JP2009141724A - Remote monitoring system, remote monitoring terminal, and, control method of remote monitoring terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To specify, when a fault occurs in communication between a remote monitoring terminal and a remote monitoring center in a remote monitoring system, which device causes the fault. <P>SOLUTION: In a remote monitoring system 1, a remote monitoring terminal 3 for monitoring a group of freezing devices 4 installed in a store is disposed in each store and the remote monitoring terminals 3 in the plurality of stores and a remote monitoring center 6 for managing the remote monitoring terminals 3 in a centralized manner are connected so as to communicate with each other via a communication line network 10, each of the remote monitoring terminals 3 transmits, in accordance with an operational situation of the group of freezing devices 4, information relating to the operational situation to the remote monitoring center 6 via the communication line network 10, tries communication to a remote monitoring terminal 3 in any other store if the information can not be transmitted normally to the remote monitoring center 6, and determines whether or not its own communication function is normal on the basis of it whether or not the communication can be carried out normally. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote monitoring system for remotely monitoring a refrigeration apparatus group, a remote monitoring terminal for controlling the refrigeration apparatus group in the remote monitoring system, and a method for controlling the remote monitoring terminal.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a remote monitoring terminal that is connected to an air conditioner and has a function of controlling the air conditioner, a communication terminal, and a remote monitoring center that transmits a remote control command to the remote monitoring terminal are provided. A remote monitoring system has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-4281 A

By the way, in the remote monitoring system described above, when a failure occurs in communication between the remote monitoring terminal and the remote monitoring center, it is determined whether the cause of the failure is in the remote monitoring terminal or the remote monitoring center. It can not be identified. For this reason, the operator had to manually investigate the cause and restore it.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to specify which device is the cause of a failure when a failure occurs in communication between the remote monitoring terminal and the remote monitoring center in the remote monitoring system. That is.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention arranges remote monitoring terminals for monitoring a refrigeration apparatus group installed in a store in each store, and concentrates the remote monitoring terminals of the plurality of stores and the remote monitoring terminals. In a remote monitoring system in which a remote monitoring center to be managed is connected to be communicable with each other via a communication line, the remote monitoring terminal is configured to provide information on the operating status according to the operating status of the refrigeration apparatus group. If the information is transmitted to the remote monitoring center via a communication line and information cannot be normally transmitted to the remote monitoring center, communication with the remote monitoring terminal in another store is attempted and whether or not the communication can be normally executed. The remote monitoring system is characterized by determining whether or not its own communication function is normal based on the above.
According to this configuration, when an abnormality occurs in the refrigeration apparatus group installed in the store, when the remote monitoring terminal of the store transmits information to the remote monitoring center, when information cannot be transmitted due to a communication failure, By communicating with the remote monitoring terminal of another store, it is possible to accurately and promptly determine whether or not the cause of the failure is in the remote monitoring terminal itself. As a result, the location where the failure has occurred can be quickly identified, and for example, it is possible to automatically perform the failure solving operation or to save labor for the operator to investigate the cause.
In addition, when a communication failure occurs, there is a risk of causing a secondary failure such as congestion by repeatedly transmitting to the same destination. According to the configuration of the present invention, the above determination is performed. In some cases, since communication is performed between stores, that is, between remote monitoring terminals, there is no risk of communication being concentrated at the remote monitoring center, and secondary communication failures can be reliably avoided.

In the above configuration, a plurality of the remote monitoring centers are configured to be connectable via the communication line, and the remote monitoring terminal can normally execute communication with respect to the remote monitoring terminals of other stores, It is also possible to switch the communication destination to which information is transmitted from the remote monitoring center to another remote monitoring center by determining that its own communication function is normal.
In this case, when the remote monitoring terminal determines that its own communication function is normal, the remote monitoring terminal switches the communication destination to another remote monitoring center and transmits information regarding the operation status of the refrigeration apparatus group. If the cause of communication failure is not at least in the remote monitoring terminal, it is assumed that there is a cause on the remote monitoring center side. For this reason, in the remote monitoring system of the present invention, by switching the communication destination to which information is transmitted from the remote monitoring terminal to another remote monitoring center, normal communication is promptly performed while avoiding a failure, and remote monitoring is performed. Can continue.

