Application program, terminal device, home electronic apparatus management system, and home electronic apparatus management method

Abstract

To provide an application program, a terminal device, a home electronic apparatus management system, and a home electronic apparatus management method, with which a bill for used electricity and power consumption of one home electronic apparatus are easy to understand.SOLUTION: An application program causes a computer to execute: a screen display step of displaying at least one of a bill for used electricity of one home electronic apparatus and power consumption of one home electronic apparatus on a first screen displayed on a display unit, or displaying at least one of the total of bills of used electricity of a plurality of home electronic apparatuses and the total of power consumption of a plurality of home electronic apparatuses on a second screen displayed on the display unit; and a selection step of displaying, on the display unit, a selection operation unit that can switch between the first screen and the second screen. When the selection operation unit does not receive an operation, the screen display step displays the first screen.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an application program, a terminal device, a home appliance management system, and a home appliance management method. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, in a home appliance management system that manages multiple home appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators connected to a network, a technology is known in which an application executed on a terminal device such as a smartphone is used to remotely control the home appliances and display the electricity charges of the home appliances on the terminal device. In such an application, there is a demand for the total electricity charges and power consumption of the multiple home appliances to be displayed. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6403272 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When displaying the total electricity charges and power consumption of multiple home appliances, it is convenient to know the details of the total electricity charges and power consumption. On the other hand, there is a demand to display the electricity charges and power consumption of only one home appliance. In this case, the details of the electricity charges and power consumption are not necessary.

[0005] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an application program, a terminal device, a home appliance management system, and a home appliance management method that make it easy to understand the electricity usage charge and power consumption of a single home appliance. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The application program of an embodiment is an application program for causing a computer of a terminal device connected to home appliances via a network and equipped with a display device to execute the following steps: a screen display step of displaying at least one of the electricity usage charge of one of the home appliances and the power consumption of the one of the home appliances on a first screen displayed on the display device, or displaying at least one of the total electricity usage charge of multiple home appliances and the total power consumption of the multiple home appliances on a second screen displayed on the display device; and a selection step of displaying on the display device a selection operation unit capable of switching between the first screen and the second screen and accepting an operation to display either the first screen or the second screen using the selection operation unit, and the screen display step displays the first screen if the selection operation unit does not accept the operation.

[0007] In the application program, for example, the selection step displays the selection operation section on the first screen or the second screen.

[0008] The application program further causes the computer to execute a registration step of receiving and registering a name of the home appliance, and the selection step, when the first screen is displayed on the display device, displays the name of the registered home appliance on the selection operation unit.

[0009] The application program further causes the computer to execute a receiving step of receiving usage information including at least one of the electricity usage charges of the multiple home appliances and the power consumption of the multiple home appliances, when the selection operation unit accepts an operation to display the second screen, for example.

[0010] A terminal device of an embodiment is a terminal device connected to home appliances via a network and equipped with a display device, and is equipped with a display processing unit that displays at least one of the electricity usage charge of one of the home appliances and the power consumption of the one of the home appliances on a first screen displayed on the display device, or displays at least one of the total electricity usage charge of multiple home appliances and the total power consumption of the multiple home appliances on a second screen displayed on the display device, and a selection processing unit that displays a selection operation unit on the display device that can switch between the first screen and the second screen, and accepts an operation to display either the first screen or the second screen using the selection operation unit, and the display processing unit displays the first screen if the selection operation unit does not accept the operation.

[0011] An embodiment of a home appliance management system is a home appliance management system that includes an application program to be executed by a computer of a terminal device that is connected to home appliances via a network and has a display device, wherein the application program causes the computer to execute a screen display step of displaying at least one of the electricity usage charge of one of the home appliances and the power consumption of the one of the home appliances on a first screen displayed on the display device, or displaying at least one of the total electricity usage charge of multiple home appliances and the total power consumption of the multiple home appliances on a second screen displayed on the display device, and a selection step of displaying a selection operation unit on the display device that can switch between the first screen and the second screen and accepting an operation to display either the first screen or the second screen using the selection operation unit, and the screen display step displays the first screen if the selection operation unit does not accept the operation.

[0012] An embodiment of a home appliance management method is a home appliance management method executed by a home appliance management system having an application program for causing a computer of a terminal device connected to home appliances via a network and equipped with a display device to execute the program, and includes a screen display step of displaying at least one of the electricity usage charge of one of the home appliances and the power consumption of the one of the home appliances on a first screen displayed on the display device, or displaying at least one of the total electricity usage charge of multiple home appliances and the total power consumption of the multiple home appliances on a second screen displayed on the display device, and a selection step of displaying a selection operation unit on the display device that can switch between the first screen and the second screen, and accepting an operation to display either the first screen or the second screen by the selection operation unit, and the screen display step displays the first screen if the selection operation unit does not accept the operation.

[0013] According to the above application program, terminal device, home appliance management system, and home appliance management method, if the selection operation unit does not accept the above operation, the first screen is displayed, making it easy to see the electricity usage fee and power consumption of a single home appliance. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a home electric appliance management system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of a functional configuration of the server device according to the embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a terminal device according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an application home screen according to the embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a flow of a home appliance control process according to the embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a usage information screen according to the embodiment, in which the display format is a one-year display format. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the usage information screen according to the embodiment, in which the display form is a one-month display form. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transition of the usage information screen according to the embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transition of the usage information screen according to the embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transition of the usage information screen according to the embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transition of the usage information screen according to the embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example in which selection items are displayed in a home appliance selection section on the usage amount information screen according to the embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the usage amount information screen according to the embodiment, in which all air conditioners are selected and the display format is the one-month display format. [Figure 15] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the usage amount information screen according to the embodiment, in which all air conditioners are selected and the display format is the one-year display format. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a setting screen according to the embodiment. [Figure 17] FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of transition of a setting screen according to the embodiment. [Figure 18] FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of a setting screen according to the embodiment. [Figure 19] FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of transition of a setting screen according to the embodiment. [Figure 20] FIG. 20 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the flow of the usage amount display process according to the embodiment. [Figure 21] FIG. 21 is a sequence diagram illustrating another example of the flow of the usage amount display process according to the embodiment. [Figure 22] FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of a graph display section displaying a breakdown according to a first modified example of the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, embodiments of an application program, a terminal device, a home appliance management system, and a home appliance management method according to the present disclosure will be described. In this specification, components according to the embodiments and descriptions of the components may be described in multiple ways. The components and their descriptions are merely examples and are not limited by the expressions in this specification. The components may be identified by names different from those in this specification. In addition, the components may be described by expressions different from those in this specification.

[0016] <Home appliance management system> Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a home appliance management system according to an embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the home appliance management system 1 according to the present embodiment mainly includes a server device 40, a terminal device 30, and a plurality of air conditioners (hereinafter also referred to as air conditioners) 10-1 to 10-N (N is a natural number). Hereinafter, the air conditioners 10-1 to 10-N will be collectively referred to as home appliance 10.

[0017] The air conditioners 10-1 to 10-N and the terminal device 30 are connected to a network via a router or the like installed in the home. The air conditioners 10-1 to 10-N and the terminal device 30 are also connected to a server device 40 via the network. The network is made up of the Internet, regular telephone lines, mobile phone lines, and the like.

[0018] Here, the air conditioners 10-1 to 10-N are examples of home appliances 10, and the types and number of appliances are not limited to these. Note that the home appliances 10 are not limited to the air conditioners 10-1 to 10-N. The home appliances 10 may be refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, microwave ovens, electric fans, etc. In other words, the home appliances 10 include electric machines and appliances that are mainly used in ordinary households.

