WO2021019806A1

WO2021019806A1 - Notification management server and notification management method

Info

Publication number: WO2021019806A1
Application number: PCT/JP2020/003864
Authority: WO
Inventors: 陽子國眼; 憲次飯澤; 友美蛭田
Original assignee: 日立グローバルライフソリューションズ株式会社
Priority date: 2019-07-31
Filing date: 2020-02-03
Publication date: 2021-02-04
Also published as: JP7240984B2; JP2021026258A

Abstract

In order to accurately diagnose even when the measurement accuracy of an electrical device sensor has declined, the present invention provides a server 4 which has: a deterioration degree determination unit 41 for receiving operation data from a washer/dryer 1 to be diagnosed, and obtaining the degree of deterioration of the diagnosis target which expresses the degree of deterioration which has occurred in each device area of the washer/dryer 1, on the basis of the received operation data; a correction DB 42b in which information expressing whether or not the degree of deterioration has improved over time is recorded for each of the device areas of the washer/dryer 1; and an error detection determination unit 42 for comparing the deterioration degree of the diagnosis target with a past deterioration degree, and determining whether the deterioration degree of the diagnosis target is correct or erroneous by referring to the correction DB 42b when the results from the comparison indicate an improvement in the deterioration degree of the diagnosis target relative to the past deterioration degree.

Description

Notification management server and notification management method

The present invention relates to a notification management server and a notification management method.

By blinking the LED installed in the operation unit of the electric device or displaying the code indicating the failure content on the panel such as the liquid crystal, the electric device used in the home notifies the user of the abnormality. The user who knows the abnormality considers the countermeasure by referring to the instruction manual. In addition, a user who cannot handle the failure by himself / herself calls the call center of the manufacturer, asks the operator how to deal with the failure, and performs a predetermined operation to deal with the failure. In the case of a serious malfunction, the user sends the electrical equipment for repair or requests the dispatch of a maintenance person with the expertise of the equipment.

The maintenance staff who received the repair request visits the user's house, diagnoses the electrical equipment, and repairs the electrical equipment using repair parts. In some cases, repair parts may be prepared in advance. However, if the expected repair parts cannot be repaired, the maintenance personnel can either take the electrical equipment home and repair it at their own company or another repair organization, or leave the equipment at the user's home for another repair part at a later date. I brought it and repaired it. Occasionally, the maintenance staff may make assumptions about repairs, and the maintenance staff may check with the user at a later date whether the code indicating the failure content is no longer displayed or whether the dissatisfaction has been resolved. ..

As described above, conventionally, it has been necessary to spend a lot of labor and time in order to solve the malfunction of the electric device. For such a problem, for example, a diagnostic technique shown in Patent Document 1 has been proposed.
Patent Document 1 includes an information receiving unit that receives usage information transmitted from a user's electrical equipment, an external information acquisition unit that acquires external information related to the performance or operating state of the electrical equipment, and usage information and external information. An information notification device including a presentation information determination unit that determines information to be notified to a user based on the information is disclosed.
According to Patent Document 1, by analyzing the information collected from the electrical device to the server via the network, it is not only the detection of the deterioration state of the device itself, but also the proposal of replacement with the most effective device in the user's life. It is said that it will be possible to present effective usage methods.

International Publication No. 2018/003110

Compared to industrial equipment such as elevators that have already been diagnosed by remote monitoring, electrical equipment used in the home is cheaper, so sensors installed in electrical equipment are generally simple. Is. Therefore, the measurement accuracy of the operation data measured by the sensor is insufficient, and the accuracy of the result of the diagnostic process using the operation data also deteriorates.
In addition, even if the sensor body has high performance, it will be measured under adverse conditions such as a narrow space and large vibration because it is built into an electric device for measurement, and sufficient measurement accuracy cannot be obtained. ..

On the other hand, in the prior art such as Patent Document 1, no consideration is given to the case where the measurement accuracy of the sensor is lowered. If an expensive sensor is externally attached to the outside of the electric device, the electric device used in the home becomes expensive and it becomes difficult to spread the sensor.

Therefore, the main subject of the present invention is to perform a highly accurate diagnosis even when the measurement accuracy of the sensor of the electric device is lowered.

In order to solve the above problems, the notification management server of the present invention has the following features.
The present invention receives operation data of an electric device to be diagnosed, and based on the received operation data, determines the degree of deterioration of the diagnosis target, which indicates the degree of deterioration generated for each device of the electric device. Calculation part and
A deterioration degree judgment database in which information indicating whether or not the deterioration degree is improved with the passage of time is registered for each device location of the electric device, and a deterioration degree determination database.
The deterioration degree of the diagnosis target is compared with the past deterioration degree, and when the deterioration degree of the diagnosis target is improved from the past deterioration degree as a result of the comparison, the deterioration degree determination database is referred to. It is characterized by having an erroneous detection determination unit for determining the correctness of the degree of deterioration of the diagnosis target.
Other means will be described later.

