Notification system and control device

Abstract

To provide technique capable of coping with a situation that monitoring related to refrigerant leakage of a refrigerant circuit cannot be executed.SOLUTION: A refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 according to an embodiment includes: an air conditioner 100 including a refrigerant circuit RC; sensors 117, 134, 144, 154 for acquiring sensor information related to refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC; and a monitoring device 200 for determining an execution situation of monitoring related to refrigerant leakage of the refrigerant circuit RC based on the sensor information, the monitoring being executed by a control unit 118. When it is determined that the monitoring related to the refrigerant leakage of the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be executed, the monitoring device 200 notifies that the monitoring cannot be executed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a notification system and the like. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are known techniques for detecting refrigerant leakage from a refrigerant circuit based on various information indicating the state of the refrigerant circuit of a refrigeration device such as an air conditioner (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

[0003] According to this technique, it is possible to monitor for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2016 / 71947 [Patent Document 2] JP 2020-169807 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, there are cases where it becomes impossible to monitor for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit. For example, when an abnormality occurs in a sensor that acquires information indicating the state of the refrigerant circuit, it may become impossible to monitor for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit. Therefore, when it becomes impossible to monitor for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit, it is desirable to take appropriate measures.

[0006] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a technique capable of dealing with a situation in which it is not possible to monitor for refrigerant leakage from a refrigerant circuit. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a refrigeration system including a refrigerant circuit; An acquisition unit that acquires information regarding a refrigerant leak in the refrigerant circuit; a control unit that determines an execution status of monitoring regarding refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit based on the information, the monitoring unit being executed by the control unit itself or by a monitoring unit different from the control unit; When the control unit determines that the monitoring cannot be performed, the control unit notifies the user that the monitoring cannot be performed. A notification system is provided.

[0008] According to this aspect, the notification system can provide notification that a situation in which monitoring for a refrigerant leak is not possible is present. Therefore, the notification system can deal with a situation in which monitoring for a refrigerant leak is not possible.

[0009] In addition, in a second aspect of the present disclosure, based on the first aspect described above, The control unit may issue the alert when there is an abnormality or signs of an abnormality in the acquisition unit, when there is an abnormality or signs of an abnormality in the monitoring unit, when there is an abnormality or signs of an abnormality regarding the communication of the monitoring results from the monitoring unit to the storage destination, when there is an abnormality or signs of an abnormality regarding the communication of the information from the acquisition unit to the monitoring unit, or when there is an abnormality or signs of an abnormality regarding the storage of the monitoring results at the storage destination.

[0010] In addition, in a third aspect of the present disclosure, on the premise of the first or second aspect described above, When the control unit determines that the monitoring cannot be performed, the control unit may issue the notification including a date or period during which the monitoring could not be performed.

[0011] In addition, in a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, based on the above-mentioned third aspect, The control unit may vary content of the notification depending on the number of dates or the length of the period.

[0012] In addition, in a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, on the premise of any one of the first to fourth aspects described above, When the control unit determines that the monitoring cannot be performed, the control unit may issue the notification including a cause why the monitoring cannot be performed.

[0013] In addition, in the sixth aspect, on the premise of any one of the first to fifth aspects, The control unit may change content of the notification depending on the cause.

[0014] In addition, in a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, on the premise of any one of the first to sixth aspects described above, The control unit may vary the content of the notification depending on the degree of the abnormality or a symptom thereof that is the cause of the inability to perform the monitoring.

[0015] In addition, in an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, on the premise of any one of the first to seventh aspects described above, When the control unit determines that the monitoring cannot be performed in the given situation, it may issue the notification indicating that a diagnosis of a refrigerant leak in the refrigerant circuit is necessary using a method other than the monitoring, or the notification directing the user to information indicating that a diagnosis of a refrigerant leak in the refrigerant circuit is necessary using a method other than the monitoring.

[0016] In addition, in a ninth aspect of the present disclosure, A control device that determines an execution status of monitoring regarding refrigerant leakage in a refrigerant circuit, the monitoring status being executed by the control device itself or by a monitoring unit different from the control device itself, based on information regarding refrigerant leakage in a refrigerant circuit included in a refrigeration device, the information being acquired by an acquisition unit, When it is determined that the monitoring cannot be performed, a notification is given to the effect that the monitoring cannot be performed. A controller is provided. Effect of the Invention

[0017] According to the above disclosure, it is possible to deal with a situation in which it is not possible to monitor for refrigerant leakage from a refrigerant circuit. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first example of a refrigerant leakage monitoring system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an air conditioner. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of a monitoring device. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a reason why refrigerant leakage from a refrigerant circuit cannot be monitored; [Diagram 5] 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of monitoring for refrigerant leakage in a refrigerant circuit by the refrigerant leakage monitoring system. FIG. [Figure 6] 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a monitoring process for monitoring a status of monitoring for refrigerant leakage from a refrigerant circuit. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the monitoring process of the execution status of monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing another example of the operation of monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit by the refrigerant leakage monitoring system. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a fourth example of a refrigerant leakage monitoring system. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing yet another example of the operation of monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit by the refrigerant leakage monitoring system. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing yet another example of the operation of monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit by the refrigerant leakage monitoring system. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a fifth example of a refrigerant leakage monitoring system. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a sixth example of a refrigerant leakage monitoring system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0020] [First example of a refrigerant leak monitoring system] A first example of a refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0021] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first example of a refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an air conditioner 100. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a monitoring device 200. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a cause for which monitoring of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of monitoring a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC by the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a monitoring process of the execution status of monitoring of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC.

[0022] The hardware configuration of the user terminal 300 may be the same as that shown in Fig. 3. Therefore, illustration of the hardware configuration of the user terminal 300 will be omitted and Fig. 3 will be used.

[0023] <Overview of refrigerant leak monitoring system> As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 includes an air conditioner 100, a monitoring device 200, and a user terminal 300.

[0024] The refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 monitors the refrigerant circuit RC of the air conditioner 100 for refrigerant leakage.

[0025] The air conditioner 100 adjusts the temperature, humidity, etc. of the air inside the building BD. The air conditioner 100 includes an outdoor unit 110 and an indoor unit 120.

[0026] The outdoor unit 110 is placed outside a building BD whose temperature, humidity, etc. are to be adjusted. The outdoor unit 110 is placed, for example, on the roof or basement of the building BD. The indoor unit 120 is placed inside the building BD whose temperature, humidity, etc. are to be adjusted. As shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerant circuit RC circulates a refrigerant between the outdoor unit 110 and the indoor unit 120.

[0027] The outdoor unit 110 includes a control unit 118 and a communication unit 119 .

[0028] The control unit 118 controls the operation of the outdoor unit 110. In this example, the control unit 118 also monitors the refrigerant circuit RC for refrigerant leakage.

[0029] The communication unit 119 communicates with the outside of the air conditioner 100. In this example, the communication unit 119 can communicate with the monitoring device 200 via a transmission line NW1.

[0030] The transmission line NW1 is, for example, a one-to-one communication line. The transmission line NW1 is also a local area network (LAN) built in the building BD. The local network may be wired or wireless, or may be a combination of both.

[0031] Specifically, the control unit 118 periodically diagnoses the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC. Then, the control unit 118 transmits the diagnosis result to the monitoring device 200 using the communication unit 119.

[0032] The monitoring device 200 monitors the operation of the air conditioner 100. In this example, the monitoring device 200 is installed inside the building BD in which the indoor unit 120 of the air conditioner 100 is installed, and is communicatively connected to the control unit 118 of the air conditioner 100 via a transmission path NW1. Also, in this example, the monitoring device 200 is communicatively connected to a user terminal 300 via a transmission path NW2.

[0033] The transmission path NW2 includes, for example, a wide area network (WAN). The wide area network includes, for example, a mobile communication network terminated in a base station, a satellite communication network using a communication satellite, the Internet network, and the like. In addition, when the user terminal 300 is present in the same building BD as the monitoring device 200, the transmission path NW2 may include a local network (LAN) or a short-distance communication line. The short-distance communication line includes, for example, a communication line based on a communication standard such as WiFi, Bluetooth (registered trademark), or local 5G (5th Generation).

[0034] The monitoring device 200 is, for example, a server device (edge ​​server) with a relatively high processing capacity. The monitoring device 200 may also be a terminal device with a relatively lower processing capacity than the server device, so long as it has the processing capacity to realize various functions. The terminal device is, for example, a stationary terminal device such as a desktop PC (Personal Computer). The terminal device may also be a portable terminal device (mobile terminal) such as a tablet terminal or a laptop PC.

[0035] In this example, the monitoring device 200 receives and acquires the diagnosis result of the control unit 118 as to whether or not there is a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC. The monitoring device 200 then records and stores the diagnosis result. In this way, the monitoring device 200 can accumulate the diagnosis result as to whether or not there is a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC.

[0036] Furthermore, in this example, the monitoring device 200 transmits the diagnosis result of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC by the control unit 118 to the user terminal 300. This allows the monitoring device 200 to notify the user of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 of the diagnosis result of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC. The user of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 is, for example, a manager of the air conditioner 100 or an operator who performs work related to the management of the air conditioner 100 under the manager.

[0037] Furthermore, in this example, the monitoring device 200 monitors the status of monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC by the control unit 118. Then, when the monitoring device 200 determines that the situation does not allow monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC by the control unit 118, it transmits information notifying the user that monitoring is not possible to be performed to the user terminal 300. In this way, the monitoring device 200 can notify the user of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 that the situation does not allow monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC.

[0038] The user terminal 300 is a terminal device used by a user of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1. In this example, the user terminal 300 is communicably connected to the monitoring device 200 via a transmission line NW2.

[0039] The user terminal 300 may be, for example, a portable terminal device (mobile terminal) such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a laptop PC, or may be a stationary terminal device such as a desktop PC.

[0040] In this example, the user terminal 300 notifies the user of the diagnosis result, received from the monitoring device 200, made by the control unit 118 as to whether or not there is a refrigerant leak in the refrigerant circuit RC.

[0041] In addition, in this example, when the user terminal 300 receives information from the monitoring device 200 notifying the user that monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed, the user terminal 300 notifies the user that monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed.

[0042] <Air conditioner configuration> As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the air conditioner 100 includes an outdoor unit 110, an indoor unit 120, refrigerant pipes 160 and 170, and a refrigerant circuit RC.

[0043] The outdoor unit 110 is connected to one end of the refrigerant pipes 160, 170, draws in the refrigerant from one of the refrigerant pipes 160, 170, and discharges the refrigerant to the other.

[0044] The indoor unit 120 includes indoor units 130, 140, and 150.

[0045] The indoor units 130, 140, 150 are connected in parallel to the other ends of the refrigerant pipes 160, 170, and draw refrigerant from one of the refrigerant pipes 160, 170 and discharge the refrigerant to the other.

[0046] Refrigerant pipes 160 and 170 connect the outdoor unit 110 and the indoor units 130, 140, and 150 so that a refrigerant can circulate between the outdoor unit 110 and the indoor units 130, 140, and 150.

[0047] The refrigerant circuit RC circulates the refrigerant between the outdoor unit 110 and the indoor units 130, 140, and 150. The refrigerant circuit RC includes a refrigerant circuit RC1, refrigerant circuits RC3 to RC5, and refrigerant pipes 160 and 170.

[0048] The outdoor unit 110 includes a refrigerant circuit RC1. The refrigerant circuit RC1 includes refrigerant pipes L1 to L6, a four-way switching valve 111, an accumulator 112, a compressor 113, an outdoor heat exchanger 114, an outdoor fan 115, an outdoor expansion valve 116, and closing valves V1 and V2.

