JP2002091913A - Remote maintenance system, and maintenance device and supporting device used for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately and easily provide a device located at a job site with a maintenance instruction from a remote place. SOLUTION: An error code acquiring part 31 acquires an error code showing the fault situation of a control object device 11, and a maintenance information presenting part 32 presents maintenance information acquired by transmitting the error code to a maintenance information server 42. In such a case, a maintenance information providing part 43 acquires the maintenance information from a maintenance information database on the basis of the error code transmitted from the part 32 and transmits the maintenance information to the part 32. 1st and 2nd video conference processing parts 34 and 51 display the monitored image of the device 11 around the time when a fault takes place in a technical center. In this remote maintenance system 1, a maintenance staff at the job site can obtain accurate maintenance information from the server 42 or a support staff of the technical center and perform restoration work.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote maintenance system for remotely providing a maintenance instruction to a device at a site, and a maintenance device and a support device used for the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, in many manufacturing industries, TCO (tota
l Reduction of cost of ownership), in particular, the cost associated with troubleshooting of manufacturing equipment and the reduction of business losses due to manufacturing equipment troubles have been emphasized.

[0003] For example, a factory has many manufacturing devices (machines).
Has been introduced. However, a trouble (failure) always occurs in the manufacturing apparatus. Then, when a trouble occurs, it is necessary to perform maintenance (maintenance) and recover quickly. Therefore, in a factory, it is desirable to arrange maintenance personnel who are familiar with the production equipment on the production line.

[0004] However, due to the hiring of skilled personnel and the education of human resources, enormous costs are incurred for securing maintenance personnel for various types of manufacturing equipment. Therefore, a user of the manufacturing apparatus requests maintenance of the manufacturing apparatus from a maker of the manufacturing apparatus. In this regard, it is difficult for a manufacturer of a manufacturing apparatus to provide support for users around the clock by arranging support staff for maintenance of the manufacturing apparatus in various places, which has resulted in enormous costs.

[0005]

Conventionally, when a device (including a manufacturing device in a factory) breaks down, a maintenance worker discovered by an alarm or the like rushes to the site, identifies the failure with reference to a thick maintenance manual, and describes the failure. The recovery method was used to recover. Here, usually, the maintenance manual simply describes the recovery method using only figures and texts, so unless a maintenance person with some knowledge is able to perform the recovery work by referring to the maintenance manual. Did not.

[0006] If the maintenance manual does not allow recovery, the maintenance staff at the site contacts the support center of the maker of the apparatus and requests the support staff of the maker for instructions on the recovery method. Here, usually, the exchange between the on-site maintenance staff and the support staff at the support center is performed by telephone or facsimile. For this reason, since the support staff cannot see the image of the place where the trouble occurred, it was difficult to easily understand even if the cause of the trouble was simple such as missing parts, and it was difficult to give an accurate instruction. . In addition, it was difficult to communicate with each other because they could not see each other.

[0007] Conventionally, there has been a system for remotely monitoring the operating state of a device by using technology such as the Internet. However, in any of the systems, since the PLC or the like incorporated in the device can provide only information obtained at the time of occurrence of an abnormality in the device, the support staff cannot determine based on the circumstances that led to the abnormality. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to provide a remote maintenance system capable of remotely and accurately providing a maintenance instruction to a device on site, and a remote maintenance system. An object of the present invention is to provide a maintenance device and a support device that are used for a vehicle.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a maintenance apparatus comprising: an error code acquiring unit for acquiring an error code indicating a failure state of a target device; And a maintenance information acquisition unit for transmitting maintenance information for restoration of the target device by transmitting the maintenance information to a support device that supports restoration of the device.

With the above configuration, when a failure occurs in the target device, the maintenance device obtains an error code indicating the status of the failure and transmits the error code to the support device.
Obtain maintenance information for restoring the target device.

Therefore, the maintenance device can acquire maintenance information based on the error code as electronic data from the support device connected via a network such as the Internet, and can present it to the maintenance staff at the site.

[0012] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a support device of the present invention stores a maintenance information storing maintenance information for restoring the target device in response to an error code indicating a failure status of the target device. Means, and maintenance information transmitting means for acquiring the maintenance information corresponding to the error code received from the maintenance device from the maintenance information storage means and transmitting the maintenance information to the maintenance device.

[0013] With the above configuration, the support device includes:
Maintenance information for restoring the target device is stored in a database (maintenance information storage means) in association with an error code indicating the status of the failure of the target device. Then, the support device acquires maintenance information corresponding to the error code received from the maintenance device from the database and transmits the maintenance information to the maintenance device.

[0014] Therefore, when the maintenance information is requested with the error code from the maintenance device connected via a network such as the Internet, the support device extracts the maintenance information from the database based on the error code and transmits it. It is possible to automatically execute a process to be presented to a site maintenance person.

[0015] A remote maintenance system according to the present invention includes the above-described maintenance device and support device in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.

With the above configuration, the maintenance device and the support device are connected via a network.
A remote maintenance system can be built.

Therefore, according to the above-described maintenance device, support device, and remote maintenance system, when the target device fails, a recovery method based on the error code is automatically streamed to the maintenance device at the site (video), characters (manual). ), Multimedia data including graphics and the like. Therefore, the restoration procedure can be explained more easily than a paper manual. As a result, the maintenance staff at the site may perform the recovery operation in accordance with the instructions of the recovery method presented on the maintenance device. In other words, maintenance personnel need only repair while looking at the screen of the maintenance device, and restoration can be easily performed by non-experts.

In addition, since the maintenance information is stored in the support device, the maintenance information can be automatically distributed via the network. Further, since the maintenance information can be centrally managed, it is easy to upgrade the version of the maintenance information. Therefore, the cost for providing the maintenance information can be reduced. Conventionally, it is necessary to incorporate the maintenance information into the on-site maintenance device in advance, and it is difficult to upgrade the maintenance information. Therefore, it is difficult to perform detailed restoration, leading to an increase in the cost of the maintenance device itself. .

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a maintenance apparatus, comprising: a monitoring image obtaining unit configured to obtain a monitoring image indicating a failure state of a target device; Surveillance image transmitting means for transmitting to a supporting device for assistance.

With the above arrangement, the maintenance device obtains a monitoring image indicating the status of the failure of the target device,
This is transmitted to a support device that supports recovery of the target device.

Therefore, when a failure occurs in the target device, the maintenance device transmits a monitoring image to a support device connected via a network such as the Internet, thereby providing a failure to a support member such as a technical center of the manufacturer. A surveillance image showing the situation of the above can be presented.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the support device of the present invention includes a monitoring image display means for acquiring and displaying a monitoring image indicating the status of a failure of the target device from the maintenance device, and a recovery image of the target device. And maintenance instruction input means for performing an input operation by an operator in order to transmit maintenance information for the maintenance device to the maintenance device.

With the above configuration, the support device is
A monitoring image indicating the status of the failure of the target device is acquired from the maintenance device via a network such as the Internet and displayed, and an input operation performed by a manufacturer support member (operator) to transmit the maintenance information to the maintenance device is performed. get.

Therefore, in the support device, the operator can diagnose a failure while watching the monitor image of the target device, and can input a maintenance instruction for transmitting maintenance information to the maintenance device.

A remote maintenance system according to the present invention includes the above-described maintenance device and support device in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.

With the above configuration, the maintenance device and the support device are connected via a network,
A remote maintenance system can be built.

Therefore, according to the above-described maintenance device, support device, and remote maintenance system, when the target device fails, a monitoring image indicating the status of the failure of the target device can be displayed on the support device. Therefore, the support staff at a remote place can check the status of the failure of the target device by the image information, and thus accurate diagnosis is facilitated. In addition, since the support staff can check the monitoring image, communication between the maintenance staff and the support staff becomes easy. In addition, as the monitoring image, the past operation state up to the failure, the state at the time of occurrence of the failure, the state after the occurrence of the failure,
An image of a real-time state (current state) when diagnosing a failure is included.

As described above, according to the above-described maintenance device, support device, and remote maintenance system, the maker of the target device can provide a maintenance instruction to the user's site accurately and easily from a remote place, so that high-quality support can be provided. Provision is possible. In addition, the user of the target device can easily and accurately troubleshoot the target device and reduce the time required for recovery, thereby reducing the cost of troubleshooting and the business loss due to the trouble of the target device. Become.

The above-mentioned maintenance device and the support device can be realized by reading out the above-mentioned remote maintenance program from a computer-readable recording medium storing a remote maintenance program for realizing each of the above-mentioned means in a computer and operating the computer. The device and the remote maintenance system can be realized on a computer network.

[0030]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.
19 will be described below with reference to FIG.

