) and user input (which may include a command) from the pump device 100, the pressure sensor 110, the inverter 231, and/or an input device (not shown). data is received and sent to processor 210. On the other hand, I/O section 201 receives, for example, an inverter control signal from processor 210 and sends it to inverter 231.

The communication I/F 202 communicates with the server 20 via a network, typically the Internet, using communication technology such as mobile communication (for example, 3G, 4G, 5G, mobile WiMAX), Wi-Fi, or WiMAX. communicate. Communication I/F 202 receives various data from processor 210 and transmits it to server 20.

The processor 210 is typically a microcomputer, but may also include a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a DSP (Digital System). ignal Processor), or other general-purpose or special-purpose processor etc. The processor 210 performs, for example, input/output control, communication control, pump control, detection of power supply stoppage, and the like.

Memory 220 includes memory for temporarily storing programs executed by processor 210 to realize each process, such as firmware, OS (Operating System), pump control program, pump data management program, etc., and data used by processor 210, such as pump data, etc. The memory may include RAM (Random Access Memory) having a work area in which such programs/data are expanded.

The power supply unit 230 supplies power to each component of the water supply device 10 as a managed device. For example, power supply section 230 includes a smoothing capacitor 233. The smoothing capacitor 233 is connected to an AC/DC converter circuit (not shown) that converts, for example, AC power from a commercial power source into DC power, and smoothes the voltage of this DC power to obtain DC power with a substantially constant voltage.

The inverter 231 supplies AC power of a predetermined frequency to the pump device 100 (the motor thereof). The inverter 231 receives an inverter control signal from the processor 210 via the I/O unit 201. The inverter 231 operates in response to this inverter control signal. For example, the inverter 231 can stop or start operation in response to an inverter control signal equivalent to an operation stop signal or an operation start signal. The inverter 231 can also control the rotation speed of the motor it is responsible for in response to an inverter control signal equivalent to a rotation speed control signal.

Specifically, the inverter 231 may include a converter circuit (not shown), a smoothing capacitor 232, and an inverter circuit (not shown). The converter circuit takes in AC power from an AC power source and converts it into DC power by rectifying it. The smoothing capacitor 232 smoothes the voltage of the DC power output by the converter circuit to obtain DC power of a substantially constant voltage. The inverter circuit then converts the DC power obtained by the smoothing capacitor 232 into AC power of a predetermined frequency according to an inverter control signal (corresponding to a rotation speed control signal) from the control panel 200, and supplies it to the motor.

The processor 210 can function as the pump data acquisition unit 211, the pump control unit 212, the supply stop detection unit 213, and the pump data reporting unit 214 in FIG. 1 by executing a program stored in the memory 220. The memory 220 can also include a pump data storage unit 221.

The pump data acquisition unit 211 acquires pump data, such as the operating status data described below, from the I/O unit 201 and writes this to the pump data storage unit 221.

The pump data may include, for example, some or all of the following: pump identification information, pump shipping information, pump fault information, pump operation information, pump maintenance information, pump contact information, pump parameters, pump installation information, and pump sensing signals.

The identification information of the pump may include, for example, a format corresponding to the product name or model name of the water supply device 10, a product number that is a number for the format, a manufacturing number corresponding to the individual identification number of the water supply device 10 or the pump device 100, etc. . Furthermore, the pump identification information may include a manufacturing number corresponding to the individual identification number of (the control board of) the control panel 200, and such manufacturing number may be stored in the pump data storage unit 221 in advance, for example.

The pump shipping information may be set when the pump is manufactured/inspected. The pump shipping information may include, for example, representative characteristics of the pump. The representative characteristics of the pump may be, for example, an average value of the performance of multiple pumps of the same model for one or more performance items or other statistical values. For example, by measuring the performance of the water supply device 10 and comparing the measured performance with the representative characteristics for the same items, it is possible to inspect the water supply device 10 and diagnose deterioration over time.

The pump failure information may be, for example, a pump failure history. Specifically, the pump failure information may include, for each failure event of the water supply device 10, the date and time of failure occurrence, the cause of the failure, and/or the status of the water supply device 10 at the time of occurrence of the failure. The pump failure information may include information elements regarding all failure events over a predetermined period of time in the past, or may include information elements regarding a predetermined number of failure events in descending order of failure occurrence date and time. In addition, the status of the water supply device 10 may be, for example, a voltage/current value obtained from the inverter 231, a sensing signal obtained from the pressure sensor 110 or a pressure value calculated based on this, a sensing signal obtained from a flow sensor or a pressure value calculated based on this, The information may include the flow rate value, motor rotation frequency value, cumulative operating time, cumulative number of driving times, and the like. Here, the cumulative operating time and/or the cumulative number of driving times may be calculated, for example, by the pump control unit 212 according to the actual operating status of the water supply device 10, and may be written in the pump data storage unit 221.