[0049] The refrigerant pipe L1 connects between the stop valve V1 connected to one end of the refrigerant pipe 160 and the four-way switching valve 111. The refrigerant pipe L2 connects between the four-way switching valve 111 and the inlet of the accumulator 112. The refrigerant pipe L3 connects between the outlet of the accumulator 112 and the inlet of the compressor 113. The refrigerant pipe L4 connects between the outlet of the compressor 113 and the four-way switching valve 111. The refrigerant pipe L5 connects between the four-way switching valve 111 and the outdoor heat exchanger 114. The refrigerant pipe L6 connects between the outdoor heat exchanger 114 and the outdoor expansion valve 116. The refrigerant pipe L7 connects between the outdoor expansion valve 116 and the stop valve V2 connected to one end of the refrigerant pipe 170.

[0050] The four-way switching valve 111 switches the circulating flow of the refrigerant depending on whether the air conditioner 100 is in cooling operation or heating operation.

[0051] During cooling operation of the air conditioner 100, the four-way switching valve 111 connects the paths indicated by solid lines in Fig. 2 under the control of the control unit 118. Specifically, during cooling operation of the air conditioner 100, the four-way switching valve 111 connects between refrigerant pipes L1 and L2, and between refrigerant pipes L4 and L5.

[0052] On the other hand, during heating operation of the air conditioner 100, the four-way switching valve 111 connects the paths indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2 under the control of the control unit 118. Specifically, during heating operation of the air conditioner 100, the four-way switching valve 111 connects between refrigerant pipes L2 and L5, and between refrigerant pipes L1 and L4.

[0053] The accumulator 112 separates the liquid phase refrigerant contained in the refrigerant flowing in from the refrigerant pipe L2, and causes the refrigerant from which a part or all of the liquid phase refrigerant has been removed to flow into the refrigerant pipe L3.

[0054] The compressor 113 draws in the refrigerant from the refrigerant pipe L3, compresses it to a high pressure, and discharges it to the refrigerant pipe L4.

[0055] The outdoor heat exchanger 114 exchanges heat between the refrigerant passing through its interior and the outside air.

[0056] The outdoor fan 115 is a blower that draws outside air into the housing of the outdoor unit 110 and supplies the outside air toward the outdoor heat exchanger 114. This allows the outdoor heat exchanger 114 to exchange heat between the refrigerant passing through it and the outside air sent in by the outdoor fan 115. The outside air that has exchanged heat with the refrigerant inside the outdoor heat exchanger 114 is discharged to the outside of the outdoor unit 110. The outdoor fan 115 is, for example, an axial fan.

[0057] When the air conditioner 100 is in cooling operation, the outdoor heat exchanger 114 causes the high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant compressed by the compressor 113 and flowing in from the refrigerant pipe L5 to dissipate heat to the outside air, and causes the condensed and liquefied refrigerant to flow into the refrigerant pipe L6.

[0058] On the other hand, when the air conditioner 100 is in heating operation, the outdoor heat exchanger 114 causes the low-temperature, low-pressure liquid phase refrigerant flowing in from the refrigerant pipe L6 to absorb heat from the outside air, and causes the evaporated refrigerant to flow into the refrigerant pipe L5.

[0059] The outdoor expansion valve 116 adjusts the pressure, flow rate, etc. of the refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit RC1. For example, during heating operation of the air conditioner 100, the outdoor expansion valve 116 is closed to a predetermined opening and reduces the pressure of the liquid phase refrigerant flowing in from the refrigerant pipe L7 to a predetermined pressure. On the other hand, during cooling operation of the air conditioner 100, the outdoor expansion valve 116 is fully open and passes the liquid phase refrigerant from the refrigerant pipe L6 to the refrigerant pipe L7. The outdoor expansion valve 116 is, for example, a solenoid valve.

[0060] The stop valves V1, V2 are provided at the connection ports of the refrigerant pipes 160, 170 outside the outdoor unit 110. The stop valve V1 is provided at the connection port of the refrigerant pipe 160 and the refrigerant pipe L1 of the refrigerant circuit RC1, and switches between an open state in which the refrigerant pipe 160 communicates with the refrigerant circuit RC1 and a closed state in which the refrigerant pipe 160 does not communicate with the refrigerant circuit RC1. The stop valve V2 is provided at the connection port of the refrigerant pipe 170 and the refrigerant pipe L7 of the refrigerant circuit RC1, and switches between an open state in which the refrigerant pipe 170 communicates with the refrigerant circuit RC1 and a closed state in which the refrigerant pipe 170 does not communicate with the refrigerant circuit RC1. For example, the stop valves V1, V1 are manually switched between open and closed.

[0061] The outdoor unit 110 also includes a sensor 117 , a control unit 118 , and a communication unit 119 .

[0062] The sensor 117 acquires and outputs information representing the state of the outdoor unit 110. The information representing the state of the outdoor unit 110 is, for example, information on the measurement results of physical quantities representing the state of the refrigerant circuit RC1. The physical quantities representing the state of the refrigerant circuit RC1 include, for example, the temperature, pressure, and saturation temperature of the refrigerant at a predetermined location in the refrigerant circuit RC1. The sensor 117 includes one or more sensors. The output of the sensor 117 is taken into the control unit 118 via a transmission path such as a one-to-one communication line.

[0063] The sensor 117 includes, for example, a suction pressure sensor that measures the suction pressure of the refrigerant in the compressor 113 and outputs information about the measurement result, and a discharge pressure sensor that measures the discharge pressure of the refrigerant in the compressor 113 and outputs information about the measurement result. The sensor 117 may also include a suction temperature sensor that measures the suction temperature of the refrigerant in the compressor 113, and a discharge temperature sensor that measures the discharge temperature of the refrigerant in the compressor 113. The sensor 117 may also include a temperature sensor that measures each of the temperatures at the inlet and outlet of the refrigerant in the outdoor heat exchanger 114.

[0064] The control unit 118 performs control related to the operation of the outdoor unit 110. Specifically, the control unit 118 is communicably connected to the control units 135, 145, 155 of the indoor units 130, 140, 150 through a transmission path TL such as a one-to-one communication line or a local network (LAN). The control unit 118 is also communicably connected to various devices of the outdoor unit 110 such as the four-way switching valve 111, the compressor 113, the outdoor fan 115, the outdoor expansion valve 116, the sensor 117, and the communication unit 119 through a transmission path such as a one-to-one communication line. As a result, the control unit 118 can obtain information such as the outputs of the sensors 117, 134, 144, 154 and the indoor target temperature set on the indoor units 130, 140, 150 side, and control the operation of various devices of the outdoor unit 110 according to the information.

[0065] Furthermore, in this example, the control unit 118 monitors for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC. For example, the control unit 118 diagnoses the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC at predetermined intervals using a known method based on the outputs (sensor information) of the sensors 117, 134, 144, and 154. For example, the diagnosis of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage is performed at least once a day. The predetermined interval is, for example, every 12 hours or 24 hours. For example, the control unit 118 diagnoses the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC based on the pressure, temperature, and the like of the refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit RC that are grasped from the sensor information.

[0066] Furthermore, in this example, the control unit 118 transmits the diagnosis result of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC and the sensor information to the monitoring device 200 through the communication unit 119. The sensor information to be transmitted includes sensor information used to diagnose the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC. The sensor information to be transmitted may also include sensor information that is at the same timing as the sensor information used to diagnose the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC and that is not used to diagnose the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC. For example, the control unit 118 spontaneously transmits the diagnosis result and the sensor information to the monitoring device 200 after completing the diagnosis of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC. Furthermore, the control unit 118 may transmit the diagnosis result of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC and the sensor information to the monitoring device 200 in response to a transmission request received from the monitoring device 200 through the communication unit 119.

[0067] The functions of the control unit 118 are realized by any hardware or a combination of any hardware and software. For example, the control unit 118 is mainly configured with a computer including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory device, an auxiliary storage device, and an interface device. As a result, the control unit 118 can execute processes for realizing various functions by loading a program installed in the auxiliary storage device into the memory device and executing it with the CPU. The memory device is, for example, a static random access memory (SRAM). The auxiliary storage device is, for example, an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) or a flash memory. The interface device includes, for example, an external interface for connecting to an external recording medium and a communication interface for communicating with devices that are components of the air conditioner 100. As a result, the control unit 118 can install programs, data used in processing, etc. from an external recording medium into the auxiliary storage device through the external interface, for example, during the manufacturing process of the outdoor unit 110. Furthermore, the control unit 118 can communicate with the control units 135, 145, and 155 and various devices that are components of the outdoor unit 110 through a communication interface.

[0068] The communication unit 119 communicates with the outside of the air conditioner 100. In this example, the communication unit 119 communicates with the monitoring device 200 via a transmission line NW1.

[0069] The indoor unit 130 includes a refrigerant circuit RC3. The refrigerant circuit RC3 includes an indoor expansion valve 131, an indoor heat exchanger 132, and an indoor fan 133. The indoor unit 130 also includes a sensor 134 and a control unit 135.

[0070] Similarly, the indoor unit 140 includes a refrigerant circuit RC4. The refrigerant circuit RC4 includes an indoor expansion valve 141, an indoor heat exchanger 142, and an indoor fan 143. The indoor unit 140 also includes a sensor 144 and a control unit 145.

[0071] Similarly, the indoor unit 150 includes a refrigerant circuit RC5. The refrigerant circuit RC5 includes an indoor expansion valve 151, an indoor heat exchanger 152, and an indoor fan 153. The indoor unit 150 also includes a sensor 154 and a control unit 155.

[0072] In this way, the indoor units 130, 140, and 150 have the same configuration. Therefore, hereinafter, the explanation will be centered on the indoor unit 130, and the explanation of the indoor unit 130 will be used as the explanation of the indoor unit 140 by replacing the reference numbers in the 130s and the refrigerant circuit RC3 of the components of the indoor unit 130 with reference numbers in the 140s and the refrigerant circuit RC4. Similarly, the explanation of the indoor unit 130 will be used as the explanation of the indoor unit 150 by replacing the reference numbers in the 130s and the refrigerant circuit RC3 of the components of the indoor unit 130 with reference numbers in the 150s and the refrigerant circuit RC5, respectively.

[0073] The indoor expansion valve 131 adjusts the pressure, flow rate, etc. of the refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit RC3. For example, during cooling operation of the air conditioner 100, the indoor expansion valve 131 is closed to a predetermined opening and reduces the pressure of the supercooled liquid refrigerant flowing in from the refrigerant pipe 170 to a predetermined pressure. On the other hand, during heating operation of the air conditioner 100, the indoor expansion valve 131 is fully open and allows the liquid phase refrigerant flowing out from the indoor heat exchanger 132 to pass toward the refrigerant pipe 170. The indoor expansion valve 131 is, for example, a solenoid valve.

[0074] The indoor heat exchanger 132 exchanges heat between the refrigerant passing through it and the indoor air.

[0075] The indoor fan 133 is a blower that draws indoor air into the housing of the indoor unit 130 and supplies the indoor air toward the indoor heat exchanger 132. This allows the indoor heat exchanger 132 to exchange heat between the refrigerant passing through it and the indoor air supplied by the indoor fan 133, thereby realizing cooling to lower the temperature of the indoor air and heating to raise the temperature of the indoor air. The indoor air that has exchanged heat with the refrigerant inside the indoor heat exchanger 132 is supplied to the room by being blown out from the air outlet of the indoor unit 130. The indoor fan 133 is, for example, a sirocco fan.