The remote maintenance system according to the present embodiment uses a network technology such as the Internet so that a maintenance instruction can be given remotely and an accurate determination can be made by capturing an image of a failure location of an on-site device. Is a remote maintenance support system (Active Maintenance Support System).

Hereinafter, a description will be given of an example of a maintenance operation of a manufacturing apparatus (for example, a mounter apparatus) in a factory and an operation of supporting the maintenance operation from a remote place via the Internet with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, the remote maintenance system 1 according to the present embodiment includes a manufacturing apparatus which is a control target device (target system) 11, and controls and maintains the control target device (target device) 11. A local control system 2 to be performed and a support system (support device) 4 that supports maintenance (recovery) of the control target device 11 are connected via the Internet 3 (network). The connection between the local control system 2 and the support system 4 is not limited to the Internet.

The local control system 2 includes a programmable logic controller (PLC) (control device) 12 for controlling the devices 11a... Provided in the control target device 11, and a programmable device that is operated by an operator as an HMI (human machine interface). A display (control display device) 14, a camera system 20 for monitoring the state of the control target device 11 and recording a monitoring image, and a maintenance device 30 for maintenance personnel of the local control system 2 to perform maintenance of the control target device 11 in the factory. It has.

Each of the above-mentioned programmable displays 14 is connected to the PLC 12 via the serial cable 13 and, in many cases, near the device 11 to be controlled.
It is operated by the operator of the control target device 11. Further, the respective programmable displays 14 are connected to each other by a local network 15 such as Ethernet (registered trademark). Further, a control host computer 16, a camera system 20, and a maintenance device 30 are connected to the local network 15.

In the remote maintenance system 1, instead of the programmable display 14, a normal control panel computer, for example, Windows CE (registered trademark)
On-board panel computer (SCADA (supervisory
control and data acquisition) system (a terminal of a monitoring and control data acquisition system) can also be used.
The programmable display 14 will be described later in detail.

The maintenance device 30 is a device monitoring terminal device that is operated by a site maintenance person to monitor and maintain the state of the device 11 to be controlled. The maintenance device 30 includes an image (monitoring image) of the control target device 11 captured by the camera system 20 and a device 11a.
The operation status of the control target device 11 is monitored based on the data detected by the control device. The maintenance device 30 may be a computer installed in a separate room in a factory or beside a production line, or when a trouble occurs in the control target device 11, a maintenance worker may carry it to the place of the control target device 11, A portable computer that can receive a maintenance instruction may be used. Since the maintenance device 30 communicates with the Internet 3 via the control host computer 16, the maintenance device 30 has a WWW (world wide web).
It corresponds to b).

The maintenance device 30 has the following functions. First, when a trouble occurs in the control target device 11, the maintenance information server 42 is connected to the support system 4 via the Internet 3 and based on the trouble error code or the instruction of the support staff.
Get maintenance information from. Second, it communicates with the programmable display 14 via the local network 15 to monitor the state of the control target device 11. Third,
It communicates with the camera system 20 via the local network 15 to acquire and display a monitoring image of the control target device 11, specifically, a recorded image before and after the occurrence of a trouble and a real-time image. Fourth, the control target device 11
A video conference system is constructed between the site (maintenance device 30) and the technical center (support terminal 50) of the manufacturer.

Here, the device 11 of the control target device 11
The error code corresponding to the trouble detected in a is generated by the control target device 11 or the PLC 12,
Maintenance device 3 by programmable display 14
0 is transmitted to an error code acquisition unit 31 (described later). The maintenance information is, for example, a processing procedure for recovery.

For this purpose, the maintenance device 30
Is an error code acquisition unit (error code acquisition means) 3
1. Maintenance information presentation unit (maintenance information acquisition unit) 32, first video conference processing unit (monitoring image transmission unit)
33, a monitoring image storage unit (monitoring image acquisition unit) 34, and a maintenance operation unit 35.

The error code acquiring section 31 acquires from the programmable display 14 an error code indicating the status of the failure of the control target device 11.

The maintenance information presenting section 32 transmits an error code to a maintenance information providing section 43 (described later) of the support system 4, acquires maintenance information for restoration, and presents the acquired maintenance information to a site maintenance person. Since the maintenance information presentation unit 32 presents a recovery instruction according to the error code in multimedia data including text, audio, still images, and moving images, the maintenance staff must perform the recovery work as instructed. Can be. In other words, high-level judgment is not required for the site maintenance staff.

The first video conference processing section 33 establishes a video conference system with a support terminal 50 (described later) of the support system 4 and realizes communication with images. Therefore, the maintenance device 30 is provided with a CCD camera (not shown) for photographing the maintenance staff. In addition, the first video conference processing unit 33 transmits the monitoring image (recorded image and real-time image) of the control target device 11 acquired from the camera system 20 to the second video conference processing unit 51. In addition, the first video conference processing unit 33 presents maintenance information based on the instruction of the support member, similarly to the maintenance information presenting unit 32.

The monitoring image storage unit 34 obtains a monitoring image of the control target device 11 from the camera system 20 and stores it. More specifically, the monitoring image storage unit 34 stores, as monitoring images, an image of the control target device 11 at the time of occurrence of a trouble and images before and after (for example, 10 seconds before and after each time) for each occurrence time.

The maintenance operation unit 35 includes a maintenance information presentation unit 32 or a first video conference processing unit 33.
For example, the programmable display 14 or the PLC 1
2 can be provided.

The camera system 20 includes a camera 21 for monitoring the control target device 11 and a control unit 22 for controlling the camera 21.

The camera 21 has a ring buffer as a temporary storage device, and can store monitoring images for a predetermined time. This ring buffer is sequentially overwritten unless a trouble occurs in the control target device 11. And
When a trouble occurs in the control target device 11, the camera 21 detects the occurrence of the trouble in the control target device 11 by a preset signal (DIO), and converts the monitoring image at the time of occurrence and before and after the occurrence into an image such as JPEG. It is converted into a file and output to the monitoring image storage unit 34.

The camera 21 can transmit an image of the control target device 11 in real time. The real-time image is transmitted to the monitoring image storage unit 34 and can be stored in a recording medium (HD or the like) (not shown) of the maintenance device 30 as necessary.

The surveillance image transmitted to the surveillance image storage unit 34 is provided with information for specifying the camera 21 that has taken the image. This allows the maintenance device 30 and the support terminal 50 to check the camera 21 that has captured the monitoring image.

The control unit 22 is controlled by the maintenance device 30 and the support terminal 50 to
The photographing direction and magnification of the camera 21 are controlled.

The camera 21 may be located at a position out of sight of maintenance personnel, such as inside the controlled device 11, or at the controlled device 1.
1 is appropriately set at a position where the entire image can be taken. That is, the camera 21 is preliminarily arranged at a position where an image where a failure easily occurs can be photographed. Of course, after a trouble has occurred, the control unit 22 can move the photographing position to the place where the trouble has occurred. Further, the number of cameras 21 can be set arbitrarily.

The support system 4 includes a support host computer 41 for controlling communication with the maintenance device 30 via the Internet 3 and information (maintenance information) for supporting maintenance by maintenance personnel such as maintenance procedures and the like (maintenance information). A maintenance information server 42 for distributing the information to the service center 30 and a support terminal 50 operated by a technical center support member are provided.

The above support host computer 41
Is a host computer of the support system 4,
The maintenance information server 42 and the support terminal 50 are connected by a dedicated line or the Internet.

The maintenance information server 42 is provided at a server center of a manufacturer. The support terminal 50 is provided at a technical center of a manufacturer. Note that the support host computer 41, the maintenance information server 42, and the support terminal 50 may be provided in one computer, or may be provided in separate computers. Further, the server center and the technical center may be in the same place or different places.

The support host computer 41
Is a maintenance device 30 via the Internet 3
And the communication with the maintenance information server 42 and the support terminal 50 are controlled.

The maintenance information server 42 includes a maintenance information providing unit (maintenance information transmitting unit) 43,
A maintenance information database (maintenance information storage means) 44 is provided.

The maintenance information providing unit 43 obtains the maintenance information corresponding to the error code received from the maintenance information presenting unit 32 of the maintenance device 30 from the maintenance information database 44, and transmits the acquired information to the maintenance information presenting unit 32. The maintenance information providing unit 43 can automatically transmit the maintenance information to the maintenance information presenting unit 32 without the operation of the operator. That is, the maintenance information server 42 can provide support 24 hours a day.

The above-mentioned maintenance information database 44
Stores maintenance information for recovery corresponding to an error code indicating a failure state of the control target device 11. As the maintenance information, streaming (video), characters (manual), figures, and the like, which describe a method for recovering from the trouble of the control target device 11, are stored.

