Remote monitoring system for building equipment

Abstract

A remote monitoring system (1), which is an example of an embodiment, is a system for remotely monitoring a building device having: a communication module (10); and a communication device (20) that controls the communication module (10) and performs communication. A remote monitoring device (30) constituting a remote monitoring system (1) transmits communication confirmation data to a communication device (20) and performs communication confirmation with the communication device (20). The communication device (20) restarts the communication module (10) when the communication device (20) cannot receive the communication confirmation data.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a remote monitoring system for building equipment, and more particularly, to a remote monitoring system for building equipment having a communication function with a remote monitoring device. Background Art

[0002] Generally, building equipment such as elevators is maintained / inspected by maintenance operators. In the past, a communication device is sometimes mounted on building equipment such as elevators, and a remote monitoring system that uses the communication device to remotely monitor the equipment from a monitoring center of a maintenance operator is widely known (for example, see Patent Documents 1 to 3). The elevator monitoring system disclosed in Patent Document 1 is configured to reset the control device of the elevator after executing a predetermined confirmation process when a reset command signal is sent from a remote monitoring device at a monitoring center via a communication device to the elevator side.

[0003] In recent years, the use of mobile communications (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE)) as a communication means between a remote monitoring device and a communication device mounted on building equipment has been increasing. In communications using mobile communication networks such as LTE networks, the communication connection state cannot always be maintained due to communication cost issues. Therefore, communication confirmation is periodically performed to confirm whether communication can be carried out without problems.

[0004] Prior art literature

[0005] Patent Literature

[0006] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-112486

[0007] Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-2694

[0008] Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-264911 Summary of the invention

[0009] Problems to be solved by the invention

[0010] In the above communication confirmation, if the communication between the remote monitoring device and the communication device installed in the building equipment cannot be ensured, the maintenance personnel need to go to the site to perform the recovery work. Therefore, there is a problem that the workload of the maintenance personnel is heavy. In addition, there is also the following problem: before the maintenance personnel go out to perform the repair work, the remote monitoring function of the building equipment is lost.

[0011] An object of the present invention is to provide a remote monitoring system that can quickly restore communication even if maintenance personnel do not go to the site when communication confirmation between a remote monitoring device and a communication device mounted on building equipment cannot be performed.

[0012] Means for solving problems

[0013] In the remote monitoring system of building equipment of the present invention, the building equipment has: a communication module; and a communication device, which controls the communication module to perform communication, and is characterized in that the remote monitoring system of the building equipment has a remote monitoring device, and the remote monitoring device communicates with the communication device via the communication module to perform remote monitoring of the building equipment. The remote monitoring device sends communication confirmation data to the communication device to perform communication confirmation with the communication device. When the communication device cannot receive the communication confirmation data, the communication module is restarted.

[0014] In most cases, the communication between the remote monitoring device and the communication device mounted on the building equipment is restored by restarting the communication module. Therefore, in the remote monitoring system for building equipment of the present invention, when communication confirmation cannot be obtained, for example, when communication confirmation continues for a certain period of time, the communication device automatically restarts the communication module instead of setting communication impossible and sending maintenance personnel to the site. As a result, sometimes even if the maintenance personnel do not send out, communication can be quickly restored, and the number of times the maintenance personnel send out can be greatly reduced. In addition, the restoration time can be shortened.

[0015] In the remote monitoring system for building equipment of the present invention, it is preferred that the communication device restarts itself when the communication confirmation data cannot be received even after the communication module is restarted. Since communication failure may occur due to the communication device, according to this structure, the possibility of restoring communication becomes higher, and the above effect becomes more significant. Although it is also conceivable to restart the communication device at the same time as the communication module, since the possibility of restoring communication only by restarting the communication module is higher, according to this structure, it is possible to prevent unnecessary restart of the communication device.

[0016] In the remote monitoring system for building equipment of the present invention, the remote monitoring device may be configured to communicate with the communication device via a plurality of communication lines including a main line and a secondary line, and when communication confirmation via the main line cannot be performed, communication confirmation data may be sent via the secondary line. According to this configuration, when there is a problem with the main line and a communication failure occurs, it is possible to prevent useless recovery work of the communication device.