[0019] The terminal device 30 is, for example, a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet device, or a personal computer, and displays information about the home appliance 10 and remotely controls the home appliance 10 via the server device 40. The home appliance 10 may also be controlled by another dedicated controller (a so-called remote control). This dedicated controller may also function as the terminal device 30. For example, the home appliance may be directly controlled by the dedicated controller, or may be remotely controlled via a network as described later.

[0020] An application program (hereinafter also referred to as "application") for remotely controlling the home appliance 10 is installed in the terminal device 30. A user (also referred to as a consumer) launches the application in the terminal device 30 to remotely control the home appliance 10. The application communicates with the home appliance 10 via the server device 40 over a network. The application will be described in detail later.

[0021] Server device 40 is a device that manages home appliance 10, and relays communication between terminal device 30 and home appliance 10 in order to remotely control home appliance 10. Server device 40 is placed outside the home in which home appliance 10 is installed.

[0022] <Server details> First, the server device 40 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the server device 40 according to the present embodiment.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 2, the server device 40 of this embodiment mainly includes a communication unit 401, a control unit 402, and a storage unit 410.

[0024] The storage unit 410 is a storage medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD). The storage unit 410 of this embodiment stores a management database 411 (hereinafter also referred to as a "management DB 411").

[0025] The management DB 411 is a database for managing the home appliance 10. In the management DB 411, a device ID and home appliance information on the home appliance 10 are registered in association with each other.

[0026] The device ID is information for identifying the home electric device 10.

[0027] The home appliance information includes usage information, unit price information, and a target upper limit value of the usage. The usage information is usage information indicating the usage of the home appliance 10. The usage of the home appliance 10 includes at least one of the power consumption of the home appliance 10 and the electricity usage fee. In the present embodiment, the usage includes both the power consumption of the home appliance 10 and the electricity usage fee. The usage may be only one of the power consumption of the home appliance 10 and the electricity usage fee. The electricity usage fee is a fee for the power used (consumed) by the home appliance 10 (i.e., the power consumption). The unit price information indicates the unit price of the electricity fee per unit time. In detail, the unit price information includes the unit price corresponding to one or more time periods by dividing a day into one or more time periods. The electricity usage fee is calculated based on the power consumption and the unit price. In addition, the usage information of one home appliance 10 is referred to as first information, and the usage information of multiple home appliances 10 is referred to as second information.

[0028] The control unit 402 performs various controls of the home appliance 10. Specifically, the control unit 402 receives a control instruction for the home appliance 10 from an application of the terminal device 30, and controls the home appliance 10.

[0029] Furthermore, the control unit 402 acquires home appliance status information (hereinafter also referred to as status information) from the home appliance 10, and transmits it to the terminal device 30. The home appliance status information includes the operating state of the home appliance 10, setting information related to the home appliance 10, and environmental information around the home appliance 10. When the home appliance 10 is an air conditioner 10-1 to 10-N, the home appliance status information includes, for example, the type of operation (cooling operation, heating operation, etc.), the set temperature, the air volume, the air direction, and the like, as well as the indoor temperature and humidity where the indoor units of the air conditioners 10-1 to 10-N are set, and the outdoor temperature and humidity where the outdoor units of the air conditioners 10-1 to 10-N are set, and the like.

[0030] Furthermore, the control unit 402 acquires usage history information from the home appliance 10. The usage history information includes the power consumption of the home appliance 10. The control unit 402 registers the power consumption of the home appliance 10 included in the usage history information in the management DB 411, and calculates the electricity usage fee for the home appliance 10 from the power consumption and the unit price stored in the management DB 411, and stores the calculated fee in the management DB 411. The control unit 402 transmits usage information (power consumption, electricity usage fee) of the home appliance 10 to the terminal device 30 in response to a request from an application of the terminal device 30.

[0031] The communication unit 401 controls communication with the home appliance 10 and the terminal device 30. That is, when the control unit 402 receives a request or instruction from the terminal device 30 or transmits information to the terminal device 30, it does so via the communication unit 401. Also, when the control unit 402 receives information from the home appliance 10 or issues a control instruction to the home appliance 10, it does so via the communication unit 401.

[0032] <Terminal device details> Next, a detailed description will be given of the terminal device 30 according to the present embodiment. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the terminal device 30 according to the present embodiment.

[0033] 3, the terminal device 30 according to the present embodiment mainly includes a display device 302, an input device 303, a communication device 304, a storage device 305, and an application 301. The terminal device 30 also includes a CPU 300 (Central Processing Unit). The hardware of the terminal device 30 is configured by the CPU 300, the display device 302, the input device 303, the communication device 304, and the storage device 305.

[0034] CPU 300 constitutes computer 310. CPU 300 realizes various functions by reading and executing programs stored in storage device 305. That is, the programs cause control unit 50 to execute various functions. The programs stored in storage device 305 include application 301. That is, application 301 causes computer 310, i.e. CPU 300, to execute various functions.

[0035] The display device 302 is, for example, a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic electroluminescence display. The input device 303 is an input device such as a touch panel (including a non-contact type) or a hard key superimposed on the display device 302. The display device 302 displays various screens. An operation on an icon or the like on the screen is, for example, a touch operation by the user on the input device 303 (touch panel).

[0036] The communication device 304 is an interface that performs wireless communication in accordance with each standard of wireless LAN, 4G (e.g., LTE (Long Term Evolution)), and 5G.

[0037] The storage device 305 is a storage medium such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a ROM (Read Only Memory).

[0038] 3, the application 301 mainly includes a communication processing unit 3011, an input processing unit 3012, a display processing unit 3013, a control unit 3014, a device registration processing unit 3015, a device selection processing unit 3016, and a unit price setting processing unit 3017. The application 301 is stored in a storage device 305 such as a ROM, a RAM, or a flash memory. The device selection processing unit 3016 is an example of a selection processing unit.

[0039] The application 301 is an example of an application program. The application 301 has a modular configuration including each of the above-mentioned functional units (a communication processing unit 3011, an input processing unit 3012, a display processing unit 3013, a control unit 3014, a device registration processing unit 3015, a device selection processing unit 3016, and a unit price setting processing unit 3017), and as actual hardware, the application 301 is started by a CPU reading the application 301 from a storage device 305 such as a flash memory and executing it. Then, each of the above units is loaded onto the storage device 305 such as a RAM, and the communication processing unit 3011, the input processing unit 3012, the display processing unit 3013, the control unit 3014, the device registration processing unit 3015, the device selection processing unit 3016, and the unit price setting processing unit 3017 are generated on the storage device 305 such as a RAM.

[0040] The control unit 3014 performs various controls and various calculations for the application 301 .

[0041] The communication processing unit 3011 controls communication by the communication device 304. When the communication processing unit 3011 receives a control instruction for the home appliance 10 from the user at the input processing unit 3012, the communication processing unit 3011 transmits the received control instruction to the server device 40. The communication processing unit 3011 also receives various information (data) from the server device 40.

[0042] For example, the communication processing unit 3011 receives first information including at least one of the electricity usage charge of one home appliance 10 and the power consumption of one home appliance 10 from the server device 40. In addition, the communication processing unit 3011 receives second information including at least one of the electricity usage charge of multiple home appliances 10 and the power consumption of multiple home appliances 10 from the server device 40. That is, in this embodiment, the first information and the second information used in the terminal device 30 are information stored in the server device 40.

[0043] The display processing unit 3013 controls the display of various information on the display device 302. When the application 301 is started, the display processing unit 3013 first causes the display device 302 to display an application home screen. Here, the application home screen is an example of a basic screen of the application.

