KR102114862B1 - Diagnostic system for home appliance - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a home appliance and its system, and together with a diagnosis result diagnosed by the home appliance, operation information, which is a set value for the operation of the home appliance, is transmitted together to manage a failure and a state of the home appliance. In addition, the present invention improves the efficiency of data transmission by minimizing data loss that occurs in the process of transmitting sound by outputting transmission information including diagnosis results within a short time in outputting data for household appliances as sound. It is easy to receive data on the home appliance, so it is easy to manage the home appliance and cope with the abnormality of the home appliance.

Description

Home appliance and its system {Diagnostic system for home appliance}

The present invention relates to a home appliance and its system, and more particularly, to a home appliance and its system to self-check the state of the home appliance to diagnose a failure and transmit a diagnostic result to facilitate after-sales service for the home appliance.

Each of the household electrical appliances stores a set value for performing the operation, information generated during the operation, and fault information while performing a predetermined operation. In particular, when a failure occurs, a user outputs a predetermined alarm, so that a user using the household electrical appliance To be aware of the status of. These household appliances not only notify the completion of the operation or the occurrence of a malfunction, but also output specific failure information through the provided output means, for example, display means, lamps, and the like.

In the past, it was common for the repairer to visit the service center in the event of a malfunction of the home appliance. However, it was not easy to respond to the repairer's visit because the cost was excessive and there was no prior information. Since then, with the development of technology, it has developed into a technology for remotely diagnosing fault information using a telephone network.

On the other hand, the application number EP0510519 describes a technology for transmitting the failure information of the home appliance to a service center using a telephone network through a modem connected to the home appliance, but in this case, there is a problem that the modem must be connected to the home appliance at all times. there was. In particular, since household appliances such as laundry treatment equipment are generally installed outdoors, there is a place limitation in order to connect the laundry treatment apparatus and the telephone network.

Patent registration number US5987105 discloses a control method of a household electrical appliance that converts and outputs information regarding the operation of the household electrical appliance into a sound signal using a telephone network. Although this control method is a method in which the tone outputted from the household appliance is transmitted to the service center through the user's phone, the information to be transmitted is divided into multiple packets when the structure of the data packet constituting the tone is viewed. And one packet is composed of 2.97 seconds, and the next packet is output after 730 ms after one packet is output. Therefore, it takes about 3 seconds or more to output all information to be transmitted.

Recently, a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone or a smart phone provides a noise cancellation function, which recognizes this as noise when a signal of a constant frequency is continuously detected for a predetermined time (about 3 seconds). Based on that. Particularly, in a typical communication environment, since a rapid attenuation or distortion of the signal strength occurs in the process of the signal being input to the mobile terminal, a pause period (730 ms) between a packet composed of a length of 3 seconds or less per packet, such as US Pat. Even if) is set, it may occur as noise. For reference, there is no teaching or suggestion in the patent registration number US5987105 about the noise reduction function of the mobile terminal and a method for avoiding it.

Therefore, it is necessary to transmit a signal to a household appliance including as much data as possible while outputting a beep in a short time to prevent signal loss or distortion according to a communication environment.

The object of the present invention is to perform a malfunction diagnosis of a home appliance based on the collected data, and to output and transmit a diagnosis result in sound, so that more accurate data transmission is possible, and accordingly, an after-sales service for the home appliance is performed quickly. It is to provide a home appliance and its system.

The household electrical appliance according to the present invention includes an input unit to which driving information is input; A data unit in which the diagnostic logic is stored; Based on the product information including operation information input from the input unit, operation information sensed during operation, and failure information generated during operation, the state of the household appliance is diagnosed according to the diagnostic logic and whether the failure occurs, and the operation information and the A control unit for generating a diagnosis result including failure information and encoding and outputting predetermined data selected from the operation information, which is data for diagnosis, and transmission information including the diagnosis result; A modulator for converting the encoded transmission information; And an audio output unit configured to output transmission information converted from the modulator as sound composed of a plurality of frequencies. It includes.
The control unit includes a diagnostic unit that diagnoses a failure according to the diagnostic logic and generates the diagnostic result, and the diagnostic unit diagnoses the household electrical appliance based on the product information and gives differently depending on the cause of the failure and the countermeasure The diagnostic result is stored as a code value, and the control unit generates the transmission information including the diagnosis result, data related to the diagnosis result, and sequence information for the diagnosis result.
The present invention, the product information including the operation information, operation information detected during operation and failure information generated during operation, and a data unit for storing a diagnostic logic for analyzing the product information; An input unit for inputting a diagnosis execution command; A diagnostic unit that analyzes the product information based on the diagnostic logic to diagnose the state and failure of the home appliance, and to generate a diagnosis result; Control the operation according to the operation information, and when the diagnostic execution command is input, authorizes the product information to the diagnostic unit, a plurality of diagnosis results including the coded diagnosis result and previous diagnosis result, and the diagnosis among the product information A control unit for generating transmission information in which data used when generating a result is included as diagnostic data; A modulator for converting the transmission information into a predetermined frequency signal; And an audio output unit that outputs the signal converted from the modulator as sound.

The present invention is an input unit to which the smart diagnosis mode is selected and input; A data unit storing product information including operation information, operation information detected during operation, and failure information generated during operation, and a diagnostic logic for diagnosing the product information; Based on the diagnostic logic, the product information is analyzed to diagnose the condition and failure of the household electrical appliance to generate a diagnostic result, and the diagnostic result is stored as a code value set according to the type of error and the result for the error. Diagnostic department; When the smart diagnosis mode is selected and input, an error occurs during operation, or any one of cases in which the set operation is completed, the diagnosis unit performs diagnosis, and a predetermined one corresponding to the diagnosis result among the operation information A control unit that selects data of and generates transmission information including a code value for the diagnosis result and the selected data; A modulator for converting the transmission information into a predetermined frequency signal; An audio output unit for outputting the converted signal from the modulator as sound; It includes.

