JP3864286B2 - Service system and service method for air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a service system for maintenance, inspection, operation monitoring, etc. of an air conditioner, and is particularly suitable for making maintenance work quick or accurate when a failure occurs.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in order to respond quickly to abnormalities in the air conditioner control status and requests for version upgrades, the air conditioner indicates abnormal data indicating that the control status has become abnormal, upgrade information that improves the program, etc. And is made accessible by using a communication system of a wireless communication terminal, for example, described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-132362. In addition, by monitoring the operation status, storing the information in the HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) file format and providing it on the Internet, it is possible to quickly perform failure diagnosis and response when an abnormality occurs. For example, it is described in JP-A-11-230602.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-10-132362 [Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-230602
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The above prior art is desirable in order for a service person or the like to quickly respond to an abnormality of an air conditioner in an individual system, or to prevent a failure stop in advance. However, in recent years, individual decentralization has progressed, making it more complicated, for example, a large number of units are used in a single building, speeding up information transmission, sharing information, etc. Demand is increasing in all areas from factory design to development department.
[0005]
In view of the above situation, the object of the present invention is not only for customers who use air conditioners, but also for building owners, managers, management companies, maintenance departments, manufacturing departments, design departments, and development departments. To provide an air conditioner service system that provides total solutions.
[0006]
The present invention also provides a service system for an air conditioner that not only speeds up the service, but also enables building owners, managers, and management companies to reduce labor costs and running costs for management. is there.
Another object of the present invention is to enhance the service to the customer side in accordance with the contract contents in the air conditioner service system.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, in one aspect of the present invention , an air conditioner service system includes a customer database storing contract details for each customer, and an operation information database storing operation information of a plurality of air conditioners. The air conditioner abnormality or abnormality indication is determined from the operation information, and information indicating the abnormality or abnormality indication content is transmitted to the terminal device based on the contract details for each customer stored in the customer database. It is supposed to be.
Furthermore, the information indicating the content of the abnormality or the sign of abnormality transmitted to the terminal device based on the contract content is an abnormality, a sign of abnormality or an operation schedule of the air conditioner.
Furthermore, in another aspect of the present invention, an air conditioner service method using the above air conditioner service system is provided.
[0008]
Moreover, in the above, it is desirable to display a failure code, a failure name, and system information in the building of the air conditioner in which an abnormality has occurred as information indicating the content of the abnormality on the display screen of the mobile phone.
Furthermore, in the above, it is desirable that the mobile phone displays information by sequentially switching the display screen.
[0009]
Furthermore, in the above, the information based on the contract rank includes information indicating that an alarm has occurred in the air conditioner, and monitoring the operation status to analyze the operation information in order to prevent a malfunction stop and to display an abnormality sign. It is desirable to include information to be displayed, temperature setting, air volume setting, or operation schedule management.
Furthermore, in the above, it is desirable that information on how to deal with and deal with an abnormality or a sign of abnormality from the mobile phone can be input.
[0010]
Furthermore, in the above, it is preferable that the information transmitted from the monitoring center to the mobile phone includes a link that can be accessed by a single action to a response homepage provided by the monitoring center.
[0011]
Further, in the above, it is desirable that the billing information is determined according to the contract rank.
[0012]
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a monitoring center server system for monitoring and maintaining an air conditioner, a customer database storing customer information, and an operation information database storing operation information of the air conditioner for each customer, A device information database associated with each customer of the customer database and storing model information of the air conditioner, the contract rank for each customer is stored in the customer database, and the monitoring center determines the operation information from the operation information. An abnormality of the air conditioner is determined, and if it is determined that there is an abnormality, the information based on the contract rank is determined to be abnormal to the mobile phone connected to the monitoring center via the Internet and capable of displaying character information. The customer information and the model information for the operation information are transmitted.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention with reference to the 7 Figures 1 will be described.