[0044] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an application home screen in the embodiment. In the example of Fig. 4, a plurality of operation screen icons 503 and a usage information screen icon 504 are displayed on an application home screen 501. The operation screen icon 503 and the usage information screen icon 504 may be displayed on different screens instead of the same screen. For example, the operation screen icon 503 may be displayed on the first screen, and the usage information screen icon 504 may be displayed on another screen that is swiped.

[0045] An operation screen icon 503 is provided for each home appliance 10, and is associated with the device ID of the corresponding home appliance 10. The operation screen icon 503 is for displaying an operation screen 1701 (see FIG. 5) for issuing control instructions to the home appliance 10. In the example of FIG. 4, the operation screen icon 503 displays the installation location of the home appliance 10 ("living room" or "children's room")

[0046] The usage information screen icon 504 is for displaying a usage information screen 1801 (see Figs. 7 and 8) that displays usage information indicating the usage of the home appliance 10, including at least one of the electricity usage fee of the home appliance 10 and the power consumption of the home appliance 10. In the example of Fig. 4, the usage information screen icon 504 displays "Electricity Bill".

[0047] In this manner, the display processing unit 3013 causes the display device 302 to display the application home screen 501, which displays the operation screen icon 503 and the usage information screen icon 504. Details of the processing performed when the operation screen icon 503 and the usage information screen icon 504 are operated will be described later.

[0048] The input processing unit 3012 accepts user input from the input device 303. The input processing unit 3012 accepts operation input by the user from various screens such as the application home screen 501 (that is, the input device 303 such as a touch panel).

[0049] The device registration processing unit 3015 registers a plurality of home appliances 10. For example, the device registration processing unit 3015 displays a device registration screen (not shown) on the display device 302 and accepts the registration of the home appliance 10 on the device registration screen. The registered information includes the identification information, name, group, etc. of the home appliance 10. For example, the information is input by a user's operation using the input device 303. The device registration processing unit 3015 transmits the input information to the server device 40 and registers the information in the management DB via the server device 40. Furthermore, if the input information includes a group, the device registration processing unit 3015 includes the home appliance 10 in the group. The device registration processing unit 3015 also registers the information of the group in the management DB via the server device 40.

[0050] The device selection processing unit 3016 causes the display device 302 to display a home appliance selection unit for selecting a home appliance 10 or a group for which information is to be displayed on the screen. When only one home appliance 10 is registered in the management DB, the device selection processing unit 3016 does not display an option for selecting another electronic device in the home appliance selection unit.

[0051] The unit price setting processing unit 3017 divides a day into a plurality of time periods, and accepts an operation to set the unit price of electricity for each of the time periods, and sets the unit price based on the operation. The unit price setting processing unit 3017 transmits the set unit price to the server device 40. The unit price setting processing unit 3017 accepts the setting of the electricity unit price for each of the plurality of registered home electric appliances 10 from the setting screen. The unit price setting processing unit 3017 also accepts the electricity unit price for each of the registered groups from the setting screen. If the start time for which the operation was accepted has already been set, the unit price setting processing unit 3017 displays an error on the setting screen 1901. The error is, for example, information such as "The start time has already been set. Please try again."

[0052] <Various processing> Next, various processes executed by the home appliance management system will be described in detail.

[0053] First, a description will be given of a home appliance control process which is a process performed when an operation screen icon 503 on an application home screen 501 in Fig. 4 is operated. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen according to the embodiment.

[0054] When the operation screen icon 503 is operated, the display processing unit 3013 acquires home appliance status information indicating the status of the home appliance 10 from the server device 40, and causes the display device 302 to display the operation screen 1701 ( FIG. 5 ) displaying the home appliance status information. That is, the display processing unit 3013 acquires the home appliance status information from the home appliance 10 via the server device 40. Note that the display processing unit 3013 may acquire the home appliance status information from the home appliance 10 without via the server device 40.

[0055] As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of control buttons 1703 are displayed on operation screen 1701. Control buttons 1703 are buttons for issuing control instructions to home appliance 10. The control instructions of control button 1703 are, for example, "temperature setting," "air volume / direction," and "stop." When control button 1703 is operated, the control instruction of control button 1703 is transmitted to server device 40 by communication processing unit 3011. Server device 40 transmits the received control instruction to the corresponding home appliance 10. As a result, home appliance 10 operates in accordance with the control instruction.

[0056] Next, details of the home appliance control process will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of the home appliance control process according to the embodiment.

[0057] When the application 301 is started (S1301), the input processing unit 3012 causes the display device 302 to display the application home screen 501, and accepts the selection of a home appliance 10 by operating an operation screen icon 503. When the application 301 accepts the selection of a home appliance 10 by operating any of the operation screen icons 503 (S1302), the control unit 3014 requests the server device 40 for state information of the home appliance 10 whose selection has been accepted (S1303).

[0058] When the server device 40 receives a request for state information from the application 301 of the terminal device 30, the server device 40 requests the state information from the home electric appliance 10 (S1201).

[0059] When the home appliance 10 receives a request for state information from the server device 40, the home appliance 10 transmits current state information of the home appliance 10 to the server device 40 (S1101).

[0060] When the server device 40 receives the state information from the home electric appliance 10, the server device 40 transmits the state information to the application 301 of the terminal device 30 (S1202).

[0061] When the application 301 receives the state information from the server device 40, the display processing unit 3013 causes the display device 302 to display the operation screen 1701 based on the state information (S1304).

[0062] When the application 301 accepts an operation of the control button 1703 on the operation screen 1701 (S1305), it transmits a control signal associated with the control button 1703 to the server device 40 (S1306).

[0063] When the server device 40 receives the control signal from the application 301 of the terminal device 30, the server device 40 transmits the control signal to the home electric appliance 10 (S1203).

[0064] When the home appliance 10 receives the control signal from the server device 40, the home appliance 10 controls each unit of the home appliance 10 so that the home appliance 10 operates in accordance with the control signal, and transmits state information of the home appliance 10 after the control to the server device 40 (S1102).

[0065] When the server device 40 receives the post-control state information from the home electric appliance 10, the server device 40 transmits the post-control state information to the application 301 of the terminal device 30 (S1204).

[0066] When the application 301 receives the post-control state information from the server device 40, the display processing unit 3013 updates the operation screen 1701 so that the operation screen 1701 is based on the post-control state information (S1307).

[0067] Next, a description will be given of a usage display process which is a process performed when the usage information screen icon 504 on the application home screen 501 in Fig. 4 is operated. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a usage information screen according to an embodiment, in which the display form is a one-year display form. Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a usage information screen according to an embodiment, in which the display form is a one-month display form.

[0068] When usage amount information screen icon 504 is operated, display processing unit 3013 causes display device 302 to display usage amount information screen 1801 (FIGS. 7 and 8) without acquiring home appliance status information. In other words, when usage amount information screen icon 504 is operated, application 301 and server device 40 do not communicate with home appliance 10 to request home appliance status information. Usage amount information screen 1801 includes usage amount information screen 1801A (FIG. 7) in which the display form of usage amount information is a one-year display form, and usage amount information screen 1801B (FIG. 8) in which the display form of usage amount information is a one-month display form.

[0069] As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a usage information screen 1801 displays a home appliance selection section 1802, a period selection section 1803, a date selection section 1804, a usage display section 1805, and an electricity fee setting button 1807.

