JP2001141290A - Air conditioner and its monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner suitable for transmission of apparatus control information necessary to monitoring and maintenance to a remote manager by air conditioners situated in a state to be dispersed in spots. SOLUTION: In an air conditioner provided with a control device 30 to hold control information, such as operation date of a refrigerating cycle and data related to prevention maintenance of an apparatus, a monitoring device 50 is provided to comprise a subsidary communication means 57 connected to the control device 30 and retrieving control information and an alarm, a memory means 56 to store the retrieved control information, a data editing means 54 to edit control information in the memory means 56 in a predetermined format, a converting means 53 to convert edited control information to an HTML file format, a host communication means to transmit the converted control information and alarm through a telephone circuit, and a computing means 59 to control each means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner which is distributed and installed in various places, and which is suitable for providing control information necessary for monitoring to a manager or a person concerned at a remote place. Related to air conditioners.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a system for monitoring a large number of air conditioners installed in a building by a central monitoring device in the building, and remotely monitoring a large number of air conditioners installed in the building by a management center. A system is known in which the obtained monitoring data is stored in a database, used for monitoring and maintenance of the air conditioner, and the database is made public on the Internet. However, there is not yet a system for monitoring air conditioners installed in a small area with a small number of one to several air conditioners. As a system for monitoring a large number of air conditioners installed in a building in a narrow area, there are the following systems.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-98778 discloses a controller for controlling equipment (air conditioning equipment and lighting equipment) installed in a building, and a central controller for communicating with the controller to control all equipment in the building. A building monitoring device including a monitoring device is disclosed. The controller collects the operation status of the equipment and stores the collected operation status, for example, the operation status (operation / stop, integrated time) at a certain date and time, and the presence or absence of an abnormal stop as the failure history, and the date and time as history data. The history data is transferred in response to a request from the central monitoring device. The central monitoring device requests history data from the controller, and displays the transferred history data on a screen.
According to this building monitoring device, failure history data of equipment and the like can be directly read from the controller, so that a storage device for failure history conventionally used in a building management system can be reduced.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-177611 discloses a browser provided in a browser-side computer, a server provided in a server-side computer connected to a network, and a management point (for example, a heat source in a building). There is disclosed a state monitoring system including state information collecting means for collecting state information of a device, an air conditioner, and a security device. In response to an information transmission request from the browser means, the server means sends the current state information of the various management points from the state information collection means to the browser means, and displays the current state information of the various management points sent on the display device screen. To be displayed. According to this state monitoring system,
By configuring the communication line of the status monitoring system with the Internet or an intranet, it is possible to perform real-time status monitoring anywhere on a computer connected to the status monitoring system, thereby enabling flexible operation.

As another remote monitoring system for a number of air conditioners installed in a building,
“Remote monitoring and maintenance system” (manufacturer catalog SR
-567, 1998.8). This system consists of a controller that collects data from the air conditioner, a communication unit that transfers data from the controller, and a management center that has a database that stores data from the communication unit and publishes it on the Internet. Have been. In this remote monitoring and maintenance system, the communication unit transfers the operating time and operating data of the air conditioner to the management center, analyzes the data on the management center side, and uses the results to perform normal fault monitoring and preventive maintenance. And other services.

[0006]

As described above, the conventional monitoring system is used to monitor a large number of air conditioners installed in a building, and one to several units are installed in a wide area. In order to monitor the air conditioners distributed in a small number of units, there is a problem that the air conditioners are large, unwieldy and expensive. As an air conditioner dispersed in a small number, for example, there is an air conditioner installed in a base station of a mobile communication (cellular phone) or a convenience store. The base stations are scattered in large areas at relatively short distances, and the telephone exchanges in the base stations are cooled for 24 hours. Due to the public role played by the base station, it is necessary to prevent the failure of the telephone exchange, and an air conditioner for cooling the telephone exchange requires high reliability. For this purpose, it is important to monitor the operating condition of the air conditioner and to prevent the air conditioner from malfunctioning, or to quickly repair the malfunction when the malfunction occurs.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is an air conditioner that is installed in a small number at one location and is dispersed in the installation location. It is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner provided with a monitoring device for transmitting control information necessary for monitoring and maintenance of the air conditioner.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a monitoring device suitable for monitoring the air conditioner.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, an air conditioner of the present invention holds control information such as operation data of a refrigeration cycle, a history of failures of components of the refrigeration cycle and data on preventive maintenance. An air conditioner provided with a control device for issuing an alarm when an operation is abnormal, wherein one or more air conditioners are installed in each building, one at a time and one at a time. Connect to the device,
A monitoring device for transmitting the alarm and the control information to a management section of the air conditioner through a transmission medium, for example, a telephone line, is provided.