The home appliance system according to the present invention includes a home appliance that stores driving information, operation information, and fault information to diagnose an abnormality and outputs it as sound; A server that receives the sound output from the home appliance and outputs a diagnosis result for the home appliance; And a terminal that transmits the sound output from the household appliance to the server through a predetermined communication network. The server analyzes the sound to extract the diagnosis result, and corresponds to the diagnosis result and the diagnosis result. It is characterized by outputting detailed data. The household electrical appliance includes a diagnostic unit for diagnosing the household electrical appliance based on the product information and generating the diagnostic result with a code value differently assigned according to the cause of the failure and the countermeasure, and the diagnostic result and the diagnostic result Characterized in that it generates the transmission information, including data related to, the sequence information for the diagnostic results.

The home appliance and the system according to the present invention have an effect of accurately transmitting data on the home appliance by performing diagnosis on the home appliance and outputting the result data in a short time to a server by outputting the result data. .

In addition, the present invention does not transmit a large amount of data to the home appliance, but converts and outputs diagnosis information and transmission information including some driving information to check the state of the home appliance with only a small amount of data. There is an effect that enables efficient management by enabling quick service response.

1 is a view showing the configuration of a home appliance system including a home appliance and a server according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a server in a service center for managing home appliances according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of a signal output from a home appliance.
5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a signal in which data of a signal output from a household appliance is converted.
6 is an exemplary diagram of a diagnosis logic for diagnosis performed in a household appliance and a diagnosis result therefor.
7 is a flow chart illustrating a method according to the diagnosis and generation of diagnostic results of a household appliance according to the present invention.
8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for outputting transmission information of a household appliance according to the present invention.
9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of outputting a diagnosis result of a server of a home appliance system according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Advantages and features of the present invention, and methods for achieving them will be clarified with reference to embodiments described below in detail together with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be implemented in various different forms, and only the embodiments allow the disclosure of the present invention to be complete, and common knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains. It is provided to completely inform the person having the scope of the invention, and the present invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. The same reference numerals refer to the same components throughout the specification.

1 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of a diagnostic system including a home appliance and a server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the home appliance system of the present invention includes at least one home appliance 101 individually installed in a plurality of places, and a service center 200 for managing the home appliance. At this time, the service center 200 includes a server that manages data on home appliances as well as a customer service system through telephone, email, and user visits. The household electrical appliance 101 is provided with an input unit 110, a predetermined display unit, a buzzer for outputting a warning sound or confirmation sound, and an audio output unit 160 such as a speaker.

The home appliance 101 self-diagnoses the state of the home appliance by using a diagnostic logic stored in the home appliance in the case of input of a command through the input unit, an error during operation of the home appliance, or at least one of the cases in which the set operation is completed (S1) ).

At this time, the home appliance 101 executes a diagnostic logic based on product information including operation information input from the input unit 110, operation information sensed during operation, and failure information generated during operation, so that the state of the home appliance and Diagnosis of failure, and accordingly, generate diagnostic results reflecting operation information and failure information, and store them.

As a predetermined sound is output from the home appliance 100 through the sound output unit 160, the user recognizes whether the home appliance is in an operation state, a malfunction, or an abnormal operation (S2). In addition to this, the household electrical appliance 101 according to the present embodiment provides a function of outputting transmission information including a diagnosis result as a sound composed of a combination of specific frequencies. The beep sound may be output through a sound output means that is usually provided for outputting a warning sound or confirmation sound. Alternatively, a separate sound output means for outputting a beep sound may be provided.

On the other hand, a user who recognizes an abnormality in a household appliance through a warning sound output from the sound output unit 160 makes a call to a service center to explain the abnormality symptom of the household appliance and inquire a solution corresponding thereto or make a repair request. It becomes (S3). Of course, there may be a case in which the user directly recognizes the abnormal operation of the home appliance 101 and contacts a service center regardless of whether a specific sound such as a warning sound is output.

In the state of being connected to the service center, the responder on the service center side attempts to receive the user's complaint and inform the countermeasure accordingly. In some cases, specific information on the symptoms of the home appliance is required. .

The responder explains to the user how to output transmission information such as diagnosis results through the home appliance 100 as a sound (S4), and according to this description, the user moves the terminal 81 to a place close to the sound output unit 160. ), The user input means provided on the control panel of the home appliance 101 is appropriately operated to output the transmission information including the diagnosis result through the sound output unit 160 as a predetermined sound.

In some cases, when a certain command is input from the home appliance using the input unit 110, there is a guidance on how to output sound to the display unit 118 of the home appliance, a connection with a service center, and a method for transmitting sound to a service center. It can be printed together with the image. Accordingly, it is possible to output and transmit the transmission information of the household electrical appliance as sound by connecting to the service center without explanation of the answering agent of the service center.

When the transmission information is output as a predetermined sound through the sound output unit 160, the output tone is transmitted to the service center 200 through the communication network of the terminal 81 (S5).

At this time, the sound output from the home appliance is input to the terminal 81, and a sound signal including diagnosis results and driving information is transmitted to the server of the service center 200 through the telephone network of the terminal 81 and the service center 200. It is configured to output information about the state of the home appliance.

The service center 200 is equipped with a server that receives and records a beep transmitted through a communication network and stores it. The server extracts the transmission information including the diagnosis result from the beeper transmitted through the communication network, and outputs the diagnosis result and detailed data corresponding to the household appliance based on the extracted transmission information (S6).

At this time, the server includes a database (DB) that stores detailed data such as the cause of the failure of the home appliance, the countermeasure, the home appliance usage method, and additional description corresponding to the diagnosis result of the home appliance.

The service center checks the product information of the home appliance 101 according to the output state information of the home appliance, controls the operation of the home appliance, or explains the state of the home appliance by voice to the user in a call-connected state, or if necessary In response to the diagnosis result, the service technician 93 is dispatched to the home so that a service suitable for diagnosing the product condition and malfunction of the household appliance 101 is provided (S7).