[0070] The home appliance selection unit 1802 is for accepting the selection of the home appliance 10 for which the usage amount is to be displayed. The selection is performed by a user operation. The home appliance selection unit 1802 accepts an operation to select either the usage amount information screens 1801A, B or the usage amount information screens 1801C, D (FIGS. 13 and 14). When only one home appliance 10 is registered, the appliance selection processing unit 3016 does not display an option to select the usage amount information screens 1801C, D in the home appliance selection unit. The home appliance selection unit 1802 is an example of a selection operation unit.

[0071] The period selection section 1803 is for accepting a selection of whether the display format of the usage amount to be displayed is a one-year display format or a one-month display format. The selection is made by a user operation. Fig. 7 shows a case where the one-year display format is selected, and Fig. 8 shows a case where the one-month display format is selected.

[0072] In the one-year display mode, the usage amount for the past one year from the present is displayed in a graph in the entire period display section 1805b of the usage amount display section 1805, and in the one-month display mode, the usage amount for the past one month from the present is displayed in a graph in the entire period display section 1805b. In addition, the usage amount for the month or day selected by the date selection section 1804 is displayed in the unit period display section 1805a above the entire period display section 1805b in the usage amount display section 1805. The graph in the entire period display section 1805b corresponding to the month or day selected by the date selection section 1804 is displayed in an emphasized manner (highlighted). The highlighting is, for example, such that only the bar of the graph corresponding to the month or day selected by the date selection section 1804 changes color. Note that the display mode is not limited to the above. For example, the display mode may be the usage amount for the past 30 days, etc.

[0073] The date selection section 1804 is for accepting the selection of the date of the usage amount to be displayed in the unit period display section 1805a. The selection is performed by a user operation. Fig. 7 shows a case where May 2023 is selected as the date, and Fig. 8 shows a case where May 1, 2023 is selected as the date.

[0074] The usage display section 1805 displays the usage of the home appliance 10 selected by the home appliance selection section 1802 for the period selected by the period selection section 1803. The final date of the period is the current date. Note that, for example, a date input section into which the user can input data may be provided, and any date inputted into the date input section may be set as the final date of the period. Note that "usage" in Figs. 7 and 8 indicates the amount of power consumed, and "electricity charge" indicates the charge for electricity used.

[0075] The usage display section 1805 includes a unit period display section 1805a and an entire period display section 1805b. The unit period display section 1805a displays the usage for the unit period. For example, the unit period is one month when the period selected by the period selection section 1803 is one year, and is one day when the period selected by the period selection section 1803 is one month. The unit period display section 1805a displays the usage and past usage charges for the date selected by the date selection section 1804. For example, the past usage charges are the usage charges for the same period last year (the previous year) when the period selected by the period selection section 1803 is one year, and are the usage charges for the previous day when the period selected by the period selection section 1803 is one month. The entire period display section 1805b displays the usage for the entire period of the period selected by the period selection section 1803. The entire period display section 1805b also displays the electricity usage charges in a graph. The graph is, for example, a bar graph, but is not limited to this. The bar graph is displayed in monthly segments when the selected period is one year, and in daily segments when the selected period is one month. When the selected period is one year, the bar graph corresponding to the last month shows the accumulated data up to the previous day or the accumulated data up to the middle of the day if the day is in the middle of the month. Therefore, the rightmost bar in the bar graph shows fewer days to be accumulated. When the selected period is one month, the bar graph corresponding to the last day shows the accumulated data up to the previous day (i.e., the data of that day is not included) or the accumulated data up to the middle of the day. In addition, the entire period display unit 1805b displays the graph of the electricity usage fee for the same period last year for the entire period superimposed on the electricity usage fee for the entire period. In this embodiment, when the period selected by the period selection unit 1803 is one month, the graph of the past electricity usage fee is not superimposed on the entire period display unit 1805b, but this is not limited to this. Even if the period selected by the period selection unit 1803 is one month, for example, a graph of the electricity usage charge for the same period of the previous month may be displayed in an overlapping manner. Also, it may be possible to select whether or not to display the graph of the electricity usage charge in the past in an overlapping manner.

[0076] Furthermore, among the multiple bars constituting the bar graph, one bar corresponding to a date selected in date selection section 1804 can be highlighted, for example, by displaying it in a color different from the other bars or by adding an arrow or the like to the top of the bar. Furthermore, the user can select one of the multiple bars constituting the bar graph. In this case, the bar selected by the user is highlighted, and the corresponding date is displayed as the selected date in date selection section 1804. Then, the unit period display section 1805a displays the usage amount and past usage fees for the selected date.

[0077] Furthermore, the usage information screen 1801 allows the user to switch the unit of usage (power consumption, electricity charges).

[0078] 9 is a diagram showing an example of a transition of a usage information screen according to an embodiment. When a bar of a graph is selected by a touch operation in the entire period display section 1805b, the usage information up to the selected bar may be displayed as shown in FIG.

[0079] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a transition of the usage information screen according to the embodiment. In FIG. 10, a state in which the date displayed on the usage information screen 1801 is changed by operating the date selection section 1804 is shown.

[0080] 11 is a diagram showing an example of a transition of the usage information screen according to the embodiment, in which the date displayed on the usage information screen 1801 is changed by operating the date selection section 1804.

[0081] Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a transition of the usage information screen according to the embodiment. As shown in Fig. 12, when a bar of a bar graph in the entire period display section 1805b is selected by a touch operation, the usage information of the selected month may be displayed in the unit period display section 1805a.

[0082] 13 is a diagram showing an example in which a selection item is displayed in a home appliance selection section on a usage information screen according to the embodiment. When the home appliance selection section 1802 is touched, the display processing section 3013 displays a selection section 1802a on the usage information screen 1801 as shown in FIG. 13. This process may be performed by the appliance selection processing section 3016. The selection section 1802a displays an item 1802aa in which the names of a plurality of home appliances 10 are displayed. When the item 1802aa is touched, the appliance selection processing section 3016 selects the home appliance 10 corresponding to the touched item 1802aa. Then, the display processing section 3013 displays the usage information screen 1801 of the selected home appliance 10 on the display device 302.

[0083] Next, a case will be described where the items 1802aa of all the home appliances 10 (air conditioners 10-1 to 10-N) are touched in the home appliance selection unit 1802, and the appliance selection processing unit 3016 selects all the home appliances 10. Note that, if only one home appliance is registered, the items 180aa of all the air conditioners are not displayed. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a usage information screen 1801C according to an embodiment, in which all the air conditioners are selected and the display form is a one-month display form. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a usage information screen 1801D according to an embodiment, in which all the air conditioners are selected and the display form is a one-year display form.

[0084] 14 and 15, the usage information screens 1801C, 1801D display a breakdown display 1806 in addition to a home appliance selection section 1802, a period selection section 1803, a date selection section 1804, and a usage display section 1805. The usage display section 1805 displays at least one of (as an example, both of) the total electricity usage charges of all (multiple) home appliances 10 and the total power consumption of the multiple home appliances 10 based on the second information.

[0085] The breakdown display 1806 shows the ratio of the multiple home appliances 10 to the total displayed in the unit period display section 1805a of the usage display section 1805 of the usage information screens 1801C and 1801D (second screens) among the total electricity usage charges of all (multiple) home appliances 10 and the total power consumption of the multiple home appliances 10. The breakdown display 1806 also switches between the ratio to the total power consumption or the ratio to the total power usage charge by using a "unit" switching button that switches the pie chart 2001 between displaying the power consumption or the power usage charge. The unit of the breakdown display 1806 may be switched separately from the pie chart 2001. The unit display may be fixed to either the power consumption or the power usage charge without switching the unit. The breakdown display 1806 includes a pie chart 2001 and a table 2002. The pie chart 2001 arranges the multiple home appliances 10 in descending order of ratio. The arrangement of the home appliances 10 in the pie chart 2001 may be rearranged in order of registration number or by location such as the first floor, the second floor, etc. The display processing unit 3013 also displays the names of the registered home appliances 10 in the breakdown display 1806 of the usage information screen 1801D. The names of the registered home appliances 10 (air conditioners 10-1 to 10-N) are, for example, living room, dining room, work room, bedroom, child's room 1, child's room 2, etc.