In the above air conditioner, the monitoring device is connected to a control device of the air conditioner to receive control information and an alarm, and a storage device for storing the control information extracted by the reception communication device. A data editing unit that edits the control information in the storage unit into a predetermined format; a conversion unit that converts the control information edited by the editing unit into a predetermined communication language; And transmission-side communication means for transmitting the control information and the alarm through a transmission medium.

[0011] It is preferable that the monitoring device is provided with a communication destination storage means for storing a communication destination to be connected from its own transmission side communication means via a telephone line. With this, it is possible to notify a plurality of notification destinations when the operation of the air conditioner is abnormal, and it is possible to more reliably convey the abnormality.

It is preferable that the monitoring device is provided with mutual data storage means for storing a history of failure of the refrigeration cycle transmitted from any of the monitoring devices of the other air conditioners. Accordingly, even if one air conditioner stops due to an abnormality and a failure history cannot be obtained from the monitoring device, the failure history of the one air conditioner can be obtained from the mutual data storage means of the monitoring device of another air conditioner. It is possible to take quick and reliable measures against abnormalities.

An abnormality occurrence prediction means for storing a replacement time of a periodic replacement part such as a bearing of a compressor which is a component of a refrigeration cycle and issuing an alarm at the time, and an environmental condition such as a salt damage area, a strong wind area and the like. It is preferable to provide an environment determining means for setting the air-conditioning apparatus installed in a place having a bad condition by discounting the replacement time from the standard replacement time and notifying the abnormality occurrence prediction device. Thus, maintenance of the air conditioner can be performed more reliably.

[0014] In order to achieve the above another object, the monitoring device for an air conditioner of the present invention includes operating data of a refrigeration cycle,
A monitoring device for an air conditioner, comprising a control device for holding control information such as data related to preventive maintenance of the refrigeration cycle components and transmitting an alarm when an operation is abnormal, the control device being connected to the control device and transmitting the control information and the alarm. A transmitting communication means to be taken out;
Storage means for storing the control information extracted by the transmitting side communication means; data editing means for editing the control information in the storage means into a predetermined format; It comprises a conversion means for converting into a communication language, and a transmitting communication means for transmitting the control information and the alarm converted by the conversion means through a transmission medium.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiment 1 Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an air conditioner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The air conditioner 10 of the first embodiment is roughly divided into a compressor 11, a condenser 12, an expansion valve 13, and an evaporator 14,
A refrigeration cycle component including a condenser blower 15 and an evaporator blower 16, a control device 30 for controlling the refrigeration cycle, and the air conditioner 10 which monitors the air conditioner 10 via the control device 30 and passes through a telephone line as a transmission medium. And a monitoring device 50 that communicates with the outside. Here, the monitoring device 50 is built in the air conditioner 10 together with the control device 30 and is provided in one air conditioner. However, the monitoring device is of a separate type and is connected to each control device of a plurality of air conditioners. Alternatively, a configuration for monitoring a plurality of air conditioners may be adopted.

The refrigeration cycle equipment of the air conditioner 10 is installed separately for an outdoor unit and an indoor unit. Speaking of the state of the cooling operation, generally, the outdoor unit includes the compressor 11 and the condenser 12.
The outdoor heat exchanger is installed as an
3. An indoor heat exchanger as the evaporator 14 is installed. A remote control switch (hereinafter, referred to as a remote controller) for operating the air conditioner is connected to the indoor unit.

The control device 30 holds a lot of control information for controlling the operation of the air conditioner 10. The control information held by the control device 30 of the existing air conditioner includes the following. The information on the surrounding environment of the air conditioner includes the outside air temperature, the suction air temperature (room temperature) of the indoor unit, the presence or absence of a momentary power failure of the power supply voltage, and the presence or absence of a person in the room. FIG. 1 shows the thermistors 35 and 36 for measuring the outside air temperature and room temperature, and a power failure detection device 4.
5 shows a human body radiation sensor 38 that detects the presence or absence of a person by the radiation heat of the person.