According to the present invention, even when the measurement accuracy of the sensor of an electric device is lowered, a highly accurate diagnosis can be performed.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole maintenance support system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the operation in the server which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a table which shows an example of the modification DB which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a table which shows an example of the notification threshold DB which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a table which shows the processing example of the server which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the whole maintenance support system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the operation in the server which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a table which showed an example of the notification destination DB which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which determines the notification destination and the notification content of the information transmission unit regarding one Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, the first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the entire maintenance support system 9.
The maintenance support system 9 includes a washer / dryer 1, a user terminal 2 of a user who uses the washer / dryer 1, a maintenance worker terminal 3 of a maintenance worker who repairs the washer / dryer 1, and a server that diagnoses the washer / dryer 1. 4 and.
The washer / dryer 1 is an example of an electric device to be maintained by the maintenance support system 9, and is premised on maintenance (cleaning, etc.) by the user at regular intervals such as a vacuum cleaner, a refrigerator, and an air conditioner. The electrical equipment used may be subject to maintenance.
The user terminal 2 and the server 4 and the maintenance worker terminal 3 and the server 4 are in a state of being able to communicate with each other via the information communication network 94. Further, the user terminal 2 and the washer / dryer 1 and the maintenance staff terminal 3 and the washer / dryer 1 are connected by physical connection or short-distance wireless data communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), respectively. , Information can be sent and received.

The diagnosis target machine installation place 91 is a place where the washer / dryer 1 is placed, and the user is using the washer / dryer 1 here. The washer / dryer 1 is provided with a sensor 11, an information storage unit 12, an information reception unit 18, and an information transmission unit 19 in addition to a function of performing normal washing and drying.
The information storage unit 12 stores operation data (a part or all of the data measured by the sensor 11) measured by the washer / dryer 1 for a certain period of time. This operation data is information from the sensor 11 and the board necessary for the washer / dryer 1 to control normal washing and drying, and is the instantaneous value of the sensor 11, the control value of the board, the control signal of the board (operation mode, etc.). Setting information) is included.

The user terminal 2 and the maintenance staff terminal 3 are information terminals that are generally available, and are assumed to be smartphones. An application dedicated to the washer / dryer 1 is pre-installed on these smartphones. The application dedicated to the washer / dryer 1 does not have to be the same for the user terminal 2 and the maintenance staff terminal 3, and a version suitable for the utilization method is assumed.
The other user terminal 2 and the maintenance staff terminal 3 have the same configuration. The user terminal 2 has an information calculation unit 21, a notification unit 22, an information receiving unit 28, and an information transmitting unit 29.
The maintenance worker terminal 3 has an information calculation unit 31, a notification unit 32, an information reception unit 38, and an information transmission unit 39.
The information calculation unit 21 and the information calculation unit 31 operate an application dedicated to the washer / dryer 1. The notification unit 22 and the notification unit 32 inform the user and the maintenance staff of the deterioration content of the washer / dryer 1 notified from the server 4. The "notification" here is a process of notifying the target person of the notification content, and examples thereof include screen display, voice output, and lighting of an LED lamp.

When the user feels dissatisfied with the operation of the washer / dryer 1, he / she requests the washer / dryer 1 to transmit operation data via an application dedicated to the washer / dryer 1 of his / her user terminal 2.
Alternatively, the user may contact the service center 92 from the user terminal 2 and request a maintenance person who can perform maintenance work on the washer / dryer 1. The maintenance worker who receives the contact heads to the installation location 91 of the machine to be diagnosed and requests the washing / drying machine 1 to transmit the operation data via the application dedicated to the washing / drying machine 1 of the maintenance worker terminal 3.

The washer / dryer 1 requested to transmit the operation data reads the data for a certain period of time accumulated in the information storage unit 12, and the information transmission unit 49 sends the request source user terminal 2 (or maintenance staff terminal 3). Send. In this way, since the operation data of the washer / dryer 1 is read out in response to the request from each terminal, the washer / dryer 1 does not need to constantly communicate with the server 4 in order to transmit the operation data.
Therefore, even in a state where the communication environment of the washer / dryer 1 is poor, such as an environment where there is no constant communication connection or an environment of a low-speed communication line, the user terminal 2 mediates the communication data to the server 4, so that the server 4 can perform the communication data. The diagnostic process can be started easily. Further, since the amount of data stored in the information storage unit 12 in the washer / dryer 1 is small, the manufacturing cost of the washer / dryer 1 itself can be suppressed.