Further, in the above configuration, the remote monitoring terminal is configured as a communication destination to try communication when information cannot be normally transmitted to the remote monitoring center, and the remote monitoring terminals of a plurality of stores, and the plurality of the remote monitoring terminals. It is also possible to store the trial order.
In this case, the remote monitoring terminal cannot transmit information to the remote monitoring center, and when trying to communicate with the remote monitoring terminal of another store, the remote monitoring terminal stores in advance the remote monitoring terminals of other stores stored in advance. Try to communicate in the order in which they are stored. For this reason, when information cannot be transmitted to the remote monitoring center, it is possible to immediately communicate with the remote monitoring terminal of another store, and even if communication with the remote monitoring terminal of another store fails, immediately You can try to communicate with another store's remote monitoring terminal. Further, by selecting communication destinations stored in a plurality of remote monitoring terminals so that communication is not concentrated on a specific remote monitoring terminal, secondary communication failures such as congestion can be reliably prevented.

Further, the present invention provides a remote monitoring terminal for monitoring a group of refrigeration devices installed in a store, a communication line to a remote monitoring terminal of another store and a remote monitoring center that centrally manages the remote monitoring terminal. Is connected to the remote monitoring center according to the operating status of the refrigeration apparatus group, and when the information cannot be normally transmitted to the remote monitoring center, the other stores There is provided a remote monitoring terminal characterized by trying communication with a remote monitoring terminal and determining whether or not its own communication function is normal based on whether or not this communication has been successfully executed.
According to this configuration, when the remote monitoring terminal of the store transmits information to the remote monitoring center, if the information cannot be transmitted due to a communication failure, communication with the remote monitoring terminal of another store is performed. Whether the cause is the remote monitoring terminal itself can be determined accurately and promptly. Thereby, the location where the failure occurs can be quickly identified. Further, since communication is performed between stores, that is, between remote monitoring terminals when the above determination is made, there is no possibility that communication concentrates on the remote monitoring center, and secondary communication troubles can be reliably avoided.

The present invention is arranged in a store to monitor a group of refrigeration devices installed in a store, and provides a communication line to a remote monitoring terminal of another store and a remote monitoring center that centrally manages the remote monitoring terminal. A method for controlling a remote monitoring terminal for controlling a remote monitoring terminal connected via the remote monitoring terminal, wherein information related to the operating status is transmitted to the remote monitoring center according to the operating status of the refrigeration apparatus group, and the remote monitoring center If the information cannot be transmitted normally, the communication with the remote monitoring terminal in another store is tried and it is determined whether or not the communication function is normal based on whether or not the communication can be normally executed. A remote monitoring terminal control method is provided.
According to this method, when the remote monitoring terminal of the store transmits information to the remote monitoring center, if the information cannot be transmitted due to a communication failure, communication with the remote monitoring terminal of another store is performed. Whether the cause is the remote monitoring terminal itself can be determined accurately and promptly. Thereby, the location where the failure occurs can be quickly identified. Further, since communication is performed between stores, that is, between remote monitoring terminals when the above determination is made, there is no possibility that communication concentrates on the remote monitoring center, and secondary communication troubles can be reliably avoided.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when information cannot be transmitted to a remote monitoring center from the remote monitoring terminal of a shop, it can be determined correctly and promptly whether the cause exists in a remote monitoring terminal.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a remote monitoring system 1 according to the present embodiment.
The remote monitoring system 1 is a system for remotely monitoring a plurality of store monitoring systems 2 installed in a plurality of stores using a communication line network 10 as a communication line.
The store monitoring system 2 is a system for monitoring and controlling the refrigeration apparatus group 4 installed in a store such as a convenience store by the remote monitoring terminal 3. As will be described later, the refrigeration apparatus group 4 includes an air conditioner such as an absorption chiller / heater, a gas heat pump air conditioner, and a packaged air conditioner, and a refrigeration apparatus such as a refrigerator showcase and a refrigerator.