Reference numeral 101 denotes an air conditioner, which is usually connected with a combination of a plurality of indoor units and outdoor units, and is used in various forms such as offices, commercial facilities, hotels, and houses. Also, in recent years, large-scale city plans centering on office buildings have increased the size of air-conditioning equipment, and the business form and time zone have become complicated, requiring facility operation, management, and maintenance.
The air conditioner 101 can be used by one customer at one location, for example, with 16 outdoor units and 128 indoor units as one set, and a plurality of sets are installed, with 128 outdoor units and 1024 indoor units. Many are networked. Conventionally, packaged air conditioners were often networked independently, but recently, an open network at the equipment level has been promoted.
[0014]
In FIG. 1, the air conditioner 101 is connected to the data transfer apparatus 102 and monitors the operation state of the air conditioner 101. Therefore, as the operation information, for example, the temperature of the main part in the refrigeration cycle (set temperature of each indoor unit) , Suction temperature, discharge temperature, etc.), pressure value, compressor current, frequency, etc.) are transmitted regularly or irregularly.
The data transfer device 102 holds data from the air conditioner 101 and transmits control signals such as on / off, temperature setting, air volume control, operation schedule and management thereof to the air conditioner 101. Further, the data transfer device 10 2 is connected to the processing unit 103, processor 103 may communicate the data transfer apparatus 102 and two-way, it is possible to perform control and monitoring of the operating state of the air conditioner 101. Then, bidirectional communication is performed with the transmission / reception server 201 via the communication adapter 104 and the communication line 105. Monitoring of the state of the air conditioner 101 and control commands can be performed by the transmission / reception server 201, and the function of the communication adapter 104 may be enhanced to be integrated with the processing device 103 or the data transfer device 102.
[0015]
In addition to the transmission / reception server 201, the monitoring center 1 serving as a monitoring device for the air conditioner 101 monitors data from the transmission / reception server 201 and monitors the operating state of the air conditioner 101, air conditioning Service that stores information highly dependent on models such as specifications for each model of the machine 101, such as appropriate installation conditions, that is, a device information database 203 that stores model information, and information on a service store that maintains the air conditioner The store database 204 has a parts information database 205 for storing part number for ordering maintenance parts for each air conditioner, the amount of inventory, information on the delivery time required for delivery, and image information such as photographs, and the like. Alternatively, it may be in XML (eXtensible Markup Language) format.
[0016]
In addition, the monitoring center 1 has a history of failure of the air conditioner 101, operation data at the time of failure, failure that stores operation information of the air conditioner 101 in a steady operation state, an operation information database 206, an air conditioner. 101 customer database 207 for storing information about the customer 101, failure code database 208 for storing the contents of the failure code of the air conditioner, the probable cause, the cause investigation method, the recovery method, creating screen information in hypertext, Web display database 210 to be stored as data for WWW browser browsing software, technical manual database 211 to store notes on air conditioner installation work, trial operation methods, handling precautions, usage manuals, etc. Fire that protects the customer database 207 from access When an air conditioner failure occurs, operation information, device information, customer information, etc. of the air conditioner are collected from the failure, operation information database 206, device information database 203, customer database 207, etc. A failure data monitoring software 301 for managing the whole is provided.
[0017]
The failure data monitoring software 301 is connected to the Internet 306 via the router 305, and issues notification software that issues an alarm that is an abnormality or a sign of abnormality or retry information that is a sign of an alarm to the outside by e-mail or the like. 302 and FAX transmission software 303 that transmits a FAX directly to the terminal.
The driving information indicating the driving state is stored for each customer in the customer database 207, the device information database 203 stores the model information for each model, and the model information is associated with each customer in the customer database 207, that is, at least for each customer. The model used can be specified, and if the customer is specified, the details of the model used can be searched.