The support terminal 50 is a device to be controlled 1
It is a terminal operated by a support member of one manufacturer. The support staff receives the explanation of the trouble from the maintenance staff on the site on the video conference system provided by the support terminal 50, and provides maintenance information of an appropriate restoration instruction. To this end, the support terminal 50 includes a second video conference processing unit (surveillance image display unit) 51 and a maintenance instruction input unit (maintenance instruction input unit) 52.

The second video conference processing unit 51 obtains a monitor image indicating the state of the failure of the control target device 11 from the first video conference processing unit 33 of the maintenance device 30 and displays the monitor image. That is, the second video conference processing unit 51 establishes a video conference system with the first video conference processing unit 33 of the maintenance device 30, and realizes communication with images. Therefore, the support terminal 50
There is a CCD camera (not shown) for photographing the support staff
Is provided. Also, the second video conference processing unit 50
Displays the monitoring image (recorded image and real-time image) of the control target device 11 transmitted from the first video conference processing unit 33.

The maintenance instruction input unit 52 is a user interface such as an input screen on which an operator performs an input operation to transmit maintenance information for restoring the control target device 11 to the maintenance device 30. Using the maintenance instruction input unit 52, the support staff can use the maintenance information database 4 to present it to the maintenance staff.
4 and the maintenance information stored in a database (not shown) of the support terminal 50 can be specified, or the maintenance information can be directly written. Then, the maintenance information instructed and input by the support member is transmitted to the first video conference processing unit 33 by the second video conference processing unit 52, and is similarly presented to the maintenance device 30 and the support terminal 50.

Thus, the technical center can be connected to the technical center via a dedicated line or the Internet, and the support staff can make a diagnosis with the maintenance staff using the video conference system, and at the same time, can watch the monitoring images before and after the occurrence of the abnormality. That is,
The support staff adds the control target device 1 in addition to the error code.
Since the status before and after the occurrence of the trouble can be confirmed by the monitoring image of 1, the more accurate determination can be made, and the maintenance information can be transmitted from the technical center to the maintenance device 30 by multimedia data.

Next, the maintenance operation of the remote maintenance system 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2 and the display screen examples of FIGS.

In the remote maintenance system 1, in the local control system 2, the operation state of the control target device 11 is constantly monitored by the camera system 20 (S11). Then, when a trouble occurs in the control target device 11 (YES in S12), an error code indicating a failure status of the control target device 11 is output to the error code acquisition unit 31 via the PLC 12 and the programmable display 14.
(S13).

Here, the remote maintenance system 1
Then, the maintenance device 30 can receive the presentation of the maintenance information by the support system 4 in two stages.

First, as the first stage of the support, the maintenance device 30 connects the maintenance information presenting section 32 to the support host computer 41 and acquires the error code acquired by the error code acquiring section 31. (S14), the corresponding maintenance information is acquired (S15), and presented to the maintenance staff (S16).

FIG. 3 shows that the maintenance information presentation unit 32
5 is an example of a screen in which maintenance information acquired from a maintenance information providing unit 43 is displayed on a monitor of the maintenance device 30. In the screen D10 shown in FIG.
In addition, as a recovery method, a plurality of solutions are displayed in a selectable manner. Then, when the maintenance staff inputs a selection instruction using input means (for example, a mouse or a touch panel) of the maintenance device 30, the following content is displayed in the area D11 (FIG. 4).

In the area D11, maintenance information such as a recovery method is described by multimedia data such as text, images (still images, moving images), and audio.
In particular, a video showing the actual operation is displayed in the moving image area D11a in FIG. The screen D10 is provided with a control button D12 for inputting enlargement / reduction or fast forward / rewind of the display of the area D11 and the moving image area D11a.

Then, the maintenance person operates the area D1 on the screen D10.
1. According to the recovery method presented in the moving image area D11a,
Recovery processing can be performed (S16).

Further, in addition to the maintenance information, a screen D10 of the maintenance information presenting section 32 displays a control screen (area D23 in FIG. 5) for the maintenance staff to operate the maintenance device 30, the programmable display 14, the control target device 11, and the like.
) Can be displayed. The display of the control screen and the control input from the control screen are controlled by the maintenance operation unit 35. The screen data for drawing the control screen may be a screen created by a user of the maintenance device 30 or a screen created by a maker of the control target device 11.

Next, if the maintenance target performs recovery processing according to the maintenance information automatically distributed by the maintenance information server 42, which is the first stage of support, and the control target device 11 is not recovered (S18). And N
O) At the request of the maintenance staff, shift to the second stage of support.

In the second stage of the support, first, the first video conference processing unit 33 executes the support host computer 41.
Sends a connection request to the support terminal 50 having a support member. Then, the support host computer 41
Connects to the support terminal 50 and establishes a video conference system with the second video conference processing unit 51 (S1).
9). In the support terminal 50, the telephone call from the maintenance staff is notified by the second video conference processing unit 51, and the connection of the maintenance device 30 is permitted by the response of the support staff.

In the diagnosis using the video conference, first, the support staff checks the monitoring image (recorded image or real-time image) of the control target device 11 and device data transmitted from the first TV conference processing unit 33 ( S2
0) The diagnosis is advanced while receiving the explanation of the situation from the maintenance staff via the television screen (S21). When the restoration method is determined, the maintenance information describing the restoration method is obtained from the database or newly input via the maintenance instruction input unit 52 (S22). The maintenance staff receives the maintenance information transmitted based on the instruction input of the support staff (S23), and presents it on the maintenance device 30 (S24). Then, the maintenance person performs a recovery process according to the maintenance information presented to the maintenance device 30 (S25).

FIG. 5 shows an example of a video conference screen displayed on the maintenance device 30 by the first video conference processing section 33. In addition, the second video conference processing unit 51 is connected to the support terminal 5
The screen displayed at 0 is basically the same as the screen displayed on the maintenance device 30 by the first video conference processing unit 33. Therefore, the maintenance device 30 and the support terminal 50
Thus, the diagnosis can be advanced while viewing the same screen.

As shown in FIG. 5, a video conference screen D2
0 is divided into three regions D21, D22 and D23.

In the area D21, an image (for example, the face of the other party) of the CCD camera provided on the other party side is displayed. Until the connection of the video conference is established, the user is projected.

In the area D22, a monitoring image (recorded image or real-time image) of the control target device 11 is displayed. That is, the first video conference processing unit 33 transmits the monitoring images of the control target device 11 before and after the occurrence of the trouble, which are acquired by the monitoring image storage unit 34 at the time of the occurrence of the trouble, to the second video conference processing unit 51, 2 Video conference processing unit 51
Is reproduced in the area D21.

In the area D22, the controlled device 11
Real-time images can also be displayed. And
The screen D20 includes an enlarged / reduced image of each area in the screen D20.
A control button D24 for inputting reduction, fast forward / rewind, reproduction speed, and the like is provided. For example, when playing back a monitoring image of 10 seconds before and after the occurrence of a trouble in the area D22, the review can be repeated any number of times by pressing the "PLAY" button of the control button D24. Further, the control button D24 can control the control unit 22 of the camera system 20. For example, the control button D24 is provided with a direction key or the like for controlling the camera platform on which the camera 21 is installed. Therefore, the camera 21 is located in the area D22.
The monitoring image of the control target device 11 can be displayed while changing the selection, position, direction, magnification, and the like in real time. Therefore, the support staff and the maintenance staff can display and confirm the state of the control target device 11 with an image of a desired position.

In the area D23, various information required for support of the TV conference, such as information used for diagnosis and maintenance information of the result of diagnosis, can be displayed. For example, at an early stage of the diagnosis, as shown in a region D23 of FIG. 5, data of the device 11a of the control target device 11 in which the trouble has occurred can be displayed and presented to the support staff. This screen may be the same as the control screen displayed on the maintenance device 30 or the programmable display 14. In addition, when the diagnosis has progressed to some extent and the recovery method has been narrowed down, as shown in an area D23 in FIG. 5, the maintenance information that the support staff has input and instructed using the tool D25 can be displayed. Note that the tool D25 is controlled by the maintenance instruction input unit 52.

The three areas D21 and D2 of the screen D20
2. By using D23, the support member performs a failure diagnosis while looking at the data of the control target device 11 and the monitoring image displayed in the area D21. A recovery method can be input from the maintenance instruction input unit 52.

Then, the first TV of the maintenance device 30
Upon receiving the maintenance information transmitted based on the instruction input of the support member, the conference processing unit 33 displays the screen D30 shown in FIGS. The three areas D31, D32, and D33 of the screen D30 are
21, D22, and D23 have almost the same functions. That is, the support member is displayed in the area D31. In the area D32, a monitoring image of the control target device 11 is displayed, and in the same manner as the support staff operates with the control button D24, the maintenance staff can operate with the control button D34. You can see the same image. Various information including maintenance information is displayed in the area D33. Note that the tool D25 is set in the area D33.
Can be set by the support staff.