The operational information of the pump may be, for example, the status of the pump at one of the most recent or logged points in time. Specifically, the pump operation information includes, for example, voltage/current values obtained from the inverter 231 at each point in time, sensing signals at each point in time obtained from the pressure sensor 110 or pressure values calculated based thereon, and information obtained from the flow rate sensor. The sensing signal at each time point or the flow rate value calculated based on the sensing signal at each time point, the rotation frequency value at each time point, the cumulative operation time at each time point, the cumulative number of times of operation at each time point, the operation of the water supply device 10 determined by the pump control unit 212 It may include status (eg, normal, power outage, failure, etc.). Here, the data representing the operating state of the water supply device 10 as a managed device can be called operating state data.

The pump maintenance information may be, for example, the next recommended inspection timing of the pump, the next recommended replacement timing of the part/whole, etc. Here, these timings may be calculated, for example, by the pump control unit 212 and written to the pump data storage unit 221. The pump control unit 212 may calculate the next recommended inspection timing of the pump and/or the next recommended replacement timing of the part/whole by adding a predetermined period, for example, 10 years, to the latest inspection timing of the pump and/or the latest replacement timing of the part/whole, or may predict these timings based on the operation information and/or failure information of the pump. In addition, the pump maintenance information may include maintenance history information such as the timing of replacement of the part/whole.

Contact information regarding the pump may include, for example, a URL indicating the location of a web page for viewing pump data of the water supply device 10 or other data related to the water supply device 10, and a URL indicating the location of a web page for viewing pump data of the water supply device 10 or other data related to the water supply device 10; For example, the telephone number of the office nearest to the site where the water supply device 10 is installed may be included. Here, the contact information may be, for example, a telephone number, email address, fax number, etc. Further, different contact information may be provided depending on whether the water supply device 10 is malfunctioning or not, or different contact information may be provided depending on the cause of the failure.

The pump parameters may include, for example, the set pressure of the water supply device 10. The pump installation information may include, for example, the delivery date, installation date, installation location, owner information, etc. of the water supply device 10. The sensing signal for the pump may be, for example, a history of the output of the pressure sensor 110, flow sensor, etc.

The pump control unit 212 receives pump data from the pump data storage unit 221, for example, the sensing signal acquired from the pressure sensor 110 and/or the flow rate sensor (or the pressure value and/or flow rate value based thereon), and/or the rotation Continuously read frequency values. Then, the pump control unit 212 generates an inverter control signal according to the latest sensing signal, etc., according to a control policy determined by the pump control program stored in the memory 220, and transmits the inverter control signal to the inverter 231 via the I/O unit 201. send to

The supply stop detection unit 213 detects a stop in the power supply by the power supply unit 230. For example, the supply stop detection unit 213 detects that the power supply unit 230 stops supplying power when the amount of charge of the smoothing capacitor 232 or the smoothing capacitor 233 falls below a threshold value. The supply stop detection unit 213 can calculate the voltage applied to the smoothing capacitor 232 or 233 based on a detection signal from a voltmeter (not shown) connected to both ends of the smoothing capacitor 232 or 233, for example. Furthermore, the supply stop detection unit 213 can calculate the amount of charge of the smoothing capacitor 232 or 233 by multiplying this voltage by the capacitance of the smoothing capacitor 232 or 233. Alternatively, the supply stop detection section 213 detects the power supply section based on the logic level of the output signal of an operational amplifier for low voltage detection provided at a stage subsequent to the smoothing capacitor 233 in the power supply section 230, that is, on the side to which power is supplied. 230 may also be used to detect the stoppage of power supply. When the supply stop detection unit 213 detects that the power supply unit 230 has stopped supplying power, it notifies the pump data reporting unit 214 that the supply of power has stopped.

The pump data reporting unit 214 reads out at least a portion of the pump data stored in the pump data storage unit 221, and continuously reports it to the server 20 via the communication I/F 202. The pump data to be reported may be predetermined, or may be selectable by the water supply device 10, the server 20, or the server 30.

After the initial settings, the pump data reporting unit 214 continuously reports identification data (for example, an individual identification number) that identifies the water supply device 10 and the operating state according to a predetermined schedule, for example, once a day. data to the server 20.

Here, the initial setting refers to a procedure for registering location data (for example, installation location information) of the water supply device 10 in association with identification data of the water supply device 10 in a database managed by the server 20 and/or the server 30. obtain. The initial settings can be implemented in various ways, but for example, the water supply device 10 may report its own identification data and location data to the server 20. In this case, the position data of the water supply device 10 may be acquired by a position measurement device such as a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiving module that may be provided in the water supply device 10, or may be acquired by a position measurement device (not shown) such as a smartphone. The position data may be acquired by receiving position data acquired by a communication terminal equipped with a measurement device from the communication terminal using short-range communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), Wi-Fi, or NFC (Near Field Communication). . Note that the registration of the position data does not necessarily have to be included in the initial settings, and the position data may be registered after one or more driving state data are registered in association with the identification data.