[0086] Returning to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, an electricity fee setting button 1807 is a button (icon) for displaying a setting screen for making various settings relating to electricity fees.

[0087] A home appliance control process which is a process when the electricity fee setting button 1807 is operated will be described. Fig. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen according to an embodiment. Fig. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a transition of the setting screen according to an embodiment. Fig. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen according to an embodiment. Fig. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a transition of the setting screen according to an embodiment.

[0088] When the electricity fee setting button 1807 on the usage amount information screen 1801 (FIGS. 7 and 8) is operated, the application 301 causes the display device 302 to display a setting screen 1901 shown in FIG.

[0089] As shown in FIG. 16, a setting screen 1901 displays a target upper limit display section 1902, a unit price information display section 1903, an add button 1908, and a delete button 1909.

[0090] The target upper limit display section 1902 displays a target upper limit of the amount of usage of the home appliance 10 for a predetermined period. For example, the target upper limit is a target upper limit of the electricity usage fee of the home appliance 10 for the predetermined period. A numerical value can be input into the target upper limit display section 1902 by a user operation.

[0091] The unit price information display section 1903 displays the unit price of electricity set for each time period by dividing a day into a number of time periods. The unit price information display section 1903 includes a display section 1904 and a graph display section 1905. The display section 1904 displays the unit price of electricity for each set time period in a table 1906. The graph display section 1905 displays the unit price of electricity for each set time period in a graph 1907. The display section 1904 and the graph display section 1905 are displayed on the same screen. Note that "display section 1904 and the graph display section 1905 being displayed on the same screen" does not necessarily mean that the display section 1904 and the graph display section 1905 are displayed on the screen at the same time, but also means that the screen is scrolled to display them.

[0092] The display section 1904 includes a time period display section 1904a and a unit price display section 1904b. If the unit price is not divided by time period (i.e., the unit price is the same throughout the day), one unit price is entered for 0 to 24 hours. The unit price is not limited to being set by time period, and may be set by season or month.

[0093] The time period display section 1904a displays the time period. The unit price display section 1904b is provided for each time period and displays the unit price of electricity for the corresponding time period.

[0094] As shown in FIG. 17, when the unit price display section 1904b is touched, a unit price setting area 1904c is displayed, and the unit price input in the unit price setting area 1904c is set. When the time period display section 1904a is touched, a time period setting area 1904d is displayed, and the time period input in the time period setting area 1904d is set. The unit price and the time period may be set by selection or by directly inputting numbers. The unit price may be changed by tapping the unit price display (numbers 1907a) displayed in the graph 1907. The time period may be changed by long pressing and swiping the time period divisions in the graph 1907.

[0095] Furthermore, when the add button 1908 is touched, an add field 1908a shown in FIG. 18 is displayed, and the time period and unit price inputted in the add field 1908a are additionally set.

[0096] In addition, when the Delete button 1909 is touched and then the time period display section 1904a is touched, the confirmation area 1909a shown in FIG. 19 is displayed, and when the Delete button 1909b is touched, the setting of the time period display section 1904a and the corresponding unit price are deleted.

[0097] As shown in FIG. 16, the graph 1907 is a pie chart. The graph 1907 may be another type of graph, such as a bar chart. The display processor 3013 displays the set electricity unit price number 1907a on the graph 1907 in the graph display section 1905 of the setting screen 1901. The display processor 3013 displays a pattern 1907b corresponding to the time period on the graph 1907 in the graph display section 1905. The pattern 1907b includes a pattern, a color, a figure, or a combination of these. In this embodiment, a star figure is displayed in cool colors during the time period corresponding to night, and a sun figure is displayed in warm colors during the daytime. The pattern 1907b may be displayed according to more time periods, not just two patterns corresponding to the daytime and nighttime periods. The pattern 1907b may be displayed differently depending on the weather during the time period. Moreover, the display processing unit 3013 updates the graph 1907 every time at least one of the time period and the electricity rate is changed.

[0098] The unit price setting processing unit 3017 of the application 301 accepts an operation to divide a day into a plurality of time periods and set a unit price of electricity for each of the time periods through the setting screen 1901. The unit price setting processing unit 3017 sets a unit price based on the operation, and transmits the set time periods and the corresponding unit prices to the server device 40.

[0099] Next, details of the usage display process will be described with reference to Fig. 20 and Fig. 21. Fig. 20 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of the usage display process according to the embodiment. Fig. 21 is a sequence diagram showing another example of the flow of the usage display process according to the embodiment.

[0100] First, the usage amount display process in the case where there is one home appliance 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 20. As shown in Fig. 20, the home appliance 10 reports usage to the server device 40 at predetermined time intervals (S101a to S101c). The usage report is performed by transmitting information including the amount of power consumption of the home appliance 10 at the predetermined time intervals to the server device 40.

[0101] The server device 40 accumulates (stores) the reported power consumption amount in the management DB 411 (S201a to S201c).

[0102] The server device 40 accumulates the power consumption reported and accumulated within a predetermined period, and stores the accumulated power consumption in the management DB 411 (S202). The predetermined period is, for example, one day, and the accumulation is performed at midnight. Another example of the predetermined period is, for example, one month, and the accumulation is performed at the end of the month. The server device 40 calculates the electricity usage fee from the reported power consumption and the unit price stored in the management DB 411. The calculated electricity usage fee includes the electricity usage fee for each predetermined time and the electricity usage fee for each predetermined period. The server device 40 stores the usage information including the reported power consumption and the calculated electricity usage fee in the management DB 411.

[0103] On the other hand, when the application 301 of the terminal device 30 is started (S301), the input processing unit 3012 displays the application home screen 501 on the display device 302 and accepts an operation on the usage amount information screen icon 504.

[0104] When the application 301 accepts an operation on the usage amount information screen icon 504 (S302), it requests the usage amount information from the server device 40 (S303).

[0105] When the server device 40 receives the request for the usage amount information from the application 301 of the terminal device 30, the server device 40 transmits the usage amount information of the home electric appliance 10 stored in the management DB 411 to the application 301 of the terminal device 30 (S205).

[0106] Here, the data of the power consumption and the electricity usage fee included in the usage information is, for example, at least for the past two years for every 30 minutes. The data may be acquired from the server device 40 according to the display mode. For example, in the case of the one-month display mode, the usage information includes data of the electricity usage fee for every 30 minutes for one day. In addition, in the case of the one-month display mode, the power consumption and the electricity usage fee for one month (30th or 31st) of the same month of the previous year are also included. In addition, in the case of the one-year display mode, the usage information includes data of the electricity usage fee for every 30 minutes for one month. The data is not limited to the above. In addition, in the case of the one-year display mode, the power consumption and the electricity usage fee for the same month of the previous year for 12 months are also included. These data may be acquired from the server device 40 when the display mode is switched. In addition, in the case of the one-month display mode, the data of the same month of the previous year does not need to be acquired from the server device 40. This is because it is difficult to see when the data of this year and the data of the previous year are overlapped on a graph.