[0018]
The mobile phone 406 displays information corresponding to at least several hundred characters. For example, i-mode (registered trademark of NTT Mobile Communications Network Co., Ltd.), J-phone (Tokyo Digital Phone Co., Ltd.) Trademark) is desirable. The mobile phone 406 has built-in mail software 407 that can browse and create Internet mail and web software 408 that can display screen information created in hypertext. Further, the mobile PC 405, which is a small personal computer for movement, is connected to browse information of the failure data monitoring software 301. The mobile phone 404 is connected to the mobile PC 405, connects the web software 402 and the mail software 403 built in the mobile PC 405 to the Internet 306, and browses the information of the failure data monitoring software 301.
[0019]
The customer management source 401 can connect to the Internet 306 and browse the information of the failure data monitoring software 301 by using the built-in web software 402 or mail software 403 in a personal computer or the like.
[0020]
Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
When a failure, abnormality, or a sign of abnormality occurs in the air conditioner 101, operation information is transmitted to the air conditioner 101 to the transmission / reception server 201, and the data is retained.
Since the monitoring software 202 is monitoring the operation information, it is determined that the operation information is abnormal, and the data (information indicating the content of the abnormality, date and time of occurrence, information on the number of times of retry, etc.) and the like are displayed as failure data monitoring software. 301 is notified.
The failure data monitoring software 301 obtains the operation information at the time of failure or the normal operation information from the failure / operation information database 206 for the air conditioner 101 in which an abnormality or a sign of abnormality has occurred, the device specifications, installation conditions, etc. Specific data from the device information database 203, contact information and the name of the person in charge of maintenance from the service store database 204, list of maintenance parts and inventory status from the parts information database 205, customer name and contact information From customer database 207, failure cause investigation method, failure estimation cause and recovery method from failure code database 208, screen information created in hypertext corresponding to www browser from web display database 210 for trial operation method and installation Information on precautions, handling methods, etc. From Interview Al database 211, simultaneously or collected as required.
[0021]
Here, since the device information database 203 stores information for each model of the air conditioner 101 associated with each customer of the customer database 207 in which information about the customer is stored, the failure data monitoring software is stored in the customer database 203. For example, information indicating the details of the abnormality and the customer information and the model information in the operation information determined to be abnormal are stored in the alarm mail (information indicating the content of the abnormality, occurrence The data is transmitted to the mobile phone 406 capable of displaying text information by e-mail as a retry mail (information on the number of times of retrying, information such as the number of times). A plurality of transmission destinations may be registered in advance for each customer in the monitoring center 1 and may be plural. The contract details are, for example, a simple contract that is communicated only when an alarm is generated in the air conditioner, and the operation information is analyzed in order to constantly monitor the operating state and prevent failure stoppage before reporting any signs of abnormality. The contract “b” for maintenance, the contract “c” for temperature setting, air volume setting, or operation schedule management are determined and charged etc. are also ranked.
[0022]
Since the mobile phone 406 can be easily owned by a service person or the like at any time, if there is an abnormality or sign of abnormality in the air conditioner, it can be immediately known, and at the same time, customer information and model information are also transmitted. Therefore, prompt customer service is possible.
Also, if the failure code, the failure name, and the system information in the building of the air conditioner where the abnormality has occurred are displayed on the display screen of the mobile phone 406 as information indicating the content of the abnormality, the abnormality or the sign of abnormality can be known. In addition to the response at the time, the quick and appropriate processing is facilitated not only in the investigation as the initial response after going to the site where the air conditioner 101 is installed.
Further, if the mobile phone 406 displays information by sequentially switching the display screen, it is easy to understand and respond even if the amount of information is increased.