[0076] The sensor 134 acquires and outputs information representing the state of the indoor unit 130. The information representing the state of the indoor unit 130 is, for example, information on the measurement results of physical quantities representing the state of the refrigerant circuit RC3. The physical quantities representing the state of the refrigerant circuit RC3 include, for example, the temperature, pressure, and saturation temperature of the refrigerant at a predetermined location in the refrigerant circuit RC3. The sensor 134 includes one or more sensors. The output of the sensor 134 is taken into the control unit 135 via a transmission path such as a one-to-one communication line.

[0077] The sensor 134 includes, for example, a temperature sensor that measures the temperatures of the refrigerant at the inlet and outlet of the indoor heat exchanger 132 .

[0078] The control unit 135 controls the operation of the indoor unit 130 based on the output of the sensor 134 and the input from a remote controller (not shown). Specifically, the control unit 135 is communicatively connected to various devices of the indoor unit 130, such as the indoor expansion valve 131 and the indoor fan 133, through a transmission path such as a one-to-one communication line. This allows the control unit 135 to control various devices of the indoor unit 130 in accordance with the operation of the remote controller by the user of the air conditioner 100 and the settings of the remote controller. The settings of the remote controller include, for example, a target temperature and air volume in the room. In addition, the control unit 135 is communicatively connected to the control unit 118 of the outdoor unit 110 through the transmission path TL. This allows the control unit 135 to transmit information on the indoor unit 130, such as the output of the sensor 134 and the settings of the remote controller, to the control unit 118, and reflect the information in the control of the operation of the outdoor unit 110.

[0079] The functions of the control unit 135 are realized by any hardware or a combination of any hardware and software. For example, like the control unit 118, the control unit 135 is mainly configured with a computer including a CPU, a memory device, an auxiliary storage device, and an interface device. As a result, the control unit 135 can execute processes for realizing various functions by loading a program installed in the auxiliary storage device into the memory device and executing it with the CPU. The interface device includes, for example, an external interface for connecting to an external recording medium and a communication interface for communicating with devices that are components of the air conditioner 100. As a result, the control unit 135 can install programs and data used in processing from an external recording medium into the auxiliary storage device through the external interface, for example, during the manufacturing process of the indoor unit 130. In addition, the control unit 135 can communicate with the control unit 118 and various devices that are components of the indoor unit 130 through the communication interface.

[0080] <Configuration of monitoring device> The functions of the monitoring device 200 are realized by any hardware or any combination of hardware and software. For example, as shown in Fig. 3, the monitoring device 200 includes an external interface 201, an auxiliary storage device 202, a memory device 203, a CPU 204, a high-speed calculation device 205, a communication interface 206, an input device 207, and an output device 208. The external interface 201, the auxiliary storage device 202, the memory device 203, the CPU 204, the high-speed calculation device 205, the communication interface 206, the input device 207, and the output device 208 are connected by a bus BS2.

[0081] The external interface 201 functions as an interface for reading data from the recording medium 201A and writing data to the recording medium 201A. The recording medium 201A includes, for example, general-purpose recording media such as a flexible disk, a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a BD (Blu-ray (registered trademark) Disc), an SD memory card, and a USB memory. This allows the monitoring device 200 to read various data used in processing through the recording medium 201A, store the data in the auxiliary storage device 202, and install programs that realize various functions.

[0082] The auxiliary storage device 202 stores various installed programs, as well as files and data necessary for various processes. The auxiliary storage device 202 includes, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state disk (SSD), an EEPROM, a flash memory, and the like.

[0083] When an instruction to start a program is received, the memory device 203 reads and stores the program from the auxiliary storage device 202. The memory device 203 includes, for example, a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or an SRAM.

[0084] The CPU 204 executes various programs loaded from the auxiliary storage device 202 to the memory device 203, and realizes various functions related to the monitoring device 200 in accordance with the programs.

[0085] The high-speed arithmetic unit 205 works in conjunction with the CPU 204 and performs arithmetic processing at a higher speed than the CPU 204. The high-speed arithmetic unit 205 includes, for example, a graphics processing unit (GPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA).

[0086] Depending on the speed of calculation processing required for the monitoring device 200, the high-speed calculation device 205 may be omitted.

[0087] The communication interface 206 is used as an interface for communicatively connecting to an external device. This allows the monitoring device 200 to communicate with the control unit 118 of the air conditioner 100 and the user terminal 300 through the communication interface 206. Furthermore, the monitoring device 200 can obtain, for example, various data and programs used in processing from the external device through the communication interface 206. The communication interface 206 may have multiple types of communication interfaces depending on the communication method between the connected device and the like.

[0088] The input device 207 receives various inputs from a user of the monitoring device 200. The user of the monitoring device 200 is, for example, a manager of the air conditioner 100 or a worker who performs management work for the air conditioner 100.

[0089] The input device 207 includes, for example, an input device (operation input device) that accepts mechanical operation input from a user of the monitoring device 200. The operation input device includes, for example, a button, a toggle, a lever, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, a touch pad, and the like.

[0090] The input device 207 may also include a voice input device capable of receiving voice input from the user of the monitoring device 200. The voice input device includes, for example, a microphone capable of collecting the voice of the user of the monitoring device 200.

[0091] The input device 207 may also include a gesture input device capable of receiving a gesture input from a user of the monitoring device 200. The gesture input device includes, for example, a camera capable of capturing an image of a user's gesture.

[0092] The input device 207 may also include a biometric input device capable of accepting biometric input from a user of the monitoring device 200. The biometric input device includes, for example, a camera capable of acquiring image data including information related to the user's fingerprint or iris.

[0093] Output device 208 outputs information to a user of monitoring device 200 .

[0094] The output device 208 is, for example, a lighting device or a display device that visually outputs information. The lighting device is, for example, an indicator lamp, etc. The display device is, for example, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, etc.

[0095] The output device 208 may be a sound output device that outputs auditory information, such as a buzzer, an alarm, or a speaker.

[0096] In this example, as described above, the monitoring device 200 acquires from the control unit 118 the results of the diagnosis of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC, which is performed by the control unit 118 at predetermined intervals, and the sensor information, and records them in the auxiliary storage device 202. For example, the monitoring device 200 builds a database of the diagnosis results and the sensor information in the auxiliary storage device 202 by accumulating the diagnosis results and the sensor information as record data. This allows the user of the monitoring device 200 to use the database in the auxiliary storage device 202 to check the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC at any time or for any period of time.

[0097] Furthermore, in this example, the monitoring device 200 transmits the diagnosis result of the control unit 118 as to the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC to the user terminal 300, as described above.

[0098] Furthermore, in this example, as described above, the monitoring device 200 monitors the execution status of monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC by the control unit 118. Then, when the monitoring device 200 determines that the situation is such that monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC by the control unit 118 cannot be executed, the monitoring device 200 transmits, to the user terminal 300, information notifying the fact that the monitoring cannot be executed.

[0099] For example, as shown in FIG. 4, causes for which monitoring of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed include, for example, the following (1) to (5).

[0100] (1) Sensor Abnormality When an abnormality occurs in at least some of the sensors 117, 134, 144, 154 used to diagnose the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC, the control unit 118 cannot appropriately diagnose the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC. Therefore, in this case, the monitoring device 200 determines that the situation is such that monitoring of the refrigerant circuit RC for refrigerant leakage cannot be performed.

[0101] The presence or absence of an abnormality in the sensors 117, 134, 144, 154 is determined, for example, by whether or not a measurement value calculated from the sensor information falls outside a normal range assumed from the operating conditions of the refrigerant circuit RC. Furthermore, the presence or absence of an abnormality in the sensors 117, 134, 144, 154 may be determined by applying a machine learning technique such as clustering based on a history of past sensor information. The presence or absence of an abnormality in the sensors 117, 134, 144, 154 is determined, for example, by the control unit 118, and the control unit 118 transmits the determination result to the monitoring device 200.

[0102] (2) Communication error regarding the sending and receiving of sensor information When there is a communication abnormality in the transmission and reception of sensor information from at least some of the sensors 117, 134, 144, 154 used to diagnose the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC, the control unit 118 is unable to acquire the necessary sensor information. As a result, the control unit 118 is unable to properly diagnose the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC. Therefore, in this case, the monitoring device 200 determines that it is unable to monitor the refrigerant circuit RC for refrigerant leakage.

[0103] In this example, the communication abnormality regarding the transmission and reception of the sensor information includes, for example, an abnormality in the transmission function of the sensors 117, 134, 144, 154, an abnormality in the transmission path between the sensors 117, 134, 144, 154 and the control unit 118, an abnormality in the receiving function of the control unit 118, etc. For example, the control unit 118 determines that there is a communication abnormality regarding the transmission and reception of the sensor information when it is unable to acquire at least some of the sensor information of the sensors 117, 134, 144, 154 used to determine the presence or absence of a refrigerant leak in the refrigerant circuit RC. The determination result regarding the presence or absence of a communication abnormality regarding the transmission and reception of the sensor information is transmitted from the control unit 118 to the monitoring device 200.

[0104] (3) Diagnostic function abnormality If there is an abnormality in the function of the control unit 118 itself for diagnosing the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC, the control unit 118 cannot properly diagnose the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC. Therefore, in this case, the monitoring device 200 determines that the situation is such that monitoring of the refrigerant circuit RC for refrigerant leakage cannot be performed.

[0105] An abnormality in the diagnostic function includes, for example, an abnormality such as a bug in the software corresponding to the diagnostic function, and an abnormality in hardware related to the diagnostic function of the control unit 118. The presence or absence of an abnormality in the diagnostic function is determined, for example, by a self-diagnostic program pre-installed in the control unit 118. The determination result of the presence or absence of an abnormality in the diagnostic function is transmitted from the control unit 118 to the monitoring device 200.

[0106] (4) Communication errors regarding the sending and receiving of diagnostic results, etc. If there is an abnormality in transmitting and receiving the diagnosis result of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC, etc., the monitoring device 200 cannot acquire the sensor information and the diagnosis result of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC by the control unit 118. Therefore, in this case, the monitoring device 200 cannot grasp the execution status of monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC by the control unit 118, and therefore considers that it is not possible to diagnose the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC, and determines that it is in a situation where monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be executed.

[0107] The communication abnormality regarding the transmission and reception of the diagnosis result includes, for example, an abnormality in the transmission function of the control unit 118 to the communication unit 119, an abnormality in the transmission path between the control unit 118 and the communication unit 119, an abnormality in the reception function of the communication unit 119 from the control unit 118, an abnormality in the transmission function of the communication unit 119 to the transmission path NW1, an abnormality in the transmission path NW1, an abnormality in the reception function of the monitoring device 200 from the transmission path NW1, etc. For example, when the monitoring device 200 cannot receive the presence or absence of the diagnosis of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC at a predetermined timing or in response to a request signal from itself, the monitoring device 200 determines that there is a communication abnormality regarding the transmission and reception of the diagnosis result. Furthermore, when the monitoring device 200 detects an abnormality in the communication interface 206 corresponding to the reception function from the transmission path NW1 by the self-diagnosis function, it may determine that there is a communication abnormality regarding the transmission and reception of the diagnosis result.

[0108] (5) Abnormalities in the storage of diagnostic results, etc. If there is an abnormality in the storage of diagnostic results and the like in the monitoring device 200, the diagnostic results and sensor information may not be properly stored and accumulated in the monitoring device 200. As a result, the user of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 may not be able to check the diagnostic results and sensor information after the fact. Therefore, in this case, the monitoring device 200 determines that it is unable to monitor for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC.