The area D33 in FIGS. 7 and 8 corresponds to FIGS.
Similarly to the area D11, maintenance information such as a recovery method is described by multimedia data such as text, images (still images, moving images), and audio. FIG.
In the area D33a, a video indicating an actual operation is displayed, similarly to the moving image area D11a in FIG.

Then, the maintenance person operates the area D3 on the screen D30.
3. According to the recovery method presented in the moving image area D33a,
Recovery processing can be performed. At that time, the support staff
Supplementary instructions can be given via the area D21 and the like.

Finally, when the restoration processing is completed and the maintenance personnel confirms the normal operation of the control target device 11 (YE in S26).
S), the first video conference processing unit 33 and the second video conference processing unit 51 are separated, and the video conference is ended. In addition,
If recovery is not possible even after the diagnosis in the video conference (S2
(NO at 6), the support staff goes to the site.

As described above, in the second stage of the support, data including images can be exchanged in real time via the network by using the video conference system. In particular, in addition to the error code, it is possible to provide, in addition to the error code, monitoring images before and after the occurrence of a trouble, and monitoring images and device data in real time by operation of the support staff or maintenance staff, as information for judging the diagnosis by the support staff. As a result, the support member can make a more appropriate diagnosis.

The remote maintenance system 1
According to this method, it is possible to simplify the training of maintenance staff at the site, determine the replacement parts in advance when the necessity of a business trip to the manufacturer occurs, and to improve the efficiency of time and cost. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the TCO, in particular, the cost related to the troubleshooting of the manufacturing apparatus and the business loss due to the trouble of the manufacturing apparatus.

In the area D23 of FIG. 5, the same screen as that displayed on the programmable display 14 can be displayed so that the support staff can perform control input to the PLC 12 and the control target device 11. .

The remote maintenance system 1
Is not limited to the FA field, but can be applied to security and security systems.

The above members 30 to 35, 41 to 4
5, 50 to 52, an arithmetic unit such as a CPU executes a program stored in a storage unit such as a ROM or a RAM, and executes input / output units such as a touch panel or a liquid crystal display device or communication circuits such as an interface circuit. It is a functional block realized by controlling.

Therefore, a computer having these means reads a recording medium (eg, a CD-ROM) on which the above-mentioned program is recorded, and executes the program. Host computer 4
1. The maintenance information server 42 and the support terminal 50 can be realized. Note that, for example, the local network 1
5, Internet 3, network 45, or
If a program for downloading a program via another communication path is installed in the computer in advance, the program can be distributed to the computer via these communication paths.

A control communication system applicable to the remote maintenance system (FIG. 1) will be described below with reference to FIGS. 9 to 19.

The control target device 11, P shown in FIG.
LC12, programmable display 14, support terminal 5
0 is the target system 111 shown in FIG.
12, the programmable display 114, and the client device 107, respectively. The control host computer 16 and the maintenance device 30 shown in FIG.
Correspond to the control host computer 116, the firewall 122, and the public server device 121.

Therefore, the same screen as the programmable display 14 is displayed on the maintenance device 30 and the support terminal 5.
Even if it is displayed as 0, device data can be acquired and displayed, or device data can be changed. That is, the control target device 11 can be controlled from the screens of the maintenance operation unit 34, the first video conference processing unit 33, and the second video conference processing unit 51.

The control communication system 101 includes, for example, a programmable logic controller (PLC) 112 as a control device for controlling the device 111a of the target system 111, as shown in FIG.
Programmable display (control display) 1 operated by an operator as MI (Human Machine Interface)
Local control system including 14 (control system)
103, and a client device (terminal device) 107 that can be connected to the local control system 103 via the Internet (wide area communication network) 105 so that monitoring / control by the local control system 103 is not hindered.
In addition, a dedicated monitoring control program and a monitoring control screen are not prepared in the client device 107 in advance.
3 is a system that can be controlled by referring to the same screen as the programmable display 114.

The client device 107 is, for example,
A general-purpose personal computer, etc., Java
A virtual machine 171 that can execute a program in a (registered trademark) language and a browser 172 realized by, for example, general-purpose browser software are provided. The browser 172 can communicate with a device connected to the Internet 105 and cause the virtual machine 171 to execute the received applet. The browser 172 is, for example, an HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Pr
otocol) and HT from any server device
It can also receive and view documents such as ML (HyperText Markup Language) documents.

Here, the programmable display 114 is sent from the local control system 103 to the client device 107.
Before describing the configuration for safely displaying the screen of FIG. 1, the operation when the programmable display 114 displays the screen will be described. That is, the programmable display 1
Reference numeral 14 includes, for example, a display device such as a liquid crystal display device and an input device such as a touch panel (both are not shown). Based on screen data determined by combining processing instruction words (tags), a device 14 is provided. The state of the device can be obtained and displayed, and the state of the device can be controlled based on the operation from the operator.

The device to be controlled only needs to be able to acquire or control (change) the status. For example, the device to be controlled may be the device 111a itself.
12 memories such as programmable display 114 and PL
C112 or control host computer 1 described later
One area of a storage device provided in the local control system 103, such as 16 storage devices, may be shown. Further, the device may be a memory in which data manually input from an input device such as a touch panel or a barcode reader (not shown) is stored.

More specifically, the programmable display 114 can switch and display a plurality of unit screens based on screen data.
As shown in the figure, the base figure is a static figure B that does not change the display contents, such as a nameplate, and a part figure J (J1), such as a switch, a lamp, or a meter, whose display state such as shape, color, and blinking state is converted It is formed on the screen. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 11, the screen data indicating the screen is referred to for each execution event, a file number F of the base screen, an event name N for specifying the operation content to be executed on the base screen. It is configured by combining a tag W including one or a plurality of pieces of reference information R. In the case where the tag W is a display tag WL that displays a component graphic J according to a predetermined device state in a predetermined screen area (display coordinate range), FIG.
As shown in the figure, the reference information R includes a display coordinate range (X ·
Y), a device address A for specifying a device, and a file number FL to be referred to at the time of display, such as a graphic file indicating ON and a graphic file indicating OFF when the component graphic J is a switch. When the tag is an input tag, as shown in FIG.
Includes a valid input coordinate range (XY) and a device address A to which an input result is written.

On the other hand, the programmable display unit 114 extracts the display tag WL, which is the base screen currently displayed, with the file number F of the base screen from its own screen data memory 114a at predetermined time intervals, and The contents of the device address A of the tag WL are stored in the memory 1 of the PLC 112.
12a, and displays the part graphic J corresponding to the content on the screen. For example, in FIG. 10, the display tag WL1 stored in the screen data memory 114a indicates the display of the switch, and corresponds to the device of the device address A1. When executing the display tag WL1, the programmable display 114 communicates with, for example, the PLC 112 connected to its own device,
5 to obtain the contents of the device address A1 by communicating with another programmable display 114. FIG.
In the example of 0, since the content of the device address A1 is “0”, the switch of the programmable display 114 is turned off.
Is determined, and among the files stored in the memory 114b of the programmable display 114, the graphic of the file FL1 associated with OFF is displayed in the display coordinate range (X ·
Y). Thereby, the coordinate range (XY)
Displays a part graphic J1 indicating a switch in an OFF state. As described above, when the programmable display 114 executes the display tag in the screen data at predetermined time intervals, the state of the device is reflected on the screen of the programmable display 114.

When an operator's input operation, such as a push operation on a touch panel (not shown), is received, the programmable display 114 corresponds to the currently displayed base screen from the screen data in the screen data memory 114a. Is searched for, and the content of the device address A indicated by the input tag WT is changed according to the input result. For example, if the effective input coordinate range (X · Y) is set to the same coordinate range as the above-described part graphic J1 and the input data WT1 for changing the content of the same device address A1 is included in the screen data, the operator is prompted by the user. When the part graphic J1 on the display screen shown in FIG. 10 is pressed, the input tag WT1 is found as a result of the search by the programmable display 114. In this case, the programmable display 114
Communicates with the PLC 112 connected to the own device, communicates with another programmable display 114 via the local network 115, and outputs the input tag WT.
Rewrite the contents of the device address A1 corresponding to No. 1. When the display tag WL1 is processed after the input operation, the content of the device address A1 has been changed to "1", so that the programmable display 114 corresponds to the file FL2 as shown in FIG. , ON are displayed on the screen. As a result, the programmable display 114 can rewrite the contents of the device address according to the input operation and update the screen display according to the contents of the device address.