At this time, the diagnosis result and data about it are transmitted to the terminal of the service technician 93 so that the service technician can repair the failure of the home appliance 101 (S8). The service technician checks the diagnosis result notified through the provided terminal, prepares necessary parts for repair, and then visits the user. The necessary parts can be accurately prepared in advance, which greatly reduces the possibility of the repairer revisiting the user.

In addition, the diagnosis result may be delivered to the user's email or transmitted to the portable terminal.

Accordingly, the home appliance system, when a user connects to the service center through a predetermined communication network to the service center, for example, through a telephone network, transmission information including diagnosis results and driving information of the home appliance 101 is a predetermined sound. As the output signal is transmitted to the service center through a communication network, the service center accurately determines and responds to the state of the home appliance, thereby enabling rapid service.

Hereinafter, the home appliance 101 of the present invention will be described as an example of a laundry treatment device, but is not limited thereto, and may be applied to the entire home appliance 1 such as a tv, air conditioner, washing machine, refrigerator, rice cooker, and microwave oven. Yes.

At this time, the server determines whether the self-diagnosis of the home appliance is possible based on the product information on the home appliance, and the product information including operation information, operation information, and failure information, not transmission information from the home appliance, is sounded. When it is output, it can be received in the same way and diagnose the home appliance according to the diagnostic logic stored in the server.

In some cases, the terminal can also receive and analyze product information of the household appliance as a predetermined sound signal, and diagnose the household appliance. At this time, the terminal 81 may be diagnosed for the entire household appliance according to its performance, but in some cases, a simple diagnostic function may be provided, including only some of the diagnostic functions for the state of the household appliance.

2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, the home appliance 101 includes an input unit 110, a display unit 118, a sensing unit 170, a data unit 145, a driving unit 180, a modulator 150, an audio output unit 160 And, it includes a control unit 140 for controlling the overall operation of the home appliance.

The input unit 110 is provided with at least one input means for inputting a predetermined signal or data to the home appliance 101 by user manipulation, and includes an operation unit 117 and a selection unit 116.

The selector 116 includes at least one input means, and when the smart diagnostic mode is selected and input, the controller 140 executes a diagnosis execution command to perform a fault diagnosis for checking whether or not the home appliance is broken or not according to product information. Apply as.

In addition, when the output of the diagnosis result is selected, the selector 116 applies a signal output command to the control unit 140 such that transmission information including the diagnosis result is output as a predetermined signal through the sound output unit 160.

At this time, the selection unit 116 may be configured as a separate input means from the operation unit 117, but in some cases, two or more operation units 117 may be operated or recognized as a selection unit as they are operated simultaneously, and also a specific operation unit. When the 117 is continuously operated or is operated for a predetermined time or longer, it may be operated or recognized as a selection unit.

In addition, as the selection unit 116 enters the smart diagnosis mode or the diagnostic result output mode, the sound output unit 160 is turned on and off (on / off). That is, when a signal output command is input by the selection unit 116, in response to a control command of the control unit 140, a predetermined signal is output for transmission information including a diagnosis result. At this time, the sound output unit 160 Is operated to output the sound accordingly.

The operation unit 117 receives data such as a driving course and operation setting according to the operation of the home appliance 101 and applies it to the control unit 140. In addition, the operation unit 117 receives settings according to signal output. That is, the operation unit 117 inputs setting values for setting a method for outputting a signal, a size of the outputted signal, and the like.

At this time, the input unit 110 including the selection unit 116 and the operation unit 117 is a button, a dome switch, a touch pad (static pressure / blackout), a jog wheel, a jog switch, a finger mouse, a rotary switch, and a jog It may be configured as a dial, and any device that generates predetermined input data through operations such as pressing, rotating, pressure, and contacting can be applied.

The sensing unit 170 includes at least one sensing means for sensing temperature, pressure, voltage, current, water level, rotational speed, and the like, and applies the sensed or measured data to the control unit 140. For example, the sensing unit 170 measures the water level when water is supplied or drained from the laundry treatment device, and measures the temperature of the water supplied, the rotation speed of the washing tank, or the drum.

The driving unit 180 controls the driving so that the home appliance 101 performs a set operation in response to a control signal applied from the control unit 140. Accordingly, the laundry treatment device removes contamination of laundry by performing a series of strokes such as a washing process, a rinsing process, and a dehydration process.

For example, the driving unit 180 drives a motor for rotating the washing tank or drum and controls its operation so that the washing tank or drum rotates to remove dirt from the laundry. In addition, in response to the control command of the control unit 140, the valve is controlled to perform water supply or drainage.

The data unit 145 stores control data for controlling the operation of the home appliance 101 and reference data used during operation control of the home appliance. At this time, the data unit 145 includes all data storage means, such as ROM, EEPROM, in which control data for the household electrical appliance is stored. In addition, the data unit 145 includes storage means for temporarily storing data as a buffer of the controller 140, and DRAM, SRAM, and the like may be used.

The data unit 145 includes the operation information generated during the operation of the home appliance 101 while performing the predetermined operation, the setting data input by the operation unit 117 so that the home appliance 101 performs the predetermined operation, and the like. The operation information, the number of times the household electrical appliance 101 performed a specific operation, the usage information including the model information of the household electrical appliance, and the failure information including the information on the cause of the malfunction or the location of the malfunction when the household electrical appliance 101 malfunctions Is saved.

In addition, the data unit 145 stores diagnostic logic for performing a smart diagnosis, data required for the diagnostic logic, and diagnostic results according to the diagnosis. At this time, as the diagnostic logic is executed, a diagnosis of whether or not the household appliance has failed is performed based on product information, and a diagnosis result is output. At this time, the diagnosis result is a result of reflecting operation information and failure information.

Here, the product information (product information) may include at least one of identification information (Product ID), operation information (configuration), operation information (operation information), error information (error-detecting information).

The identification information is information for identifying the type of object to be diagnosed through the diagnostic device, that is, the terminal 90 or the diagnostic server. The diagnostic device described below may be configured to perform diagnostics on not only a washing machine, but also various household appliances such as a refrigerator, a washing machine, an air conditioner, and a cooking appliance, and the identification information is what the diagnostic device is trying to diagnose. It may contain information about.