[0109] Anomalies related to the storage of diagnostic results and sensor information include, for example, a software anomaly related to the function of storing in the auxiliary storage device 202 in the monitoring device 200, and a hardware anomaly in the auxiliary storage device 202. For example, when the monitoring device 200 detects a software anomaly related to the function of storing in the auxiliary storage device 202 or an anomaly in the auxiliary storage device 202 through a self-diagnosis program, it determines that there is an anomaly related to the storage of diagnostic results and sensor information.

[0110] When at least one of the above causes (1) to (5) applies, the monitoring device 200 may determine that the situation is such that monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible.

[0111] The information transmitted from the monitoring device 200, which is indicative of the notification that monitoring of a refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed, may include, for example, information indicative of the fact that the monitoring cannot be performed. Furthermore, the information indicative of the notification that monitoring of a refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed may include information indicative of the date and time when the monitoring device 200 determined that the situation was such that monitoring could not be performed.

[0112] <User terminal configuration> Like the monitoring device 200, the user terminal 300 includes an external interface, an auxiliary storage device, a CPU, a high-speed processing device, a communication interface, an input device, a display device, and a sound output device.

[0113] In this example, the user terminal 300 uses a communication interface to communicate with the monitoring device 200 through the transmission line NW2.

[0114] Specifically, the user terminal 300 receives the diagnosis result of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC by the control unit 118 from the monitoring device 200 using the communication interface. Then, the user terminal 300 notifies the user of the diagnosis result. For example, the user terminal 300 visually notifies the user of the diagnosis result of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC through its own display device (for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display). The user terminal 300 may also notify the user of the diagnosis result of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC by voice through its own speaker or the like. Furthermore, the user terminal 300 may notify the user of the diagnosis result of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC by push notification in response to receiving the diagnosis result of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC by the control unit 118 from the monitoring device 200.

[0115] Furthermore, the user terminal 300 receives information indicating a notification that monitoring of the refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible using the communication interface from the monitoring device 200. Then, when the user terminal 300 receives the information from the monitoring device 200, the user terminal 300 notifies the user that monitoring of the refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible based on the content of the information. For example, the user terminal 300 visually notifies the user that monitoring of the refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible through its own display device. Furthermore, the user terminal 300 may notify the user by voice through its own sound output device (for example, a speaker) or the like that monitoring of the refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible. Furthermore, in response to receiving the information from the monitoring device 200, the user terminal 300 may notify the user by push notification that monitoring of the refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible.

[0116] <Operation of refrigerant leak monitoring system> As shown in FIG. 5, when the time comes to diagnose the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC, the control unit 118 acquires the latest sensor information (step S102).

[0117] When the process of step S102 is completed, the control unit 118 diagnoses the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC based on the sensor information acquired in step S102 (step S104).

[0118] When the process of step S104 is completed, the control unit 118 uses the communication unit 119 to transmit the diagnosis result and the sensor information to the monitoring device 200 (step S106).

[0119] The monitoring device 200 receives and acquires the diagnosis result and the sensor information transmitted in step S106 (step S108).

[0120] When the process of step S108 is completed, the monitoring device 200 records the diagnosis result and the sensor information acquired in step S108 in the auxiliary storage device 202 (step S110).

[0121] When the process of step S110 is completed, the monitoring device 200 transmits the diagnosis result acquired in step S108 to the user terminal 300 using the communication interface 206 (step S112).

[0122] The user terminal 300 receives and acquires the diagnosis result transmitted in step S112 (step S114).

[0123] When the process of step S114 is completed, the user terminal 300 uses its own display device to display the diagnosis result acquired in step S114 (step S116).

[0124] In this way, in this example, the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 can periodically diagnose the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC using the control unit 118, and record the diagnosis results using the monitoring device 200. The refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 can then use the user terminal 300 to notify its own user, such as the manager of the air conditioner 100, of the diagnosis results.

[0125] <Monitoring the execution status of monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit> The flowchart in Fig. 6 is executed, for example, at a predetermined timing that occurs periodically. The predetermined timing is, for example, after the end of a period that is assumed to be the timing when the diagnosis result of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC is received by the monitoring device 200. The same may be true for the flowcharts in Figs. 7 to 11 described below.

[0126] 6, in step S202, the monitoring device 200 determines a monitoring status regarding refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC. For example, the monitoring device 200 determines whether or not at least one of the causes (1) to (5) for which monitoring regarding refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed applies.

[0127] When the monitoring device 200 completes the process of step S202, the process proceeds to step S204.

[0128] In step S204, the monitoring device 200 determines whether or not the situation is such that monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed based on the result of the processing in step S202. If the situation is such that monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed, the monitoring device 200 proceeds to step S206, and otherwise ends the processing of this flowchart.

[0129] In step S206, the monitoring device 200 records in a predetermined storage area of ​​the auxiliary storage device 202 information indicating that monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible (refrigerant leakage monitoring not possible information).

[0130] When the processing of step S206 is completed, the monitoring device 200 proceeds to step S208.

[0131] The monitoring device 200 uses the communication interface 206 to transmit to the user terminal 300 information indicating a notification that monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed.

[0132] In this way, when the monitoring device 200 determines that the situation is such that monitoring of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed, it can notify the user of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 that the situation is such that monitoring of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed, via the user terminal 300. Therefore, the monitoring device 200 can urge the user of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 to deal with the situation in which monitoring of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed.

[0133] <Modification> In this example, appropriate modifications and variations may be made based on the above-described main embodiment.

[0134] <Variation 1> The information transmitted from the monitoring device 200 notifying that monitoring of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed may include information indicating the cause of the inability to perform the monitoring, in addition to information indicating the fact that the monitoring cannot be performed. This allows the user of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 to understand, via the user terminal 300, the cause of the inability to perform monitoring of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC, and to deal with the situation more appropriately.

[0135] <<Variation 2>> The information transmitted from the monitoring device 200, which indicates that monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible, may include the most recent number NT of times that the monitoring device 200 has determined that the monitoring is not possible, in addition to information indicating the fact that the monitoring is not possible. This allows the user of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 to know the frequency of occurrence of a situation in which monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible through the user terminal 300, and as a result, it is possible to deal with the situation more appropriately according to the frequency of occurrence. The most recent number NT of times may be the most recent number of times that the monitoring is consecutively determined to be not possible, or may be the number of times that the monitoring is determined to be not possible within the most recent predetermined period (e.g., 30 days). The monitoring device 200 can calculate the most recent number NT of times that the monitoring device has determined that the monitoring is not possible, based on the history of the monitoring impossibility information recorded by the monitoring device itself in step S206 of the above-mentioned FIG. 6.

[0136] <Modification 3> The information transmitted from the monitoring device 200, which indicates that monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible, may include, in addition to information indicating the fact that the monitoring is not possible, the most recent period DR during which the monitoring device 200 has determined that the monitoring is not possible. This allows the user of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 to grasp, through the user terminal 300, the frequency of occurrence of a situation in which monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible, and as a result, the user can take more appropriate measures against the situation according to the frequency of occurrence. The most recent period DR may be the most recent period during which the monitoring is continuously determined to be not possible, or may be the total period during which the monitoring is determined to be not possible within a most recent predetermined period (e.g., 30 days). The monitoring device 200 can calculate the most recent period DR during which the monitoring is determined to be not possible, based on, for example, the history of the monitoring impossibility information recorded by the monitoring device itself in step S206 of FIG. 6 described above.

[0137] <Modification 4> The information transmitted from the monitoring device 200, which indicates that monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible, may include, in addition to information indicating the fact that the monitoring is not possible, the number of most recent dates (number of days ND) on which the monitoring device 200 has determined that the monitoring is not possible. This allows the user of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 to grasp, via the user terminal 300, the frequency of occurrence of a situation in which monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible, and as a result, to take more appropriate measures against the situation according to the frequency of occurrence. The number of most recent days ND may be the number of consecutive days on which the monitoring is not possible, or may be the total number of dates on which the monitoring is not possible within a most recent predetermined period (e.g., 30 days). The monitoring device 200 can calculate the number of most recent days ND on which the monitoring device has determined that the monitoring is not possible based on, for example, the history of the monitoring impossibility information recorded by the monitoring device itself in step S206 of FIG. 6 described above.

[0138] <Variation 5> The information transmitted from the monitoring device 200, which indicates that monitoring of the refrigerant circuit RC for refrigerant leakage cannot be performed, may include, in addition to information indicating the fact that the monitoring cannot be performed, information indicating a method of dealing with a situation in which monitoring of the refrigerant circuit RC for refrigerant leakage cannot be performed. This allows the user of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 to more appropriately deal with a situation in which monitoring of the refrigerant circuit RC for refrigerant leakage cannot be performed. The information indicating the method of dealing with the situation includes, for example, information indicating that monitoring of the refrigerant circuit RC for refrigerant leakage using a method other than monitoring by the control unit 118 is necessary. The method other than monitoring by the control unit 118 is, for example, a monitoring method for refrigerant leakage that includes a manual inspection of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC by an inspector visiting the installation site (building BD) of the air conditioner 100.

[0139] <Variation 6> The information transmitted from the monitoring device 200, indicating that monitoring of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed, may include, in addition to information indicating the fact that monitoring cannot be performed, information for guiding the user to a method of dealing with the situation in which monitoring of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed. The information for guiding the user to the method of dealing with the situation includes, for example, information such as the name of a manual in which the information representing the method of dealing with the situation is described and the page number on which the information is described. The information for guiding the user to the method of dealing with the situation also includes information such as a URL or link to a web page in which the information representing the method of dealing with the situation is described. This allows the user of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 to more appropriately deal with a situation in which monitoring of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed.

[0140] <Variation 7> Some or all of the above-mentioned modifications 1 to 6 may be combined as appropriate.

[0141] [Second example of refrigerant leak monitoring system] Next, a second example of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 7 while also referring to FIG. 1 to FIG.

[0142] In this example, the same reference numerals are used for the same or corresponding configurations as in the first example described above, and the description will focus on the parts that are different from the first example described above, and the description of the parts that are the same or corresponding to the first example may be omitted. The following description of the embodiments will also adopt a similar format in relation to the other embodiments described above.

[0143] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of the monitoring process of the execution status of monitoring for refrigerant leakage.

[0144] The refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 of this example differs from the first example described above in the method of notifying the user that monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed, but may be the same as the first example described above in other respects.

[0145] <Configuration of monitoring device> In this example, similarly to the first example described above, the monitoring device 200 monitors the execution status of monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC by the control unit 118. Then, when the monitoring device 200 determines that the situation is such that the control unit 118 cannot execute monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC, it transmits information to the user terminal 300 notifying the user that monitoring cannot be executed.

[0146] In this example, the monitoring device 200 transmits different information to the user terminal 300 indicating that monitoring cannot be performed depending on the most recent number of times NT when the monitoring device 200 has determined that the situation is such that monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed. For example, when the most recent number of times NT when the monitoring device 200 has determined that the situation is such that monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed is not relatively large relative to a predetermined threshold value NTth, the monitoring device 200 transmits information to the user terminal 300 indicating that monitoring cannot be performed. On the other hand, when the most recent number of times NT when the monitoring device 200 has determined that the situation is such that monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed is relatively large relative to the predetermined threshold value NTth, the monitoring device 200 transmits information to the user terminal 300 indicating that monitoring cannot be performed. The threshold value NTth is a positive number that is specified in advance. The threshold value NTth may be a fixed value or a variable value. When the number of times NT is relatively large relative to the threshold value NTth, the number of times NT may be equal to or larger than the threshold value NTth, or may be larger than the threshold value NTth. The information representing the alert includes, for example, information urging the user to deal with a situation in which monitoring of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed, while the information representing the warning includes, for example, information instructing the user to deal with a situation in which monitoring of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed. The information representing the warning may also include information instructing an immediate response. In this way, the monitoring device 200 can more strongly urge the user to deal with a situation in which monitoring of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed in a situation in which the frequency of occurrence of the situation is relatively high.