The information calculation unit 21 may process the received operation data within the application. This data processing is to convert the received operation data into calculated values such as performance indexes, and processing of only a part of the data may be performed. The data-processed calculated value or the non-data-processed operation data is sent from the information transmission unit 29 of the user terminal 2 to the server 4 of the remote monitoring center 93 via the information communication network 94.

The server 4 exists in the remote monitoring center 93 away from the diagnosis target machine installation location 91. The server 4 is configured as a computer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, a storage means (storage unit) such as a hard disk, and a network interface.
In this computer, the CPU operates a control unit (control means) composed of each processing unit by executing a program (also called an application or an abbreviation thereof) read in the memory.

The server 4 is provided with a deterioration degree determination unit 41, a false detection determination unit 42, a notification determination unit 43, an information reception unit 48, and an information transmission unit 49.
The data processing capacity and manufacturing cost of the washer / dryer 1 itself can be suppressed by providing the main parts of the diagnostic function (deterioration degree judgment unit 41, false detection judgment unit 42, and notification judgment unit 43) on the server 4 side. At the same time, it is possible to achieve both highly accurate diagnosis by the server 4. On the other hand, at least one of the main parts of the diagnostic function may be provided in the washer / dryer 1.

The deterioration degree determination unit 41 analyzes the operation data of the washer / dryer 1 received by the information receiving unit 48, and quantitatively determines whether or not the predetermined performance is obtained as the “deterioration degree”. Here, the degree of deterioration is a diagnostic result defined for each device location of the washer / dryer 1, and in the present embodiment, there are 100 stages from 0 (best state without deterioration) to 100 (worst state without deterioration). It will be evaluated. Here, the factors for increasing (deteriorating) the degree of deterioration include, for example, the following states. Some of these deterioration states occur all the time, some occur occasionally only under certain conditions, and some occur due to insufficient maintenance by the user.
・ Abnormal state in which electrical equipment does not operate in the first place (power does not turn on, etc.)
-Failure status displayed as an error on electrical equipment (state in which the specified performance is not obtained)
-Although it is not displayed as an error on the electrical equipment, the user feels subjective dissatisfaction (loud sound / vibration, poor drying, etc.)
-It is not displayed as an error on the electrical equipment, and the user is not dissatisfied at this point, but there are signs of deterioration that will occur in the future.
That is, in the present specification, undesired states (abnormalities, defects, dissatisfaction, etc.) for each device that can be analyzed from the operation data of the washer / dryer 1 are collectively referred to as "deterioration" regardless of the presence or absence of defects. Express.

It should be noted that the deterioration equipment location caused by the washer / dryer 1 may be one location or may occur at a plurality of locations at the same time. Therefore, the degree of deterioration determination unit 41 does not perform a rough diagnosis of determining the degree of deterioration of the entire washer / dryer 1, but rather the degree of deterioration of each device (duct, filter, etc.) constituting the washer / dryer 1. It is desirable to make a detailed diagnosis to determine.
As a result, deterioration that occurs in combination at a plurality of locations can be efficiently extracted even by measuring the operation data once. Therefore, even if the maintenance staff visits the user's home and the deterioration is low in reproducibility or there are multiple deteriorations, it is possible to suppress the oversight of the deterioration that has occurred and it is appropriate regardless of the skill level of the maintenance staff. Can perform maintenance work.
Therefore, it is desirable that the sensor 11 mounted on the washer / dryer 1 is configured so that a plurality of types of operation data can be individually measured. That is, the deterioration degree determination unit 41 may calculate the deterioration degree of one place from one type of operation data, or may calculate the deterioration degree of one place by combining a plurality of types of operation data.

The erroneous detection determination unit 42 determines whether or not the degree of deterioration calculated by the degree of deterioration determination unit 41 is correct (erroneous detection). Then, the erroneous detection determination unit 42 corrects the degree of deterioration determined as erroneous detection with the degree of deterioration in the past.
The notification determination unit 43 determines whether or not to notify the content of deterioration for each device location of the washer / dryer 1 with respect to the result determined by the erroneous detection determination unit 42. When the information transmission unit 49 determines that the notification determination unit 43 notifies, the information transmission unit 49 transmits the content of the deterioration to the user terminal 2 (or the maintenance staff terminal 3).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the operation of the server 4.
The deterioration calculation model 41b of the deterioration degree determination unit 41 is a function of the change tendency of the characteristic information and the calculated value that change when one or more deterioration occurs for each device portion that may be deteriorated. .. Based on this deterioration calculation model 41b, the calculation unit 41a calculates the degree of deterioration of the received data for each assumed device location. The deterioration degree determination unit 41 stores the past deterioration degree calculated from the past operation data as a parameter of the correction DB 42b. The acquisition time of the past operation data to the server 4 may be at the same time as the operation data to be diagnosed or before that.
On the other hand, the deterioration degree determination unit 41 sets the latest operation data acquired by the server 4 as the operation data to be diagnosed, calculates the latest deterioration degree from the operation data, and outputs it to the false detection determination unit 42. ..