The information (operating data) relating to the steady operating state of the air conditioner includes the condensation temperature and evaporation temperature of the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle, the discharge gas temperature and suction gas temperature of the compressor, and the discharge pressure of the compressor. And the suction pressure, the compressor operating current, the air temperature on the outlet side of the evaporator, the number of revolutions of each blower for the evaporator and the condenser, the opening degree of the expansion valve, and the like. FIG.
Thermistors 31, 32, 43, 42, and 37 for measuring the condensation temperature, the evaporation temperature, the discharge gas temperature, the suction gas temperature, and the blow-off air temperature, and the pressure for measuring the discharge pressure and the suction pressure. The sensors 34 and 33 show an ammeter 39 for measuring the compressor operating current.

There is also information such as whether the air conditioner is normal or abnormal, is retrying (automatic return operation), or is in an alarm (alarm transmission) state for notifying the abnormality. There is also information on the target indoor air temperature (indoor setting temperature). The alarm is transmitted from the control device when the air conditioner is in an abnormal state and retry is repeated a predetermined number of times, or when the protection control of the air conditioner has been continued for a predetermined time. At this time, the operation of the air conditioner is stopped. By the way, as an example of the retry, when the discharge pressure of the compressor rises abnormally, the protection control may function, and the flow of the refrigerant may be stopped for several minutes while the operation of the blower is continued. This may be due to the lack of heat exchange due to fouling of the condenser and the ambient temperature being too high. To check for this, the flow of the refrigerant is stopped for a few minutes and then restarted.

In addition, as control information of the air conditioner, information on maintenance such as history of air conditioner failure, operation data immediately before the failure, integrated operation time of compressor and blower, number of retries and alarms, and air conditioner control information. The installation conditions of the unit include the length of the piping, the height difference between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit, and the number of the air conditioner.

Further, the control device 30 provides data relating to preventive maintenance, judging from the various data. For example, when the current of the compressor 11 is large, the bearing of the compressor 11 may be damaged, the operating time reaches the recommended replacement life, the discharge pressure of the compressor 11 is high, and the compressor heat exchanger 12 Provide data indicating that dirt is assumed. Further, the control device 30 is configured to specify whether the faulty part is a blower or a thermistor.

Normally, such information held by the air conditioner is displayed on a display unit provided on the remote controller of the air conditioner or on a display unit provided on the board of the control device 1 (such as a 7-segment LED or LE).
D), or a device carried by a service technician who performs maintenance, and can be referenced by a data analysis device or a dedicated monitoring device having a dedicated program built therein. Such display can be realized by communication between the control devices of the indoor unit and the outdoor unit constituting the air conditioner and the remote controller using transmission signals unique to the air conditioner. For example, the fault location can be known by an alarm code (code) displayed on the remote controller.

Referring to FIG. 2, the configuration of the monitoring device 50 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The monitoring device 50 is a control device 3 of the air conditioner.
This is a device that provides the control information held by 0 to a manager of a management section at a location remote from the installation location of the air conditioner via the telephone line 51. The manager is a WW for the Internet
Information is received by a personal computer having W browser software (software for searching in a hierarchical structure).

The monitoring device 50 is connected to the control device 30 and extracts the control information held by the control device 30. The lower communication device 57 is a receiving side communication device, and the monitoring device 50 transmits data 56 as the control information extracted by the lower communication device 57. A storage unit 55 for storing the data, a data editing unit 54 for editing the control information in the storage unit 55 into a predetermined format, and an HTML that uses the control information edited by the editing unit 54 on the Internet as a communication language. A converting unit 53 for converting to a file format, a higher-level communication unit 52 as a transmitting-side communication unit for transmitting the control information converted to the HTML file format via the telephone line 51,
To 55 and 57. The storage unit 55 stores the control information edited by the data editing unit 54 together with the control information input by the lower communication unit 57.