[0147] <Monitoring the execution status of monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit> As shown in FIG. 7, steps S302, S304, and S306 are the same as steps S202, S204, and S206 in FIG. 6, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0148] When the processing of step S306 is completed, the monitoring device 200 proceeds to step S308.

[0149] In step S308, the monitoring device 200 reads from the auxiliary storage device 202 past records (history) of the monitoring impossible information.

[0150] When the processing of step S308 is completed, the monitoring device 200 proceeds to step S310.

[0151] In step S310, the monitoring device 200 determines whether the most recent number NT of times that it was determined that the situation was such that monitoring of the refrigerant circuit RC for refrigerant leakage could not be performed is equal to or greater than a threshold NTth. If the most recent number NT of times is equal to or greater than the threshold NTth, the monitoring device 200 determines that the situation is occurring frequently such that monitoring of the refrigerant circuit RC for refrigerant leakage cannot be performed, and proceeds to step S314. On the other hand, in other cases, the monitoring device 200 determines that the situation is occurring frequently such that monitoring of the refrigerant circuit RC for refrigerant leakage cannot be performed, and proceeds to step S312.

[0152] In step S312, the monitoring device 200 uses the communication interface 206 to transmit to the user terminal 300 information representing a notice calling attention to the fact that monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed.

[0153] On the other hand, in step S314, the monitoring device 200 uses the communication interface 206 to transmit to the user terminal 300 information representing a warning notice that monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed.

[0154] When the processing of step S312 or step S314 is completed, the monitoring device 200 ends the processing of this flowchart.

[0155] In this way, in this example, the monitoring device 200 can switch the content of the notification to the effect that monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed depending on the most recent number NT at which it has been determined that the situation is such that monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed.

[0156] <Modification> In this example, appropriate modifications and variations may be made based on the above-described main embodiment.

[0157] <Variation 1> The monitoring device 200 may transmit to the user terminal 300 different information indicating that the monitoring cannot be performed, depending on the most recent period DR during which the monitoring device 200 has determined that the situation is such that the monitoring device 200 cannot monitor the refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC. For example, when the most recent period DR during which the monitoring device 200 has determined that the situation is such that the monitoring device 200 cannot monitor the refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC is not relatively large relative to a predetermined threshold DRth, the monitoring device 200 transmits to the user terminal 300 information indicating that the monitoring cannot be performed, which is a warning. On the other hand, when the most recent period DR during which the monitoring device 200 has determined that the situation is such that the monitoring device 200 cannot monitor the refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC is relatively large relative to a predetermined threshold DRth, the monitoring device 200 transmits to the user terminal 300 information indicating that the monitoring cannot be performed. The threshold DRth is a positive number that is specified in advance. The threshold DRth may be a fixed value or a variable value. When the period DR is relatively large relative to the threshold DRth, the period DR may be equal to or larger than the threshold DRth, or may be larger than the threshold DRth. As a result, in a situation in which monitoring of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed, the monitoring device 200 can more strongly urge the user to deal with the situation in which monitoring cannot be performed, in a situation in which the frequency of occurrence of the situation is relatively high.

[0158] In this case, for example, instead of the process of step S310 in Fig. 8, the monitoring device 200 performs a process of determining whether or not the most recent period DR during which it is determined that monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible is equal to or greater than a threshold value DRth. If the most recent period DR is equal to or greater than the threshold value DRth, the monitoring device 200 determines that the occurrence frequency of the situation during which monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible is high, and proceeds to step S314. On the other hand, in other cases, the monitoring device 200 determines that the occurrence frequency of the situation during which monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible is low, and proceeds to step S312. In this way, the monitoring device 200 can switch the content of the notification that monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible depending on the length of the most recent period DR during which it is determined that monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible.

[0159] <<Variation 2>> The monitoring device 200 may vary the information representing the notification that the monitoring cannot be performed, which is transmitted to the user terminal 300, according to the number of most recent dates (number of days ND) on which the monitoring device 200 has determined that the situation is such that monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed. For example, when the number of most recent days ND on which the monitoring device 200 has determined that the situation is such that monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed is not relatively large compared to a predetermined threshold value NDth, the monitoring device 200 transmits to the user terminal 300 information representing the notification of a warning that the monitoring cannot be performed. On the other hand, when the number of most recent days ND on which the monitoring device 200 has determined that the situation is such that monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed is relatively large compared to the predetermined threshold value NDth, the monitoring device 200 transmits to the user terminal 300 information representing the notification of a warning that the monitoring cannot be performed. The threshold value NDth is a positive number that is defined in advance. The threshold value NDth may be a fixed value or a variable value. The case where the number of days ND is relatively large with respect to the threshold value NDth may be the case where the number of days ND is equal to or larger than the threshold value NDth, or may be the case where the number of days ND is larger than the threshold value NDth. In this way, when the frequency of occurrence of a situation where monitoring of the refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed is relatively high, the monitoring device 200 can more strongly urge the user to deal with the situation where monitoring cannot be performed.

[0160] In this case, for example, instead of the process of step S310 in Fig. 8, the monitoring device 200 performs a process of determining whether or not the number of most recent days ND during which it was determined that the situation was such that monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC could not be performed is equal to or greater than a threshold value NDth. If the number of most recent days ND is equal to or greater than the threshold value NDth, the monitoring device 200 determines that the occurrence frequency of the situation in which monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed is high, and proceeds to step S314. On the other hand, in other cases, the monitoring device 200 determines that the occurrence frequency of the situation in which monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed is low, and proceeds to step S312. In this way, the monitoring device 200 can switch the content of the notification that monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed depending on the number of most recent days ND during which it was determined that the situation was such that monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC could not be performed.

[0161] <Modification 3> When the monitoring device 200 determines that the situation does not allow monitoring of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC, it may determine the degree of abnormality (abnormality level) corresponding to the cause, and may vary the information to be sent to the user terminal 300 indicating that the monitoring cannot be performed according to the degree of abnormality (abnormality level) corresponding to the cause. Furthermore, when there are multiple causes, the monitoring device 200 may vary the information to be sent to the user terminal 300 indicating that the monitoring cannot be performed according to the highest abnormality level among the abnormality levels for each cause.

[0162] For example, for the sensor abnormality of the above cause (1), a relatively minor abnormality in which sensor information can be used to diagnose the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC, and a relatively major abnormality in which sensor information cannot be used to diagnose the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC, can be assumed. Also, for example, for the abnormality of the diagnostic function of the above cause (3), a relatively minor abnormality in which it is possible to diagnose the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC, and a relatively major abnormality in which it is impossible to diagnose the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC, can be assumed. Also, for example, for the abnormality related to the storage of the diagnostic results, etc. of the above cause (5), a relatively minor abnormality in which the diagnostic results and sensor information can be stored, and a relatively major abnormality in which the diagnostic results and sensor information cannot be stored. Therefore, when it is impossible to monitor the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC due to the above causes (1), (3), and (5), the monitoring device 200 may determine the level of abnormality of the cause.

[0163] Also, for example, in the case of a communication abnormality related to the transmission and reception of the sensor information due to the above-mentioned cause (2), even if the transmission and reception of the sensor information itself is possible, there is a possibility that the sensor information will be altered at the time when the communication abnormality occurs. As a result, the sensor information when the communication abnormality related to the transmission and reception of the sensor information occurs cannot be used to diagnose the presence or absence of a refrigerant leak in the refrigerant circuit RC. Similarly, for example, in the case of a communication abnormality related to the transmission and reception of the diagnostic result, etc. due to the above-mentioned cause (4), even if the transmission and reception of the diagnostic result and the sensor information is possible, there is a possibility that the diagnostic result and the sensor information will be altered at the time when the communication abnormality occurs. As a result, the diagnostic result and the sensor information received by the monitoring device 200 when the communication abnormality related to the transmission and reception of the diagnostic result, etc. occurs are not suitable for storage. Therefore, when the monitoring device 200 is in a situation where it is not possible to monitor the refrigerant leak in the refrigerant circuit RC due to the above-mentioned causes (2) and (4), it may uniquely determine that the cause is in a state where the degree of abnormality is the highest, without determining whether the degree of abnormality of the cause is high or low.

[0164] For example, when the degree of abnormality corresponding to the cause of the inability to perform monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is not relatively high with respect to a predetermined standard, the monitoring device 200 transmits to the user terminal 300 information representing a notification of a warning that the monitoring cannot be performed. On the other hand, when the degree of abnormality corresponding to the cause of the inability to perform monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is relatively high with respect to the predetermined standard, the monitoring device 200 transmits to the user terminal 300 information representing a notification of a warning that the monitoring cannot be performed. The predetermined standard may be the same for each cause, or may be different for each cause. The case where the degree of abnormality is relatively high with respect to the predetermined standard may be the case where the degree of abnormality is equal to or higher than the predetermined standard, or may be the case where the degree of abnormality exceeds the predetermined standard. In this way, when the degree of abnormality corresponding to the cause of the inability to perform monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is relatively high, the monitoring device 200 can more strongly urge the user to deal with the situation where the monitoring cannot be performed.

[0165] In this case, for example, instead of the process of step S308 in Fig. 8, the monitoring device 200 performs a process of determining the degree of abnormality corresponding to the cause of the inability to monitor for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC. Then, after completion of this process, instead of the process of step S310 in Fig. 8, the monitoring device 200 performs a process of determining whether the degree of abnormality corresponding to the cause of the inability to monitor for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is equal to or greater than a predetermined standard. If the degree of abnormality is equal to or greater than the predetermined standard, the monitoring device 200 proceeds to step S314, and otherwise proceeds to step S312. In this way, the monitoring device 200 can switch the content of the notification that it is not possible to monitor for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC depending on the level of the degree of abnormality corresponding to the cause of the inability to monitor for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC.

[0166] <Modification 4> When the monitoring device 200 determines that the situation is such that monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is not possible, the information to be transmitted to the user terminal 300 indicating that monitoring cannot be performed may be different depending on the cause. For example, when the reason why monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed is not a specific abnormality, the monitoring device 200 transmits to the user terminal 300 information indicating a warning that monitoring cannot be performed. On the other hand, when the reason why monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed is a specific abnormality, the monitoring device 200 transmits to the user terminal 300 information indicating a warning that monitoring cannot be performed. The specific abnormality is a type of abnormality that requires a more rapid response to a situation in which monitoring of the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed. For example, the specific abnormality is the former abnormality when abnormalities corresponding to the causes of not being able to monitor the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC are classified into "hardware abnormality" and "software abnormality". This is because the former abnormality is often less likely to be restored by other than replacement or repair than the latter abnormality. Furthermore, the specific abnormality may be an abnormality corresponding to the two upstream phases ("measurement" and "diagnosis") when the monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is classified into four phases, namely, "measurement", "diagnosis", "communication" of the diagnosis result, etc., and "recording" of the diagnosis result, etc. In the case of an abnormality corresponding to the two upstream phases, it is highly likely that it is not possible to perform a diagnosis of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC in the first place, and it is highly likely that the monitoring of refrigerant leakage will be completely stopped. In this case, the specific abnormality corresponds to the abnormality corresponding to causes (1) to (3) among the above-mentioned causes (1) to (5). In this way, when a more rapid response is required to a situation in which monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed, the monitoring device 200 can more strongly urge the user to respond to the situation in which monitoring cannot be performed.