Note that the acquisition / control of the status of each device may be performed by communicating with the entity of the device address every time the tag is executed, or a cache may be prepared in the programmable display 114 and the When the status is acquired / changed, the cache may be accessed, and communication may be performed at predetermined time intervals or at predetermined events to synchronize with the entity of the device address.

In the local control system 103, as shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 14 denotes a PLC 11 via a serial cable 113.
2 and is often operated by an operator of the target system 111 in the vicinity of the target system 111. Further, each programmable display 114 is connected to each other by a local network 115 such as Ethernet (registered trademark). Further, the local network 115 includes
A control host computer (data collection device) 116 is connected.

Here, the local control system 103
Then, each P is used for communication processing in the local control system 103.
Unlike the conventional control system in which the LC is interposed, the configuration is indispensable for the local control system 103.
To operate as an HMI, the programmable displays 114 with ample computing power are configured to handle most of the communication, and each programmable display 114
A dedicated protocol specific to the model of the PLC 112 connected to itself and a common protocol in the local network 115 are converted, and the other programmable display 11
4 and the control host computer 116 and the PLC 112
Relays communication with In the protocol conversion between the common protocol and the dedicated protocol, a predetermined common command and a PL corresponding to the common command are set so that the same code is assigned to the same instruction.
This includes conversion between commands specific to the C112, conversion of data and address expression methods, and the like.

As a result, the programmable display 114
The control host computer 116 can communicate with the common protocol via the local network 115 irrespective of the type of the PLC 112 connected to another programmable display 114. As a result, the local control system 103 in which PLCs 12 of different models coexist.
Is easily realized.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 15, the control host computer 116
3, a display processing unit 131 for monitoring and controlling, a common protocol IF unit 132 connected to the local network 115 and communicating with the above-described common protocol, and each programmable display 114 via the common protocol IF unit 132 and the local network 115. And a server unit 133 that responds to requests from the display processing unit 131 and the like. In many cases, the target system 111 and the PLC 1
12 or the status of the programmable display 114 can be displayed and controlled.

The control host computer 11
6 is provided with an image processing unit 134 for creating screen data of the programmable display 114 and a screen data memory 135 for storing the created screen data. The display / control operation of each programmable display 114 is defined. The screen data to be created is created (corrected) by the drawing processing unit 134, and then distributed to each programmable display 114 via the server unit 133, the common protocol IF unit 132, and the local network 115.

Here, as described above, the screen data is configured by combining a tag indicating a correspondence between an area on the screen and an address of a device corresponding to display or input in the area. The drawing processing unit 134 includes, for example,
A tag palette is displayed, and the user is prompted to select a tag in the palette and place a desired tag on the screen.
Further, the drawing processing unit 134 displays the placed tag at the designated coordinates, and adjusts the coordinates of the tag according to the user's operation such as drag and drop. The image processing unit 1
34 prompts the user to enter a device address associated with the input tag or display tag. As a result, the user can operate the drawing processing unit 134 to arrange the tags at desired positions on the screen and create screen data simply by associating each tag with a device address.

Therefore, the programmable display 114
The display and operation of each programmable display 114 are determined (changed) more easily than when the display program is modified.
The user of the local control system 103 (user of the control host computer 116) can adjust to the actual situation of the target system 111, the proficiency of the operator of the programmable display 114, or the user's preference.

Furthermore, the local control system 103
Is a public server device (public device) 12 connected to the Internet 105 in order to expose the screen of the programmable display 114 to the client device 107 without obstructing monitoring / control by the local control system 103.
1 and a firewall (communication control means) 122 provided between the public server device 121 and the control host computer 116. A local network 123 similar to the local network 115 is connected between the firewall 122 and the control host computer 116 and between the firewall 122 and the public server device 121.

As will be described later in detail, the public server device 121 transmits the status of each device in the local control system 103 via the control host computer 116 in order to respond to the device status inquiry from the client device 107. Getting status. In addition, in order to reflect a device status change instruction from the client device 107, the status of each device is controlled via the control host computer 116.

As described above, the control host computer 1
Since the data processing amount of No. 16 has increased compared to the case where it is not disclosed to the client device 107, the local control system 103 uses the members 111a to 111 shown in FIG.
15 is divided into a plurality of groups, and a control host computer 116 is provided for each group, thereby distributing a process of acquiring a device status and a process of instructing a status change.

Here, the public server device 121 and the control host computer 116 are connected by the public server device 121 via the Internet 105 to the client device 107.
It communicates with each other through the firewall 122 using a unique protocol different from that used when communicating with. The unique protocol is, for example, an application layer,
TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Inte
rnet Protocol) is a protocol provided on the upper layer, and the port number for the protocol in the TCP protocol is FTP (File Transfer Protocol).
l) and a port number different from the port number for the protocol used when communicating with the client device 107 on the Internet 105, such as HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol). In addition, in the above-described unique protocol, each control host computer 116 can be distinguished by a name given to each, and can communicate by designating a communication destination by a name. Further, commands used in the protocol are different from those used when communicating with the client device 107.

Further, the firewall 122
(1) Whether the transmitted data sequence is the above-mentioned proprietary protocol,
(2) whether the port number in the TCP protocol is the unique protocol, or (3) whether the transmission / reception destination IP address added to the packet is the control host computer 116 / public server device 121, Alternatively, it is determined whether or not the communication via the firewall 122 is a communication between the public server device 121 and the control host computer 116 by a combination of (1) to (3) and the like, and only the communication between the two is passed. Let it. This allows
Even if the client device 107 attempts to communicate with the control host computer 116 via the public server device 121, the firewall 122 blocks communication between the two.

On the other hand, based on the screen data for the programmable display device 114, the public server device 121 performs substantially the same operation as the following two operations, that is, the programmable display device 114 responds to the state of the device based on the screen data. The client device 107 can be instructed to perform the same operation as the operation for displaying the information and the operation for instructing the device state change according to the operation. However, unlike the case where the programmable display 114 operates based on screen data, the display destination is a display device (not shown) of the client device 107, and the operation is received from an input device (not shown) of the client device 107.

Also, the client device 107 inquires about the device status and the destination of the status change instruction.
The public server device 121 has been changed to the public server device 121. The public server device 121 communicates with the client device 107 that operates in accordance with the above-mentioned instruction, informs the device state to the client device 107, and issues a device state change instruction from the client device 107. You can receive.

Thus, the client device 107
Even when connected from a remote location via the Internet 105, a screen having the same content as the screen of the programmable display 114 can be displayed and the state of the device in the local control system 102 can be controlled by the same operation. .

Since the public server device 121 and the control host computer 116 communicate with each other using a unique protocol different from the communication protocol between the client device 107 and the public server device 121, the client device 1
07 can successfully prevent unauthorized access from the client device 107 to the control host computer 116 even if the unauthorized access to the public server device 121 succeeds. It should be noted that the public server 12
Even if the operation of the client device 1 is interrupted, the client device 1
07, the control host computer 116 and the programmable display 114 of the local control system 103 can display and control the state of the control target without any trouble. Also, the firewall 122
Is provided, the control host computer 116 can be more reliably protected from unauthorized access by the client device 107.

In addition, since a plurality of control host computers 116 are provided in accordance with the scale of the target system 111 and the like, the screen of the programmable display 114 is opened, and the data communication volume for acquiring / controlling the device status is controlled. / Even if the processing amount increases, the screen of the programmable display 114 can be disclosed without obstructing the monitoring control in the local control system 103.

Further, the public server device 121 transmits and receives device data indicating the device state to and from the client device 107 separately from the operation instruction based on the screen data. It is difficult to restore the screen of the programmable display 114 even if a part of the operation instruction is observed.

As a result, the local control system 10
The client device 10 connected to the Internet 105 without hindering display / control on the programmable display 114 and the control host computer 116 in the client device 10.
7, the display / operation can be performed on the same screen as that of the programmable display 114, and the safer control communication system 101 can be realized.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 15, the control host computer 116 is provided with a public server side communication processing unit 136 that communicates with the public server device 121 via the firewall 122 using the unique protocol. ing. The public server-side communication processing unit 136 stores the screen data memory 13 at a desired timing, for example, when there is an instruction from the user or when the screen data is changed.
5 can be transmitted to the public server device 121.

The public server side communication processing unit 136
Accesses the public server device 121 at a predetermined timing such as when the content of the device address (device data) is changed or at a predetermined time interval, and publishes the content of the device address necessary for the data disclosure in the public server device 121 It can be transmitted to the server device 121. Note that the content of the device address is the same as the case where the display
It is obtained via the server unit 133. Further, the communication processing unit 136 on the public server side communicates with the public server device 121, when the client device 107 instructs to change the content of the device address, and when the display processing unit 131 changes the content of the device address A. Similarly to the above, the instruction can be relayed, and an instruction to change the content can be transmitted to the entity of the device address, such as the programmable display 114 itself or the PLC 112 connected to the programmable display 114.