Next, the operation of the monitoring device 50 will be described. When the control device 30 of the air conditioner 10 transmits an alarm signal, the monitoring device 50 receives the alarm signal by the lower communication means 57, and the arithmetic device 59 stores the alarm signal in the storage means 55, the data editing means 54, and the conversion means. 53, and the signal is transmitted from the telephone line 51 by the upper communication means 52. At the same time, the arithmetic means 59 fetches the control information held by the control device 30 by the lower communication means 57 and stores the control information in the storage means 55.
To edit the data into a predetermined format and store it in the storage means 55. When there is a response to the alarm from the manager, the calculating means 59 converts the edited control information stored in the storage means 55 into an HTML file format by the converting means 53, and the higher-level communication means 62 through the telephone line 51. send. In addition, when converted to other word processing formats etc., you can easily view it with word processing software on your personal computer, use it freely on the receiving side,
The data can be easily transferred to any software created on the receiving side, and the usability of the user is improved.

Next, a monitoring system for monitoring the air conditioner 10 equipped with the monitoring device 30 scattered in a certain area will be described with reference to FIG. The installation location of the air conditioner is, for example, a base station of a mobile phone or a convenience store (referred to as a building). This monitoring system is an air conditioner 10 installed in scattered buildings 70A to 70E.
The monitoring devices 50A to 50E mounted on A to 10E, and a personal computer 73 connected to the monitoring devices 50A to 50E via the public telephone line 51 and installed in a management room 72. In a city, a base station is often provided in a room of a building or in a room of an apartment building, and is also installed in a hut in a remote island or a mountainous area. The management room 72, which is a management section, is generally installed in a building different from the building in which the air conditioner is installed, but it is not easy to live with any of them.

In such a monitoring system, when an administrator sends a personal computer 73 from one of the air conditioner monitoring devices and responds to an alarm,
From the monitoring device, information on the surrounding environment of the air conditioner, information on operating conditions (operating data), information on maintenance,
The number is transmitted to the computer in the management room. The manager selects the transmitted various information on the computer according to the software of the WWW browser, determines the information, and deals with the maintenance of the air conditioner.

As a result, it is possible to reduce the time required for restoring a failed part. In particular, uninhabited base stations for mobile communications (mobile phones) installed in places such as remote islands and mountainous areas that are hardly accessible to people, in apartments in urban areas, and facilities where there are no service personnel nearby. (For example, at a convenience store), information about preventive maintenance can be used to respond before a failure occurs, and if the location of the failure is identified and the parts required for recovery from the failure and the local conditions are known in advance, prompt action can be taken. And the economic effect of such a response is great.

Further, by performing preventive maintenance, simultaneous and multiple failures of the air conditioner can be prevented beforehand, and a large number of air conditioners can be monitored and maintained by one person. The cost for maintenance of the harmony device can be greatly reduced. In addition, since the environment around the air conditioner can be grasped, it is possible to detect the necessity of optimizing the operating environment of the air conditioner, and to take early measures to extend the life of the air conditioner. Thus, it is possible to provide customers with the usage and service of the air conditioner that minimizes the life cycle cost of the air conditioner.

Second Embodiment An air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a monitoring device having functions extended from the monitoring device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a monitoring system having expanded functions and using a separated monitoring device. The air conditioner according to the second embodiment differs from the monitoring device according to the first embodiment in that the notification destination storage unit 60 and the abnormality occurrence prediction unit 6
1. Various functions of an environment determination unit 62, a mutual data storage unit 63, and a system storage unit 64 are added. These various functions can be selectively provided, and all of them are controlled by the calculating means 59.

Further monitoring system shown in FIG. 5, a monitoring device 50A for monitoring the two air conditioners 10A ₁ and 10A ₂ in district, the monitoring apparatus 50B and another for monitoring the one of the air conditioner 10B two of the air conditioner 10C ₁ and 10C ₂ and the monitoring apparatus 50C to be monitored by the district, three monitoring at least one of the air conditioner, respectively monitoring device 50
D 50E, which represents D, 50E, and 50F as a group, is connected to a personal computer 73 in an administrator room 73 via a public line. The public line is provided with a monitoring system master 68 that monitors the monitoring devices 50A, 50B, 50C, and 50D and the personal computer 73 in the manager room 73.