[0167] 8 is omitted, and instead of step S310, the monitoring device 200 performs a process to determine whether or not the cause of the inability to monitor for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is a specific abnormality. If the cause is a specific abnormality, the monitoring device 200 proceeds to step S314, and otherwise proceeds to step S312. This allows the monitoring device 200 to switch the content of the notification that it is not possible to monitor for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC, depending on the cause of the inability to monitor for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC.

[0168] <Variation 5> In this example, at least some of the methods of notifying that monitoring of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed in the main embodiment and modifications 1 to 4 may be combined. In this case, for example, when a condition corresponding to a warning notification is satisfied in at least one of the determination processes for switching between a caution notification and a warning notification in each of the main embodiment and modifications 1 to 4, information representing a warning notification may be transmitted. On the other hand, when a condition corresponding to a warning notification is not satisfied in all of the determination processes, information representing a caution notification may be transmitted.

[0169] [Third example of refrigerant leak monitoring system] Next, a third example of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 8 while also referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, FIG. 6 and FIG.

[0170] FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing another example of the operation of monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit by the refrigerant leakage monitoring system.

[0171] The refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 of this example differs from the first and second examples described above in that the diagnostic function of determining whether or not there is a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is transferred from the control unit 118 to the monitoring device 200, but in other respects may be the same as either one of the first and second examples described above.

[0172] In this example, the description of the diagnostic function for determining the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC in the first example described above can be used by replacing the executing subject with the monitoring device 200 instead of the control unit 118.

[0173] <Air conditioner configuration> In this example, unlike the first and second examples described above, the control unit 118 does not diagnose the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC, but transmits sensor information from the sensors 117, 134, 144, and 154 to the monitoring device 200 at predetermined intervals using the communication unit 119. The predetermined intervals are, for example, 12 hours or 24 hours.

[0174] <Configuration of monitoring device> In this example, the monitoring device 200 monitors for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC, unlike the above-described first and second examples. Specifically, the monitoring device 200 diagnoses the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC at predetermined intervals based on sensor information received from the control unit 118.

[0175] Furthermore, in this example, the monitoring device 200 monitors the execution status of the monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC that it itself executes. Then, when the monitoring device 200 determines that the situation is such that monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be executed, it transmits information to the user terminal 300 informing the user that the monitoring cannot be executed.

[0176] As in the first and second examples described above, if any of the above causes (1) to (3), or (5) applies, the monitoring device 200 may determine that it is a situation in which monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed.

[0177] (2) Communication error regarding the sending and receiving of sensor information In this example, communication abnormalities regarding the transmission and reception of sensor information include, for example, an abnormality in the transmission function of the sensors 117, 134, 144, 154, an abnormality in the transmission path between the sensors 117, 134, 144, 154 and the control unit 118, and an abnormality in the receiving function of the control unit 118, as in the above-mentioned first and second examples. Also, in this example, communication abnormalities regarding the transmission and reception of sensor information include an abnormality in the transmission function of the control unit 118 to the communication unit 119, an abnormality in the transmission path between the control unit 118 and the communication unit 119, an abnormality in the receiving function of the communication unit 119 from the control unit 118, an abnormality in the transmission function of the communication unit 119 to the transmission path NW1, an abnormality in the transmission path NW1, an abnormality in the receiving function of the monitoring device 200 from the transmission path NW1, and the like.

[0178] (3) Diagnostic function abnormality In this example, abnormalities in the diagnostic function include, for example, abnormalities such as bugs in the software corresponding to the diagnostic function, and abnormalities in hardware related to the diagnostic function of the monitoring device 200.

[0179] In this example, the monitoring device 200 diagnoses whether or not there is a refrigerant leak in the refrigerant circuit RC, and the diagnosis results and sensor information are stored as is in the auxiliary storage device 202. Therefore, there is no communication abnormality regarding the sending and receiving of the diagnosis results, etc., as described above under cause (4).

[0180] <Operation of refrigerant leak monitoring system> As shown in FIG. 8, step S802 is the same as step S102 in FIG. 5, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0181] When the process of step S802 is completed, the control unit 118 uses the communication unit 119 to transmit the sensor information to the monitoring device 200 (step S804).

[0182] The monitoring device 200 receives and acquires the sensor information transmitted in step S804 (step S806).

[0183] When the process of step S806 is completed, the monitoring device 200 diagnoses the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC based on the sensor information acquired in step S806 (step S808).

[0184] Steps S810, S812, S814, and S816 are the same as steps S110, S112, S114, and S116 in FIG. 5, and therefore description thereof will be omitted.

[0185] In this way, in this example, the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 uses the monitoring device 200 to periodically diagnose the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC, and can record the diagnosis results.

[0186] [Fourth example of refrigerant leak monitoring system] Next, a fourth example of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, 6 and 7, and with reference to FIGS.

[0187] Fig. 9 is a diagram showing a fourth example of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1. Fig. 10 is a sequence diagram showing yet another example of the operation of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 for monitoring a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC.

[0188] The hardware configuration of the integrated monitoring device 400 may be the same as that shown in Fig. 3. Therefore, illustration of the hardware configuration of the integrated monitoring device 400 will be omitted, and Fig. 3 will be used instead.

[0189] The refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 according to this example differs from the above-mentioned first to third examples in that it includes an integrated monitoring device 400. Specifically, the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 according to this example differs from the above-mentioned first to third examples in that the diagnosis results of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC and sensor information are recorded in the integrated monitoring device 400, and in that information representing a notification that monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed is transmitted from the integrated monitoring device 400 to the user terminal 300, but may be the same as any one of the above-mentioned first to second examples in other respects.

[0190] In this example, the explanations regarding the monitoring function of the monitoring status regarding the refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC in the first to third examples described above are applicable by replacing the executing entity with the integrated monitoring device 400 instead of the monitoring device 200.

[0191] <Overview of refrigerant leak monitoring system> As shown in FIG. 9, in this example, the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 includes an air conditioner 100, a monitoring device 200, a user terminal 300, and an integrated monitoring device 400.

[0192] In this example, the monitoring device 200 is communicatively connected to the integrated monitoring device 400 through a transmission line NW3. The transmission line NW3 includes, for example, a wide area network (WAN).

[0193] The integrated monitoring device 400 has multiple monitoring devices 200 under its control, and performs integrated monitoring of the operation of the multiple air conditioners 100 through the monitoring device 200 installed for each air conditioner 100. For example, the integrated monitoring device 400 is installed in a monitoring center that is located relatively far from the building in which the air conditioners 100 are installed.

[0194] In this example, the integrated monitoring device 400 is communicatively connected to the monitoring device 200 through a transmission path NW3. Also, in this example, the integrated monitoring device 400 is communicatively connected to the user terminal 300 through a transmission path NW4. The transmission paths NW3 and NW4 include, for example, a wide area network (WAN).

[0195] The integrated monitoring device 400 is, for example, a server device with a relatively high processing capacity. The server device may be an on-premise server or a cloud server.

[0196] <Configuration of monitoring device> In this example, unlike the first and third examples described above, the monitoring device 200 transmits the diagnosis result of the control unit 118 on the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC and sensor information to the integrated monitoring device 400 via the communication interface 206.

[0197] Furthermore, in this example, similarly to the above-described first and second examples, the monitoring device 200 monitors the execution status of monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC by the control unit 118. Then, when the monitoring device 200 determines that the situation is such that monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be executed, unlike the above-described first and second examples, it transmits information representing a notification that the monitoring cannot be executed to the integrated monitoring device 400 using the communication interface 206.

[0198] <Configuration of integrated monitoring device> Similar to the monitoring device 200, the integrated monitoring device 400 includes an external interface, an auxiliary storage device, a CPU, a high-speed processing device, a communication interface, an input device, and an output device.

[0199] In this example, the integrated monitoring device 400 receives the diagnosis result of the control unit 118 as to whether or not there is a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC and the sensor information from the monitoring device 200 via the communication interface. Then, the integrated monitoring device 400 records and saves the diagnosis result and the sensor information in the auxiliary storage device. In this way, the integrated monitoring device 400 can accumulate the diagnosis result as to whether or not there is a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC and the sensor information.

[0200] Furthermore, in this example, the integrated monitoring device 400 uses the communication interface to transmit the diagnosis result of the control unit 118 as to the presence or absence of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC to the user terminal 300. This allows the monitoring device 200 to notify the user of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 of the diagnosis result of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC via the integrated monitoring device 400.

[0201] Furthermore, in this example, when the integrated monitoring device 400 receives, via the communication interface, information indicating a notification that monitoring of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed from the monitoring device 200, the integrated monitoring device 400 transmits the information using the communication interface to the user terminal 300. In this way, the monitoring device 200 can notify the user of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1, via the integrated monitoring device 400, that monitoring of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC is in a situation where it cannot be performed.

[0202] <Operation of refrigerant leak monitoring system> As shown in FIG. 10, steps S902, S904, S906, S908, and S910 are the same as steps S102, S104, S106, S108, and S110 in FIG. 5, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

[0203] Upon completing the process of step S910, the monitoring device 200 transmits the diagnosis result and the sensor information acquired in step S908 to the integrated monitoring device 400 (step S912).

[0204] The integrated monitoring device 400 receives and acquires the diagnosis result and the sensor information transmitted in step S912 (step S914).

[0205] When the process of step S914 is completed, the integrated monitoring device 400 records the diagnosis result and the sensor information acquired in step S914 in the auxiliary storage device (step S916).

[0206] Upon completion of step S916, the integrated monitoring device 400 transmits the diagnosis result acquired in step S914 to the user terminal 300 (step S918).

[0207] The user terminal 300 receives and acquires the diagnosis result transmitted in step S918 (step S920).

[0208] When the process of step S920 is completed, the user terminal 300 uses its own display device to display the diagnosis result acquired in step S920 (step S922).

[0209] Thus, in this example, the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 can periodically diagnose the presence or absence of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC using the control unit 118, and record the diagnosis results using the monitoring device 200 and the integrated monitoring device 400. The refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 can then transmit the diagnosis results to the user terminal 300 via the monitoring device 200 and the integrated monitoring device 400, and use the user terminal 300 to notify the diagnosis result to the manager of the air conditioner 100 or other user of the system.

[0210] <Modification> In this example, appropriate modifications and variations may be made based on the above-described main embodiment.

[0211] <Variation 1> The function of diagnosing the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC may be transferred from the control unit 118 to the monitoring device 200. In this case, the description of the function of diagnosing the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC in the above-mentioned third example is applicable.

[0212] <<Variation 2>> The diagnosis result of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC and the recording of the sensor information may be performed by only one of the monitoring device 200 and the integrated monitoring device 400.

[0213] <Modification 3> Both the function of diagnosing the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC and the function of monitoring the execution status of monitoring related to refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC may be transferred to the integrated monitoring device 400. In this case, the description of the function of diagnosing the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC in the above-mentioned third example can be used by replacing the execution subject from the monitoring device 200 to the integrated monitoring device 400. Also, in this example, the description of the function of monitoring the execution status of monitoring related to refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC in the above-mentioned third example can be used by replacing the execution subject from the monitoring device 200 to the integrated monitoring device 400.