The store monitoring system 2 is connected to the remote monitoring center 6 via the communication network 10. The remote monitoring center 6 acquires information transmitted from each store monitoring system 2 and monitors the store monitoring system 2 of each store. The remote monitoring center 7 is configured in the same manner as the remote monitoring center 6 and is a spare center used when a failure occurs in the remote monitoring center 6.
The remote monitoring center 6 includes a router 61 connected to the communication network 10 and a monitoring computer 62 connected to the router 61. The router 61 functions as a gateway between the monitoring computer 62 and the plurality of store monitoring systems 2 that access the remote monitoring center 6 via the communication network 10. The monitoring computer 62 receives and acquires information transmitted from the store monitoring system 2 via the communication network 10 and registers it in the database to remotely monitor each store monitoring system 2. Further, when an alarm is notified from the store monitoring system 2, the monitoring computer 62 notifies the operator together with information such as the location of the store monitoring system 2 that issued the alarm and the store name. The router 71 provided in the remote monitoring center 7 functions in the same manner as the router 61, and the monitoring computer 72 functions in the same manner as the monitoring computer 62. Here, the data stored in the monitoring computer 62 and the monitoring computer 72 may be synchronized periodically.

  The communication line network 10 is a mobile communication network that provides mobile communication services such as calls and data communication by mobile terminals, and includes a data communication network 11 and a base station 12 connected to the data communication network 11. Composed. The store monitoring system 2 is wirelessly connected to the base station 12, and the remote monitoring centers 6 and 7 are connected to the data communication network 11. Specifically, for example, a mobile communication network capable of packet communication such as a DoPa network is used as the data communication network 11, and the store monitoring system 2 monitors the packet communication via the data communication network 11. Various data are transmitted to and received from the computer 62.

  The remote monitoring terminal 3 provided in the store monitoring system 2 monitors the operation status of the refrigeration apparatus group 4. For example, when an abnormality occurs in the operation status of the refrigeration apparatus group 4, the remote monitoring center 6 is connected via the communication network 10. Is transmitted to the remote monitoring center 6 to notify the abnormality of the refrigeration apparatus group 4.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the store monitoring system 2 in detail. Since the plurality of store monitoring systems 2 described above are configured in the same manner, the configuration of one store monitoring system 2 will be illustrated and described here.
As described above, the store monitoring system 2 is configured by connecting the remote monitoring terminal 3 that monitors the refrigeration device group 4 to the refrigeration device group 4 that performs air conditioning, product cooling, and heating in the store. . As shown in FIG. 2, the remote monitoring terminal 3 includes a controller 30 that controls the store monitoring system 2 and a communication adapter 37 that performs wireless communication with the base station 12 according to the control of the controller 30. The remote monitoring terminal 3 is accommodated in a protective case (not shown) installed inside or outside the store. The communication adapter 37 includes an antenna 38 installed outside or inside the protective case, and performs wireless communication with the base station 12 using the antenna 38.

In the present embodiment, in addition to the refrigeration system 50 that cools and warms merchandise in the store, the air conditioner 40 that air-conditions the store, and the refrigeration system 4 are added to the refrigeration device group 4 that is monitored by the store monitoring system 2 A configuration including a wattmeter 55 of the device group 4 is illustrated. Since the air conditioner 40, the refrigeration system 50, the wattmeter, and the like 55 can be operated and stopped independently, they are connected to the controller 30 as independent systems. As shown in FIG. 2, the outdoor unit 41 of the air conditioner 40, the refrigerator 51 of the refrigeration system 50, and the wattmeter 55 are daisy chain connected by the communication line 20, and various signals are respectively transmitted to and from the controller 30. Transmission and reception are possible.
The air conditioner 40 has a configuration in which a plurality of indoor units 42, 43, and 44 are connected to an outdoor unit 41 by a refrigerant pipe (not shown). The outdoor unit 41 includes a control board (not shown) that controls the air conditioner 40, and indoor units 42, 43, and 44 are communicably connected to the control board via the communication line 23. The control board provided in the outdoor unit 41 is connected to the controller 30 via the communication line 20 and relays control signals and the like from the controller 30 to each part of the refrigeration apparatus group 4.