On the other hand, when the pump data reporting unit 214 is notified that the power supply has stopped from the supply stop detection unit 213, the pump data reporting unit 214 sends the identification data of the water supply device 10 and the power supply regardless of the transmission timing determined by the schedule. The operating state data representing the supply stop is reported to the server 20 by consuming the electric charge remaining in the smoothing capacitor 232 or 233. After the power supply stops, the water supply device 10 may become unable to communicate, but immediately after the power supply stop is detected in this way, the operating state data indicating the power supply stop is reported to the server 20. This helps the server 20 side to estimate the operating state of the water supply device 10 immediately before it becomes unable to communicate. Specifically, the operating status data may include, for example, whether the control board included in the control panel 200 has been suddenly and irreversibly destroyed due to a disaster such as an earthquake, lightning, fire, typhoon, or flooding, or whether the power supply unit has been damaged due to a power outage, etc. This can be used as a basis for estimating whether 230 is merely temporarily unable to receive input power.

For example, the water supply device 10 for which operating state data representing a power supply stoppage has been reported and subsequent reporting of operating state data has stopped is due to a temporary stoppage of operation due to a power outage (that is, it can be restored over time). Or, the control board may have been destroyed after the power supply stopped and cannot be restored. On the other hand, the water supply device 10 that has suddenly stopped reporting its operating state data without reporting any operating state data indicating that the power supply has stopped is affected by a temporary communication failure (that is, the water supply device 10 itself is However, the control board may be suddenly destroyed due to a disaster, for example, and it may be impossible to restore it. Note that, for example, installation environment information such as power outage information in the area where the water supply device 10 is installed, disaster information, communication failure information of the Internet provider used by the water supply device 10, etc. is used in combination with the operation status data of the water supply device 10. By doing so, it becomes possible to estimate the operating state of the water supply device 10 more accurately.

The pump data storage unit 221 stores the various pump data described above. The pump data includes information element data stored in advance in the pump data storage unit 221, information element data acquired by the pump data acquisition unit 211, and/or information element data generated by the pump control unit 212. may be included. The pump data stored in the pump data storage unit 221 is read out by the pump control unit 212 for controlling the pump device 100 or read out by the pump data reporting unit 214 for reporting to the server 20. .

Hereinafter, an example of the operation related to reporting of pump data of the water supply device 10 of FIG. 1 will be described using FIG. 9. When the operation in FIG. 9 starts, the process advances to step S401.
In step S401, the pump data acquisition unit 211 acquires pump data from the pump device 100, the pressure sensor 110, and/or the inverter 231, and stores this in the pump data storage unit 221.

After step S401, the water supply device 10 waits for the timing to report the pump data (step S403), but if the supply stop detection unit 213 detects an interruption in the power supply before that (step S402), the process proceeds to step S405. On the other hand, if the reporting timing arrives without the supply stop detection unit 213 detecting an interruption in the power supply, the process proceeds to step S404.

In step S404, the pump data reporting unit 214 reports, for example, the pump data (including identification data of the water supply device 10) acquired in step S401 to the server 20, and the process returns to step S401. On the other hand, in step S405, the pump data reporting unit 214 consumes the electric charge remaining in the smoothing capacitor 232 or the smoothing capacitor 233 and reports the identification data of the water supply device 10 and the state data representing the stoppage of power supply to the server 20. do. After step S405, the process waits for power supply to resume (step S406), and then returns to step S401.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the server 20 according to the embodiment includes a communication I/F 301, a processor 310, and a memory 320.

The communication I/F 301 communicates with external devices such as the water supply device 10 and the server 30 via a network, typically the Internet, using communication technology such as optical communication. The communication I/F 301 receives various data from the processor 310 and sends it to an external device, and receives various pump data from the external device and sends it to the processor 310.

Processor 310 is typically a CPU, but may also be a microcomputer, GPU, FPGA, DSP, or other general-purpose or dedicated processor. The processor 310 performs, for example, input/output control, communication control, calculation of elapsed time, detection of communication failure, and utilization of pump data.

The memory 320 stores programs executed by the processor 310 to realize each process, such as firmware, an OS, a pump management program, a pump data utilization program, and data used by the processor 310. , for example, includes a memory that temporarily stores pump data, map data (described later), predicted order number data, owner list, and the like. The memory may include RAM having a work area in which such programs/data are deployed.

By executing the program stored in the memory 320, the processor 310 executes the data acquisition unit 311, database management unit 312, elapsed time calculation unit 313, communication failure detection unit 314, map creation unit 315, and order quantity prediction unit shown in FIG. unit 316 , owner information extraction unit 317 , and data reporting unit 318 . Further, the memory 320 may include a database storage section 321 , a map data storage section 322 , a predicted order quantity data storage section 323 , and an owner list storage section 324 .

Note that some of the functional units described as the functional units of the server 20 can also be incorporated into the server 30. For example, the server 20 may manage a database, while the server 30 may utilize pump data.

The data acquisition unit 311 acquires data received from an external device through the communication I/F 302, for example, pump data received from the water supply device 10. The data acquisition unit 311 sends pump data that needs to be written to the database out of the received data to the database management unit 312 .