The driving information is information input from a user for function setting of the household electrical appliance 101. The operation information is information on the operating state of the household appliance 101, and is data on the household appliance detected or measured during operation, and is accumulated in the data unit 145. The failure information is information on whether or not the various components constituting the home appliance operate normally.

The product information is data consisting of a combination of 0 or 1, and is a digital signal in a form readable by the control unit 140.

The control unit 140 performs diagnostics on the home appliance by calling the product information stored in the data unit 145 and executing a diagnostic logic when a signal according to the smart diagnostic mode is input from the selection unit 116.

In addition, the control unit 140 generates and encodes the diagnosis result and the transmission information having the driving information in a predetermined format and applies it to the modulator 150. In addition, the control unit 140 controls the sound output unit 160 to operate.

The control unit 140 controls the flow of data input or output to the household electrical appliance, generates and applies a control command according to the data input from the sensing unit 170, or transmits the sensed data to the driving unit 180 The main control unit 141 for controlling the operation of the device, the diagnosis unit 143 for diagnosing the failure of the household appliance according to the diagnostic logic and generating the diagnosis result, and the transmission information including the diagnosis result according to the input in a predetermined sound It includes an encoding unit 142 to convert to output.

 When the selector 116 is input and the smart diagnostic mode is entered, the main control unit 141 calls the product information stored in the data unit and applies it to the diagnostic unit 143. In addition, when the diagnosis result output is selected, the main control unit 141 causes a start sound indicating that the diagnosis result is output through the sound output unit 160, and outputs a diagnosis result according to the smart diagnosis through the display unit 118. The progress status is displayed with predetermined data.

In addition, the main control unit 141, when the data encoded in the encoding unit 142 is applied to the modulator 150, is output to the sound output unit 160, before the output of the signal and the completion of the signal output a predetermined notification sound The sound output unit 160 is controlled to be output. However, the notification sound before the output of the signal may be omitted in some cases.

At this time, the main control unit 141 when the sound output unit 160 is provided with more than one, the sound including the notification sound and product information is controlled to be output to each different sound output unit 160.

When entering the smart diagnostic mode, the main control unit 141 controls the operation unit 117 except for the selection unit 116 and the power key to not operate, and the detection unit 170 and the driver unit to stop all other operations of the household appliance. 180).

In addition, the main control unit 141 does not start the smart diagnostic mode even when the selection unit 116 is input, if any one operation key according to the operation setting of the home appliance is inputted after the power is input. . Particularly, when it is recognized that the selection unit 116 is input by a combination of two or more operation keys among a plurality of operation keys of the operation unit 117, which is not provided separately, another input is input after the power key is input. The smart diagnostic mode is started only when the selection unit 116 is input by a designated key combination without a key.

The diagnosis unit 143 enters the smart diagnosis mode by the input of the selection unit 116 and, when a diagnosis execution command is input, calls product information stored in the data unit 145, and analyzes data according to the diagnosis logic Diagnose household appliances.

In addition, the diagnosis unit 143 diagnoses the home appliance in response to the stored product information even when the operation of the home appliance is completed, each step of the set operation is completed, or an error occurs during the operation.

At this time, the diagnostic logic is an algorithm designed to determine whether or not a home appliance has failed according to whether each data satisfies a specified conditional expression using data of each product information, and output the result. At this time, since the diagnostic logic is an algorithm for whether each data of the operation information and the failure information satisfies the conditional expression among the product information, the generated diagnostic result is a result of reflecting the operation information and the failure information.

The diagnostic unit 143 executes such a diagnostic logic to diagnose whether or not the home appliance is broken or not based on product information.

When the diagnostic result output command is input, the encoding unit 142 calls the diagnostic result and operation information stored in the data unit 145 to generate transmission information in a certain format, wherein the transmission information includes version information and diagnosis for smart diagnosis. An indicator that is order information about the result is further included.

At this time, the transmission information includes at least two diagnostic results, preferably three diagnostic results, and information on the order in which each diagnostic result is generated is included in the indicator. The driving information is selectively included in the transmission information according to the importance of the driving information set during operation of the corresponding home appliance in relation to the product information derived from each diagnosis result. At this time, the importance may be changed according to the setting.

The encoding unit 142 encodes the transmission information according to a predetermined predetermined method, and adds a preamble and an error check bit to the data signal to generate a control signal in a predetermined format. The encoding unit 142 generates a signal in a certain format so that the transmission information does not exceed 6 bytes, and when the transmission information is output as sound through the sound output unit, the total output time does not exceed 3 seconds.

The encoding unit 142 encodes the transmission information to generate a control signal composed of a plurality of symbols. At this time, the encoding unit 142 generates a control signal in one frame, but may generate a control signal by designating a position in the frame according to the diagnostic result and the importance of the driving information.

The encoding unit 142 generates a control signal of a specified standard and applies it to the modulator 150. At this time, the control unit 140 may change the number of symbols corresponding to the output frequency signal according to the number of frequencies used in the modulator 150.

The modulator 150 corresponds to a control signal applied from the control unit 140, and applies a constant driving signal to the sound output unit 160 to output a sound signal of a predetermined frequency through the sound output unit 160.

In particular, when the modulator 150 outputs a predetermined sound signal, the sound output unit 160 outputs, for a symbol time, a designated frequency signal corresponding to at least one symbol for a symbol that is a unit of data constituting a control signal. Signal.

The modulator 150 controls a signal to be output in response to a control signal using a plurality of frequency bands, and changes the number of symbols per frequency signal according to the number of frequencies used in response to the setting of the control unit 140 Can be output.

At this time, the modulator 150 generates a frequency signal using the QFSK method. Therefore, the frequency signal generated by the modulator 150 is composed of a combination of four different carrier frequencies.

 Here, the modulator 150 converts a signal using a frequency signal having different values of 2 Khz or less, and each frequency value can have any one of frequency values constituting a scale.