[0107] When the application 301 receives the usage information from the server device 40, the display processing unit 3013 causes the display device 302 to display the usage information screen 1801 based on the usage information (S304). In this way, when the usage information screen icon 504 is operated, the display processing unit 3013 causes the display device 302 to display the usage information screen 1801 without acquiring the home appliance status information. Once the usage information, etc. is acquired from the server device 40, the usage information, etc. is stored in the storage device 305 of the terminal device 30. Then, within a predetermined period (for example, the same date as the acquisition date), when the application 301 is closed and restarted, the usage information, etc. stored in the storage device 305 of the terminal device 30 may be called and displayed on the display device 302 without acquiring the usage information, etc. from the server device 40 again. This makes it possible to eliminate unnecessary communication.

[0108] Next, the usage amount display process in the case where there are a plurality of home appliances 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 21. As shown in Fig. 21, each home appliance 10 reports usage to the server device 40 at predetermined time intervals (S101A to S101C). The usage report is performed by transmitting information including the amount of power consumption of the home appliance 10 at the predetermined time intervals to the server device 40.

[0109] The server device 40 accumulates (stores) the reported power consumption amount for each home electric appliance 10 in the management DB 411 (S201A to S201C).

[0110] The server device 40 accumulates the power consumption reported and accumulated within a predetermined period, and stores the accumulated power consumption in the management DB 411 for each home appliance 10 (S202A). The predetermined period is, for example, one day, and the accumulation is performed at midnight. Another example of the predetermined period is, for example, one month, and the accumulation is performed at the end of the month. The server device 40 calculates the electricity usage fee from the reported power consumption and the unit price information stored in the management DB 411. The calculated electricity usage fee includes the electricity usage fee for each predetermined time and the electricity usage fee for each predetermined period. The server device 40 stores the usage information including the reported power consumption and the calculated electricity usage fee in the management DB 411 for each home appliance 10.

[0111] On the other hand, when the application 301 of the terminal device 30 is started (S301), the input processing unit 3012 displays the application home screen 501 on the display device 302 and accepts an operation on the usage amount information screen icon 504.

[0112] When the application 301 accepts an operation on the usage information screen icon 504 (S302), it requests the server device 40 for usage information of a specific home appliance 10 (S303). The specific home appliance 10 may be, for example, one home appliance 10 selected in advance, or may be the home appliance 10 most recently selected by the home appliance selection unit 1802.

[0113] When the server device 40 receives the request for usage information from the application 301 of the terminal device 30, the server device 40 transmits the status information of the requested usage information of the home electric appliance 10 stored in the management DB 411 to the application of the terminal device 30 (S205).

[0114] When application 301 receives usage information from server device 40, display processing unit 3013 causes display device 302 to display usage information screen 1801 based on the usage information (S304). In this manner, when usage information screen icon 504 is operated, display processing unit 3013 causes display device 302 to display usage information screen 1801 without acquiring home appliance status information.

[0115] When an operation to change the selection of home appliance 10 is performed on home appliance selection section 1802 of usage information screen 1801, i.e., when an operation to change the display of usage information screen 1801 is received (S305), application 301 requests usage information of the newly selected home appliance 10 from server device 40 (S306).

[0116] When the server device 40 receives the request for usage information from the application 301 of the terminal device 30, the server device 40 transmits the status information of the requested usage information of the home electric appliance 10 stored in the management DB 411 to the application of the terminal device 30 (S206).

[0117] When the application 301 receives the usage information from the server device 40, the display processing unit 3013 causes the display device 302 to display the usage information screen 1801 based on the usage information (S307). As a result, the usage displayed on the usage information screen 1801 is changed to the usage information of the home appliance 10 newly selected in S305. Note that in the above process, an example has been shown in which the usage information is acquired from the server device 40 for each selected home appliance 10, but this is not limiting. For example, the usage information of all home appliances 10 may be acquired from the server device 40 at the beginning of the process, etc. In this case, there is an advantage that a faster response is achieved because communication is not required even when the selection of the home appliance 10 is changed.

[0118] As described above, in this embodiment, the display processing unit 3013 acquires the usage information from the server device 40. Specifically, the display processing unit 3013 acquires the electricity usage fee calculated in the server device 40 based on the power consumption amount and unit price information from the server device 40, and displays the electricity usage fee on the usage information screen 1801. Note that the unit price may be stored in the terminal device 30, and the electricity fee may be calculated from the usage information acquired from the server device 40 and the unit price stored in the terminal device 30.

[0119] <Summary> As described above, the communication processing unit 3011 of the terminal device 30 of this embodiment receives the first information including at least one of the electricity usage fee of one home appliance 10 and the power consumption of one home appliance 10 from the server device 40. The display processing unit 3013 displays at least one of the electricity usage fee of one home appliance 10 and the power consumption of one home appliance 10 on the usage information screens 1801A and 1801B (first screens) displayed on the display device 302 based on the first information. The communication processing unit 3011 receives the second information including at least one of the electricity usage fee of multiple home appliances 10 and the power consumption of multiple home appliances 10 from the server device 40. The display processing unit 3013 displays at least one of the total electricity usage fee of the multiple home appliances 10 and the total power consumption of the multiple home appliances 10 on the usage information screens 1801C and 1801D (second screens) displayed on the display device 302 based on the second information. The display processing unit 3013 displays a breakdown display 1806 on the usage information screens 1801C and 1801D, which is either the total electricity usage charges of the multiple home appliances 10 or the total power consumption of the multiple home appliances 10, and shows the proportion of the multiple home appliances 10 to at least one (as an example, one) of the totals displayed on the usage information screens 1801C and 1801D.

[0120] According to such a configuration, the usage information screen 1801D displays a breakdown display 1806 indicating the ratio of the multiple home appliances 10 to at least one of the totals displayed on the usage information screen 1801D among the total electricity usage charges of the multiple home appliances 10 and the total power consumption of the multiple home appliances 10, so that when the total electricity usage charges or power consumption of the multiple home appliances 10 is displayed, the breakdown of the total is easy to understand. In the case of a single home appliance 10, the breakdown display 1806 is not displayed, so that the screen is easy to see and the display area can be made smaller.

[0121] Moreover, the breakdown display 1806 is a pie chart 2001 .

[0122] With this configuration, the breakdown display 1806 is easy to see.

[0123] Furthermore, the device registration processing unit 3015 receives and registers the name of the home appliance 10. The display processing unit 3013 displays the name of the registered home appliance 10 in the breakdown display 1806 of the usage amount information screen 1801D.

[0124] According to this configuration, the registered name is displayed in the breakdown display 1806, making the breakdown display 1806 even easier to understand.

[0125] In addition, in the pie chart 2001, the plurality of home electric appliances 10 are arranged in descending order of ratio.

[0126] According to such a configuration, it is easy to identify home appliances 10 with a high ratio, that is, home appliances 10 with high electricity usage charges or home appliances 10 with high power consumption.

[0127] The first information and the second information are information stored in the server device 40.

[0128] According to this configuration, the computer 310 of the terminal device 30 only needs to communicate with the server device 40 to receive the second information, and does not need to communicate with the home appliance 10.

[0129] Furthermore, the display processing unit 3013 or the device selection processing unit 3016 causes the display device 302 to display the home appliance selection unit 1802 (selection unit 1802a) that accepts an operation to select either the usage information screen 1801C or the usage information screen 1801D. When the display processing unit 3013 accepts an operation to select the usage information screen 1801C by the home appliance selection unit 1802, the display processing unit 3013 displays at least one of the electricity usage charge of one home appliance 10 and the power consumption of one home appliance 10 on the usage information screen 1801C displayed on the display device 302 based on the first information. When the display processing unit 3013 accepts an operation to select the usage information screen 1801D by the home appliance selection unit 1802, the display processing unit 3013 displays at least one of the total electricity usage charge of the plurality of home appliances 10 and the total power consumption of the plurality of home appliances 10 on the display device 302 based on the second information. If only one home electric device 10 is registered, the device selection processing unit 3016 does not display an option for selecting the usage amount information screen 1801D in the home electric device selection unit.