The refrigeration system 50 is configured by connecting a booster 52, showcases 53, 54, and the like to a refrigerator 51 provided with a heat source side heat exchanger via a refrigerant pipe. The refrigerator 51 incorporates a control board (not shown) for controlling the entire refrigeration system 50, and a booster 52 and showcases 53, 54 are communicably connected to the control board via the communication line 24. Further, the control board of the refrigerator 51 is connected to the controller 30 via the communication line 20 and relays control signals and the like from the controller 30 to each part of the refrigeration apparatus group 4.
The wattmeter 55 or the like is, for example, various devices including a wattmeter that integrates the amount of power consumed by each unit of the refrigeration apparatus group 4. The device as the wattmeter 55 or the like also has a function of detecting an abnormality or the like of the operating state of the refrigeration apparatus group 4 based on, for example, a change in power consumption. When the wattmeter 55 is communicably connected to the controller 30 via the communication line 20 and transmits a signal indicating the accumulated power consumption under the control of the controller 30 and detects an operation abnormality of the refrigeration apparatus group 4 Transmits a signal indicating this abnormality to the controller 30.

  The controller 30 sends a signal to each part of the air conditioner 40 and the refrigeration system 50 of the refrigeration apparatus group 4 to control operation start and operation stop of the refrigeration apparatus group 4. Moreover, the controller 30 transmits operation data to each part of the air conditioning apparatus 40 and the refrigeration system 50, and receives and stores the transmitted operation data. The operation data includes, for example, the customer ID, the transmission date and time, the operation time of the outdoor unit 41 and the refrigerator 51, the number of start / stop times, an abnormality code (including an abnormality alarm code and a failure prediction code), and the refrigeration apparatus group 4 gas. It includes information such as the integrated gas usage when the heat pump type air conditioner is included, the operating time of the indoor units 42, 43, 44 and the showcases 53, 54, and the presence / absence of abnormalities in these parts. This operation data is transmitted to the controller 30 via the outdoor unit 41 and the refrigerator 51, for example, every minute, and the controller 30 transmits information (operation data, abnormality code, etc.) within a predetermined period of the refrigeration apparatus group 4. ) Is always stored. In addition, you may perform the operation | movement which transmits / receives various signals and data between the controller 30 and each part of the freezing apparatus group 4 separately for every system | strain with respect to the air conditioning apparatus 40 or the freezing system 50. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the controller 30 in detail.
As shown in FIG. 3, the controller 30 includes a control unit 31 that controls each unit of the controller 30, an interface unit 32 connected to the communication adapter 37, and the refrigeration apparatus group 4 via the communication line 20 (FIG. 2). A communication unit 33 connected to the storage unit 34, a storage unit 34 for storing setting information for controlling the communication adapter 37, operation data received via the communication unit 33, and an operation unit 35 for accepting an operator's manual operation. It has.

The control unit 31 controls the start and stop of operation by sending an operation control signal to each unit of the refrigeration apparatus group 4 including the outdoor unit 41 and the refrigerator 51 (FIG. 2) by controlling the communication unit 33. In addition, the operation data transmitted from the refrigeration apparatus group 4 is received and stored in the storage unit 34.
In addition, the control unit 31 controls the communication adapter 37 via the interface unit 32 and causes the communication adapter 37 to set a destination address (IP address) accessed via the communication line network 10 to an address designated or set To change. Then, the control unit 31 outputs a transmission control signal via the interface unit 32 and causes the communication adapter 37 to access the set destination.
Further, the control unit 31 outputs a reset signal to the communication adapter 37 via the interface unit 32 to reset the communication adapter 37 and a control signal for instructing the communication adapter 37 to start, stop, restart, etc. A function of outputting and controlling the start and stop of the communication adapter 37 and restarting the communication adapter 37 is provided.

As described above, when an abnormality occurs in the refrigeration apparatus group 4, the remote monitoring terminal 3 transmits information notifying the abnormality to the remote monitoring center 6 by the communication adapter 37. This abnormality is, for example, a pressure abnormality in a refrigerant pipe (not shown) of the refrigeration apparatus group 4, a gas engine combustion abnormality, a gas consumption abnormality, a heat source side heat exchanger provided in the outdoor unit 41, the refrigerator 51, Abnormal temperature of the use side heat exchangers provided in the indoor units 42, 43, 44 and showcases 53, 54, abnormal voltage of power supplied to each part of the refrigeration apparatus group 4, power consumption detected by the wattmeter 55 There are abnormalities.
The storage unit 34 stores a plurality of destination data (addresses) to be set in the communication adapter 37 as destinations for transmitting information notifying abnormality.