On the other hand, the public server device 121 includes a host computer side communication processing unit (routing means) 141 for communicating with the control host computer 116 via the firewall 122, and a host computer side communication processing unit 141 comprising the control host computer. Data storage unit 1 for storing device data received from computer 116
42, an HTML file transmitted to the client device 107, an XML (extensible Mark-
up Language) In response to requests from the HTML file storage unit 143, the XML file storage unit 144, the applet storage unit 145, and the client device 107 via the Internet 105, the above storage units 142 to 145, respectively. Access to H
A TML file, an XML file, and an applet are transmitted to the client device 107, and the client device 107 that executes the applet is communicated with the client device 107 to transmit device data necessary for displaying a screen of the client device 107. Public server unit 146 for receiving an instruction to change device data
And a file generation unit (generation unit) 147 for generating the HTML file and the XML file based on the screen data of the programmable display 114 or the same format screen data.

The host computer side communication processing unit 14
Reference numeral 1 denotes the above-described unique protocol.
2 can communicate with each control host computer 116. Also, the host computer side communication processing unit 141
Can route control, select a control host computer 116 that inquires about the status of each device or transmit a status change instruction from a plurality of control host computers 116, and Can communicate.

The XML file is created for each unit screen included in the screen data for the programmable display 114, and each XML file indicates each tag (processing instruction word) related to the unit screen. XML elements (elements) are included.

For example, when the display data WL of the base screen (unit screen) = 1 (main screen) is included in the screen data for the programmable display 114 in the format shown in FIG. In the corresponding XML file, for example, as shown in FIG. 16, a Tag element E1 corresponding to the display tag WL is included. In the Tag element E1, TagN corresponding to an event name, a display coordinate range, a reference file number, and a device address are included.
ame element E11, X element E12 and Y element E13,
LibraryNo element E14 and BitSym
A bolName element E15 and the like are included, and the content (content) of each of the elements E11 to E15 depends on the content of the display tag WL.
0000 "," -232 "and" 120 "," 10 "
1 "and" 010100 ".

A Tag element E2 corresponding to an input tag WT shown in FIG. 13 includes a TagName element E21, a SymbolName element E22, and an X corresponding to an event name, a device address, and a valid input range.
Element E23, Y element E24, X2 element E25 and Y2
The content such as the element E26 is set according to the content of the input tag WT.

Here, the contents of the elements E11 to E26 and the like may be set so as to match the contents of the display tag WL and the input tag WT. For example, the resolution of the programmable display 114 and the client device 107 The content of the display tag WL or the input tag WT may be converted and set according to a predetermined procedure, such as enlarging / reducing at a ratio according to the difference from the resolution of the display tag.

Here, for example, the file generation unit 147 determines a processing instruction word (tag WL / WT...) For a certain unit screen from the screen data for the programmable display 114.
That is, the tag of the file number of the base screen is sequentially extracted, an XML element corresponding to the tag is generated, and the content of the XML element is set according to the tag, whereby the XML file of the unit screen is obtained. Can be created.

On the other hand, the applet stored in the applet storage unit 145 is referred to by the HTML file and the operation when the programmable display 114 displays or operates a unit screen while referring to the XML file. Is a program that causes the client device 107 to execute the same operation as described above, and is described as bytecode described in Java language that can be executed by the virtual machine 171 of the client device 107.

The applet includes a class in which a method corresponding to a tag type that can appear in screen data is defined, and a class in which a method for calling a method corresponding to the tag type with reference to an XML file is defined. And a virtual machine 17 for executing the applet.
1 can refer to the XML file and call a method corresponding to the tag type based on the XML element indicating the tag.

More specifically, of the methods executed by the virtual machine 171, the method corresponding to the tag type is
For example, in the case of a display tag, it is called at a predetermined time interval, and data of a specific device address is disclosed to the public server unit 1.
This is a drawing method that makes a request to 46 and performs display according to the response. In the case of an input tag, the input method is called when an input event occurs, and is an input method for requesting the public server unit 146 to write data corresponding to an input result to a specific device address.

Here, in the above screen data, the switching operation of each unit screen is also realized as an input tag, and the input tag has a device address as a device address in the storage area in the programmable display 114. The system area in which data indicating the unit screen in the middle is stored is associated. Therefore, among the input methods, an input method that requests an instruction to change to the specific system area transmits an instruction to change the unit screen to the public server unit 146, similarly to a normal input method. Before updating the screen, the client apparatus 107 that executes the applet inquires of the public server unit 146 about the contents of the device address of the system area, determines the currently displayed unit screen, and corresponds to the unit screen. XM
If the L file is not stored in the storage unit (not shown) of the client device 107, the XML file is read. Thereby, the client device 107 and the programmable display 114 can always display the same unit screen.

In addition, the input method may change the contents of an alternative storage area provided in the client device 107 instead of transmitting the change instruction to the specific system area. In this case, when referring to the system area by another method or the like, the alternative storage area is referred to instead of making an inquiry to the public server unit 146. In this case, the client device 107 can display a unit screen different from the unit screen currently displayed on the programmable display 114 even if the unit screen is for the programmable display 114.

Further, for example, the same unit screen as that of the programmable display 114 can be designated by setting the parameters at the time of executing the applet described later, or by displaying and selecting a menu in conjunction with the selection operation of the unit screen. Or each of the above methods may be created so that the user can select whether to display a different unit screen. In this case, even though the same applet or XML file is used, for example, the programmable display 114
For example, when monitoring the operation of the operator, the former can be selected, and when monitoring the local control system 103 separately from the operation of the operator, the latter can be selected.

A method for referring to an XML file is, for example, an XML file indicating a tag from the XML file.
L element is extracted, and the type of the tag (for example, the XML
An instance of the class corresponding to the TagName element in the element) is generated, and the parameters of the tag (for example, the contents of each element in the XML element) are set in the field of the instance. Can be executed by the virtual machine 171.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 17, a character string P1 for causing the virtual machine 171 of the client device 107 to execute the applet is included in the HTML file.
1 and a character string P1 required as an HTML document such as "<HTML>" or "<TITLE>". Also, H
The TML file includes, for example, a character string for displaying characters and images describing the programmable display 114 displayed by the applet, or the local control system 1.
A character string P2 conforming to the HTML format, such as a character string indicating a link to a hypertext document that describes the document 03, may be included. Further, the HTML file may include a character string P12 for executing an applet for switching unit screens.

The HTML file is created for each programmable display 114 by the file generator 147, and the XML file is created for each unit screen. Further, for example, when the browser 172 of the client device 107 displays the HTML file, it specifies the unit screen to be displayed first,
Screen data (programmable display 11
4) Information related to the whole is included in the character string P11. The above information is specified as a parameter when executing the applet. For example, the first unit screen is specified as an attribute value of the attribute name “BASESCR” of the PARAM element (“1” in this example).

The public server 146 receives a request from the client device 107, for example, a URI (Unive
(rsal Resource Identifier) based on the HTML file or XM
An L file or an applet can be determined and distributed to the client device 107.

Further, upon receiving the inquiry about the content of the device address A from the client device 107 executing the distributed applet, the public server unit 146 receives the inquiry of the content of the device address A from the storage area of the data storage unit 142. Is read out, and a reply is sent to the client device 107. In addition, the client device 1
07, the contents of the above-mentioned area corresponding to the device address A are received.
Rewrite the value according to the instruction. Here, the public server device 121 and each control host computer 116 communicate with each other at a predetermined timing as described above, and the contents of the data storage unit 142 are stored in each control host computer 1.
In addition to being updated in accordance with the instruction of No. 16, the change of the data storage unit 142 is notified to each control host computer 116. Therefore, the client device 107 can display and control the current status of the local control system 103.

In synchronizing the contents of the data storage unit 142 with the entity of the device address, the direction in which the transmission is performed is determined according to, for example, a change time, an operation priority, and the like. For example, the local control system 10
When the data storage unit 142 of the public server device 121 is updated according to the contents of each device address in the public server device 3, the public server-side communication processing unit 136 acquires the contents of the device address similarly to the display processing unit 131. , As device data. Conversely, the data storage unit 142
When the change of the device address is transmitted to the entity of the device address, the communication processing unit 14 on the host computer side of the public server device 121
1 reads the device data from the data storage unit 142 and sends it to the control host computer 116. Further, when the public server-side communication processing unit 136 of the control host computer 116 receives the device data, the server processing unit 1 performs the same processing as when the display processing unit 131 changes the content.
A content change instruction is transmitted via 33.