FIG. 3 is a table showing an example of the correction DB 42b. The calculation unit 42a of the erroneous detection determination unit 42 determines whether or not the degree of deterioration calculated by the degree of deterioration determination unit 41 is correct with reference to the correction DB 42b.
The correction DB 42b is a comparison result between the latest (diagnosis target) deterioration degree and the past deterioration degree average value (past average) for each part (equipment location) of the washer / dryer 1 that may be deteriorated. (Change tendency) is associated with the necessity of correction to the degree of deterioration of the diagnosis target according to the comparison result and the output value of the degree of deterioration according to the necessity of correction.

The information registered in the correction DB 42b can also be said to be information indicating whether or not the degree of deterioration is improved with the passage of time.
The equipment parts "ducts and traps" for which "comparison result = less than past average" and "necessity of correction = necessary" do not improve with the passage of time, and therefore need to be corrected.
Since the degree of deterioration of the device location "filter" for which "comparison result = less than past average" and "correction required = unnecessary" may be improved over time, correction is not necessary.

Even if the comparison result of the correction DB 42b is the same for each device, the necessity of correction may be different.
First, as shown in line A02, the correction necessity “necessity” is associated with the duct comparison result “less than the past average”. This association reflects an event in which the degree of deterioration of the duct does not improve over time (that is, the degree of deterioration cannot be less than the historical average).
For example, when the duct is deteriorated, it is necessary to disassemble and clean the washer / dryer 1, so that it will not be improved unless the maintenance staff performs the maintenance work. Therefore, it is highly possible that the diagnosis result is incorrect if the diagnosis result that the deterioration degree of the duct is improved is obtained even though the maintenance staff is not working.

On the other hand, as shown in line A06, the correction necessity “unnecessary” is associated with the filter comparison result “less than the past average”. This association reflects an event in which the degree of deterioration of the filter improves over time due to voluntary cleaning by the user or the like.
As described above, the correction DB 42b is prepared in advance based on the characteristic that the time transition of the degree of deterioration, which is the diagnosis result, differs depending on the location of the device. In the correction DB 42b this time, the comparison target of the diagnosis results of the diagnosis target is the average value of a plurality of past diagnosis results, but the comparison target is not limited to this. For example, the maximum value or the minimum value of the past diagnosis result can be used.

FIG. 4 is a table showing an example of the notification threshold value DB43b.
The calculation unit 43a of the notification determination unit 43 determines whether or not to notify the diagnosis result with reference to the notification threshold value DB 43b based on the output value of the erroneous detection determination unit 42. In the notification threshold value DB 43b, the device is based on a combination of a first threshold value to be compared with the output value of the false detection determination unit 42 and a second threshold value to be compared with the amount of change in the output value from the past for each device location. This is a table for requesting the necessity of notifying the deterioration of a part. Further, even if the notification is "unnecessary", a notification that there is no deterioration may be given to the device location.

The content of the table of the notification threshold value DB43b is configured so that the number of records (number of rows) for which notification is "necessary" increases in the order of duct → trap → filter. In other words, the cost of dealing with deterioration decreases in the order of duct → trap → filter, so we increased the number of notifications.
In this way, by creating the notification threshold value DB43b in consideration of the magnitude of deterioration, the cost of dealing with maintenance personnel and users (work amount), individual differences of the washer / dryer 1, and the like, deterioration that does not require countermeasures is required. It is possible to improve maintenance efficiency by suppressing the request for unnecessary work by notifying.
For example, in lines B05 to B09 of the notification threshold value DB43b, if deterioration is detected in the duct, but the output value of the degree of deterioration is low and the rate of change from the past diagnosis result is small, this deterioration is not notified. This is because this deterioration may be due to the installation status of the washer / dryer 1 to be diagnosed and individual differences, and further, it takes time to disassemble the equipment to improve the deterioration, so that maintenance personnel / users This is because it is a heavy burden for both parties.