  In the remote monitoring system 1 shown in FIG. 1, the store monitoring system 2 is normally designated to access the remote monitoring center 6 to transmit information, and when the operation of the remote monitoring center 6 fails. Are designated to access the remote monitoring center 7. Therefore, in the storage unit 34, as shown in FIG. 3, the address of the remote monitoring center 6 is “alarm reporting destination address [1]” and the address of the remote monitoring center 7 is “alarm reporting destination address [2]”. It is remembered. The control unit 31 sets an alarm report destination address [1] in the communication adapter 37 with information indicating an alarm when an abnormality occurs as a destination. Then, as will be described later, when a failure occurs in communication from the communication adapter 37 to the remote monitoring center 6 and it is determined that the cause of this failure is on the remote monitoring center 6 side, the control unit 31 selects the destination of the communication adapter 37. Is changed to the alarm report destination address [2].

Further, as will be described later, the controller 30 tries to make a call using another store monitoring system 2 as a destination when a failure occurs in communication from the communication adapter 37 to the remote monitoring center 6. If this transmission is successful and the response from the destination store monitoring system 2 can be confirmed, it is determined that the communication adapter 37 of the self can communicate normally. On the other hand, when communication with neither the remote monitoring center 6 nor the other store monitoring system 2 is possible, it can be determined that the own communication adapter 37 is the cause of the failure.
In order to perform this operation, the storage unit 34 stores communication confirmation destination store addresses [1] to [3] as addresses of destinations to be transmitted for confirmation. Here, the above-mentioned transmission for confirmation is tried a plurality of times while changing the destination address until the transmission is successful in order to make a reliable determination. Therefore, for example, three communication confirmation destination store addresses [1] to [3] are stored in the storage unit 34. These communication confirmation destination store addresses [1] to [3] are transmitted in the order of [1] to [3]. The number of communication confirmation destination store addresses is not limited to three.

The store monitoring system 2 stored as the communication confirmation destination store address is determined in advance according to specific conditions and stored in the storage unit 34.
As this condition, for example, the number of store monitoring systems 2 that store one store monitoring system 2 as a communication confirmation destination store address is limited to a predetermined number (for example, a maximum of several to several tens of stores). . This is because when access from other store monitoring systems 2 is concentrated on a specific store monitoring system 2, there is a possibility that inconveniences such as delay in response to the access may occur.

  In addition, for example, the store monitoring system 2 that performs transmission and the store monitoring system 2 that is stored as a communication confirmation destination store address exist in different regions, and preferably exist in remote regions. The region here is an administrative region, a region of a business that provides the communication network 10, or a region that is determined by the business that manages the remote monitoring system 1 for the performance of the business. If a natural disaster such as an earthquake or lightning strike, or a power outage due to a natural disaster or human / mechanical factors, or a failure in a communication line (including the data communication network 11 and the base station 12) occurs, it exists in the same area. Since all the store monitoring systems 2 may fall into a state where communication is not possible, in order to reliably determine whether or not communication is possible, it is desirable to transmit to the store monitoring systems 2 in other regions. In particular, it is more preferable if the plurality of communication confirmation destination store addresses stored in the storage unit 34 are addresses of store monitoring systems 2 in different regions.

Furthermore, when the distance is reflected in the charge for communication via the communication line network 10, the store monitoring system 2 that makes a call and the store monitoring system 2 that is stored as a communication confirmation destination store address exist as close as possible. It is preferable. As described above, when the address of the store monitoring system 2 in another region is stored as the communication confirmation destination store address, it is desirable that the communication fee is low in the other region.
On the other hand, when the distance is not reflected in the charge for communication via the communication line network 10, the store monitoring system 2 that performs transmission and the store monitoring system 2 that is stored as the communication confirmation destination store address should be as far as possible. However, if the distance is too long, there is a possibility that the communication quality may be affected by noise mixing or delay, so it is desirable that the distance is not extremely long.

A plurality of communication confirmation destination store addresses are stored in advance in the storage unit 34 in accordance with the conditions exemplified above, but the communication confirmation destination store addresses may be appropriately input and set by operating the operation unit 35. .
In addition, when a call to the remote monitoring center 6 is instructed by the operation of the operation unit 35, the controller 30 controls the communication adapter 37 according to this operation, and the remote monitoring center 6 via the communication line network 10. To access. Here, when either the alarm notification destination address or the communication confirmation destination store address in the storage unit 34 is designated by the operation of the operation unit 35, the controller 30 accesses the designated address.