The database management unit 312 manages the database stored in the database storage unit 321. As illustrated in FIG. 4, this database registers, for each of the multiple water supply devices 10, location data and other information elements (and report date and time information) such as operating status data in association with identification data (pump identification number). The database management unit 312 can receive pump data from the data acquisition unit 311 and write it to the database.

For example, the database management unit 312 writes other information elements (for example, operating state data) included in the pump data into the database in association with the identification data included in the pump data. Further, the database management unit 312 may further write the date and time included in the pump data, or the date and time when the pump data was received or written, into the database as report date and time information corresponding to this information element.

Note that, for example, registration of report date and time information may be omitted for static (that is, fixed) information elements such as identification data and model data. Similarly, registration of report date and time information may be omitted for quasi-static information elements such as location data and owner information.

In response to the inquiry from the elapsed time calculation unit 313, the database management unit 312 reads the latest value from the database among the reporting date and time information of the driving state data associated with the target identification data, and sends the latest value to the elapsed time calculation unit 313. You may notify. Further, when the database management unit 312 receives a write request including identification data of the water supply device 10 in which a communication failure has been detected from the communication failure detection unit 314 and operation status data representing the communication failure, the database management unit 312 performs a write request that includes the identification data of the water supply device 10 in which a communication failure has been detected, and the operation status data representing the communication failure. , may write driving status data representing the communication failure to the database. Furthermore, the database management unit 312 may further write the date and time of receiving this write request or the date and time included in the write request into the database as reporting date and time information of driving state data representing a communication failure.

In response to search requests from the map creation unit 315, order quantity prediction unit 316, owner information extraction unit 317, and data reporting unit 318, the database management unit 312 stores pump data that matches the search conditions specified in the search request. can be read from the database and returned to the source of the search request.

The elapsed time calculation unit 313 calculates operating state data associated with identification data of some or all of the water supply devices 10 registered in the database stored in the database storage unit 321, for example, once a day. The database management unit 312 is inquired about the latest value of the report date and time information. As a response to this inquiry, the elapsed time calculation unit 313 receives the latest report date and time information of the driving state data for each identification data from the database management unit 312. Then, the elapsed time calculation unit 313 calculates, for each identification data, the difference between the latest report date and time information and the current date and time referenced by the server 20 when the water supply device 10 last reported the identification data and the operating state data. Calculated as the elapsed time since. The elapsed time calculation unit 313 sends the calculated elapsed time to the communication failure detection unit 314 together with the corresponding identification data.

The communication failure detection unit 314 receives the elapsed time and the corresponding identification data from the elapsed time calculation unit 313. The communication failure detection unit 314 then compares the elapsed time with a threshold value, and if the elapsed time exceeds the threshold value, detects that the water supply device 10 identified by the identification data corresponding to the elapsed time is in an operating state with a communication failure. The communication failure detection unit 314 then sends a write request to the database management unit 312, including the identification data of the water supply device 10 in which a communication failure has been detected, and operating state data indicating the communication failure. The write request may further include the date and time when the communication failure was detected.

Here, the threshold value used to detect a communication failure may be determined, for example, based on the frequency with which the water supply device 10 reports operating state data. If the water supply device 10 is scheduled to report operating state data at a cycle of about once a day (24 hours), this threshold value is set to a value larger than this cycle, for example, 48 hours or 72 hours. It can be determined as time, etc.

The map creation unit 315 creates various map data based on the pump data registered in the database, and writes it into the map data storage unit 322. For example, the map creation unit 315 may draw an icon indicating the presence of the water supply device 10 identified by the identification data at the location data associated with the identification data for at least some of the identification data registered in the database. map data can be created. The water supply devices 10 listed in the map data can be narrowed down, for example, by searching a database.

Specifically, the map creation unit 315 generates a search request with database search conditions set based on the specifications of the map data, and sends it to the database management unit 312. For example, the map creation unit 315 may set identification data and its location data associated with specific model data and/or driving state data as search conditions, or may set identification data and its location data associated with specific model data and/or driving state data in a certain area. It is possible to set identification data and its location data as search conditions.

The specifications of the map data may be determined in advance, or the recipient of the map data may be selectable. Here, the recipient of the map data may be, for example, a company that produces, sells, and/or maintains the water supply device 10, more specifically, the sales department of the company, or a local government or residents in the disaster area.

For example, the map creation unit 315 may create a search request in which the identification data associated with the operating state data indicating "normal" in "A Prefecture, B City, C" and its location data are set as search conditions, a search request in which the identification data associated with the operating state data indicating "power supply outage" in "A Prefecture, B City, C" and its location data are set as search conditions, and a search request in which the identification data associated with the operating state data indicating "communication failure" in "A Prefecture, B City, C" and its location data are set as search conditions, and send these to the database management unit 312. Then, the map creation unit 315 may create the map data of FIG. 5 based on the responses to these search requests.