[0023]
The failure data monitoring software notifies the cause of the failure, installation location, and contact information so that recovery of the air conditioner failure can be quickly and accurately acted as the contents of the transmitted data. Or how to respond to signs of anomalies,
The service person inputs the information on what to do to make it possible to respond, based on the response,
The customer management source 401 is notified of the progress of the maintenance work . In order to notify the progress of the maintenance work , for example, the monitoring center 1 provides information related to the abnormality including the progress of the maintenance work as a homepage on the Internet . The mobile phone 406 is an input terminal for accessing the home page. Here, if the display screen of the mobile phone 406 includes a link that can be accessed by a single action to the response homepage provided by the monitoring center 1, details such as the progress of the maintenance work are sent to the monitoring center 1. You can contact me. If it is possible to input at least whether or not a serviceman has arrived at the site as information responding to the monitoring center 1, the monitoring center 1 can check the progress of maintenance work and investigate the cause separately. It is possible to support service personnel who are working locally.
[0024]
In addition, the failure data monitoring software in the monitoring center 1 can be used to display text information so that a service person can perform a search for the cause of failure, search for the part number of maintenance parts, check inventory, and perform ordering operations. Data is transmitted to the telephone 406, and communication is performed via the Internet 306 or the direct telephone line 410. In other words, the mobile phone 406 or the mobile PC 405 serving as a terminal device can access the monitoring center 1 via the Internet, and an order for maintenance parts related to the failure code can be input from the terminal device. As a result, it is possible to quickly respond to repair of the air conditioner 101, and to reduce labor costs in ordering. In addition, if information indicating the price, inventory, and delivery date of a maintenance part is provided from the monitoring center 1 to the terminal device upon placing an order for the maintenance part, the local service person can appropriately select the part. Furthermore, since an invoice is created in conjunction with the order of the maintenance parts and can be distributed from the monitoring center 1 to the customer, it is possible to process parts more quickly and reliably.
[0025]
Next, display and operation examples on the display mobile phone 406 will be specifically described with reference to FIGS.
2 to 6 show display screens of the mobile phone 406. FIG. Each screen may be displayed continuously or as another screen, but it is desirable to display information by sequentially switching the display screen. In addition, it is preferable to provide a function such that a part of the screen cannot be easily accessed by providing a password. In addition, the character information on each screen takes into account the length of a single segment of character information that can be transmitted and displayed, and using an abbreviation or a predetermined symbol reduces the amount of information and makes it easier to see and reduce costs. Good in terms of.
[0026]
The initial information screen 601 in FIG. 2 conveys initial information of the failure that has occurred to the service person, and includes a failure code and failure name indicating the content of the failure that has occurred, a management number such as data individually assigned to the failure, and failure The system information in the building of the air conditioner that has been used is displayed. FIG. 3 displays the date and time when the failure occurred, the name of the building indicating the installation location, the customer name and customer contact information, and the installation room of the failure-occurring air conditioner. As a result, the service person can judge the urgency of the response, the contact with the customer, the time required for the maintenance work, and the necessary materials in comparison with the experience. In addition, it is desirable to display information that suggests a response method on behalf of a skilled service person for a service person who is inexperienced.
[0027]
4 and 5, a link button for accessing a response homepage prepared for each occurrence failure is displayed as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) on the screen, and is provided by the monitoring center 1 serving as a server. It is a link that allows access to the response homepage with a single-action.
The response home page is configured as shown in FIG. 7, for example, and in addition to displaying the above-mentioned various types of information, the response status such as termination and mail transmission can be entered by clicking a command button on the screen.
[0028]
In addition, a, b, c, and d on the screen in the figure display a mail template as a response mail. It is preferable that the text can be composed by selecting and deleting it so that it can be easily operated. Arbitrary character information can be input, for example, arrival at the site. It is desirable to have a memo that can arbitrarily describe whether or not it has been completed, the time it takes to arrive at the site, the name of the person in charge, the schedule of the field work and the work results. Further, the reply mail address to which this mail is distributed is displayed as shown in FIG. Thereby, the service person can report the situation of the site itself even if he is moving or the telephone of the monitoring center 1 is blocked. The monitoring center 1 can confirm the response of the service person, and can promptly contact the customer or give an instruction to the service person. FIG. 6 is a page following the display screen of the response mail, in which it is possible to enter whether or not the customer has been contacted, how long it has been since arrival, and whether or not the restoration has been made.