  Further, the remote monitoring terminal 3 has a function of returning a response in response to an access from another store monitoring system 2 via the communication network 10. This function may be a function that responds to known commands such as “ping” for communication confirmation and “traceroute (tracert)” for route investigation. In this case, it is implemented as a basic function of the communication adapter 37, and a response can be transmitted even if the control of the controller 30 is not involved. Of course, when the communication adapter 37 receives a unique command in the remote monitoring system 1, a response designated in advance is transmitted under the control of the controller 30. Also, since “ping” and “tracert” are standard commands implemented on various platforms, access trials and responses between the remote monitoring terminals 3 can be realized without special implementation.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the remote monitoring terminal 3.
As shown in FIG. 4, when detecting an abnormality in the monitoring target refrigeration apparatus group 4, the controller 30 generates an alarm and starts alarm notification processing for reporting the content of the alarm to the remote monitoring center 6. (Step S11).
The controller 30 that has started the alarm notification process first controls the communication adapter 37 to send an alarm to the address set as the communication destination of the communication adapter 37 at the time of alarm notification, that is, to the address of the remote monitoring center 6. (Step S12).
Here, the controller 30 determines whether or not the transmission to the remote monitoring center 6 has been normally completed (step S13). If the transmission has been normally completed, the controller 30 proceeds to step S19 described later.
On the other hand, when the alarm transmission to the remote monitoring center 6 is not normally completed (step S13; No), the controller 30 retries the transmission to the remote monitoring center 6 (step S14). This retry operation is performed once or up to a preset number of times (for example, 5 times) until communication is successful.

  The controller 30 determines whether or not the communication has succeeded while performing the above number of retries (step S15), and if successful, the process proceeds to step S19 described later. On the other hand, if the retry is not successful (step S15; No), the controller 30 confirms communication with another store monitoring system 2 in order to determine whether or not the function of its own communication adapter 37 is normal. Execute (step S16).

  In the communication confirmation in step S16, the controller 30 refers to the communication confirmation destination store address stored in the storage unit 34, and accesses the address by the communication adapter 37. This access may be an access that can obtain a response to the call to the store monitoring system 2 of the other party. As described above, a simple command such as “ping” or “traceroute (tracert)” is used. It can be easily realized. As described above, the remote monitoring terminal 3 has a function of responding to an access from another remote monitoring terminal 3 (communication adapter 37). Therefore, if there is no failure in communication between the remote monitoring terminal 3 performing the processing of FIG. 4 and the remote monitoring terminal 3 that is the communication confirmation destination, it should be possible to receive a response to the access in step S16. Note that the communication confirmation in step S16 is not limited to once, but is repeatedly performed until the communication is successful. The controller 30 retries a single communication confirmation destination store address up to a maximum of once or a preset number of times (for example, 5 times). In addition, when a plurality of communication confirmation destination store addresses are stored in the storage unit 34, the controller 30 sequentially reads out these communication confirmation destination store addresses and repeats them until the communication confirmation is successful.

  And the controller 30 discriminate | determines whether the communication confirmation to the other shop monitoring system 2 was successful (step S17). If the communication confirmation is not successful, the controller 30 determines that its own communication adapter 37 is in a state incapable of communication (step S18), performs control to restart the communication adapter 37, and performs step S19. Migrate to

  In step S19, the controller 30 ends the alarm notification process started in step S11, and then returns to the operation of remotely monitoring the refrigeration apparatus group 4 (step S20), and ends this process.

On the other hand, when the communication confirmation to the other store monitoring system 2 is successful (step S17; Yes), the controller 30 can communicate normally with its own communication adapter 37, and a failure has occurred on the remote monitoring center 6 side. (Step S21).
The controller 30 reads the spare alarm notification destination address stored in the storage unit 34, switches the setting of the address where the communication adapter 37 performs the alarm notification to the read address, updates the setting, and restarts the communication adapter 37. Start (step S22). Thereby, the setting of the alarm report destination address of the communication adapter 37 is changed / updated to the address of the remote monitoring center 7.