In the example of FIG. 5, the map creation unit 315 creates map data by changing the appearance of the icon of the water supply device 10 identified by the identification data corresponding to the operation state data, depending on the retrieved operation state data. are doing. Here, changing the appearance of the icons may mean changing the pattern of icons with the same picture as shown in Figure 5, or changing the colors, decorations, etc. that are elements other than the pattern. It is also possible to switch to an icon with a different design.

A viewer of the map data in FIG. 5 can intuitively grasp the operating state of the water supply device 10 installed in "Prefecture A, B City, C." For example, a sales representative may be looking at water supply equipment 10 in the area that he/she is in charge of that is in a difficult operating state and is likely to receive an order for parts/total replacement, inspection, etc. 10. Be able to understand and carry out efficient sales activities. In addition, the local government or residents of the disaster-stricken area can know which water supply apparatuses 10 in the area have escaped destruction, for example, water supply apparatuses 10 which are in a "normal" state. In addition, in consideration of personal information, the map data provided to local governments and/or residents in disaster-stricken areas includes limited information such as water supply equipment 10 installed in public facilities, water supply equipment 10 that has been approved by the owner, etc. Only the icon may be displayed.

The map creation unit 315 also receives a search request in which identification data associated with the model data representing "ab-2016" in "Prefecture A, City C" and its location data are set as search conditions, and "Prefecture A, City B, C A search request in which identification data associated with model data representing "BC-2017" and its location data are set as search conditions in "A Prefecture B City C" and model data representing "CD-2015" in "A Prefecture B City C" A search request in which the identification data and the location data are set as search conditions may be created and sent to the database management unit 312. The map creation unit 315 can then create the map data shown in FIG. 6 based on the responses to these search requests.

In the example of FIG. 6, the map creation unit 315 creates map data by changing the appearance of the icon of the water supply device 10 identified by the identification data corresponding to the retrieved model data depending on the retrieved model data. There is. Thereby, the viewer of the map data in FIG. 6 can intuitively grasp the distribution of the types of water supply devices 10 installed in "Prefecture A, B City, C". For example, a salesperson can conduct efficient sales activities by understanding which models are in demand within the region he or she is responsible for, such as models for which successor models have been released.

Furthermore, the map creation unit 315 sets as search conditions a search request in which the search conditions are set to identification data associated with the model data representing "ab-2016" in "A Prefecture, B City, C" and the operating status data representing "normal" and its location data, a search request in which the search conditions are set to identification data associated with the model data representing "ab-2016" in "A Prefecture, B City, C" and the operating status data representing "power supply outage" and its location data, a search request in which the search conditions are set to identification data associated with the model data representing "ab-2016" in "A Prefecture, B City, C" and the operating status data representing "communication failure" and its location data, a search request in which the search conditions are set to identification data associated with the model data representing "bc-2017" in "A Prefecture, B City, C" and the operating status data representing "normal" and its location data, and a search request in which the search conditions are set to identification data associated with the model data representing "bc-2017" in "A Prefecture, B City, C" and the operating status data representing "power supply outage". The database management unit 312 may create a search request in which the identification data associated with the model data representing "bc-2017" and the operating state data representing "communication failure" in "A Prefecture, B City, C" and its location data are set as search conditions, a search request in which the identification data associated with the model data representing "cd-2015" and the operating state data representing "normal" in "A Prefecture, B City, C" and its location data are set as search conditions, a search request in which the identification data associated with the model data representing "cd-2015" and the operating state data representing "power supply outage" in "A Prefecture, B City, C" and its location data are set as search conditions, and send the search request to the database management unit 312. The map creation unit 315 may then create the map data of FIG. 7 based on responses to these search requests.

In the example of FIG. 7, the map creation unit 315 creates map data by varying the appearance of the icon of the water supply device 10 identified by the identification data corresponding to the searched combination of model data and operating status data. This allows the viewer of the map data in FIG. 7 to intuitively grasp the distribution of models of water supply devices 10 installed in "A Prefecture, B City, C" and their respective operating statuses. For example, a sales representative can carry out efficient sales activities by identifying water supply devices 10 in the area he or she is responsible for that are in a poor operating state and are likely to require orders for parts/full replacement, inspection, etc., such as water supply devices 10 that are in a "communication failure" state, and their models.

The order quantity prediction unit 316 predicts the future order quantity for each model (or part), for example, based on the pump data registered in the database, and writes the predicted order quantity data into the predicted order quantity data storage unit 323. For example, devices such as water supply devices that are compatible with the installation environment are limited, each model has a long life cycle, and are closely connected to daily life infrastructure. or its parts) are likely to be promptly reordered. Therefore, the order quantity prediction unit 316 identifies water supply apparatuses 10 that may be in trouble, for example, water supply apparatuses 10 that are in a "communication failure" state, based on the operating state data of the water supply apparatuses 10 registered in the database. By counting each model by model, it is possible to roughly predict the number of future orders for each model (or its parts). In addition, after a model change, if you identify and count the water supply devices 10 of the old model that are in a "normal" state among the water supply devices 10 based on the model data and operating status data registered in the database, the old model You can determine how much repair parts you should keep in stock.