Next, other functions of the monitoring device 50 shown in FIG. 4 will be described. The notification destination storage unit 60 stores a notification destination to which an alarm signal transmitted by the control device 30 is transmitted and a transmission order. As shown in FIG. 5, the notification destination is, first, the management room 72, second, for example, a service shop 74 that has a maintenance contract for an air conditioner, and third, the installation of the air conditioner. 24 located in designated areas
It is a management department such as a service shop 75 that handles time. The arithmetic unit 59 of the monitoring device 50 transmits the alarm signal to the manager room 72 by the higher-level communication unit, and after a lapse of a predetermined time (for example, 3 hours), if there is no response from the manager,
An alarm signal is transmitted to the second notification destination, and if no response is received from the second notification destination, control is performed so that an alarm signal is transmitted to the third notification destination. By providing the notification destination storage means 60 in this manner, the second or third notification destination can be used even when the first alarm signal does not end normally or when the alarm ends but the manager is absent. Since the alarm signal reaches the air conditioner, it is possible to more quickly deal with the abnormal air conditioner.

The abnormality occurrence predicting means 61 is provided for the air conditioner 10.
The data relating to preventive maintenance held in the control device 30 is provided. As described above, this data indicates that if the current of the compressor 11 is excessive, it is estimated that the bearing of the compressor 11 is damaged, the bearing reaches the recommended replacement life, the discharge pressure of the compressor 11 Is abnormally high, it is likely that the condenser heat exchanger 12 is contaminated. The abnormality occurrence prediction means 61 constantly checks the data of preventive maintenance in the control device 30. When the occurrence of abnormality is predicted, the arithmetic means 59 takes in the data of the preventive maintenance from the control device into the monitoring device 50, Telephone line 51 with alarm signal
To send through.

The environment determining means 62 is provided when the installation location of the air conditioner is poor in environmental conditions such as a salt-damaged area or a strong wind area, and determines the recommended time for regular replacement parts in the area and the standard replacement time. When the recommended time has been used, a warning is issued to prompt the user to replace the part together with the information on the used time. Before the typhoon season (or the snow season), a message or an alarm recommending a preliminary inspection of the air conditioner is issued based on a calendar of the air conditioner or the monitoring device. The regular replacement part is, for example, a condenser installed outdoors, and a cleaning interval thereof is set according to a salt-affected area or a strong wind area.

The mutual data storage means 63 is for storing data relating to the history of failures held between the monitoring devices of the two air conditioners, one of which is held by the control device of the other air conditioner. A plurality of monitoring devices 50 are appropriately paired and back up each other's data, so that when a certain monitoring device fails, the backup data is used. It should be noted that the backup is not limited to the pairing and may be sequentially performed in groups of three or more. In any case, the combination is stored so that the failure history held by the control device of one air conditioner can be found in any other air conditioner monitoring device. When the failure history is updated by the control device, the failure history of the monitoring device is also updated.

Generally, the data stored in the memory is
If it is important, data is written in two places to improve the reliability of the data. For example, a mirror disk of a server computer. However, they are generally expensive for memories of the same capacity.
Therefore, by having data mutually within the group, data backup can be realized at low cost.

The system storage means 64 stores the presence / absence of means constituting the monitoring system such as whether the notification destination storage means 60 or the monitoring system master 68 is provided. Then, the monitoring system master 68
When 0A issues an alarm to the management room 72, the alarm is received at the same time. The monitoring system master 68 monitors whether or not the processing for the alarm is proceeding properly on the manager (72) side. If the response does not seem to be proceeding, the monitoring system master 68 notifies the alarm again. And so on.

As shown in FIG. 5, the monitoring device 50D
Forms a group for each region by monitoring the status of the other monitoring devices 50E and 50F, and the manager (72) uses the monitoring device 50D to monitor the operating state of the air conditioner for each region.
You can understand just by accessing only.

Referring to FIG. 6, the above-mentioned monitoring system master 68
Will be described. The monitoring system master 68
Communication means 1 for communicating with the monitoring device 50 and the management room 72
00, a monitoring device 50 managed as a monitoring system master
Storage device 1 for storing the combination of the management room 72
01, a notification destination storage unit 102 for storing notification destinations such as the monitoring device 50 and the administrator room 72, the monitoring device 50 and the administrator room 7
It comprises an elapsed time monitoring device 103 that can store the communication time with the device 2 and measure the elapsed time, and an arithmetic unit 104 that controls the constituent devices 100 to 103.

An alarm from the monitoring device 50 is transmitted to the communication unit 100.
, The notification source is the management target storage unit 101
, The calculation means 104 stores the reception time. If the abnormality of the monitoring device is not cleared or the notification of the repair work cannot be received from the manager 72 even after the elapsed time set in the calculating means 104 in advance, an alarm is issued to the manager 72 again. .