[0214] As in the first to third examples described above, if any of the above causes (1) to (3), or (5) applies, the integrated monitoring device 400 may determine that it is not possible to monitor for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC.

[0215] (2) Communication error regarding the sending and receiving of sensor information The communication abnormality regarding the transmission and reception of the sensor information includes, for example, an abnormality in the transmission function of the sensors 117, 134, 144, 154, an abnormality in the transmission path between the sensors 117, 134, 144, 154 and the control unit 118, and an abnormality in the reception function of the control unit 118, as in the first to third examples described above. Also, the communication abnormality regarding the transmission and reception of the sensor information includes, as in the third example described above, an abnormality in the transmission function of the control unit 118 to the communication unit 119, an abnormality in the transmission path between the control unit 118 and the communication unit 119, an abnormality in the reception function of the communication unit 119 from the control unit 118, an abnormality in the transmission function of the communication unit 119 to the transmission path NW1, an abnormality in the transmission path NW1, an abnormality in the reception function of the monitoring device 200 from the transmission path NW1, and the like. Also, the communication abnormality regarding the transmission and reception of the sensor information includes an abnormality in the transmission function of the monitoring device 200 to the transmission path NW3, an abnormality in the transmission path NW3, an abnormality in the reception function of the integrated monitoring device 400 from the transmission path NW3, and the like.

[0216] (3) Diagnostic function abnormality Abnormalities in the diagnostic function include, for example, abnormalities such as bugs in the software corresponding to the diagnostic function, and abnormalities in hardware related to the diagnostic function of the integrated monitoring device 400.

[0217] Furthermore, since the integrated monitoring device 400 diagnoses whether or not there is a refrigerant leak in the refrigerant circuit RC, and the diagnosis results and sensor information are stored directly in the auxiliary storage device, there is no communication abnormality regarding the sending and receiving of the diagnosis results, etc., as described above as cause (4).

[0218] For example, FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing yet another example of the operation of monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC by the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1.

[0219] As shown in FIG. 11, steps S1002, S1004, and S1006 are the same as steps S802, S804, and S806 in FIG. 8 described above, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0220] When the process of step S1006 is completed, the monitoring device 200 records the sensor information acquired in step S1006 in the auxiliary storage device 202 (step S1008).

[0221] When the process of step S1008 is completed, the monitoring device 200 transmits the sensor information acquired in step S1006 to the integrated monitoring device 400 (step S1010).

[0222] The integrated monitoring device 400 receives and acquires the sensor information transmitted in step S1010 (step S1012).

[0223] When the process of step S1012 is completed, the integrated monitoring device 400 diagnoses the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC based on the sensor information acquired in step S1012 (step S1014).

[0224] When the process of step S1014 is completed, the integrated monitoring device 400 records the diagnosis result of step S1014 and the sensor information acquired in step S1012 in the auxiliary storage device (step S1016).

[0225] Steps S1018, S1020, and S1022 are the same processes as steps S918, S920, and S922 in FIG. 10 described above, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

[0226] In this way, the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 can periodically diagnose the presence or absence of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC and record the diagnosis results using the integrated monitoring device 400. The refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 can then transmit the diagnosis results from the integrated monitoring device 400 to the user terminal 300, and use the user terminal 300 to notify a user, such as the manager of the air conditioner 100, of the diagnosis results.

[0227] <Modification 4> The above-mentioned modified examples 1 and 2 or modified examples 2 and 3 may be combined as appropriate.

[0228] [Fifth example of refrigerant leak monitoring system] Next, a fifth example of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 12 and with reference to FIGS. 2 to 7 described above.

[0229] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a fifth example of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1. As shown in FIG.

[0230] The refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 of this example differs from the above-mentioned first to fourth examples in that the diagnostic function for determining whether or not there is a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC, the monitoring function for the monitoring status regarding refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC, and the notification function to the user terminal 300 are all provided in the air conditioner 100, and no monitoring device 200 or integrated monitoring device 400 is provided, but in other respects it may be the same as any one of the above-mentioned first to fourth examples.

[0231] <Overview of refrigerant leak monitoring system> As shown in FIG. 12, in this example, the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 includes an air conditioner 100 and a user terminal 300.

[0232] In this example, the communication unit 119 of the air conditioner 100 is communicatively connected to the user terminal 300 via a transmission line NW5. The transmission line NW5 includes, for example, a wide area network (WAN).

[0233] <Air conditioner configuration> In this example, the outdoor unit 110 of the air conditioner 100 includes a storage unit 180 and a monitoring unit 190.

[0234] The storage unit 180 is built into the outdoor unit 110. The storage unit 180 corresponds to the auxiliary storage device 202 of the monitoring device 200 described above, and the storage unit 180 records the diagnosis results of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC and sensor information.

[0235] The monitoring unit 190 is built into the outdoor unit 110, and has a function of monitoring the execution status of monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC, and a function of notifying the user terminal 300.

[0236] In this example, the monitoring unit 190 transmits the diagnosis result of the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC to the user terminal 300 through the communication unit 119. Similarly, the monitoring unit 190 transmits, through the communication unit 119, information representing a notification that monitoring of the refrigerant circuit RC for refrigerant leakage cannot be performed to the user terminal 300.

[0237] In this example, the description of the monitoring function for monitoring the execution status of monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC in the first example described above can be used by replacing the execution subject with the monitoring unit 190.

[0238] The function of the monitoring unit 190 is realized by any hardware or a combination of any hardware and software. For example, like the control unit 118, the monitoring unit 190 is mainly configured with a computer including a CPU, a memory device, an auxiliary storage device, and an interface device. As a result, the monitoring unit 190 can execute processes for realizing various functions by loading a program installed in the auxiliary storage device into the memory device and executing it with the CPU. The interface device includes, for example, an external interface for connecting to an external recording medium and a communication interface for communicating with devices that are components of the air conditioner 100. As a result, the monitoring unit 190 can install programs, data used in processing, etc. from an external recording medium into the auxiliary storage device through the external interface, for example, during the manufacturing process of the outdoor unit 110. In addition, the monitoring unit 190 can communicate with various devices that are components of the outdoor unit 110, such as the control unit 118, the communication unit 119, and the memory unit 180, through the communication interface.

[0239] <Modification> In this example, appropriate modifications and variations may be made based on the above-described main embodiment.

[0240] <Variation 1> The function of diagnosing the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC may be transferred from the control unit 118 to the monitoring unit 190. In this case, the description of the function of diagnosing the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC in the above-mentioned third example can be used by replacing the execution subject with the monitoring unit 190 from the monitoring device 200.

[0241] <<Variation 2>> The functions of the communication unit 119 and the storage unit 180 may be integrated into the monitoring unit 190. In this case, the monitoring unit 190 may be provided in the air conditioner 100 in a form built into the outdoor unit 110, or may be provided in the air conditioner 100 in a form that is detachable from the air conditioner 100 via a predetermined connection terminal. The predetermined connection terminal is, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) terminal.

[0242] <Modification 3> The above-mentioned first and second modifications may be combined as appropriate.

[0243] [Example 6 of refrigerant leak monitoring system] Next, a sixth example of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 13 while also using FIGS. 2 to 4, 6, 7, and 10. FIG.

[0244] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a sixth example of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1. As shown in FIG.

[0245] The refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 according to this embodiment differs from the above-described fifth embodiment in that an integrated monitoring device 400 is added, but may be the same as the above-described fifth embodiment in other respects.

[0246] As shown in FIG. 13, in this example, the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 includes an air conditioner 100, a user terminal 300, and an integrated monitoring device 400.

[0247] The communication unit 119 of the air conditioner 100 is communicatively connected to the integrated monitoring device 400 via a transmission line NW6. The transmission line NW6 is, for example, a wide area network (WAN).

[0248] In this example, the outdoor unit 110 of the air conditioner 100 includes a monitoring unit 190 .

[0249] In this example, the description of the functions and operations of the monitoring device 200 in the fourth example described above is used as a description of the functions and operations of the monitoring unit 190.

[0250] In addition, in this example, the explanation regarding the configuration, functions, operation, etc. of the integrated monitoring device 400 of the fourth example described above is used by changing the source of the diagnosis results regarding the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC and the sensor information from the monitoring device 200 to the monitoring unit 190.

[0251] <Modification> In this example, appropriate modifications and variations may be made based on the above-described main embodiment.

[0252] <Variation 1> The function of diagnosing the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC may be transferred from the control unit 118 to the monitoring unit 190. In this case, the description of the function of diagnosing the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC in the above-mentioned third example can be used by replacing the execution subject with the monitoring unit 190 from the monitoring device 200.

[0253] <<Variation 2>> The functions of the communication unit 119 and the storage unit 180 may be integrated into the monitoring unit 190, similar to the second modification of the fifth example of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 described above.

[0254] <Modification 3> Both the function of diagnosing the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC and the function of monitoring the execution status of monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC may be transferred to the integrated monitoring device 400. In this case, the description of the function of diagnosing the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC in the above-mentioned third example can be used by replacing the execution subject from the monitoring device 200 to the integrated monitoring device 400. Similarly, the description of the function of monitoring the execution status of monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC in the above-mentioned third example can be used by replacing the execution subject from the monitoring device 200 to the integrated monitoring device 400.

[0255] <Modification 4> The above-mentioned modified examples 1 and 2 or modified examples 2 and 3 may be combined as appropriate.

[0256] [Other examples of refrigerant leak monitoring systems] Next, another example of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 will be described.

[0257] The first to sixth examples of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 described above may be modified or changed as appropriate.

[0258] For example, in the first to sixth examples described above, the object to be monitored for refrigerant leakage may be a device or system having a refrigerant circuit, other than the air conditioner 100. The object to be diagnosed includes, for example, a refrigerator.

[0259] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned first to sixth examples and their variations and modifications, information indicating a notification to a user of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 may be sent to the user's SNS (Social Networking Service) account, email address, etc., instead of or in addition to direct transmission to the user terminal 300. This allows the user of the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 to check the diagnosis result of the presence or absence of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC and information indicating a notification that monitoring of a refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed, by checking the SNS or email using the user terminal 300.

[0260] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned first to sixth examples and their variations and modifications, it may be determined that monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed not only when an abnormality exists, but also when there are signs of an abnormality.

[0261] For example, when there is a sign of abnormality in at least one of the sensors 117, 134, 144, 154 used to determine the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC, there is a possibility that an abnormality has already begun to occur in the sensor information. As a result, the control unit 118, the monitoring unit 190, the monitoring device 200, and the integrated monitoring device 400 may not be able to properly determine the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC. Therefore, when there is a sign of sensor abnormality, the monitoring unit 190, the monitoring device 200, and the integrated monitoring device 400 may determine that the situation is such that monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed. Examples of cases where there is a sign of sensor abnormality include cases where the offset (deviation) of the sensors 117, 134, 144, 154 has an increasing tendency.

[0262] Furthermore, when there is a sign of a communication abnormality regarding the transmission and reception of sensor information, the control unit 118, the monitoring unit 190, the monitoring device 200, and the integrated monitoring device 400 may, for example, be unable to properly acquire the necessary sensor information due to a communication abnormality occurring during communication, and as a result, may be unable to properly determine the presence or absence of a refrigerant leak in the refrigerant circuit RC. Therefore, when there is a possibility of a communication abnormality regarding the transmission and reception of sensor information, the monitoring unit 190, the monitoring device 200, and the integrated monitoring device 400 may determine that it is in a situation where monitoring of a refrigerant leak in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed. Examples of cases where there is a sign of a communication abnormality regarding the transmission and reception of sensor information include cases where there is a tendency for communication delays to increase.