Note that the order quantity prediction unit 316 uses a combination of installation environment information such as power outage information in the area where the water supply device 10 is installed, disaster information, communication failure information of the Internet provider used by the water supply device 10, etc. It is also possible to improve the accuracy of predictions. For example, if the water supply device 10 for which operating status data indicating power supply interruption has been reported is installed in an area experiencing a power outage, the water supply device 10 can be restored after the power outage is resolved; There is a possibility that the same model will not be reordered. On the other hand, if there is no communication failure in the Internet provider used by the water supply device 10 that has reported operational status data indicating a communication failure, and/or if this water supply device 10 is installed in an area where a disaster has occurred. In this case, the control board of the water supply device 10 may be suddenly destroyed due to a disaster or the like and cannot be restored, and there is a possibility that the same model of the water supply device 10 will be reordered.

Specifically, the order quantity prediction unit 316 generates a search request with database search conditions set based on the specifications of the predicted order quantity data, and sends it to the database management unit 312. For example, the order quantity prediction unit 316 may set, as search conditions, identification data and model data associated with position data representing a position within a designated region such as a disaster-affected region and driving state data representing a communication failure.

The specifications of the predicted order number data may be determined in advance, or the provider of the predicted order number data may be selectable. Here, the predicted order quantity data is provided to, for example, a company that produces, sells, and/or maintains the water supply device 10, and more specifically, the production department, logistics department, service department, production planning and /or a department that develops logistics plans, etc.

For example, the order quantity prediction unit 316 may generate the predicted order quantity data illustrated in FIG. 8 by counting the water supply devices 10 for which location data indicating a location in B City, A Prefecture and operating status data indicating a communication failure are registered in the database by model data. The order quantity prediction unit 316 may use the count value for each model as the predicted order quantity for that model, or may multiply the count value by a correction coefficient less than 1 to calculate a lower predicted order quantity. Such predicted order quantity data may be used to plan/revise a production plan and/or a logistics plan so that a prompt response can be made when an order is placed by the owner of the water supply device 10 installed in B City, A Prefecture, or to predict the order quantity to a service partner who performs the actual replacement work. The order quantity prediction unit 316 may generate predicted order quantity data for each part based on the part information constituting each model.

Based on the pump data registered in the database, the owner information extraction unit 317 extracts owner information regarding an owner who corresponds to a priority customer in sales activities, for example, and stores an owner list containing the extracted owner information in the owner list storage unit 324. write to. For example, equipment such as water supply equipment, which has a limited number of models that can be adapted to the installation environment, has a long life cycle, and is closely connected to daily life infrastructure, requires inspection and parts/total replacement in the event of a failure. There is a high possibility that the request will be made promptly. Therefore, the owner information extraction unit 317 extracts owner information of a water supply device 10 that may be in trouble, for example, a water supply device 10 that is in a “communication failure” state, based on the operating state data of the water supply device 10 registered in the database. By extracting the information, it is possible to roughly extract information on priority customers who are expected to request inspection and/or replacement of the water supply device 10 in the near future.

Note that the owner information extraction unit 317 uses a combination of installation environment information such as power outage information in the area where the water supply device 10 is installed, disaster information, communication failure information of the Internet provider used by the water supply device 10, etc. It is also possible to improve the accuracy of extraction. For example, if the water supply device 10 for which operating status data indicating power supply interruption has been reported is installed in an area experiencing a power outage, the water supply device 10 can be restored after the power outage is resolved; Requests for inspection and/or replacement may not occur. On the other hand, if there is no communication failure in the Internet provider used by the water supply device 10 that has reported operational status data indicating a communication failure, and/or if this water supply device 10 is installed in an area where a disaster has occurred. In this case, the control board of the water supply device 10 may be suddenly destroyed due to a disaster or the like and cannot be restored, and there is a possibility that a request for inspection and/or replacement of the water supply device 10 may be requested.

Specifically, the owner information extraction unit 317 generates a search request with database search conditions set based on the specifications of the owner list, and sends it to the database management unit 312. For example, the owner information extraction unit 317 may set, as search conditions, identification data and model data associated with position data representing a position within a designated area such as a disaster-affected area and driving state data representing a communication failure.

The specifications of the owner list may be determined in advance, or the recipient of the owner list may be selectable. Here, the recipient of the owner list may be, for example, a company that produces, sells, and/or maintains the water supply device 10, or more specifically, the sales department of that company.

For example, the owner information extraction unit 317 extracts the owner information of the water supply device 10 in which location data representing the position in city B, prefecture A, and driving state data representing communication failure are registered in the database, thereby creating an owner list. can be generated. In this owner list, the owner information of the water supply device 10 installed in City B, Prefecture A, which is in poor operating condition, is recorded, so the sales person in the area can inspect the water supply device 10 in the near future, and provide parts/parts. You can conduct efficient sales activities by knowing which owners are likely to place orders for complete replacement.