The members 13 shown in FIGS.
1-136, 141-147 and 171-172 are:
An arithmetic unit such as a CPU executes a program stored in a storage unit such as a ROM or a RAM, and is realized by controlling input / output units such as a touch panel or a liquid crystal display device or communication circuits such as an interface circuit. It is a functional block. Therefore, a computer having these means simply reads a recording medium (for example, a CD-ROM or the like) on which the above program is recorded, and executes the program. The client device 107 can be realized. In particular, the virtual machine 171 and the browser 172 of the client device 107
Can be realized with general-purpose browser software preinstalled on many computers. Therefore, these computers can operate as the client device 107 without installing a special program. For example, the serial cable 113, the local network 115, the Internet 105,
Alternatively, if a program for downloading a program via another communication channel is installed in the computer in advance, the program can be distributed to the computer via the communication channel.

In the above configuration, step 1 shown in FIG.
In (hereinafter, abbreviated as S31), the user of the local control system 102 operates the drawing processing unit 134 of the control host computer 116 to check the actual state of the target system 111 and the programmable display 114.
The screen data is created / corrected according to the operator's proficiency or the user's preference. Further, the created screen data is distributed to the programmable display 114 after it is confirmed that the screen operates normally by, for example, simulation or connection test, and in step S32, the programmable display 114 displays the data corresponding to the screen data. And start accepting operations.

Here, since the optimum screen is also affected by the taste and the proficiency, it cannot be uniquely determined and is often changed relatively frequently. However, as described above, since the user of the local control system 103 (controlling host computer 116) can generate screen data by using a combination of tags, it is possible to flexibly respond to these requests and maintain an optimal state. it can.

When the screen data is updated, the control host computer 116 (public server side communication processing unit 1)
36) In S33, the public server device 121 is accessed and screen data is transmitted. On the other hand, when the public server device 121 receives the screen data, in S34,
The file generation unit 147 converts the screen data into HTML.
A public file such as a file and an XML file is generated, and the HTML file storage unit 143 and the XML file are generated.
It is stored in the file storage unit 144.

On the other hand, in S35, the Internet 1
When the client device 107 accesses the public server device 121 (public server unit 146) via the client device 05 to display a screen of a certain programmable display 114 via the client device 107, the public server unit 146 By confirming whether or not the identification number and the password received from the user are a predetermined combination, it is authenticated whether or not the display / control on the screen is permitted by the client device 107 or the user. Then, the access from the client device 107 that is not permitted is rejected.

Authorized authorized client device 107
When the public server unit 146 confirms that
In step 6, the HTML file for displaying the screen requested by the client device 107 is read from the HTML file storage unit 143 among the public files generated in S34, and transmitted to the client device 107 via the Internet 105. . Further, the browser 172 of the client device 107 checks each APPLET element (the part from “<APPLET>” to “</ APPLET>”) in the HTML file.
Is acquired from the public server device 121 and executed by the virtual machine 171. The virtual machine 171 that executes the above applet stores the XML file required for screen display on the public server 121.
To get from.

Further, in S37, the virtual machine 171 of the client device 107 communicates with the public server unit 146 while referring to the XML file, and
A screen having the same contents as the screen of the programmable display 114 specified by the HTML file, such as the screen shown in FIG. 14 or FIG. 14, is displayed, and control according to the operation on the screen is instructed.

More specifically, the virtual machine 171 executing the applet refers to the XML file and generates an instance corresponding to each tag (processing instruction word). Of these instances, the drawing method of the instance corresponding to the display tag is executed at a predetermined time interval. As a result, the virtual machine 171 makes an inquiry to the public server device 121 about the contents of the device address A.

On the other hand, when the public server unit 146 of the public server device 121 receives the inquiry, the public server unit 146 receives the inquiry.
Data is read from the area corresponding to the device address A in the storage area 2 and the client apparatus 107
Send to When the data is transmitted to the client device 107 via the Internet 105, the drawing method determines a predetermined display area (a predetermined area) on the display screen of the client device 107 according to the data (contents of the device address A). XY) is updated.

Here, the XML file and the HTML file for calling the applet are generated based on screen data, and each instance refers to the same device address as the corresponding tag in the screen data. Is set to Also, the drawing method of each instance, if the content of the device address is the same,
It is created to display the same image as the tag. Therefore, when the applet is executed, a component graphic J1 (J2) indicating the state of the device is displayed on the display screen of the client device 107, as in FIGS.

On the other hand, when an input operation such as a mouse operation is performed during the execution of the applet, the virtual machine 171 executes an input method of an instance corresponding to the input operation among instances corresponding to the input tag. Accordingly, the virtual machine 171 requests the public server unit 146 to write data corresponding to the input result to a specific device address. Further, upon receiving the write request, the public server unit 146 rewrites the contents of the area of the requested device address A in the storage area of the data storage unit 142. As a result, after writing on the display screen of the client device 107, the programmable display 1
As in 14, the operation result is reflected.

In the local control system 103, the public server device 121 and each control host computer 116 communicate with each other via the firewall 122, and the contents of the data storage unit 142 of the public server device 121 and the local control system 103 Synchronize with the device address in the device. Thus, the operation of the client device 107 is reflected on the device control.

Note that an example has been described in which the XML file and the HTML file generated by the file generation unit 147 based on the screen data are stored in the HTML file storage unit 143 and the XML file storage unit 144 in advance. However, the screen data may be stored, and the file generation unit 147 may create each file and store it in each of the storage units 143 and 144 when requested by the client device 107. Also, the case where the file generation unit 147 is provided in the public server device 121 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the file generation unit 147 is provided in each control host computer 116.
The public server device 121 may receive the HTML file or the XML file generated by the file generation unit 47. In any case, the same effect can be obtained if the HTML file or the XML file created according to the screen data is made public.

In the above description, an example has been described in which the applet distributed by the public server unit 146 is displayed / controlled based on an XML file indicating a tag (processing instruction word) related to each unit screen. However, it is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 19, as a PARAM element described in an HTML file, the following character strings (codes), that is, instances corresponding to all tags included in screen data are generated, and A character string for setting each field according to the content of the tag may be described. In this case, the file generation unit 147 refers to the contents of the tags for all the tags in the screen data, and
The character string is generated based on the reference result as shown by. In this case, the XML file storage unit 144 is unnecessary.

Regardless of the operation or calling method of the applet, the public server unit 146 allows the programmable display unit 114 to perform an operation of displaying on the basis of screen data in accordance with the state of the device and a change of the state of the device in accordance with the operation. If the client device 107 can be instructed to perform substantially the same operation as the operation when instructing, the control communication system 1
Almost the same effect as 01 can be obtained.

However, if the applets and HTML files corresponding to all the tags in the screen data are transmitted collectively,
The time from when the client device 107 accesses the public server unit 146 to when the client device 107 starts display / operation increases. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, it is preferable to divide and transmit the data instructing the operation regarding each unit screen.

Further, an applet, an HTML file, and an XML file, which cause the client device 107 to perform an operation of transmitting the same inquiry / change instruction as the programmable display 114 to the public server unit 146 and an operation of displaying the response in response to the response, are provided. Although the case of distribution has been described as an example, the present invention is not limited to this.

For example, based on the screen data and the device data, the public server device 121 or the local control system 103 can display an image file (bit) in a format that can be displayed by the client device 107 with the same contents as the screen display of the programmable display 114. A file in a map format or a JPEG format, etc.)
The file may be transmitted to. In this case, although the state of the device cannot be controlled from the client device 107, the screen of the programmable display 114 can be displayed from a remote location. Also in this case, it is not necessary to install a program for displaying the screen of each programmable display on the client device 107 in advance, so that the labor, time, and cost for installation can be reduced.

However, when the communication speed between the public server unit 146 and the client device 107 is low, such as when the client device 107 is communicating via the Internet 105, when data indicating the screen is transmitted, the screen of the client device 107 is displayed. The update speed decreases.

On the other hand, since an applet that causes the client device 7 to perform the above inquiry, change instruction, and display operation is distributed, the amount of data transmission can be significantly reduced, and the response speed in the client device can be greatly improved. . Also, for example, a user interface such as cursor movement can be processed on the client device side,
Further, the response speed can be improved.

Also, the case where the applet is made public has been described as an example. However, instead of the applet, it is created by compiling a programming language such as basic, for example, and operates in the same manner as the applet.
Almost the same effect can be obtained by distributing the execution program to be executed at 07.

However, when the virtual machine 171 of the client device 107 interprets and displays and controls the applet, if the client device 107 has a virtual machine, the operating system (OS) or CPU of the client device can be executed. Can execute an applet even if the machine language is different. Therefore, display / control can be performed by more client devices 107 in the same manner as the programmable display 114 without increasing the types of applets distributed by the public server unit 146.