[0017] In the remote monitoring system for building equipment of the present invention, the communication device may be configured to restart the communication module when the communication confirmation data cannot be received within a predetermined period from the last time the communication confirmation data was received. In this case, the communication module can be restarted at an appropriate time, and the communication failure state can be prevented from being left unattended for a long time.

[0018] In the remote monitoring system for building equipment of the present invention, the communication device may be configured to output information requesting the remote monitoring device to send communication confirmation data. For example, the communication device may perform communication confirmation with the remote monitoring device at any time. The communication device may also be configured to restart the communication module if the communication confirmation data cannot be received even after the request is output.

[0019] In the remote monitoring system for building equipment of the present invention, preferably, the building equipment is an elevator.

[0020] Effects of the Invention

[0021] According to the remote monitoring system for building equipment of the present invention, when the communication confirmation between the remote monitoring device and the communication device mounted on the building equipment cannot be performed, the communication can be quickly restored even if the maintenance personnel do not go to the site. Therefore, for example, the number of times the maintenance personnel go out can be reduced and the restoration time can be shortened. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 This is a diagram showing a remote monitoring system for an elevator as an example of an embodiment.

[0023] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of a remote monitoring system.

[0024] Figure 3 This is a flowchart showing an example of a control process related to communication confirmation.

[0025] Figure 4 This is a flowchart showing another example of the control process related to communication confirmation. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the remote monitoring system for building equipment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiment described below is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment. In addition, the present invention includes a selective combination of a plurality of embodiments and modified examples described below.

[0027] Below, refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2, the structure of a remote monitoring system 1 for an elevator as an example of an embodiment is described in detail. In this embodiment, an elevator 2 is exemplified as a building equipment, but the building equipment of the present invention is not limited to an elevator. The remote monitoring system of the present invention can also be applied to a security system such as an air conditioning device or an intercom device, etc. However, the remote monitoring system of the present invention is particularly effective in remote monitoring of elevators.

[0028] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the remote monitoring system 1 for an elevator is a system for remotely monitoring an elevator 2, and the elevator has: a communication module 10; and a communication device 20, which controls the communication module 10 to perform communication. The remote monitoring system 1 has a remote monitoring device 30, and the remote monitoring device 30 communicates with the communication device 20 via the communication module 10 to remotely monitor the elevator 2. Generally, the remote monitoring device 30 is a computer of a maintenance operator who performs maintenance / inspection of the elevator 2, and is installed in a place separate from the facility where the elevator 2 is installed, such as a monitoring center (information center) for remotely monitoring the elevator 2.

[0029] Generally, the remote monitoring device 30 performs remote monitoring of a plurality of elevators 2. A plurality of elevators 2 installed in a plurality of facilities become remote monitoring targets of the remote monitoring device 30. The remote monitoring device 30 may be composed of one computer or a plurality of computers. The remote monitoring device 30 is configured to communicate with each elevator 2 to perform remote monitoring of a plurality of elevators 2, and to periodically send communication confirmation data to the communication device 20 of the elevator 2 to perform confirmation of the communication status with the communication device 20.

[0030] The details will be described later. In the remote monitoring system 1, when the communication device 20 cannot receive the communication confirmation data within a predetermined period, at least the communication module 10 is restarted. In most cases, the communication between the communication device 20 and the remote monitoring device 30 is restored by restarting the communication module. According to the remote monitoring system 1, the number of dispatches of maintenance personnel can be greatly reduced, and the recovery time can be greatly shortened.

[0031] The elevator 2 is a lifting device that moves in a hoistway 4 through a car 3 to carry people, objects, etc. between landings 5 ​​provided on each floor. The car 3, for example, has an indoor space that can carry people, and is driven by a traction machine 7 provided in an upper machine room 6, thereby moving in the hoistway 4. The car 3 has an operating panel 3A in the car, a car door 3B, and a door opening and closing device (not shown) for opening and closing the car door 3B. In addition, a landing operating panel 5A and a landing door 5B are provided at the landing 5.