[0029]
Further, the failure code database 208 stores information indicating the content of the abnormality for each failure code and its estimated cause. In the parts information database 205, the maintenance part information is associated with each device and the failure code in the device information database 203. It has been. Therefore, for example, a screen for confirming the price, inventory, and delivery date of a replacement part on a mobile phone 406 as a terminal device, a replacement part ordering screen, a replacement part search screen, a photograph of a replacement part, a history of failure In addition, it is preferable to prepare a screen for displaying operation data before the failure. In conjunction with these orders, the monitoring center 1 is provided with a service function capable of simultaneously creating estimates and invoices on the Internet homepage, Internet mail, documents, etc., and distributing them to customers. In addition, the monitoring center 1 preferably statistics information on the failure history for each model in the device information database 203 and makes it possible to view the results on the homepage. If the data is in XML format, the estimate, invoice, customer Regardless of the application for creating e-mails, statistical results, graph display, etc., it is suitable for sharing data.
[0030]
With the above, processing can be automatically advanced, and compared to the conventional method, it can be used in trains where mobile phone use is restrained and during meetings, and because it is processed as text information, there are no misunderstandings, Reliability is also improved. Further, by displaying only a part of the screen on the mobile phone 406 of the customer's equipment person in charge, the service to the customer side is enhanced according to the contract contents.
[0031]
Further, since the monitoring center 1 monitors the operating state of the air conditioner 101 and manages maintenance, inspection, etc., for example, nationwide statistics can be automatically taken, and improvement of service quality can be planned. it can.
Further, instead of the mobile phone 406, a mobile PC 405, which is a movable personal computer, and a mobile phone 404 may be connected, or a personal computer 401 of a customer management source may be used to provide character information services for cable TV and wireless TV. If used as a display means method, it is desirable in terms of speeding up communication.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, in the service system of an air conditioner, the service to the customer side can be enriched according to the contract content.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an entire system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a front view showing an initial screen of the mobile phone according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a front view showing a next screen following FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a front view showing a response screen of the mobile phone according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a front view showing the next screen following FIG. 4;
6 is a front view showing the next screen following FIG. 5. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a screen showing a response homepage according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Monitoring center, 101 ... Air conditioner, 102 ... Data transfer apparatus, 104 ... Communication adapter, 201 ... Server for transmission / reception, 202 ... Monitoring software, 203 ... Equipment information database, 204 ... Service store database, 205 ... Parts information database 206 ... Driving information database, 207 ... Customer database, 208 ... Fault code database, 306 ... Internet, 405 portable personal computer, 406 ... Mobile phone, 407 ... Small mail software, 601 ... Mobile phone display screen, 602 ... Mobile phone Phone display screen, 603 ... mobile phone display screen, 604 ... mobile phone display screen, 605 ... mobile phone display screen.

Claims (4)

An operation information database for storing operation information of a plurality of air conditioners; and a customer database in which contract contents regarding a contract rank for information communication regarding an abnormality for each customer using the air conditioner are stored, and the operation information Judgment of abnormalities of air conditioners or signs of abnormalities from the above, and the above-mentioned judgments in addition to the judged abnormalities based on the contract contents concerning the contract rank for information communication concerning the abnormalities for each customer stored in the customer database An air conditioner service system characterized by transmitting information indicating the content of an abnormality sign to a terminal device.   2. The air conditioner service system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device is a terminal device used by a serviceman or a customer management source. The order of receiving the operation information of a plurality of air conditioners , and the contract rank for the information communication regarding the abnormality for each customer stored in the customer database by judging the abnormality or sign of abnormality of the air conditioner from the operation information And a procedure for transmitting information indicating the content of the abnormality or the sign of abnormality to the terminal device based on the content of the contract regarding the air conditioner service method.   4. The air conditioner service method according to claim 3, wherein the terminal device is a terminal device used by a serviceman or a customer management source.

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