The HTML file storage unit 143
The HTML file and the XML file generated based on the screen data are stored in the XML file storage unit 144, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, H for displaying data obtained by statistically processing device data
A file for display based on device data, such as a TML file, may be made public. The file is created by the user of the local control system 103.

Even in this case, the public server device 12
1 and each control host computer 116 communicate with each other via the firewall 122 to synchronize device data, so that the client device 107 and the control host computer 116 do not directly communicate with each other, The status of each device can be displayed. Therefore, information based on the device data from the local control system 103 can be displayed on the client device 107 at a remote location without obstructing monitoring / control by the local control system 103.

The case where a plurality of control host computers 116 each including the drawing processing unit 134, the screen data memory 135, and the display processing unit 131 are described as an example, but the control host computer 116 is replaced with the control host computer 116. A data collection computer that collects data of each device may be provided by the common protocol IF unit 132, the server unit 133, and the public server side communication processing unit 136 without the above members 131, 134, and 135.

[0167]

As described above, the maintenance device according to the present invention comprises: an error code obtaining means for obtaining an error code indicating a failure state of a target device; and a support device for supporting the recovery of the target device from the error code. And maintenance information acquiring means for transmitting the information to the target device and acquiring maintenance information for restoring the target device.

Therefore, the maintenance device can acquire maintenance information based on the error code as electronic data from a support device connected via a network such as the Internet, and can present the information to maintenance staff at the site. Becomes

As described above, the support device of the present invention
In response to the error code indicating the status of the failure of the target device,
A maintenance information storage unit storing maintenance information for restoring the target device, and the maintenance information corresponding to the error code received from the maintenance device are acquired from the maintenance information storage unit and transmitted to the maintenance device. And a maintenance information transmitting unit.

Therefore, when the maintenance device connected to the support device via the network such as the Internet requests maintenance information with an error code, the support device extracts the maintenance information from the database based on the error code. It is possible to automatically execute a process of transmitting and presenting it to maintenance staff at the site.

[0171] As described above, the remote maintenance system of the present invention is configured to include the above-described maintenance device and support device.

Therefore, a remote maintenance system can be constructed by connecting the above-mentioned maintenance device and the support device via a network.

Therefore, according to the above-described maintenance device, support device, and remote maintenance system, when the target device fails, a recovery method based on the error code is automatically streamed to the maintenance device at the site (video), characters (manual). ), Multimedia data including graphics and the like. Therefore, there is an effect that the restoration procedure can be explained more easily than a paper manual. as a result,
There is an effect that the maintenance staff at the site can perform the recovery work in accordance with the instructions of the recovery method presented on the maintenance device. In other words, the maintenance staff only needs to repair while looking at the screen of the maintenance device, and there is an effect that the restoration can be easily performed even by a non-expert.

In addition, since the maintenance information is stored in the support device, the maintenance information can be automatically distributed via the network. Further, since the maintenance information can be centrally managed, it is easy to upgrade the version of the maintenance information. Therefore, there is an effect that the cost for providing the maintenance information can be reduced.

Further, as described above, the maintenance device of the present invention includes a monitoring image obtaining means for obtaining a monitoring image indicating a failure state of a target device, and a support device for supporting the recovery of the target device by using the monitoring image. And a monitoring image transmitting unit for transmitting the monitoring image to the user.

Therefore, when a failure occurs in a target device, the maintenance device transmits a monitoring image to a support device connected via a network such as the Internet, thereby enabling a support member such as a technical center of the manufacturer to transmit the monitoring image. Can present a monitoring image indicating the status of the failure.

As described above, the support device of the present invention
Monitoring image display means for acquiring and displaying a monitoring image indicating a failure state of the target device from the maintenance device, and an operator performing an input operation to transmit maintenance information for restoring the target device to the maintenance device And a maintenance instruction input means.

Therefore, in the above support device, the operator can diagnose a failure and input a maintenance instruction for transmitting maintenance information to the maintenance device while viewing the monitoring image of the target device.

As described above, the remote maintenance system of the present invention is configured to include the above-described maintenance device and support device.

Therefore, a remote maintenance system can be constructed by connecting the above-mentioned maintenance device and the support device via the network.

Therefore, according to the above-described maintenance device, support device, and remote maintenance system, when the target device fails, a monitoring image indicating the status of the failure of the target device can be displayed on the support device. Therefore, the support staff at the remote place can check the status of the failure of the target device by the image information, so that accurate diagnosis is facilitated. Further, since the support staff can check the monitoring image, there is an effect that communication between the maintenance staff and the support staff becomes easy.

As described above, according to the above-described maintenance device, support device, and remote maintenance system, the maker of the target device can provide the maintenance instruction to the user's site remotely and accurately and easily. This has the effect that provision is possible. In addition, the user of the target device can easily and accurately troubleshoot the target device and reduce the time required for recovery, thereby reducing the cost of troubleshooting and the business loss due to the trouble of the target device. It has the effect of becoming.

By reading the remote maintenance program from a computer-readable recording medium storing a remote maintenance program for realizing each of the above-described means in a computer and operating the computer, the above-described maintenance device and support system are supported. The device and the remote maintenance system can be realized on a computer network. Therefore, the effects of the remote maintenance system described above can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a remote maintenance system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a recovery process of the remote maintenance system shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an example of a screen displayed by a maintenance information presenting unit on the maintenance device of the remote maintenance system shown in FIG. 1;

4 is an example of a screen displayed by a maintenance information presentation unit on the maintenance device of the remote maintenance system shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an example of a screen displayed by a second video conference processing unit on a support terminal of the remote maintenance system shown in FIG. 1;

6 is an example of a screen displayed by a second video conference processing unit on a support terminal of the remote maintenance system shown in FIG. 1;

7 is an example of a screen displayed by a first video conference processing unit on the maintenance device of the remote maintenance system shown in FIG. 1;

8 is an example of a screen displayed by a first video conference processing unit on the maintenance device of the remote maintenance system shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a control communication system applicable to the remote maintenance system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a relationship between screen data and a display screen in the control communication system, wherein a switch is set to O;
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state of an FF state.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a data structure of a tag included in the screen data.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a data structure of a display tag among the tags.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a data structure of an input tag among the above tags.

FIG. 14 shows a relationship between screen data and a display screen in the control communication system, wherein a switch is set to O.
It is explanatory drawing which shows the case where it set to N.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a public server device and a control host computer provided in a local control system in the control communication system.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an XML file distributed from a public server device to a client device in the control communication system.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an HTML file distributed from a public server device to a client device in the control communication system.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing an operation of the control communication system.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating another modified example of the control communication system, and illustrating an example of an HTML file distributed to a client device.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 remote maintenance system 4 support system (support device) 11 controlled device (target device) 30 maintenance device 31 error code acquisition unit (error code acquisition unit) 32 maintenance information presentation unit (maintenance information acquisition unit) 33 first video conference process Unit (monitoring image transmitting unit) 34 monitoring image storing unit (monitoring image acquiring unit) 43 maintenance information providing unit (maintenance information transmitting unit) 44 maintenance information database (maintenance information storing unit) 51 second video conference processing unit (monitoring image display) Means) 52 Maintenance instruction input unit (Maintenance instruction input means)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Kiyohide Sugii 1-4-32 Shimanouchi, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka F-term in Any Ware Co., Ltd. HA10 JA35 JB17 KA12 LB14 5H223 AA05 BB08 DD03 DD07 EE06 EE29 FF03

Claims (6)

[Claims] An error code acquiring means for acquiring an error code indicating a failure status of a target device, and transmitting the error code to a support device for supporting the recovery of the target device to recover the target device. Maintenance information acquisition means for acquiring the maintenance information of
A maintenance device comprising: 2. A maintenance information storage means for storing maintenance information for restoring the target device in response to an error code indicating a failure status of the target device, and corresponding to the error code received from the maintenance device. A maintenance information transmitting unit that acquires the maintenance information from the maintenance information storage unit and transmits the maintenance information to the maintenance device. 3. A remote maintenance system comprising the maintenance device according to claim 1 and the support device according to claim 2. 4. A surveillance image acquiring means for acquiring a surveillance image indicating a status of a failure of a target device, and a surveillance image transmitting means for transmitting the surveillance image to a support device that supports recovery of the target device. A maintenance device characterized in that: 5. A monitoring image display means for acquiring and displaying a monitoring image indicating a failure status of a target device from a maintenance device, and an operator for transmitting maintenance information for restoring the target device to the maintenance device. And a maintenance instruction input means for performing an input operation. 6. A remote maintenance system comprising the maintenance device according to claim 4 and the support device according to claim 5.