The lines B04 to B06 of the notification threshold value DB43b have a common output value of "50 or more", but the lines B04 having a large change amount require notification, and the lines B05 and B06 having a small change amount do not require notification. This distinction is the difference between whether the same deterioration state has continued from the beginning of use of the washer / dryer 1 to the present, or whether it has been good at the beginning of use but gradually deteriorated until now (difference in the amount of change). ) Is reflected.
For example, the degree of deterioration inside the washer / dryer 1 becomes high from the beginning of use due to the poor external environment other than the main body of the washer / dryer 1, such as a house where the place for the washer / dryer 1 is unstable. Sometimes. At that time, even if the washer / dryer 1 was cleaned or repaired, the degree of deterioration could not be expected to recover, so no notification was required.

On the other hand, in lines B19 to B25 of the notification threshold value DB43b, when deterioration is detected by the filter, even if the degree of deterioration is low, if the rate of change is large or the degree of deterioration is high, all notifications are made. Even if the degree of deterioration is calculated to be larger than the actual deterioration state of the filter due to individual differences and the notification becomes excessive, the maintenance work for the notification is easy, so the burden on the notification destination is small. I'm done.

In this way, whether or not the notification determination unit 43 notifies the deterioration based on a predetermined notification threshold value based on the output value of the false detection determination unit 42 and the amount of change in the output value from the past. To judge. As a result, it is possible to prevent notification of unnecessary content and reduce the time and effort of the notification destination.
The information transmission unit 49 transmits the diagnosis result (deterioration of the device portion) to the maintenance staff terminal 3 via the information communication network 94 according to the content determined by the notification determination unit 43. The notification unit 32 of the maintenance staff terminal 3 supports the maintenance work based on the diagnosis result by notifying the maintenance staff of the diagnosis result received by the information receiving unit 38.

FIG. 5 is a table showing a processing example of the server 4.
This table associates the following data with each device location. Hereinafter, the explanation will be given in order from the left column of the table.
-Past deterioration degree pre-registered in the correction DB 42b (deterioration degree calculated from the first measurement to deterioration degree calculated from the ninth measurement)
・ Average value of past deterioration (past average)
-The 10th deterioration degree calculated by the deterioration degree judgment unit 41 as the latest diagnosis target-The output value of the deterioration degree appropriately corrected by the erroneous detection judgment unit 42 by inputting the transition from the past average to the 10th deterioration degree- Amount of change from past average to output value (absolute value of numerical difference)
-Notification of the result of determination by the notification determination unit 43 by inputting the combination of the output value and the amount of change

The first line "duct" in FIG. 5 will be described.
-In the correction DB 42b, "0" is registered for the first to ninth times = all "0" as the past deterioration degree in which the state of the duct continues to be good, and the past average is also "0".
The 10th deterioration degree calculated by the deterioration degree determination unit 41 as the latest diagnosis target is also "0".
-Since the transition of the degree of deterioration is equal to or higher than the past average (0 → 0), the erroneous detection determination unit 42 determines that the correction is unnecessary by referring to the line A01 of the correction DB 42b. As a result, the output value remains the latest value (10th deterioration degree 0) and is not corrected.
-The notification determination unit 43 also calculates the amount of change from the past average "0" to the output value "0" as 0 (= 0-0).
-The notification determination unit 43 takes the combination of the output value "0" and the change amount "0" as an input, and determines that notification is unnecessary based on the line B09 of the notification threshold value DB 43b.

The second line "trap" in FIG. 5 will be described.
-In the correction DB 42b, values of around 50 for the 1st to 9th times are registered as the past deterioration degree in which the trap state fluctuates in a moderate deterioration state, and the past average is 45. is there.
The 10th deterioration degree calculated by the deterioration degree determination unit 41 as the latest diagnosis target is 30 (slightly deteriorated).
-Since the transition of the degree of deterioration is less than the past average (45 → 30), the erroneous detection determination unit 42 determines that correction is necessary by referring to line A04 of the correction DB 42b. As a result, the output value is corrected from the latest value "30" to the past average "45".
-The notification determination unit 43 calculates the amount of change from the past average "45" to the output value "45" as 0 (= 45-45).
-By inputting the combination of the output value "45" and the change amount "0", the notification determination unit 43 determines that the notification is unnecessary based on the line B18 of the notification threshold value DB 43b.