The data reporting unit 318 reports pump data or various additional data based on the pump data, such as map data, predicted order quantity data, owner list, etc., to an external device via the communication I/F 301. do. Note that the data reporting unit 318 may report data in response to a request from an external device, that is, a data provider, or may report data voluntarily. The data reporting unit 318 reads data to be reported from the database storage unit 321 via the database management unit 312, or from the map data storage unit 322, predicted order number data storage unit 323, and/or owner list storage unit 324. Read it out.

The database storage unit 321 stores the above-mentioned database. Reading and writing to this database, such as registering new information elements, changing or deleting existing information elements, reading specified information elements, and searching for information elements that are the subject of a search request, are performed by the database management unit 312.

The map data storage unit 322 stores the aforementioned map data. This map data is written into the map data storage section 322 by the map creation section 315, and read from the map data storage section 322 by the data reporting section 318.

The predicted order quantity data storage unit 323 stores the predicted order quantity data described above. This predicted order quantity data is written to the predicted order quantity data storage unit 323 by the order quantity prediction unit 316, and is read from the predicted order quantity data storage unit 323 by the data reporting unit 318.

The owner list storage unit 324 stores the aforementioned owner list. This owner list is written into the owner list storage section 324 by the owner information extraction section 317, and read from the owner list storage section 324 by the data reporting section 318.

Note that the database storage unit 321 or other storage unit is not limited to the memory 320, and may be provided in an auxiliary storage device (for example, an HDD (Hard Disc Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), etc.) included in the server 20. However, it may be provided in the server 30 or a database server (not shown).

An example of the operation of the server 20 in Fig. 3 will be described below with reference to Fig. 10. When the operation in Fig. 10 starts, the process proceeds to step S501.
In step S501, the data acquisition unit 311 acquires pump data received from the water supply device 10, and the database management unit 312 writes this to the database stored in the database storage unit 321.

On the other hand, the elapsed time calculation unit 313 calculates the elapsed time from the last report date and time of the operating status data of each of some or all of the water supply devices 10 registered in the database. The communication failure detection unit 314 then compares the elapsed time of each of these water supply devices 10 with a threshold value. If the result of these comparisons shows that the elapsed time exceeds the threshold value, i.e., there is a water supply device 10 in which a communication failure has been detected, processing proceeds to step S503; otherwise, processing proceeds to step S504 (step S502).

In step S503, the communication failure detection unit 314 sends a write request including identification data of the water supply device 10 in which the communication failure has been detected and operating status data representing the communication failure to the database management unit 312, and the database management unit 312 In response to this write request, the operating state data is written in the database in association with the identification data. After step S503, the process proceeds to step S504.

In step S504, the map creation unit 315, order number prediction unit 316, and/or owner information extraction unit 317 generates additional data, that is, a map based on the pump data registered in the database updated in the previous step. create data, forecasted order data, and/or owner lists; Note that the additional data may be automatically created (updated) after updating the database as shown in FIG. 10, or may be created in response to a request to obtain the corresponding additional data. That is, step S504 may be inserted between step S505 and step S506, which will be described later.

Then, if there is a request to obtain pump data/additional data (step S505), the data reporting unit 318 reports the corresponding data to the request source (step S506). On the other hand, if new pump data is received without receiving a pump data/additional data acquisition request, the process returns to step S501.

As explained above, the water supply device according to the embodiment is capable of communicating with a server that manages a database in which position data and operation status data of the water supply device can be registered in association with identification data of the water supply device, and Reports identification data and operating status data of the water supply device to the server. Therefore, according to this water supply device, the server can grasp where a plurality of water supply devices including this water supply device are installed and what operating state they are in, that is, can remotely centrally manage them. On the other hand, the server according to the embodiment has a database in which position data and operating state data can be registered in association with identification data of each of the plurality of water supply devices, and the operating state data reported from each of the plurality of water supply devices. Write and update this database. Therefore, according to this server, it is possible to know where a plurality of water supply devices are installed and in what operating state they are in, that is, to remotely and centrally manage them.

The embodiments described above merely show specific examples to help understand the concept of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Various components can be added, deleted, or converted to the embodiments without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Although several functional units have been described in the above-described embodiments, these are only examples of implementation of each functional unit. For example, multiple functional units described as being implemented in one device may be implemented across multiple separate devices, and conversely, multiple functional units described as being implemented across multiple separate devices may be implemented across multiple separate devices. It is also possible that the functional units described above are implemented in one device.

The various functional units described in each of the above embodiments may be implemented using circuits. The circuit may be a dedicated circuit that implements a specific function, or may be a general-purpose circuit such as a processor.