[0130] According to such a configuration, when only one home electric appliance 10 is registered, the option to select the usage amount information screen 1801D is not displayed, which is easy for the user to understand.

[0131] Next, a modified example will be described.

[0132] Fig. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a graph display section displaying a breakdown according to a first modified example of an embodiment. As shown in Fig. 22, a pie chart 2001 has different colors for each home electric appliance 10. In Fig. 22, the different colors are expressed by different hatching. In this embodiment, the home electric appliances 10 are, for example, an air conditioner in a living room, an air conditioner in a dining room, an air conditioner in a work room, a refrigerator, a rice cooker, and an oven range.

[0133] According to this configuration, the home appliances 10 are each colored differently in the pie chart 2001, making the breakdown display 1806 even easier to understand.

[0134] In the second modified example, when the usage information screen icon 504 is operated, the application 301 acquires the power consumption of the home appliance 10 from the server device 40, calculates the electricity usage charge of the home appliance 10 based on the acquired power consumption and unit price information, and displays the calculated electricity usage charge on the usage information screen 1801. In this case, the unit price information may be transmitted from the server device 40 to the terminal device 30 together with the power consumption, without storing the unit price information in the terminal device 30.

[0135] According to this configuration, the server device 40 does not need to calculate the electricity usage fee, so the processing load on the server device 40 can be reduced.

[0136] In the third variant, when the application 301 is launched, the display processing unit 3013 acquires the power consumption amount and unit price information from the server device 40, and calculates the electricity usage charge for the home appliance 10 based on the power consumption amount and unit price information acquired when the usage information screen icon 504 is operated, and displays the calculated electricity usage charge on the usage information screen 1801.

[0137] In the above embodiment and modified example, when both the total electricity usage fee and the total power consumption are displayed, the breakdown display 1806 of the total electricity usage fee is displayed, and the breakdown display of the total power consumption is not displayed. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the breakdown display 1806 of the total electricity usage fee may not be displayed, and the breakdown display of the total power consumption may be displayed. Furthermore, both the breakdown display 1806 of the total electricity usage fee and the breakdown display of the total power consumption may be displayed. Furthermore, only the total electricity usage fee may be displayed among the total electricity usage fee and the total power consumption, and only the breakdown display of the total power consumption may be displayed among the breakdown display 1806 of the total electricity usage fee and the breakdown display of the total power consumption. Furthermore, only the total power consumption may be displayed among the total electricity usage fee and the total power consumption, and only the breakdown display 1806 of the total electricity usage fee may be displayed among the breakdown display 1806 of the total electricity usage fee and the breakdown display of the total power consumption.

[0138] In the above embodiment and modified example, the server device 40 is configured as a single device, but this is not limited thereto. For example, the functional units (communication unit 401, control unit 402, storage unit 410) of the server device 40 or the functions of each unit may be distributed among a plurality of devices. Even in this case, a user who uses the application 301 of the terminal device 30 can enjoy all the effects described in the above embodiment and modified example.

[0139] Furthermore, the server device 40 may be installed in Japan, or may be configured to be installed overseas outside Japan. Furthermore, when the server device 40 is configured to be distributed across multiple devices, it may be configured to be installed overseas as a device having some of the functional units (communication unit 401, control unit 402, storage unit 410) or some of the functions of each unit. Even in these cases, a user who uses the application 301 of the terminal device 30 can enjoy all of the effects described in the above embodiment and modified examples.

[0140] The application 301 executed by the terminal device 30 in the above embodiment and modified examples is provided by being stored in a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and downloaded via the network. The application 301 executed by the terminal device 30 in the above embodiment and modified examples may be configured to be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

[0141] The application 301 executed on the terminal device 30 in the above embodiment and modified examples may be configured to be provided by being recorded in an installable or executable format on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), a USB memory, or an SD card.

[0142] Furthermore, the application 301 executed by the terminal device 30 in the above embodiment and modified example may be provided by being pre-installed in a ROM or the like.

[0143] The server device 40 in the above embodiment and modified examples includes a control device such as a CPU, a storage device such as a ROM and a RAM, an external storage device such as a HDD or a CD drive, a display device such as a display device, and input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse, and has a hardware configuration that utilizes a normal computer.

[0144] The home appliance management program executed by server device 40 in the above embodiment and modified example is provided in the form of a file in an installable or executable format recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, or a digital versatile disk (DVD).

[0145] The home appliance management program executed by server device 40 of the above embodiment and modification may be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network. The home appliance management program executed by server device 40 of the above embodiment and modification may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

[0146] The home electric appliance management program executed by server device 40 in the above embodiment and modified example may be provided by being pre-installed in ROM or the like.

[0147] The home appliance management program executed by server device 40 in the above embodiment and modified example has a modular structure including each of the above-mentioned units (communication unit 401, control unit 402), and in terms of actual hardware, a CPU (processor) reads out and executes the home appliance management program from the above-mentioned storage medium, whereby each of the above-mentioned units is loaded onto a main memory device and communication unit 401 and control unit 402 are generated on the main memory device.

[0148] (Additional Note) An object of the present invention is to provide an application program, a terminal device, a home appliance management system, and a home appliance management method that, when displaying the total electricity charges and power consumption amounts of a plurality of home appliances, make it easy to understand the breakdown of the total.