The third line "filter" in FIG. 5 will be described.
-In the correction DB 42b, values of around 80 for the 1st to 9th times are registered as the past deterioration degree in which the trap state fluctuates in a severe deterioration state, and the past average is 75. ..
The 10th degree of deterioration calculated by the degree of deterioration determination unit 41 as the latest diagnosis target is 55 (moderate deterioration).
-Since the transition of the degree of deterioration is less than the past average (75 → 55), the erroneous detection determination unit 42 determines that the correction is unnecessary by referring to the line A06 of the correction DB 42b. As a result, the output value remains the latest value (10th deterioration degree 55) and is not corrected.
The notification determination unit 43 calculates the amount of change from the past average “75” to the output value “55” as 20 (= 75-55).
-By inputting the combination of the output value "55" and the change amount "20", the notification determination unit 43 determines that notification is necessary based on the line B22 of the notification threshold value DB 43b.

As described above, since it is difficult for the user to recover the deterioration degree of the "trap" by himself / herself, the false detection determination unit 42 recovers the deterioration degree transition to less than the past average (45 → 30). It is determined that this is a false positive.
On the other hand, with respect to the "filter", since the user can recover the degree of deterioration by himself / herself, the false detection determination unit 42 normally confirms that the transition of the degree of deterioration has recovered to less than the past average (75 → 55). It is judged as a detection.

In the explanation of FIG. 5, it is assumed that a sufficient amount (1st to 9th) past deterioration degrees are pre-registered in the correction DB 42b. On the other hand, when the past deterioration degree exists only for four times, or when the past deterioration degree does not exist even once, the washer / dryer 1 is not actually operating, but the washer / dryer 1 is normal. Operation data simulating the state may be created as dummy data, and the degree of deterioration of the dummy calculated by the degree of deterioration determination unit 41 based on the dummy data may be substituted.

In the first embodiment described above, the washer / dryer 1 makes a diagnosis based on information from the sensor 11 and the substrate necessary for controlling normal washing / drying. With respect to the possibility of a decrease in diagnostic accuracy caused by this, by providing the false detection determination unit 42, it is possible to suppress the decrease in accuracy by utilizing the past diagnosis results. That is, the erroneous detection determination unit 42 determines the degree of deterioration with low accuracy as an erroneous determination by performing the correctness determination of the degree of deterioration calculated by the degree of deterioration determination unit 41 with reference to the correction DB 42b, and the erroneous determination thereof. The degree of deterioration of is corrected or not notified.

Hereinafter, the second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 6 to 9.
FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing the entire maintenance support system.
The washer / dryer 1, the user terminal 2, and the maintenance staff terminal 3 in the maintenance support system 9 are the same as those shown in FIG. The server 4 of FIG. 6 has the same configuration as the server 4 of FIG. 1, and includes a deterioration degree determination unit 41, a false detection determination unit 42, a notification determination unit 43, an information reception unit 48, and an information transmission unit 49. .. Further, the server 4 of FIG. 6 includes a factor determination unit 44 and a notification destination classification unit 45.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the operation of the server 4.
The configuration of the first half (information receiving unit 48 → deterioration degree determination unit 41 → erroneous detection determination unit 42 → notification determination unit 43) is as described with reference to FIG. On the other hand, in FIG. 7, the latter half (factor determination unit 44 → notification destination classification unit 45 → information transmission unit 49) is further added.
The factor determination unit 44 compares the threshold value provided in the deterioration calculation model 41b for each device location with the deterioration degree calculated by the deterioration degree determination unit 41, and corresponds to the deterioration calculation model 41b of the deterioration degree exceeding the threshold value. Determine the factors.
The notification destination classification unit 45 classifies the notification content and the notification destination according to the factors determined by the factor determination unit 44. That is, the calculation unit 45a of the notification destination classification unit 45 refers to the notification destination DB 45b and classifies the notification destination (user terminal 2 or maintenance worker terminal 3) according to the cause of deterioration.

FIG. 8 is a table showing an example of the notification destination DB 45b.
In the notification destination DB 45b, a factor notification destination that can be solved for each deterioration factor is indicated.
Lines C01 to C04 to which the cause notification destination "user" is assigned are notification contents that can be resolved by the user as long as the cause of deterioration is known. For example, filter clogging in row C01 is deterioration caused by unmaintained user maintenance such as dry filter clogging, lint filter clogging, or usage beyond the product specifications by the user.

Lines C05 to C10 to which the cause notification destination "maintenance staff" is assigned are deterioration caused by deterioration in the structure or control of the equipment. As an example, deterioration of the sensor in line C07, deterioration of the fan motor in line C05, and the like correspond to this. Even if the user knows the cause of deterioration, it is difficult to solve this problem, and repair by a maintenance person with specialized knowledge is required.