  Thereafter, the controller 30 controls the communication adapter 37 to transmit an alarm to the updated alarm notification destination address (step S23). The controller 30 determines whether or not the transmission has been normally completed (step S24). If the transmission has been successfully completed (step S24; Yes), the alarm notification process is terminated (step S25), and the alarm notification destination address is set. Returning to the operation of remotely monitoring the refrigeration apparatus group 4 while maintaining the updated state (step S26), the present process is terminated.

On the other hand, when the alarm cannot be normally transmitted to the remote monitoring center 7 (step S24; No), the controller 30 retries the preset number of times as an upper limit (step S27), and whether the retry is successful. It is determined whether or not (step S28).
If the retry is successful (step S28; Yes), the controller 30 proceeds to step S25. Further, if the retry is not successful even after retrying up to the upper limit (step S28; No), the controller 30 restores the alarm notification destination address setting in the communication adapter 37 and restarts the communication adapter 37. (Step S29), and this process is terminated.

In the operation shown in FIG. 4, the process ends without reporting an alarm in steps S18 and S29, but if the abnormality of the refrigeration apparatus group 4 has not been resolved, the operation of step S11 is started again, and the alarm There is no problem because transmission is attempted.
In order to avoid a communication failure due to a temporary failure of the communication network 10, when retrying in steps S14 and S27, communication may be tried after waiting for a preset time.

  As described above, according to the remote monitoring system 1 according to the embodiment to which the present invention is applied, the plurality of remote monitoring terminals 3 that control the refrigeration apparatus group 4 and the remote that acquires information from the plurality of remote monitoring terminals 3. The monitoring center 6 is connected to be communicable with each other via the communication network 10, and the remote monitoring terminal 3 generates an alarm indicating this abnormality when an abnormality occurs in the operation status of the refrigeration apparatus group 4. At the same time, information indicating abnormality is transmitted to the remote monitoring center 6. If the information cannot be normally transmitted to the remote monitoring center 6, communication with the remote monitoring terminal 3 of the other store monitoring system 2 is attempted, and based on whether or not this communication has been normally executed, It is determined whether or not the communication function is normal. Thereby, when information cannot be transmitted from the remote monitoring terminal 3 of the store to the remote monitoring center 6, it is possible to accurately and promptly determine whether or not the cause is the remote monitoring terminal 3. Further, since communication is performed between stores, that is, between the remote monitoring terminals 3 when this determination is made, there is no possibility that the communication concentrates on the remote monitoring center 6, and a secondary communication failure such as congestion occurs. There is an advantage that there is no possibility of doing.

  The remote monitoring system 1 is provided with a plurality of remote monitoring centers 6 and 7. For this reason, if the remote monitoring terminal 3 of each store cannot execute communication to the remote monitoring center 6 and can normally execute communication to the remote monitoring terminal 3 of other stores, the remote monitoring terminal 3 has its own communication function. It is determined that the address is normal, and the address of the communication destination is switched to the address of the remote monitoring center 7. Thereby, information to be transmitted to the remote monitoring center 6 is transmitted to the other remote monitoring centers 7 thereafter. That is, when the remote monitoring terminal 3 determines that its own communication function is normal, the remote monitoring terminal 3 transmits information to be transmitted to the remote monitoring center 6 to another remote monitoring center 7 to avoid a failure and to operate normally. A state where communication can be performed is realized, and remote monitoring can be continued stably.

  Further, the remote monitoring terminal 3 stores the addresses of the remote monitoring terminals 3 of a plurality of stores and the order of the trials in the storage unit 34 as a destination to try communication when information cannot be normally transmitted to the remote monitoring center 6. is doing. For this reason, when the remote monitoring terminal 3 tries to communicate with the remote monitoring terminal 3 of another store, the appropriate remote party is promptly switched while sequentially switching a plurality of remote monitoring terminals 3 stored in advance as destinations. Can communicate with other devices. Further, when information cannot be transmitted to one remote monitoring center 6, the communication destination can be quickly switched to another remote monitoring terminal 3 to try communication. For this reason, even if communication with one remote monitoring terminal 3 is accidentally failed, communication with another remote monitoring terminal 3 can be immediately attempted. In addition, a configuration in which a plurality of remote monitoring terminals 3 are stored as destinations and settings are made so that communication is not concentrated on a specific remote monitoring terminal 3, thereby avoiding concentration of local communication load of the communication network 10. Therefore, secondary communication failures such as congestion can be reliably prevented.