[0149] (1) An application program to be executed by a computer of a terminal device that is connected to a home appliance via a network and has a display device, A first receiving step of receiving first information including at least one of an electricity usage fee of one of the home appliances and an amount of power consumption of the one of the home appliances; a first screen display step of displaying at least one of the electricity usage fee of the one of the home appliances and the power consumption amount of the one of the home appliances on a first screen displayed on the display device based on the first information; A second receiving step of receiving second information including at least one of the electricity usage charges of the plurality of the home appliances and the power consumption amounts of the plurality of the home appliances; a second screen display step of displaying at least one of the total electricity charges of the plurality of the home appliances and the total power consumption of the plurality of the home appliances on a second screen displayed on the display device based on the second information; a selection step of displaying a selection operation unit capable of switching between the first screen and the second screen on the display device and accepting an operation of displaying either the first screen or the second screen by the selection operation unit; causing the computer to execute The second screen display step displays, on the second screen, a breakdown display showing a ratio of the plurality of the home appliances to at least one of the totals of the electricity usage charges of the plurality of the home appliances and the total of the energy consumption amounts of the plurality of the home appliances displayed on the second screen; The first screen display step does not display the detail display on the first screen. Application program. (2) The second screen display step displays the detailed display in a pie chart and displays the total of the detailed display in a number inside the pie chart. The application program according to (1) above. (3) A registration step of receiving and registering a name of the home appliance is further performed by the computer; The second screen display step displays the name of the registered home electric appliance in the breakdown display on the second screen. The application program according to (2) above. (4) The pie chart has a different color for each of the home appliances. The application program according to (2) above. (5) The pie chart arranges the plurality of home appliances in descending order of the ratio. The application program according to (2) above. (6) The first information and the second information are information stored in a server device connected to the home appliance via a network. The application program according to (1) above. (7) A registration step of registering the home appliance is further performed by the computer; In the selection step, when only the one home electric appliance is registered, an option for selecting the second screen is not displayed on the selection operation unit. The application program according to (1) above. (8) A terminal device connected to a home appliance via a network and equipped with a display device, A receiving unit that receives first information including at least one of an electricity usage charge of one of the home appliances and an amount of power consumption of the one of the home appliances, and second information including at least one of the electricity usage charge of a plurality of the home appliances and the amount of power consumption of the plurality of the home appliances; a display processing unit that causes the display device to display a first screen that displays at least one of the electricity usage charge of the one of the home appliances and the power consumption of the one of the home appliances based on the first information, and a second screen that displays at least one of the total of the electricity usage charge of the multiple home appliances and the total of the power consumption of the multiple home appliances based on the second information; a selection processing unit that displays a selection operation unit capable of switching between the first screen and the second screen on the display device and accepts an operation to display either the first screen or the second screen via the selection operation unit; Equipped with the display processing unit displays, on the second screen, a breakdown display showing a ratio of the plurality of the home appliances to at least one of the total of the electricity usage charges of the plurality of the home appliances and the total of the energy consumption amounts of the plurality of the home appliances to be displayed on the second screen, and does not display the breakdown display on the first screen; Terminal device. (9) A home appliance management system including: an application program to be executed by a computer of a terminal device that is connected to the home appliances via a network and has a display device, The application program A first receiving step of receiving first information including at least one of an electricity usage fee of one of the home appliances and an amount of power consumption of the one of the home appliances; a first screen display step of displaying at least one of the electricity usage fee of the one of the home appliances and the power consumption amount of the one of the home appliances on a first screen displayed on the display device based on the first information; A second receiving step of receiving second information including at least one of the electricity usage charges of the plurality of the home appliances and the power consumption amounts of the plurality of the home appliances; a second screen display step of displaying at least one of the total electricity charges of the plurality of the home appliances and the total power consumption of the plurality of the home appliances on a second screen displayed on the display device based on the second information; a selection step of displaying a selection operation unit capable of switching between the first screen and the second screen on the display device and accepting an operation of displaying either the first screen or the second screen by the selection operation unit; causing the computer to execute The second screen display step displays, on the second screen, a breakdown display showing a ratio of the plurality of the home appliances to at least one of the totals of the electricity usage charges of the plurality of the home appliances and the total of the energy consumption amounts of the plurality of the home appliances displayed on the second screen; The first screen display step does not display the detail display on the first screen. Home appliance management system. (10) A home appliance management method executed by a home appliance management system including an application program to be executed by a computer of a terminal device connected to the home appliance via a network and equipped with a display device, A first receiving step of receiving first information including at least one of an electricity usage fee of one of the home appliances and an amount of power consumption of the one of the home appliances; a first screen display step of displaying at least one of the electricity usage fee of the one of the home appliances and the power consumption amount of the one of the home appliances on a first screen displayed on the display device based on the first information; A second receiving step of receiving second information including at least one of the electricity usage charges of the plurality of the home appliances and the power consumption amounts of the plurality of the home appliances; a second screen display step of displaying at least one of the total electricity charges of the plurality of the home appliances and the total power consumption of the plurality of the home appliances on a second screen displayed on the display device based on the second information; a selection step of displaying a selection operation unit capable of switching between the first screen and the second screen on the display device and accepting an operation of displaying either the first screen or the second screen by the selection operation unit; Including, The second screen display step displays, on the second screen, a breakdown display showing a ratio of the plurality of the home appliances to at least one of the totals of the electricity usage charges of the plurality of the home appliances and the total of the energy consumption amounts of the plurality of the home appliances displayed on the second screen; The first screen display step does not display the detail display on the first screen. How to manage home appliances.

[0150] Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0151] 1. Home appliance management system 10 Home appliances 30 Terminal Equipment 40 Server device 301 Application 302 Display device 310 Computer 501 App home screen (basic screen) 1701 Operation screen 1801 Usage information screen 1802 Home appliance selection unit (selection operation unit) 1806 Breakdown 1904 Display section 1905 Graph display section 1907a numbers 2001 Pie Chart 3011 Communication processing unit 3012 Input processing section 3013 Display processing unit 3014 Control section 3015 Device registration processing unit 3016 Device selection processing unit (selection processing unit) 3017 Price setting processing unit

Claims

1. An application program to be executed by a computer of a terminal device connected to a home appliance via a network and equipped with a display device, a screen display step of displaying at least one of the electricity usage charge of one of the home appliances and the power consumption of the one of the home appliances on a first screen displayed on the display device, or displaying at least one of the total of the electricity usage charges of a plurality of the home appliances and the total of the power consumption of the plurality of the home appliances on a second screen displayed on the display device; a selection step of displaying a selection operation unit capable of switching between the first screen and the second screen on the display device and accepting an operation of displaying either the first screen or the second screen via the selection operation unit; causing the computer to execute The screen display step displays the first screen when the selection operation unit does not accept the operation. Application program.

2. The selection step displays the selection operation unit on the first screen or the second screen.

2. The application program according to claim 1.

3. A registration step of receiving and registering a name of the home appliance is further performed by the computer; and when the first screen is displayed on the display device, the selection step displays a name of the registered home electric appliance on the selection operation unit.

3. The application program according to claim 2.

4. When the selection operation unit receives an operation to display the second screen, the selection operation unit further causes the computer to execute a receiving step of receiving usage information including at least one of the electricity usage charges of the plurality of the home appliances and the power consumption of the plurality of the home appliances.

2. The application program according to claim 1.

5. A terminal device connected to a home appliance via a network and equipped with a display device, a display processing unit that displays at least one of an electricity usage charge of one of the home appliances and an amount of power consumption of the one of the home appliances on a first screen displayed on the display device, or displays at least one of a total of the electricity usage charges of a plurality of the home appliances and a total of the amounts of power consumption of the plurality of the home appliances on a second screen displayed on the display device; a selection processing unit that displays a selection operation unit capable of switching between the first screen and the second screen on the display device and accepts an operation to display either the first screen or the second screen via the selection operation unit; Equipped with the display processing unit displays the first screen when the selection operation unit does not accept the operation. Terminal device.

6. A home appliance management system including: an application program to be executed by a computer of a terminal device that is connected to the home appliances via a network and has a display device, The application program a screen display step of displaying at least one of the electricity usage charge of one of the home appliances and the power consumption of the one of the home appliances on a first screen displayed on the display device, or displaying at least one of the total of the electricity usage charges of a plurality of the home appliances and the total of the power consumption of the plurality of the home appliances on a second screen displayed on the display device; a selection step of displaying a selection operation unit capable of switching between the first screen and the second screen on the display device and accepting an operation of displaying either the first screen or the second screen via the selection operation unit; causing the computer to execute The screen display step displays the first screen when the selection operation unit does not accept the operation. Home appliance management system.

7. A home appliance management method executed by a home appliance management system including an application program to be executed by a computer of a terminal device connected to the home appliance via a network and equipped with a display device, a screen display step of displaying at least one of the electricity usage charge of one of the home appliances and the power consumption of the one of the home appliances on a first screen displayed on the display device, or displaying at least one of the total of the electricity usage charges of a plurality of the home appliances and the total of the power consumption of the plurality of the home appliances on a second screen displayed on the display device; a selection step of displaying a selection operation unit capable of switching between the first screen and the second screen on the display device and accepting an operation of displaying either the first screen or the second screen via the selection operation unit; Including, The screen display step displays the first screen when the selection operation unit does not accept the operation. How to manage home appliances.

Images