<Third Embodiment> A monitoring system for monitoring a monitoring device of an air conditioner by connecting it to the Internet will be described with reference to FIG. The monitoring system includes a monitoring device 80A for monitoring the two air conditioners 10A ₁ and 10A ₂ in district, two air-conditioning in one monitoring device 80B with another district to monitor air conditioner 10B a monitoring device 80C which monitors the machine 10C ₁ and 10C _2, three monitoring at least one of the air conditioner, respectively monitoring device 80
D, 80E, and 80F are collectively represented as one group, and 80D representing the management room 73 via the Internet 90.
Is connected to a personal computer 73. And on the Internet 90, each monitoring device 80A, 80B,
A monitoring system master 92 for monitoring 80C and 80D and the personal computer 73 in the manager room 73 is provided.

The Internet 90 includes a monitoring device 80A,
A server 91A, which is an Internet service provider, which receives information related to the failure of the air conditioner transmitted from the telephone line 80B through a telephone line; and a server 91B, which edits the information related to the failure mailed from the server 91A into a home page. , A server 91D accessed by an administrator to browse the information of the server 91B. In this example, there is a server 91C as another service provider. In this example, the server 91A is connected with the monitoring device 80A for monitoring the two air conditioners 10A ₁ and 10A ₂ in a certain district and a monitoring device 80B for monitoring the one of the air conditioner 10B. Another server 91C
Includes a monitoring device 80C for monitoring the two air conditioner 10C ₁ and 10C ₂ in a different area, three monitoring at least one air conditioner respective monitoring device 80D, 80E,
80F is collectively connected as a group to 80D which is representative.

In the above-described monitoring system using the Internet, the monitoring device 80A transmits information on the failure to the Internet mail (hereinafter, referred to as “mail”) when the air conditioner fails.
Server 91A.
Send to The server 91A sends a mail to the server 91B using the mail server function. Server 91B
Edits the email data for publication. At this time, the monitoring system master 92 notifies the administrator of the occurrence of the failure of the air conditioner by mail through the personal computer 73 in the administrator room 72. The administrator connects the personal computer 73 to the server 91D, browses the homepage, and checks the failure information. Then, the manager (72) sends the personal computer 73 directly to the monitoring device 80A as necessary.
To obtain control information of the air conditioner monitored by the monitoring device 80A.

The configuration of the monitoring system master 92 will be described with reference to FIG. The monitoring system master 92 has a monitoring system master 68 as a basic configuration, and has a data conversion unit 111 and a data editing unit 112 added.

When an alarm from the monitoring device 50 is received by the communication unit 100 via the server 91B, and the notification source is included in the management target storage unit 101, the calculation unit 114 records the reception time. If the abnormality of the monitoring device 50 is not cleared or the notification of the repair work cannot be received from the manager 72 even after the elapsed time set in advance in the arithmetic means 114, the manager 72 is again alerted. Notify. The method of notifying the alarm state is performed by editing the data received from the monitoring device by attaching the alarm reception time recorded by the elapsed time monitoring device 103 by the data editing unit 112 to the data conversion unit 111.
Is converted to a mail format and notified.

A monitoring system in which the monitoring system master 92 is removed from the monitoring system shown in FIG. In this case, the monitoring device 80A converts the information regarding the failure into a form suitable for the mail, and transmits the information to the server 91A. The server 91A uses the mail server function to execute the server 91A.
Send an email to D. The monitoring device 80A is a server 91
A is temporarily disconnected from A, and the administrator's office 72 is connected via a telephone line.
To the personal computer 73. Manager (7
2) accesses the server 91D, browses the mail, and acquires failure information.

As another monitoring system, a monitoring device 8
OA converts the information regarding the failure into a form suitable for mail, connects to server 91D via a telephone line, and transmits the mail. The monitoring device 80A temporarily disconnects the connection with the server 91D and notifies the personal computer 73 in the manager room 72 via the telephone line. The manager (72) is the server 91D
To access the e-mail to get the failure information.

According to each monitoring system using the Internet as described above, the operating condition of the air conditioner can be known in detail at a plurality of locations, so that maintenance in the event of a failure, arrangement of maintenance parts, Contact with related departments can be implemented without fail. In addition, as preventive maintenance, it is possible to determine the risk of occurrence of a failure from the operation data of the air conditioner, and it is also possible to easily obtain an opinion of an expert located in a place other than the viewer.