In particular, frequency values constituting the scale are used. For example, it may have values of 1396hz, 1567hz, 1760hz and 1975hz. These values are, but are not limited to, taking 6 octaves of F, G, A, B based on the 12th scale. Here, the carrier frequencies are taken so as not to be adjacent to each other, and this is to make a difference in the frequency value so that the carrier frequencies can be clearly distinguished from each other.

The carrier frequencies are composed of values constituting the scale, so that the beep sound output through the sound output unit 160 satisfies the emotional side of the user, and also makes a clear distinction between frequencies by putting a sufficient difference between the values. There is an effect that the communication success rate is improved.

The sound output unit 160 is turned on and off by a control command of the control unit 140, and by outputting a signal of a certain frequency corresponding to the control signal for a specified time by the control of the modulator 150, the diagnosis result and The transmission information including driving information is output as a predetermined sound. At this time, at least one sound output unit 160 may be provided.

The sound output unit 160 outputs a beep according to the frequency signal, and may be implemented as a buzzer or a speaker. The audio output unit 181 may be a buzzer capable of outputting four carrier frequencies separated from each other in a frequency band of 2Khz or less.

The sound output unit 160 outputs a predetermined sound signal in response to the output from the modulator 150, and when the output ends, operation stops, and when the selection unit 116 is operated again, the same process as above. Through this, the diagnostic information and the transmission information including the operation information are output as a predetermined signal.

The display unit 118 corresponds to the control command of the main control unit 141, information input by the selection unit 116 and the operation unit 117, information on the operation status of the home appliance 101, information on the home appliance operation completion, and the like. Is displayed on the screen. In addition, when the household appliance malfunctions, fault information related to the malfunction is displayed on the screen.

In addition, when the smart diagnostic mode is started in response to the control command of the main control unit 141, the display unit 118 displays the smart diagnostic mode, and displays the progress of the diagnosis or output of the diagnosis result of the home appliance. It is represented by at least one of the numbers. In addition, a diagnostic result can be output.

In this case, the household electrical appliance may further include output means such as a lamp or a vibrating element that is lit or flashing in addition to the sound output unit 160 and the display unit 118, but a description thereof will be omitted below.

3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a diagnostic device for diagnosing a home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the diagnostic device includes a microphone 271, an input unit 272, an output unit 273, a communication unit 280, a signal processing unit 230, a signal analysis unit 240, and a database (DB) 260 And, it includes a control unit 210 for controlling the overall operation of the diagnostic device.

According to the operation of the input unit 272, the diagnostic program for the home appliance is executed, and as the recording button is input, the recording unit 220 starts recording the sound input through the microphone 271.

The output unit 273 displays various information including a diagnosis progress status or a diagnosis result for the home appliance. In addition, a warning sound or an effect sound can be output. In addition, on the screen of the output unit 273, a home appliance setting method for diagnosing home appliances and a location where signals are output from the home appliance are displayed.

The microphone 271 receives ambient sound. When product information is converted into a predetermined signal and output as sound in the home appliance, the diagnostic device receives the signal output from the home appliance through the microphone 271 and inputs it to the recording unit 220.

In some cases, when the home appliance and the diagnostic device are connected through a communication network, the communication unit 280 receives a signal transmitted from the home appliance.

The recording unit 220 records a signal received through the microphone 271. The recording unit 220 may record a signal received through the microphone 271 in a wave file format. At this time, the diagnostic device may include a recording medium such as a RAM for recording a beep file, a hard disk, and a Nand Flash memory.

The signal processing unit 230 converts the input signal to extract product information and applies it to the diagnosis unit 250.

When the signal is recorded by the recording unit 220, the signal processing unit 230 demodulates and decodes the wave file constituting the signal to extract product information. In addition, when received through the communication unit 280, the signal processing unit 230 may extract product information by converting it according to the communication method used and the file format of the signal.

Hereinafter, a case in which the signal processing unit 230 converts the recorded signal and extracts product information will be described.

The signal processing unit 230 stores bitstream data for the recorded analog signal, detects the preamble, and extracts transmission information for the home appliance from the sound signal based on the detected preamble. In this process, the signal processing unit 230 demodulates the recorded data and decodes the demodulated data to extract transmission information. At this time, the transmission information includes a diagnosis result and operation information in the household electrical appliance.

The signal conversion in the signal processing unit 230 is an inverse conversion of the signal conversion in the home appliance 101, and each home appliance 101 and the terminal 90, which is a diagnostic device, through the same signal conversion system through mutual agreement. It is desirable to convert the data. For example, the signal processor 230 may decode using a Viterbi decoding algorithm corresponding to the encoding method of the home appliance. The signal processing unit 230 performs inverse transformation using any one of a frequency shift method, a frequency shift method, an amplitude shift method, and a phase shift method.

When the signal conversion is completed by the signal processing unit 230, the signal analysis unit 240 detects an error occurring in the process in which the signal is output from the household appliance and is recorded and stored to determine whether the signal is normal. In addition, it checks for errors that occur while being received through the communication network.

At this time, the signal analysis unit 240 analyzes the recorded data and checks whether the signal is normally recorded or whether the recorded signal is normal. In addition, the signal analysis unit 240, after extracting the product information, checks whether the extracted product information is normal data.

The signal analysis unit 240 performs a predetermined correction process to correct it when an error is detected, but in some cases, it may be difficult to restore normal data even if a correction process is performed.

When the error information is input, the control unit 210 outputs the signal recording as not normal through the output unit 273 and requests the signal re-output of the home appliance. At this time, the user can output the signal by operating the home appliance again according to the error information displayed on the terminal and the signal re-output request.

In the case of a normal signal, the signal analysis unit 240 completes the recording, and the control unit 210 displays the content indicating that the recording is normally completed through the output unit 273.

When it is determined that the signal is normal by the signal analysis unit 240, the control unit 210 outputs the transmission information extracted from the signal processing unit 230 through the output unit 273.

In addition, the control unit 210 outputs the diagnostic result included in the transmission information, the operation information, and the product ID and version information for the product, but allows the diagnostic result to be output in a predetermined order according to the indicator value.