[0032] In the present embodiment, a control panel 8 for controlling the operation of the elevator 2 is provided in the upper machine room 6. The control panel 8 controls the traction machine 7 according to the operation signals of the car operating panel 3A and the landing operating panel 5A, for example, and moves the car 3 to a predetermined landing 5 according to the operation of the user. In addition, when the car 3 stops at the landing 5, the control panel 8 controls the door opening and closing device to open and close the car door 3B. In addition, the landing door 5B opens and closes in conjunction with the car door 3B.

[0033] As described above, the elevator 2 includes the communication module 10 and the communication device 20 as communication equipment with the remote monitoring device 30. The communication module 10 and the communication device 20 together with the remote monitoring device 30 constitute the remote monitoring system 1. Figure 1 In the example shown, the communication module 10 and the communication device 20 are installed in the upper machine room 6 together with the control panel 8. The communication device 20 is arranged close to the control panel 8 and is connected to the control panel 8 by wire, but the communication device 20 can also be assembled in the control panel 8. Regarding the communication module 10, it can also be assembled in the control panel 8 in the same way.

[0034] The remote monitoring system 1 is configured to transmit information related to the failure to the remote monitoring device 30, for example, when a failure occurs in the elevator 2, through the function of the communication device. In addition, the remote monitoring system 1 may be configured to transmit a signal for performing maintenance of the elevator 2 from the remote monitoring device 30 to the control panel 8, and automatically perform a part of the maintenance of the elevator 2. In the remote monitoring of the elevator 2 by the remote monitoring system 1, the communication device is indispensable, and it is necessary to ensure a good communication state between the communication device 20 and the remote monitoring device 30.

[0035] The communication module 10 is, for example, a wireless communication device that performs wireless communication with a wireless base station. The wide area wireless communication standard used is not particularly limited, and can be any standard such as LTE, 4G, 5G, etc. In the following, LTE communication is performed between the communication device 20 and the remote monitoring device 30, and the communication module 10 is set as an LTE communication module. The communication module 10 can use a conventionally known LTE communication module.

[0036] When a communication failure occurs between the communication module 10 and the remote monitoring device 30, the communication module 10 is restarted by the communication device 20. The communication module 10 has a power supply circuit including a relay, for example, and is restarted by turning the relay on / off according to a control signal output from the communication device 20. The communication module 10 may also have a power button for turning the power on / off, and may be restarted manually by a maintenance person.

[0037] The communication device 20 is a communication control device that controls the communication module 10 to wirelessly communicate with the remote monitoring device 30. The communication device 20 includes, for example, a first processing unit 23 that performs processing related to the restoration of the communication failure with the remote monitoring device 30, and a second processing unit 24 that performs processing related to the transmission and reception of information for remote monitoring of the elevator 2. The communication device 20 has a memory 21 that stores various setting information, a control program, etc., and a processor 22 that realizes the functions of each processing unit by reading and executing the control program.

[0038] The communication device 20 is configured to restart the communication module 10 when a communication failure occurs with the remote monitoring device 30. The communication device 20 outputs a restart control signal to the communication module 10, for example. In addition, the communication device 20 is configured to restart the communication device 20 itself when the communication failure is not resolved even after restarting the communication module 10. The communication device 20 may also have a power supply circuit including a relay similar to the communication module 10, and a power button that can be manually operated.

[0039] As described above, the remote monitoring device 30 is a device that communicates with the communication device 20 and performs remote monitoring of the elevator 2. The remote monitoring device 30 includes, for example, a first processing unit 33 that performs processing related to communication confirmation with the communication device 20; and a second processing unit 34 that performs processing related to remote monitoring of the elevator 2. The remote monitoring device 30 has a memory 31 that stores various setting information, control programs, etc., and a processor 32 that realizes the functions of each processing unit by reading and executing the control program. In addition, the IP address or domain name of the communication device 20 of each elevator 2 is stored in the memory 31.