The monitoring device does not normally generate an event (information provision), but generates an event when an alarm occurs.
It is extremely effective to construct a system for monitoring the event, that is, a monitoring system master 92.
The benefits for users are great.

[0050]

According to the present invention, when an abnormality occurs in the air conditioner, control information necessary for monitoring and maintenance of the air conditioner equipment is transmitted from the monitoring device provided in the air conditioner to the management section through a telephone line. Therefore, even if air conditioners are installed in a small number at one location and the installation locations are dispersed, the management department can easily monitor from a remote location and quickly respond to a failure of the air conditioner. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a monitoring device provided in the air conditioner according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a monitoring system that remotely monitors the air conditioner according to the first embodiment through a public line.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a monitoring device provided in an air conditioner according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a monitoring system for remotely monitoring an air conditioner according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a monitoring system master in a monitoring system using a telephone line.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a monitoring system that remotely monitors the air conditioner according to the first embodiment using the Internet.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of a monitoring system master in a monitoring system using the Internet.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 air conditioner 30 control device 50 monitoring device 51 telephone line 52 upper communication means 53 converter 54 data conversion means 55 storage means 56 data 57 lower communication means 59 arithmetic unit 60 notification destination storage means 61 abnormality occurrence prediction means 62 environment Judgment means 63 Mutual data storage means 64 System storage means 68 Monitoring system master 70 Building 72 Manager's office 73 Personal computer 74, 75 Service store 80 Monitoring device 90 Internet 91 Server 92 Monitoring system master

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) H04Q 9/00 321 H04Q 9/00 321C (72) Inventor Naoshi Takai 390 Muramatsu, Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture Hitachi Air Conditioning System Co., Ltd. F-term in Shimizu Production Headquarters (reference) 3L061 BA05 BC07 BD03 5K048 AA06 AA08 BA08 BA51 DA03 DC07 EB02 EB08 GB08 HA01 HA02 5K101 KK13 LL01

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioner having a control device that retains control information such as operation data of a refrigeration cycle, a history of failures of the refrigeration cycle components and data on preventive maintenance, and issues an alarm when an operation is abnormal. The air conditioners were installed in each building scattered respectively, and provided with a monitoring device connected to the control device and transmitting the alarm and the control information to a management section of the air conditioner through a transmission medium. An air conditioner characterized by that: 2. An air conditioner comprising: a control device that retains control information such as operation data of a refrigeration cycle, data on failure history and preventive maintenance of components of the refrigeration cycle, and issues an alarm when operation is abnormal. Air conditioners are installed in each building scattered respectively, and receiving side communication means connected to the control device to take out the control information and the alarm, and control information taken out by the receiving side communication means Storage means for storing, data editing means for editing control information in the storage means into a predetermined format, conversion means for converting the control information edited by the editing means into a predetermined communication language, and conversion means An air conditioner, comprising: a monitoring device configured to transmit control information converted by the above and the alarm through a transmission medium. 3. The monitoring device is transmitted to the monitoring device from one of communication destination storage means for storing a communication destination connected via the telephone line and / or another monitoring device. The air conditioner according to claim 2, further comprising a mutual data storage unit that stores a failure history of the refrigeration cycle component device. 4. An abnormality occurrence predicting means for storing, in the monitoring device, a replacement time of a periodic replacement part such as a bearing of a compressor which is a component of the refrigeration cycle, and issuing an alarm at the time, The air according to claim 2, further comprising: an environment determining unit configured to set the replacement time by subtracting the replacement time from a standard replacement time for the air conditioner installed at a location and notify the abnormality occurrence prediction device. Harmony machine. 5. A monitoring device for an air conditioner, comprising: a control device that holds control information such as operation data of a refrigeration cycle, data related to preventive maintenance of the components of the refrigeration cycle, and issues an alarm when operation is abnormal. A transmitting-side communication unit that connects to a control device and retrieves the control information and the alarm; a storage unit that stores the control information retrieved by the transmitting-side communication unit; and a predetermined information that predetermines the control information in the storage unit. Data editing means for editing into a format, conversion means for converting the control information edited by the editing means into a predetermined communication language, transmission for transmitting the control information converted by the conversion means and the alarm through a transmission medium A monitoring device for an air conditioner, comprising: a side communication unit.