At this time, the control unit 210 calls detailed data corresponding to each diagnosis result from the database (DB) 260 and outputs it together with the diagnosis result.

At this time, the detailed data may include a cause of a failure corresponding to the diagnosis result value, a countermeasure for the failure, a method of using a related home appliance, or an additional description related to each diagnosis result. That is, the household electrical appliance outputs the diagnosis result as a predetermined code, and the server receives it and outputs detailed data corresponding to the diagnosis result.

The database 260 includes control data 261 for operation and signal processing of the server, transmission information extracted by the signal processing unit 230, and diagnosis result data 263 therefor, and log data for diagnosis results for each household appliance. 265 is stored.

In addition, detailed data corresponding to each diagnosis result is stored in the database 260. At this time, the detailed data may include a cause of a failure corresponding to a diagnosis result, a countermeasure for the failure, a method of using a related home appliance, or additional description, and also a failure component required for AS in connection with the failure. It can be included as a list.

At this time, the log data 265 may be stored separately according to the type of household appliance to be diagnosed according to the model of the household appliance.

 The controller 210 displays the diagnosis result and detailed data included in the transmission information through the output unit 273.

At this time, the control unit 210 outputs information on the voice guidance to the user who is connected to the call in connection with the diagnosis result, and if repair is necessary, makes a reservation for dispatch, and performs diagnosis and repair to the terminal of the repairer. Send data about it.

4 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of a signal output from a home appliance.

The transmission information of the home appliance 101 is output as a sound signal in a predetermined form and is input to the server of the service center through the terminal. At this time, the product information may be transmitted to the server of the service center 200 through a telephone network or a mobile communication network to which the terminal 81 is connected, or a wired or wireless communication network.

Referring to a of FIG. 4, the household electrical appliance 101 stores, as product information, operation information that is generated or measured during operation, operation information, which is a set value input for each operation, and failure information for an error, It analyzes it according to the pre-stored diagnostic logic to generate a diagnostic result.

The control unit 140 adds version information 311 to the diagnosis data 312 including the generated diagnosis result and driving information to generate transmission information. At this time, the diagnostic data 312 further includes a product ID, which is an identifier for identifying a product, and an indicator, which is sequence information for a diagnostic result.

At this time, the version information 311 is a version of the smart diagnosis, which is version information for the smart diagnosis algorithm or the entire smart diagnosis system, and the version information of the smart diagnosis means protocol name information corresponding thereto.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the version information 313 is displayed as 0x01, the protocol name 314 means 'Smart Diagnosis for Washing Machine v1.0'. The product number is an identifier for identifying a product, and the failure diagnosis data is data for failure diagnosis of a household appliance.

Version information consists of 7 bits and diagnostic data consists of 41 bits. Among the diagnostic data, the diagnosis result is composed of 21 bits when 3 diagnosis results are included, the indicator for the diagnosis result is composed of 2 bits, and the operation information is composed of 18 bits, totaling 41 bits. The transmission information composed of version information and diagnostic data consists of a total of 48 bits and 6 bytes.

Here, in the operation information, only some data selected according to importance among a plurality of data according to the operation setting are included in the diagnostic data. For example, the driving information may be selectively included in the diagnostic data such as the course, the temperature of the washing water, the user program, whether the child lock is set, the sound output level, the dehydration speed, and the number of operations.

The version and product ID are directly input to the diagnostic logic used in the diagnostic unit of the control unit of the home appliance. On the other hand, the diagnosis data (Diagnosis Data) is stored in the data unit 145 of the home appliance.

When the smart diagnosis is performed, the controller 140 of the household appliance diagnoses the household appliance using the product information stored in the diagnostic mode and the diagnostic logic, which is a diagnostic algorithm, and generates a diagnostic result therefor, and an output mode for the diagnostic result. In this case, transmission information including at least one pre-generated diagnosis result is generated to be output as a predetermined sound through the sound output unit 160.

At this time, the server of the service center 200 that receives the sound signal output from the home appliance converts and analyzes the sound to extract the transmission information, check the version included in the transmission information, and type the home appliance through the product number. It distinguishes from and models, and calls detailed data corresponding to the diagnosis result and outputs it together with the diagnosis result.

Accordingly, the user can check the diagnosis result and detailed description thereof through the terminal 81. At this time, the counselor can confirm the diagnosis result and detailed data, and voice guidance to the user, or send it to the user's terminal by email or message.

 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a signal in which data of a signal output from a household appliance is converted.

The encoding unit 142 performs encoding in order to output a total of 48 bits, 6 bytes of version information 311 and diagnostic data 312, that is, transmission information as sound.

At this time, the encoding unit 142 generates a frame composed of a plurality of symbols through an encoding and interleaving process of transmission information, and during this process, a frame check sequence (FCS), a tail symbol, Symbols corresponding to the preamble are added. FCS is data added for performing an error detection process (CRC-8 method) to determine whether a frame is correctly transmitted.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the encoding unit 142 adds a preamble to a payload, which is transmission information, and adds FCS for error detection to configure a total of 9 bytes, and each of them is different. Encode.

Various encoding methods are possible, and for example, 1/2 Convolution Encoding method can be used. In particular, the 1/2 Convolution Encoding method is used for FEC for recovering symbol errors, and encoding is performed by using convolutional code as a forward error correction method for the purpose of recovering bit errors.

The encoding is based on the 1/2 code rate where 1 bit is input as input and 2 bits are output, and at this time, 1/2 code rate requires a lot of redundant bits, so use a puncturing algorithm. Reduce the number of additional bits.

Meanwhile, the tail symbol is an additional symbol generated in the convolutional encoding process.

Interleaving is a technique of mixing and transmitting symbols in order to cope with a case in which a continuous error occurs during a signal transmission process. In the interleaving process, a payload corresponding to the diagnostic data and a tail symbol section are interleaved.