[0263] Furthermore, when there is a sign of an abnormality in the diagnostic function, the control unit 118, the monitoring unit 190, the monitoring device 200, or the integrated monitoring device 400 may, for example, experience an unexpected error during the diagnostic process, and as a result, may be unable to properly determine whether or not there is a refrigerant leak in the refrigerant circuit RC. Therefore, when there is a sign of an abnormality in the diagnostic function, the monitoring unit 190, the monitoring device 200, or the integrated monitoring device 400 may determine that it is in a situation where monitoring for a refrigerant leak in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed. Examples of cases where there is a sign of an abnormality in the diagnostic function include a case where the frequency of occurrence of exception processing during processing related to the diagnostic function tends to increase.

[0264] Furthermore, when there is a sign of a communication abnormality regarding the transmission and reception of diagnostic results, etc., the monitoring unit 190, the monitoring device 200, and the integrated monitoring device 400 may, for example, be unable to properly acquire necessary sensor information due to a communication abnormality occurring during communication. As a result, the monitoring unit 190, the monitoring device 200, and the integrated monitoring device 400 may be unable to acquire the diagnostic result regarding the presence or absence of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC and the sensor information. Therefore, when there is a sign of a communication abnormality regarding the transmission and reception of diagnostic results, etc., the monitoring unit 190, the monitoring device 200, and the integrated monitoring device 400 may determine that the situation is such that monitoring regarding refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed. Examples of cases where there is a sign of a communication abnormality regarding the transmission and reception of diagnostic results, etc., include cases where there is a tendency for communication delays to increase.

[0265] Furthermore, when there is a sign of an abnormality regarding the storage of diagnostic results, etc., for example, an unexpected error may occur during the process of saving diagnostic results, etc., and as a result, the monitoring unit 190, the monitoring device 200, or the integrated monitoring device 400 may be unable to properly save the diagnostic results, etc. Therefore, when there is a sign of an abnormality regarding the storage of diagnostic results, etc., the monitoring unit 190, the monitoring device 200, or the integrated monitoring device 400 may determine that the situation is such that monitoring of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed. Examples of cases where there is a sign of an abnormality regarding the storage of diagnostic results, etc. include a case where the frequency of occurrence of exception processing during processing regarding the storage of diagnostic results, etc. tends to increase.

[0266] Furthermore, in the case where it is determined that the situation is such that monitoring of the refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed according to the sign of abnormality, in the modified example 3 of the second example described above, it may be determined whether the degree of abnormality or the level of the sign of abnormality is equal to or higher than a predetermined standard. In this case, the predetermined standard set for the degree of abnormality and the predetermined standard set for the level of the sign of abnormality may be the same or different. The level of the sign of abnormality is, for example, the magnitude of the deviation (offset) of the sensors 117, 134, 144, and 154 regarding the sign of sensor abnormality. Similarly, in the case where it is determined that the situation is such that monitoring of the refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC cannot be performed according to the sign of abnormality, in the modified example 4 of the second example described above, it may be determined whether the cause of the inability to perform monitoring of the refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit RC is a specific abnormality or its sign.

[0267] [Effect] Next, the operation of the notification system and the control device according to this embodiment will be described.

[0268] In this embodiment, the notification system includes a refrigeration device, an acquisition unit, and a control unit. The notification system is, for example, the refrigerant leakage monitoring system 1 described above. The refrigeration device is, for example, the air conditioner 100 described above. The acquisition unit is, for example, the sensors 117, 134, 144, and 154. The control unit is, for example, the monitoring device 200, the integrated monitoring device 400, or the monitoring unit 190 described above. Specifically, the refrigeration device includes a refrigerant circuit. The refrigerant circuit is, for example, the refrigerant circuit RC described above. The acquisition unit acquires information about refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit. The control unit determines the execution status of monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit, which is performed by the control unit itself or is performed by a monitoring unit different from the control unit itself. The monitoring unit is, for example, the control unit 118, the monitoring device 200, the integrated monitoring device 400, or the monitoring unit 190 described above. When the control unit determines that monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit cannot be performed, the control unit issues a notification that the monitoring cannot be performed.

[0269] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the control device determines the execution status of monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit, which is performed by the control device itself or by a monitoring unit different from the control device itself, based on information regarding refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit included in the refrigeration device acquired by the acquisition unit. The control device is, for example, the above-mentioned monitoring device 200, integrated monitoring device 400, or monitoring unit 190. The monitoring unit is, for example, the above-mentioned control unit 118, monitoring device 200, integrated monitoring device 400, or monitoring unit 190. When the control device determines that the situation is such that monitoring of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit cannot be executed, the control device issues a notification to the effect that the monitoring cannot be executed.

[0270] This allows the notification system and the control device to prompt the target of the notification to take measures against the refrigerant leak. Therefore, the notification system and the like can appropriately deal with a situation in which it is not possible to monitor for refrigerant leaks in the refrigerant circuit.

[0271] In addition, in this embodiment, the control unit or control device may provide an alert that monitoring of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit cannot be performed if there is an abnormality or signs of an abnormality in the acquisition unit, if there is an abnormality or signs of an abnormality in the monitoring unit, if there is an abnormality or signs of an abnormality regarding the communication of the monitoring results from the monitoring unit to the storage destination, if there is an abnormality or signs of an abnormality regarding the communication of information from the acquisition unit to the monitoring unit, or if there is an abnormality or signs of an abnormality regarding the storage of the monitoring results at the storage destination.

[0272] This allows the notification system, etc. to appropriately determine a situation in which monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit is not possible depending on various abnormalities or signs of abnormality, and to provide notification to that effect.

[0273] In addition, in this embodiment, when the control unit or control device determines that monitoring of refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit cannot be performed, it may provide an alert including the number of times, dates, or period during which monitoring was not possible.

[0274] This allows the notification system etc. to allow the person to whom the notification is to be made to know the frequency of occurrence of a situation in which monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit cannot be performed.

[0275] In addition, in this embodiment, the control unit or control device may vary the content of the notification depending on the number of times monitoring could not be performed, the number of dates on which monitoring could not be performed, or the length of the period during which monitoring could not be performed.

[0276] As a result, the notification system etc. can adopt a notification form such as a warning that encourages more prompt action when, for example, the frequency of occurrence of a situation in which monitoring of the refrigerant circuit for refrigerant leakage cannot be performed is relatively high. Therefore, the notification system etc. can encourage the target of the notification to take more appropriate action according to the frequency of occurrence of a situation in which monitoring of the refrigerant circuit for refrigerant leakage cannot be performed.

[0277] In addition, in this embodiment, when the control unit or control device determines that a situation exists in which monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit cannot be performed, the control unit or control device may provide a notification including the cause why the monitoring cannot be performed.

[0278] This allows the notification system etc. to allow the target of the notification to understand the reason why monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit cannot be performed, and therefore the notification system etc. can urge the target of the notification to take more appropriate measures according to the reason why monitoring for refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit cannot be performed.

[0279] In addition, in this embodiment, the control unit or the control device may change the content of the notification depending on the cause of the inability to monitor the refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit.

[0280] This allows the notification system etc. to adopt a notification form such as a warning that encourages more prompt action when the cause is an abnormality that requires more prompt action, and therefore the notification system etc. can encourage the target of the notification to take more appropriate action depending on the cause of the inability to perform monitoring for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit.

[0281] In addition, in this embodiment, the control unit or control device may change the content of the notification depending on the degree of the abnormality or its symptoms that are the cause of the inability to perform monitoring.

[0282] This allows the notification system etc. to adopt a notification form such as a warning that prompts a more prompt response when, for example, the degree of the abnormality or its symptoms is relatively high, and therefore the notification system etc. can prompt the target of the notification to take a more appropriate response according to the degree of the abnormality or its symptoms that corresponds to the cause that makes it impossible to monitor for refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit.

[0283] In addition, in this embodiment, when the control unit or control device determines that monitoring cannot be performed in the situation, it may issue an alert indicating that a diagnosis of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit using a method other than the main monitoring is necessary, or an alert directing the user to information indicating that a diagnosis of refrigerant leakage in the refrigerant circuit using a method other than the main monitoring is necessary.

[0284] This allows the notification system etc. to encourage the person to whom the notification is made to take specific measures, such as diagnosing the refrigerant leak in the refrigerant circuit using a different method, such as an on-site inspection by an inspector.

[0285] Although the embodiments have been described above, it will be understood that various changes in form and details are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0286] 1. Refrigerant leak monitoring system 100 Air conditioner 110 Outdoor unit 117 Sensors 118 Control Unit 119 Communications Department 120 Indoor unit 130 Indoor unit 134 Sensors 135 Control Unit 140 Indoor unit 144 Sensors 145 Control Unit 150 Indoor unit 154 Sensors 155 Control Unit 180 Storage section 190 Monitoring Department 200 Monitoring equipment 300 User terminals 400 Integrated monitoring device BD Building NW1~NW6 transmission line RC refrigerant circuit

Claims

1. a refrigeration system including a refrigerant circuit; An acquisition unit that acquires information regarding a refrigerant leak in the refrigerant circuit; a control unit that determines an execution status of monitoring regarding refrigerant leakage from the refrigerant circuit based on the information, the monitoring unit being executed by the control unit itself or by a monitoring unit different from the control unit; When the control unit determines that the monitoring cannot be performed, the control unit notifies the user that the monitoring cannot be performed. Notification system.

2. The control unit issues the notification when there is an abnormality or a sign of an abnormality in the acquisition unit, when there is an abnormality or a sign of an abnormality in the monitoring unit, when there is an abnormality or a sign of an abnormality in communication of the monitoring results from the monitoring unit to a storage destination, when there is an abnormality or a sign of an abnormality in communication of the information from the acquisition unit to the monitoring unit, or when there is an abnormality or a sign of an abnormality in storage of the monitoring results at the storage destination. The notification system according to claim 1 .

3. When the control unit determines that the monitoring cannot be performed, the control unit performs the notification including the date or period during which the monitoring could not be performed. The notification system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The control unit varies the content of the notification depending on the number of dates or the length of the period. The notification system according to claim 3 .

5. When the control unit determines that the monitoring cannot be performed, the control unit performs the notification including the cause of the monitoring being unable to be performed. The notification system according to claim 1 or 2.

6. The control unit varies the content of the notification depending on the cause. The notification system according to claim 5.

7. The control unit varies the content of the notification depending on the degree of an abnormality or a symptom thereof that is the cause of the inability to perform the monitoring. The notification system according to claim 1 or 2.

8. When the control unit determines that the monitoring cannot be performed, the control unit performs the notification indicating that a diagnosis of a refrigerant leak in the refrigerant circuit using a method other than the monitoring is necessary, or the notification leading to information indicating that a diagnosis of a refrigerant leak in the refrigerant circuit using a method other than the monitoring is necessary. The notification system according to claim 1 or 2.

9. A control device that determines an execution status of monitoring regarding refrigerant leakage in a refrigerant circuit, the monitoring status being executed by the control device itself or by a monitoring unit different from the control device itself, based on information regarding refrigerant leakage in a refrigerant circuit included in a refrigeration device, the information being acquired by an acquisition unit, When it is determined that the monitoring cannot be performed, a notification is given to the effect that the monitoring cannot be performed. Control device.

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