The calculation unit 45a of the notification destination classification unit 45 determines the content to be notified to the user terminal 2 or the maintenance staff terminal 3 based on the notification destination DB 45b, and sends information combining the notification destination and the factor to the information transmission unit 49. The information transmission unit 49 determines the final transmission content by combining the presence / absence of deterioration, the factor, and the notification destination of the factor, and transmits the notification content to the predetermined notification destination (details are shown in FIG. 9). If there is a device location that is not deteriorated in the notification determination unit 43, that information may also be transmitted to a predetermined notification destination.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for determining the notification destination and the notification content of the information transmission unit 49.

The information transmission unit 49 collects data from each processing unit in the server 4 (S101). The data to be collected is as follows, for example.
-Factors of deterioration notified by the factor determination unit 44-Notification destination of the factors notified by the notification destination classification unit 45-Recognize the solid of the washer / dryer 1 to be diagnosed notified by the information receiving unit 48 Device number for

The information transmission unit 49 determines the presence or absence of deterioration (S102). If there is no deterioration (S102, No), the information transmission unit 49 transmits to the user terminal 2 that it is normal (“normal notification” in FIG. 7) (S103).
If there is deterioration (S102, Yes), the information transmission unit 49 determines whether or not there is a maintenance person at the factor notification destination (S104). If there is no maintenance person at the factor notification destination (S104, No), the information transmission unit 49 transmits the factor (“factor notification” in FIG. 7) to the user terminal 2 (S105). At this time, the number of factors may be plural. If there are multiple, notify all.

If there is a maintenance person at the factor notification destination (S104, Yes), the information transmission unit 49 determines whether or not there are a plurality of factors (S106). If the number of factors is one (S106, No), the information transmission unit 49 transmits the factor and the device number (“device number factor notification” in FIG. 7) to the maintenance staff terminal 3 (S107). Then, the information transmission unit 49 transmits to the user terminal 2 that the user terminal 2 has deteriorated and needs to be repaired and is being arranged (“notification during arrangement” in FIG. 7) (S108).

When there are a plurality of factors (S106, Yes), the information transmission unit 49 determines whether or not there is a user as well as a maintenance person at the notification destination of the factor (S109). If there is no user (S109, No), the information transmission unit 49 proceeds to S107 and S108.

On the other hand, if there is a user as well as the maintenance staff at the notification destination of the factor (S109, Yes), the information transmission unit 49 transmits the factor and the device number (“device number factor notification” in FIG. 7) to the maintenance staff terminal 3. (S110). Then, the information transmission unit 49 tells the user terminal 2 that the factor that the user is the notification destination and the fact that there is another deterioration that requires repair by the maintenance staff and that the information is being arranged (“notification during arrangement” in FIG. 7). Is transmitted to (S111).

The effect of the second embodiment described above will be described. First, in electric appliances such as the washer / dryer 1, there are many devices that are premised on maintenance (cleaning, etc.) by the user at regular intervals. In such a device, due to the following factors, the electric product may fall into a deteriorated state in which the predetermined performance cannot be exhibited.
-When maintenance is not performed by the user-When the user uses the product beyond the scope of the product specifications-When there is an actual problem in the structure or control of the device

There are two types of deterioration, one is a slight deterioration that the user can handle by himself and the other is a severe deterioration that requires the dispatch of maintenance personnel.
For example, if maintenance is not performed on electrical products that are supposed to be maintained by the user at regular intervals, or if the user misuses the product beyond the scope of the product specifications, appropriate guidance will be provided for each. The user can respond by himself / herself.
On the other hand, when there is an actual problem in the structure or control of the equipment, it is necessary to take measures such as requesting a maintenance person with specialized knowledge.

Therefore, the server 4 of the second embodiment is configured to include a notification destination classification unit 45 that classifies and determines the content to be notified to the notification destination. Then, the information transmission unit 49 notifies the content of deterioration via at least one of the notification unit 22 of the user terminal 2 and the notification unit 32 of the maintenance worker terminal 3 as the notification destination determined by the notification destination classification unit 45. ..
As a result, when deterioration that can be solved by the user occurs, it is not necessary for the user to request a maintenance person with specialized knowledge, and the user can solve the deterioration by himself / herself. On the other hand, for deterioration that the user cannot solve, the request to the maintenance staff is automatically completed via the server 4 without the user requesting the maintenance staff, so that the user's man-hours for solving the deterioration Can be reduced.
Further, in the maintenance support system 9 according to the present invention, when the maintenance staff is requested to be dispatched, the cause of deterioration occurring in the washer / dryer 1 is transmitted, and therefore, when the maintenance target machine installation location 91 is visited. Can be dealt with efficiently.