On the other hand, the beep output according to the frame configured as above through the home appliance is transmitted to the server through the input and communication network through the external terminal 81, the server detects the preamble according to the negotiated protocol, and deinterleaving ( Deiterleaving, tail symbol detection, decoding, and FCS detection processes are used to obtain transmission information, which is diagnostic data (paylaoad).

In particular, Viterbi decoding algorithm can be used as an easy-to-drive algorithm in PC-based software for decoding, and these algorithms reduce errors by selecting a bit pattern with a low error for all predictable bit patterns. Be advantageous.

Through the above process, the frame according to the present embodiment is a preamble composed of 8 symbols, a payload composed of 48 symbols (which corresponds to data of 6 bytes in the application layer), FCS composed of 8 symbols, and It consists of a tail symbol consisting of two symbols.

At this time, the total time for outputting the frame configured as described above is set not to exceed 3 seconds, and the time output per symbol, that is, the symbol time does not exceed 45 ms.

Particularly, when the symbol time is set too small, signal interference due to a reverberation effect may occur between carrier frequencies output in response to each symbol, so the symbol time is preferably set as long as possible.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the frame is configured as described above, and it is preferable that the symbol time is set between 40ms and 45ms to set the maximum symbol time under conditions for completing the output of the beep within 3 seconds, and In the case, since the total output length of the beep is 2.97 seconds, which is extremely close to 3 seconds, depending on the terminal 90, there is room for noise reduction to be applied as a delay that occurs during signal processing. It can be considered, and in this case, it is possible to complete the output of all beeps within 2.90 seconds, and according to the applicant's experiment, the communication success rate close to 100% was confirmed in almost all terminals.

6 is an exemplary diagram of a diagnosis logic for diagnosis performed in a household appliance and a diagnosis result therefor.

As shown in FIG. 6, the diagnostic logic provided in the home appliance may diagnose abnormal operation of the home appliance based on a plurality of stored product information, that is, operation information, operation information, and failure information.

For example, when an A error 201 occurs, an A error can be diagnosed by determining data values of a and b, which are related data that can check the corresponding error or phenomenon, according to a predetermined conditional expression. The results of the diagnosis for the A error can be classified into results 101, 102, and 103, respectively, which have different causes and different countermeasures. If diagnosis result 101 for error A is derived as a diagnosis result, store it. At this time, the diagnosis result may be stored as a predetermined code value.

In addition, for the C error 203, the data values of d and e are compared according to the conditional expression to be classified into an abnormal case and a normal case, and 106 diagnostic results can be derived for the abnormal case (204).

As described above, the diagnostic algorithm provided in the home appliance is determined by selecting specific data according to error codes or phenomena generated based on product information consisting of a plurality of data for the home appliance, and determining whether or not a plurality of conditional expressions are satisfied. It is configured to diagnose. Since a plurality of data are related to one error or phenomenon, the number of conditional expressions according to this is different according to each error, and a plurality of diagnostic results can be obtained.

The diagnostic logic as described above may be provided in a server in some cases. In the case of a household appliance that cannot be self-diagnosed, product information is output in sound, and the server can diagnose the household appliance by using the diagnostic logic. have. At this time, the server classifies whether diagnosis is possible using the version information and the product number, and processes signals differently accordingly.

7 is a flow chart illustrating a method according to the diagnosis and generation of diagnostic results of a household appliance according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, in the operation state in which the operation setting is input to the control unit 140 and performs a predetermined operation accordingly (S310), when an error occurs during operation (S320), the diagnosis unit 143 is pre-stored The diagnostic logic is executed based on the product information to perform a fault diagnosis for the home appliance (S350).

In addition, when the operation is performed according to the above-described setting and the operation is completed without an error (S330), the diagnosis unit 143 performs a fault diagnosis based on the stored product information until the operation is completed (S350). At this time, the diagnosis unit 143 may perform each of the washing, rinsing, and dehydration operations in the washing machine as one operation, and may perform diagnosis when washing is completed, when rinsing is completed, and when dehydration is completed, or when washing, rinsing, Diagnosis can be performed once all the dehydration operations are complete. It can be changed depending on the settings.

On the other hand, if a command for executing a smart diagnosis through the input unit 110 is input while the household appliance is not operating (S340), the main control unit 141 stops to prevent another operation or ignores subsequent input, and diagnoses In step 143, a malfunction diagnosis of the home appliance may be performed (S350).

The diagnosis unit 143, when performing a failure diagnosis, generates a diagnosis result for each case and stores it in the data unit 145 (S360). At this time, the operation information according to the operation setting is also stored.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for outputting transmission information of a household appliance according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, when a command for outputting a diagnosis result according to a smart diagnosis is input through the input unit 110 (S410), the control unit 140 calls a diagnosis result accumulated and stored. At this time, at least two diagnostic results, preferably three diagnostic results are called (S420). In addition, operation information, which is setting data related to the operation of the home appliance at the time of the diagnosis result, is called (S430).

The encoding unit 142 generates transmission information by adding an indicator that is sequence information for the diagnosis result and operation information, a product number of the household electrical appliance, and version information for the smart diagnosis (S440).

The encoding unit 142 adds a preamble to the transmission information, adds data for error detection, encodes, converts, generates frame data for sound output, and applies it to the modulator 150.

The modulator 150 converts the frame data into a plurality of frequency signals (S450) to be output through the sound output unit 160. At this time, a sound signal composed of a frequency signal forming a sound scale is output to the sound output unit 160 (S460).

The sound signal thus output is transmitted to the service center 200 through the terminal 81.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of outputting a diagnosis result of a server of a home appliance system according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, the server of the service center receives and records a sound signal output and transmitted from the home appliance (S510).

The signal processor inversely converts the recorded signal, analyzes it, and extracts transmission information of the household appliance (S520). In addition, the signal analysis unit determines whether the recorded signal and the extracted transmission information are normal data.

If the transmission information is normal data, the control unit 210 classifies the diagnosis result according to the type of household appliance according to the version information and the product number included in the transmission information, and outputs the diagnosis result and operation information (S530).