[0040] Hereinafter, the configuration related to the communication confirmation between the communication device 20 and the remote monitoring device 30 will be described in detail.

[0041] The remote monitoring device 30 is configured to transmit communication confirmation data to the communication device 20 and perform communication confirmation with the communication device 20. In LTE communication, the communication connection state cannot be always maintained due to the communication cost problem. Therefore, the remote monitoring device 30 performs communication confirmation to confirm whether communication with the communication device 20 can be performed without problems. The remote monitoring device 30 preferably performs communication confirmation for each elevator 2 regularly. For example, the remote monitoring device 30 performs communication confirmation for each elevator 2 every day.

[0042] The remote monitoring device 30 performs communication confirmation by executing a Ping command, for example. When the Ping command is executed, a packet is generated as communication confirmation data, and the packet is sent to the communication destination specified by the IP address, etc. If the communication is good, there are the same number of responses as the communication confirmation packets sent. At this time, the response time can also be measured. The number of communication confirmation packets is not particularly limited, and as an example, it is 50 to 150 times / day for one elevator 2.

[0043] The remote monitoring device 30, for example, ends the communication confirmation at the moment of confirming the response from the communication device 20. The remote monitoring device 30 may send a plurality of packets at a time to one elevator 2, or may send 50 to 150 packets over several minutes to several hours. The remote monitoring device 30, for example, sends the communication confirmation packets to the same communication destination at a certain interval (intervals of several tens of seconds to several minutes). In addition, the packet loss rate, which is the ratio of the number of responses to the number of packets sent, may be calculated, and this information may be used for control related to the communication confirmation.

[0044] The remote monitoring device 30 may perform communication confirmation on the communication devices 20 of the plurality of elevators 2 in a predetermined order, or may perform communication confirmation by randomly changing the order every day. In addition, the remote monitoring device 30 may store the data of the packet loss rate in the memory 31 in advance for each elevator 2, and change the order of communication confirmation according to the data. For example, the remote monitoring device 30 may perform communication confirmation in order from the communication destination having a higher packet loss rate within a predetermined period. In this case, communication confirmation can be preferentially performed on the communication destination where communication failure is likely to occur.

[0045] The communication device 20 is configured to restart the communication module 10 when it cannot receive the communication confirmation data (communication confirmation packet). When the communication device 20 cannot receive the communication confirmation data despite the communication confirmation being performed by the function of the remote monitoring device 30, it is considered that there is a problem with the communication module 10, the communication device 20 or other communication equipment or the communication line, and a communication failure has occurred. Since in most cases, the communication failure in the remote monitoring system 1 is eliminated by restarting the communication module 10, this function of the communication device 20 can quickly restore the communication even if the maintenance personnel do not go to the site.

[0046] When the communication device 20 does not receive the communication confirmation data, the communication module 10 may be restarted at an appropriate time. However, it is preferable to restart the communication module 10 in consideration of the timing when the communication confirmation is performed by the remote monitoring device 30. For example, when the communication device 20 does not receive the communication confirmation data before a preset time, the communication module 10 is restarted. An example of this time is the time when part or all of the communication confirmation packets scheduled to be sent on the same day are sent. When the communication module 10 is restarted at the time when part of the packets scheduled to be sent on the same day are sent, the effect of the restart can be quickly confirmed even without performing special processing such as additional packet sending.

[0047] The communication device 20 may also determine whether to restart the communication module 10 at a time determined every day when the time at which the remote monitoring device 30 performs communication confirmation does not change. That is, the communication device 20 restarts the communication module 10 when it does not receive the communication confirmation data before the time determined every day. The time is set, for example, by remote operation of the remote monitoring device 30 or by a maintenance person. In addition, when the time of communication confirmation changes and its schedule is predetermined, the communication device 20 may obtain the schedule in advance and change the time of restart determination according to the time of performing communication confirmation.