Note that, unlike the server 4 of the second embodiment, in the conventional technology such as Patent Document 1, the diagnostic information is only notified without distinguishing between the user and the maintenance staff. Therefore, even a user who does not know the internal structure of the electric device has wasted time and effort such as disassembling the electric device and instructing the replacement of the problematic part. In other words, even if the presentation information determination unit can make an accurate diagnosis, depending on the content presented as the analysis result, the user may perform extra work such as requesting a maintenance person after that, resulting in electrical equipment. It may take a lot of time and effort to eliminate the deterioration of the.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiment has been described in detail in order to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and is not necessarily limited to those having all the described configurations.
Further, it is possible to replace a part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment.
Further, it is possible to add / delete / replace a part of the configuration of each embodiment with another configuration. Further, each of the above configurations, functions, processing units, processing means and the like may be realized by hardware by designing a part or all of them by, for example, an integrated circuit.
Further, each of the above configurations, functions, and the like may be realized by software by the processor interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function.

Information such as programs, tables, and files that realize each function can be stored in memory, hard disks, recording devices such as SSDs (Solid State Drives), IC (Integrated Circuit) cards, SD cards, DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs), etc. Can be placed on the recording medium of.
In addition, the control lines and information lines indicate those that are considered necessary for explanation, and do not necessarily indicate all the control lines and information lines in the product. In practice, it can be considered that almost all configurations are interconnected.

1 Washer / dryer (electrical equipment)
2 User terminal 3 Maintenance staff terminal 4 Server (notification management server)
9 Maintenance support system 11 Sensor 12 Information storage unit 21 Information calculation unit 22 Notification unit 31 Information calculation unit 32 Notification unit 41 Deterioration degree judgment unit (deterioration degree calculation unit)
41b Deterioration calculation model 42 False detection judgment unit 42b Correction DB (deterioration degree judgment database)
43 Notification judgment unit 43b Notification threshold DB
44 Factor determination unit 45 Notification destination classification unit 45b Notification destination DB (Notification destination database)

Claims

A deterioration degree calculation unit that receives the operation data of the electric device to be diagnosed and obtains the deterioration degree of the diagnosis target indicating the degree of deterioration that has occurred for each device part of the electric device based on the received operation data.
A deterioration degree judgment database in which information indicating whether or not the deterioration degree is improved with the passage of time is registered for each device location of the electric device, and a deterioration degree determination database.
The deterioration degree of the diagnosis target is compared with the past deterioration degree, and when the deterioration degree of the diagnosis target is improved from the past deterioration degree as a result of the comparison, the deterioration degree determination database is referred to. A notification management server having a false detection determination unit for determining the correctness of the degree of deterioration of a diagnosis target.
The notification management server according to claim 1, wherein the false detection determination unit corrects the deterioration degree of the diagnosis target with the past deterioration degree when the deterioration degree of the diagnosis target is incorrect.
The notification management server further includes a notification determination unit.
The notification determination unit relates to the deterioration degree of the diagnosis target by comparing the deterioration degree of the diagnosis target output by the false detection determination unit with the first threshold value of the deterioration degree set for each device location. The notification management server according to claim 1, wherein it determines whether or not to notify the deterioration contents to the outside.
In addition to the comparison result between the degree of deterioration of the diagnosis target and the first threshold value, the notification determination unit sets the amount of change in the degree of deterioration of the diagnosis target and the second threshold value for the amount of change in the degree of deterioration set for each device. The notification management server according to claim 3, wherein it is determined whether or not to notify the deterioration content to the outside based on the comparison result of the above.
The notification management server further includes a factor determination unit and a notification destination classification unit.
Based on the received operation data, the factor determination unit obtains the cause of deterioration that the notification determination unit determines to notify the deterioration content to the outside.
The notification destination classification unit refers to the notification destination database that defines the notification destination for each deterioration factor, and selects a notification destination corresponding to the deterioration factor obtained by the factor determination unit from a plurality of candidates. The notification management server according to claim 3, which is characterized.
The notification management server has a deterioration degree calculation unit, a deterioration degree judgment database, and a false detection judgment unit.
The deterioration degree calculation unit receives the operation data of the electric device to be diagnosed, and based on the received operation data, determines the deterioration degree of the diagnosis target indicating the degree of deterioration generated for each device part of the electric device. Ask,
In the deterioration degree determination database, information indicating whether or not the deterioration degree is improved with the passage of time is registered for each device location of the electrical device.
The false detection determination unit compares the degree of deterioration of the diagnosis target with the degree of deterioration in the past, and when the degree of deterioration of the diagnosis target is improved from the degree of deterioration in the past as a result of the comparison, the degree of deterioration is said. A notification management method characterized in that the correctness of the degree of deterioration of the diagnosis target is determined with reference to a determination database.