At this time, the controller 210 calls the detailed data corresponding to the diagnosis result from the database and outputs it together with the diagnosis result (S540). Accordingly, along with the diagnosis result, the cause of the failure and the countermeasures therefor are output as detailed data, and related additional information and a guide on how to use the household appliance are output.

In response to the diagnosis result, the control unit 210 may instruct a user about a failure or instruct a reservation for repair and dispatch of a service technician.

In addition, the control unit 210 generates log data for each household appliance for the diagnosis result and stores it in a database (S550).

The control unit 210 accumulates and stores the generated log data, and periodically transmits log data to a user for a set period to provide information on a failure history.

Therefore, the present invention minimizes data loss during transmission by outputting and transmitting data within a short time from the home appliance, and as the server also receives data more accurately, A / S for home appliance failure is easy, and the home appliance Efficiency can be improved according to the management of the device, thereby improving reliability of the product.

As described above, the home appliance and the system according to the present invention have been described with reference to the exemplified drawings, but the present invention is not limited by the embodiments and drawings disclosed herein, and can be applied within a range in which technical ideas are protected. have.

81: terminal
101: household appliance 110: input unit
116: selection unit 117: operation unit
140: control unit 141: main control unit
142: encoding unit 143: diagnostic unit
150: modulator 160: signal output unit
200: Service center (server)
210: control unit 220: recording unit
230: signal processing unit 240: signal analysis unit
260: database

Claims (18)

A data unit in which a diagnosis logic for analyzing and diagnosing operation information, operation information detected during operation, failure information generated during operation, and a state of the home appliance is stored;
An input unit for inputting a diagnosis execution command;
A diagnostic unit that analyzes the operation information, the operation information, and the product information including the failure information based on the diagnostic logic to diagnose the state and failure of the household electrical appliance, and to generate a diagnosis result;
Control the operation according to the operation information, and when the diagnostic execution command is input, authorizes the product information to the diagnostic unit, a plurality of diagnosis results including the coded diagnosis result and previous diagnosis result, and the diagnosis among the product information A control unit for generating transmission information in which data used when generating a result is included as diagnostic data;
A modulator for converting the transmission information into a predetermined frequency signal; And
Includes a sound output unit for outputting the signal converted from the modulator as sound,
The sound output unit outputs the signal converted from the transmission information as the sound for a time of 3 seconds or less, so that the sound is not recognized as noise in the process of being transmitted to the terminal or the telephone network,
When the diagnosis unit is diagnosed, the diagnosis result is generated by classifying the diagnosis result from the generated error and a plurality of causes for the error and a countermeasure corresponding to the cause, and each having a different code value.
The control unit designates a location in a frame according to importance of the plurality of diagnostic results and data to generate the transmission information. According to claim 1,
The control unit may include, among the plurality of data included in the driving information, data capable of confirming an operation state of the device, and data used for deriving the diagnosis result selectively in the transmission information according to importance. According to claim 1,
The control unit includes the version information of the diagnostic logic and an indicator for the order of generating the plurality of diagnostic results so as to analyze the diagnostic result coded at the receiving side, and further comprising the household electrical appliance characterized in that it generates the transmission information. device. delete delete According to claim 1,
The control unit is characterized in that at least two or more diagnostic results are included in the transmission information. According to claim 1,
The control unit is a household appliance, characterized in that for generating the transmission information, including the results of three times of diagnosis. According to claim 1,
The control unit generates the transmission information in one frame, characterized in that the home appliance. According to claim 1,
The control unit generates the transmission information in a size of 6 bytes or less. delete According to claim 1,
The diagnostic unit, according to the control command of the control unit for at least one of the case when the diagnosis execution command is input, each step of the operation set according to the operation information is completed, and an error occurs during operation A household appliance characterized by performing a diagnosis on the household appliance based on the product information. According to claim 1,
The modulator converts the encoded signal from the transmission information into a combination of at least two or more frequencies that form a mutual scale and have carrier frequencies separated. A household appliance that stores operation information, operation information, and failure information, analyzes the operation information, the operation information, and product information including the failure information to diagnose an abnormality and outputs transmission information including a diagnosis result as sound. ;
A server that receives the sound output from the home appliance and extracts the diagnosis result for the home appliance, and outputs detailed data on the diagnosis result; And
Includes a terminal for transmitting the sound output from the home appliance to the server via a predetermined communication network;
The household electrical appliance includes a diagnosis unit for diagnosing an abnormality to generate the coded diagnosis result, and generates the transmission information including a plurality of diagnosis results and data used to derive the diagnosis result, and the plurality of diagnosis The signal converted from the transmission information is 3 seconds or less in order to designate a location within the frame of the transmission information according to the importance of the result and data, and to prevent the sound from being recognized as noise in the process of being transmitted to the terminal or the telephone network. During the time, the sound is output through the sound output unit,
When the diagnosis unit is diagnosed, the diagnosis result is generated by classifying the diagnosis result from the generated error and a plurality of causes for the error and a countermeasure corresponding to the cause, and each having a different code value.
The server outputs the detailed data including at least one of a cause of the failure, a countermeasure according to the cause of the failure, an additional description of the failure, and a method of using the home appliance, corresponding to the diagnosis result. system. The method of claim 13,
The server includes a DB in which the diagnosis result and the detailed data corresponding to the diagnosis result are stored,
A home appliance system, characterized in that the diagnostic history for the home appliance is stored in the DB as log data in response to the diagnosis result. The method of claim 14,
The DB stores the detailed data for each diagnosis result, and the detailed data is stored to correspond to a code value of the diagnosis result. The method of claim 13,
The server is a home appliance system characterized in that the data for the diagnostic history for the home appliance is periodically transmitted to the terminal according to a set period. The method of claim 14,
And the server extracts the diagnosis result from the sound and calls and outputs the detailed data corresponding to the code value of the diagnosis result from the DB. The method of claim 14,
And the server extracts the diagnosis result from the sound and calls and outputs the detailed data corresponding to the code value of each diagnosis result from the DB.

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