[0048] The communication device 20 may also restart the communication module 10 when it cannot receive the communication confirmation data within a prescribed period from the last time the communication confirmation data was received. For example, the communication device 20 stores the date and time when the communication confirmation data was last received from the remote monitoring device 30 in the memory 21, and starts the timer from the date and time. Then, if the communication confirmation data is not received after a prescribed period from the date and time, it is considered that a communication failure has occurred, and the communication module 10 is restarted. When the communication device 20 receives the communication confirmation data before the prescribed period has passed, the timer is reset and the counting of the next prescribed period is started.

[0049] The above-mentioned prescribed period is set, for example, by remote operation of the remote monitoring device 30 or by a maintenance person. In the case where the communication confirmation of the remote monitoring device 30 is performed at the same time every day, the prescribed period is set to be 24 hours or more. The prescribed period is preferably set in consideration of the time when part or all of the packets scheduled to be sent on the day are sent. When the prescribed period is set in such a way that the communication module 10 is restarted before all packets have been sent, the effect of the restart can be quickly confirmed even without performing special processing such as additional packet sending.

[0050] The communication device 20 preferably restarts itself when it cannot receive the communication confirmation data from the remote monitoring device 30 even after the communication module 10 is restarted. Since a communication failure may occur due to the communication device 20, the possibility that the communication can be restored by restarting the communication device 20 becomes high. Although it is also possible to restart the communication device 20 at the same time as the communication module 10, in most cases, for example, the time required for restarting the communication device 20 is longer than that for the communication module 10, and the communication can be restored only by restarting the communication module 10. Therefore, it is preferable to perform the restart of the communication device in stages.

[0051] For example, when the communication device 20 cannot receive the communication confirmation data within a prescribed period after the communication module 10 is restarted, the communication device 20 itself is restarted. Thus, after the effect of the restart of the communication module 10 is fully confirmed, the communication device 20 can be restarted. In addition, in the case where the communication failure is not eliminated even after the communication device 20 is restarted, an alarm indicating that communication with the communication device 20 cannot be displayed on the remote monitoring device 30. The display of the alarm is performed in consideration of the time to restart the communication device 20 and the time to confirm its effect. In addition, in the case where the number of communication confirmation packets scheduled to be sent on the same day remains at the time of restarting the communication device 20, the effect of the restart of the communication device 20 can be confirmed on the same day.

[0052] In the present embodiment, the remote monitoring device 30 is configured to be able to communicate with the communication device 20 via a plurality of communication lines including a main line X and a sub-line Y. The main line X is a line used in normal times, and is a line used in emergencies such as when a natural disaster such as an earthquake occurs. Therefore, the sub-line Y is not used in normal communications. The remote monitoring device 30 can also use the sub-line Y to confirm communication. Specifically, when communication confirmation via the main line X cannot be performed, communication confirmation data is sent via the sub-line Y. In this case, when there is a problem with the main line X and a communication failure occurs, it is possible to prevent useless restoration work of the communication device.

[0053] For example, when there is no response from the communication device 20 even though a predetermined number of communication confirmation packets are sent via the main line X, the remote monitoring device 30 sends communication confirmation packets via the secondary line Y. In this case, the number of packets sent via the secondary line Y may be smaller than the number of packets sent via the main line X. Figure 1 As shown, when there are a plurality of sub-lines Y, the remote monitoring device 30 may use all of the sub-lines Y for communication confirmation, or may select one sub-line Y from the plurality for communication confirmation.

[0054] When the communication confirmation is performed using the secondary line Y, the predetermined period as a determination factor for restarting the communication module 10 is set to a period during which the transmission process of the communication confirmation data via the main line X and the secondary line Y is completed. That is, when the communication device 20 cannot receive the communication confirmation data via the plurality of communication lines including the main line X and the secondary line Y, the communication module 10 is restarted. Furthermore, when the communication confirmation data cannot be received even after the communication module 10 is restarted, the communication device 20 may be restarted.