  As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to this, A various change implementation is possible. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the refrigeration apparatus group 4 controlled by the remote monitoring terminal 3 is not limited to the one including the gas heat pump type air conditioner, and the heat pump type air conditioner including a compressor driven by a motor. Or an absorption air conditioner, and the number of outdoor units and indoor units constituting the air conditioner 40 and the number of showcases constituting the refrigeration system 50 are also arbitrary. Moreover, the showcases 53 and 54 may be refrigerated showcases, heated showcases, or freezers, and the specific mode of the refrigeration apparatus group 4 is arbitrary. Furthermore, the communication line network 10 may be configured using a public line network, or an open network such as the Internet, or a closed network including a dedicated communication line or a VPN (Virtual Private Network). It may be comprised including. Further, the store monitoring system 2 may be connected to a wired communication line, the number of remote monitoring centers 6 and 7 and the number of store monitoring systems 2 included in the remote monitoring system 1 are arbitrary, and other specifics The aspect can also be arbitrarily changed.

It is a figure which shows the remote monitoring system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of a shop monitoring system. It is a figure which shows the structure of a remote monitoring terminal. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a remote monitoring system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Remote monitoring system 2 Store monitoring system 3 Remote monitoring terminal 4 Refrigeration equipment group 6, 7 Remote monitoring center 10 Communication network (communication line)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Data communication network 12 Base station 20, 23, 24 Communication line 30 Controller 31 Control part 32 Interface part 33 Communication part 34 Storage part 35 Operation part 37 Communication adapter 40 Air conditioning apparatus 41 Outdoor unit 42, 43, 44 Indoor unit 50 Refrigeration System 51 Refrigerator 53, 54 Showcase 55 Wattmeter, etc. 61, 71 Router 62, 72 Monitoring computer

Claims (5)

A remote monitoring terminal for monitoring a group of refrigeration units installed in the store is arranged in each store, and a remote monitoring terminal for the plurality of stores and a remote monitoring center for centrally managing the remote monitoring terminal are connected with a communication line. In a remote monitoring system that is communicably connected to each other via
The remote monitoring terminal is
According to the operation status of the refrigeration apparatus group, information on the operation status is transmitted to the remote monitoring center via the communication line,
If information cannot be normally transmitted to the remote monitoring center, communication with the remote monitoring terminal of another store is attempted, and whether or not the communication function is normal is determined based on whether or not the communication can be normally executed. To determine whether
Remote monitoring system characterized by A plurality of the remote monitoring centers are configured to be connectable via the communication line,
When the remote monitoring terminal can normally execute communication with the remote monitoring terminal in another store, the remote monitoring terminal determines that its own communication function is normal, and sends a communication destination to which information is transmitted from the remote monitoring center. Switching to another remote monitoring center;
The remote monitoring system according to claim 1. The remote monitoring terminal, as a communication destination to try communication when information cannot be transmitted normally to the remote monitoring center, the remote monitoring terminal of a plurality of stores, and the trial order to the plurality of remote monitoring terminals Remember,
The remote monitoring system according to claim 1 or 2. In the remote monitoring terminal that monitors the refrigeration equipment group installed in the store,
Connected to a remote monitoring terminal of another store and a remote monitoring center that centrally manages the remote monitoring terminal via a communication line;
According to the operation status of the refrigeration apparatus group, information on the operation status is transmitted to the remote monitoring center,
If information cannot be normally transmitted to the remote monitoring center, communication with the remote monitoring terminal of another store is attempted, and whether or not the communication function is normal is determined based on whether or not the communication can be normally executed. To determine whether
Remote monitoring terminal characterized by. Located in a store to monitor a group of refrigeration units installed in the store, and connected to a remote monitoring terminal of another store and a remote monitoring center that centrally manages the remote monitoring terminal via a communication line A remote monitoring terminal control method for controlling a remote monitoring terminal,
According to the operation status of the refrigeration apparatus group, information on the operation status is transmitted to the remote monitoring center,
If information cannot be normally transmitted to the remote monitoring center, communication with the remote monitoring terminal of another store is attempted, and whether or not the communication function is normal is determined based on whether or not the communication can be normally executed. To determine whether
A control method for a remote monitoring terminal characterized by the above.

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