At least a part of the processing of each of the above embodiments can be realized by using, for example, a processor installed in a general-purpose computer as basic hardware. The program that realizes the above processing may be provided by being stored in a computer-readable recording medium. The program is stored in the recording medium as a file in an installable format or an executable format. Examples of the recording medium include magnetic disks, optical disks (CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, DVDs, etc.), magneto-optical disks (MOs, etc.), and semiconductor memories. Any recording medium can be used as long as it can store a program and is computer-readable. In addition, the program that realizes the above processing may be stored on a computer (server) connected to a network such as the Internet, and downloaded to a computer (client) via the network.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Water supply device, 20,30... Server, 100... Pump device, 110... Pressure sensor, 201... I/O part, 202,301... Communication I/F, 210 , 310... Processor, 211... Pump data acquisition section, 212... Pump control section, 213... Supply stop detection section, 214... Pump data reporting section, 220, 320... Memory, 221... Pump data storage section, 230... Power supply section, 231... Inverter, 232... Smoothing capacitor, 311... Data acquisition section, 312... Database management section, 313... Progress Time calculation unit, 314... Communication failure detection unit, 315... Map creation unit, 316... Order quantity prediction unit, 317... Owner information extraction unit, 318... Data reporting unit, 321... - Database storage unit, 322...Map data storage unit, 323...Predicted order number data storage unit, 324...Owner list storage unit.

Claims (8)

A water supply device capable of communicating with a server,
a power supply unit that includes a first smoothing capacitor and supplies power to each component of the water supply device;
an inverter that includes a second smoothing capacitor and drives a motor of the water supply device;
a supply stop detection unit that detects a stop in the supply of power based on a voltage applied to both ends of the first smoothing capacitor or the second smoothing capacitor;
a data acquisition unit that acquires operating state data representing an operating state of the water supply device;
a data reporting unit that reports identification data for identifying the water supply device and the operating status data to the server;
After the stoppage of the power supply is detected, the data reporting unit transmits the identification data and the operating state data representing the stoppage of the power supply to the charge remaining in the first smoothing capacitor or the second smoothing capacitor. consume and report to said server,
Water supply device. A management system including a plurality of water supply devices and a server,
Each of the plurality of water supply devices includes:
a power supply unit that includes a first smoothing capacitor and supplies power to each component of the water supply device;
an inverter that includes a second smoothing capacitor and drives a motor of the water supply device;
a supply stop detection unit that detects a stop in the supply of power based on a voltage applied to both ends of the first smoothing capacitor or the second smoothing capacitor;
a data acquisition unit that acquires operating state data representing an operating state of the water supply device;
a data reporting unit that reports identification data for identifying the water supply device and the operating status data to the server;
The server is
a data acquisition unit that acquires identification data identifying the water supply device and operating state data representing the operating state of the water supply device received from each of the plurality of water supply devices;
a database management unit that manages a database in which position data and operating state data of the water supply device identified by the identification data can be registered in association with each of the identification data of the plurality of water supply devices;
Equipped with
In each of the plurality of water supply devices,
After the stoppage of the power supply is detected, the data reporting unit transmits the identification data and the operating state data indicating the stoppage of the power supply to the charge remaining in the first smoothing capacitor or the second smoothing capacitor. consume and report to said server,
management system. A map that creates map data for at least part of the identification data registered in the database, in which an icon indicating the presence of a water supply device identified by the identification data is drawn at a point of position data associated with the identification data. It further includes a creation section,
2. The map creation unit creates the map data by changing the appearance of an icon indicating the presence of the water supply device identified by the identification data depending on the operating state data associated with the identification data. Management system described in. In the database, model data representing a model of the water supply device that is further identified by the identification data is registered in association with the identification data,
The map creation unit creates the map data by changing the appearance of an icon indicating the existence of a water supply device identified by the identification data depending on model data associated with the identification data.
The management system according to claim 3 . The server is
The water supply apparatus further includes an elapsed time calculation unit that calculates the elapsed time since each of the plurality of water supply apparatuses last reported identification data for identifying the water supply apparatus and operational status data representing the operating status of the water supply apparatus. ,
The database management unit writes, for the water supply device whose elapsed time exceeds a threshold, operational state data representing a communication failure of the water supply device in association with identification data for identifying the water supply device, in the database.
The management system according to claim 3 or 4 . In each of the plurality of water supply devices,
The data reporting unit continuously reports identification data and operating status data of the water supply device to the server according to a predetermined schedule,
The server is
The system further includes an elapsed time calculation unit that calculates the elapsed time since each of the plurality of monitoring devices last reported identification data for identifying the water supply device and operating state data representing the operating state of the water supply device. ,
The database management unit writes, for the water supply device whose elapsed time exceeds a threshold, operational state data representing a communication failure of the water supply device in association with identification data that identifies the water supply device, in the database.
The management system according to claim 2 . In the database, model data representing a model of the water supply device that is further identified by the identification data is registered in association with the identification data,
The server calculates, for each model data, the total number of water supply devices for which location data representing a position within a designated area and operating status data representing the communication failure are registered in the database, and calculates the future order number for each model. further comprising an order quantity prediction unit that predicts
The management system according to claim 6 . In the database, owner information of a water supply device that is further identified by the identification data is registered in association with the identification data,
The server includes identification data that identifies a water supply device whose operation state data representing the communication failure is registered in the database among the water supply devices whose position data representing a position within a designated area is registered in the database. further comprising an owner information extraction unit that extracts owner information associated with the database from the database;
A management system according to claim 6 or claim 7 .