[0055] The communication device 20 may also be configured to output information (request information) requesting the remote monitoring device 30 to send the communication confirmation data. When the remote monitoring device 30 receives the request information, it sends the communication confirmation data to the communication device 20 of the request destination. In addition, in the case of a communication failure, since the request information does not reach the remote monitoring device 30, the communication confirmation data is not sent. The communication device 20 may also be configured to restart the communication module 10 when the communication confirmation data cannot be received even after the request information is output.

[0056] When the communication device 20 cannot receive the communication confirmation data even after the communication module 10 is restarted, the communication device 20 may output the request information before restarting the communication device 20 itself. Alternatively, the communication device 20 may output the request information after restarting itself. The communication device 20 outputs the request information to the remote monitoring device 30, for example, to confirm the effect of restarting the communication device.

[0057] Below, refer to Figure 3 An example of a control process related to communication confirmation in the remote monitoring system 1 is described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0058] like Figure 3 As shown, the remote monitoring device 30 performs communication confirmation by sending the communication confirmation packet as communication confirmation data to the communication device 20 of each elevator 2 (steps S10, S11). If there is no problem in the communication state between the communication device 20 and the remote monitoring device 30, a response is received from the communication device 20, and the communication confirmation is ended based on the reception of the response ("Yes" in step S11). On the other hand, if no response is received ("No" in step S11), the sending of the packet continues until the sending packet reaches the specified number. As mentioned above, an example of the specified number is 50 to 150 per day per elevator 2.

[0059] If there is no response from the communication device 20 even after sending the above-mentioned specified number of packets and communication confirmation cannot be obtained, an alarm display indicating that communication cannot be performed is output (step S13). At this time, the recovery process of the communication device 20 is completed. That is, since the communication failure cannot be eliminated even through the recovery process of the communication device 20, in this case, for example, maintenance personnel go to the site to perform recovery work according to the alarm display.

[0060] When the communication device 20 receives a communication confirmation packet from the remote monitoring device 30 ("Yes" in step S20), it responds to the remote monitoring device 30 (step S26). On the other hand, when a communication confirmation packet is not received after a predetermined period of time since the last reception ("Yes" in step S21), it is considered that a communication failure has occurred, and the communication recovery process is automatically performed. Specifically, the communication module 10 is first restarted (step S22). When the communication failure is eliminated by the restart, the communication confirmation packet can be received ("Yes" in step S23).

[0061] If the communication module 10 cannot receive the communication confirmation packet even after restarting ("No" in step S23), the communication device 20 restarts itself (step S24). If the communication failure is eliminated by the restart, the communication confirmation packet can be received ("Yes" in step S25). In addition, the output of the alarm display in the above step S13 is performed, for example, when the confirmation of the restart effect of the communication device 20 is completed and the effect is not achieved.

[0062] The process of steps S23 and S25 preferably continues for a predetermined period from the restart. In this case, the restart effect can be fully confirmed. As described above, by restarting the communication device at the moment when part of the packets scheduled to be sent on the day are sent, the restart effect can be quickly confirmed even without performing special processing such as additional packet sending. For example, the communication module 10 can be restarted at the moment when about 1 / 3 of the number of packets scheduled to be sent on the day are sent, and the communication device 20 can be restarted at the moment when about 2 / 3 of the number of packets are sent.

[0063] Figure 4 FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing another example of a control process related to communication confirmation. Figure 4 In the Figure 3 The same procedures are marked with the same reference numerals and repeated descriptions are omitted. Figure 4 In the example shown, Figure 3The difference of the example shown is that, when there is no response from the communication device 20 even after sending the above-mentioned specified number of packets and communication confirmation cannot be obtained, a packet is sent via the secondary line Y to confirm communication (step S14). Figure 3 The illustrated example is different in that the communication device 20 outputs additional packet transmission request information to the remote monitoring device 30 .

[0064] exist Figure 4 In the example shown, the remote monitoring device 30 performs communication confirmation using the secondary line Y (steps S14 and S15). In addition, the communication confirmation in steps S10 to S12 is performed using the main line X. In this case, it can be determined whether the cause of the communication failure is the main line X or the communication device. If the communication confirmation can be performed using the secondary line Y before the communication device is restarted and the communication confirmation can be obtained, it is possible to prevent the communication device from being restarted unnecessarily.

[0065] When the communication device 20 cannot receive a packet even after a predetermined period of time has passed since the last packet was received, the communication device 20 restarts the communication device (at least the communication module 10) (steps S20, S21, S27), but then outputs request information for additional packet transmission to the remote monitoring device 30 (step S28). In this case, even if the number of packets scheduled to be transmitted on the same day is already 0, the effect of the restart can be quickly confirmed. In the case where the communication failure is not eliminated due to the effect of the restart, since the request information does not reach the remote monitoring device 30, the communication confirmation packet cannot be received (step S29 "No"). In addition, the following case is also considered: even if the communication failure is eliminated, the packet is not transmitted due to a malfunction of the remote monitoring device 30.

[0066] When the remote monitoring device 30 receives the request information from the communication device 20 ("Yes" in step S16), it sends an additional communication confirmation packet to the communication device 20 as the request destination (step S17). In this case, the possibility of communication recovery with the communication device 20 is high, and a response is received after sending the additional packet. When the remote monitoring device 30 cannot confirm communication even using the secondary line Y and does not receive the above request information, it outputs an alarm display indicating that communication cannot be performed (step S13).

[0067] As described above, according to the remote monitoring system 1 having the above structure, when the communication confirmation between the remote monitoring device 30 and the communication device 20 of the elevator 2 cannot be performed, the communication can be quickly restored even if the maintenance personnel do not go to the site. Therefore, the number of times the maintenance personnel go out can be reduced, and the restoration time can be shortened.

[0068] According to the knowledge of the present inventors, in most cases, the communication failure can be eliminated by restarting the communication module 10. Therefore, when communication confirmation cannot be obtained, instead of immediately sending a maintenance worker to the site, the communication module 10 is restarted by the communication device 20 as a first recovery means.

[0069] When the communication failure is not resolved by the first recovery means, the communication device 20 itself is restarted as the second recovery means. This can suppress unnecessary restarts of the communication device 20 and improve the probability of communication recovery. When the elevator 2 fails, it will have a great impact on the user's life. Therefore, it is important to quickly resolve the communication failure and ensure a good communication state with the remote monitoring device 30 in order to improve the quality of maintenance services.

[0070] Description of symbols

[0071] 1: remote monitoring system; 2: elevator; 3: car; 3A: operating panel in car; 3B: car door; 4: hoistway; 5: landing; 5A: landing operating panel; 5B: landing door; 6: upper machine room; 7: traction machine; 8: control panel; 10: communication module; 20: communication device; 21, 31: memory; 22, 32: processor; 23, 33: first processing unit; 24, 34: second processing unit; 30: remote monitoring device; X: main line; Y: secondary line.

Claims

1. A remote monitoring system for building equipment, the building equipment comprising: a communication module; and a communication device that controls the communication module to perform communication, wherein: The remote monitoring system for building equipment includes a remote monitoring device, which communicates with the communication device via the communication module to remotely monitor the building equipment. The remote monitoring device sends communication confirmation data to the communication device to perform communication confirmation with the communication device. When the communication device cannot receive the communication confirmation data, it restarts the communication module.

2. The remote monitoring system for building equipment according to claim 1, wherein: When the communication device cannot receive the communication confirmation data even after the communication module is restarted, the communication device restarts itself.

3. A remote monitoring system for building equipment according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The remote monitoring device is configured to be able to communicate with the communication device via a plurality of communication lines including a main line and a sub-line, and transmit the communication confirmation data via the sub-line when the communication confirmation via the main line cannot be performed.

4. The remote monitoring system for building equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The communication device restarts the communication module when the communication device cannot receive the communication confirmation data within a predetermined period of time since the communication confirmation data was last received.

5. The remote monitoring system for building equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The communication device is configured to be able to output information requesting the remote monitoring device to transmit the communication confirmation data.

6. The remote monitoring system for building equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: The building equipment is an elevator.

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