Home electric appliance diagnostic system and home electric appliance diagnostic program

Abstract

To understand a situation of a home electric appliance by more accurately determining a factor causing noise generated from the home electric appliance.SOLUTION: The present invention is a home electric appliance diagnostic system having a user terminal 1. The home electric appliance diagnostic system comprises: a noise collecting part 11 that is provided on the user terminal 1 and collects noise generated from a home electric appliance 2; a log data collection part 16 to collect log data including an operation mode of the home electric appliance 2; a noise data analyzing part 34 to analyze noise data indicating the noise collected and estimate a situation of the home electric appliance 2 using the operation mode; a communication part 10 to notify the user terminal 1 of a message according to the situation of the home electric appliance 2; and a display part 18 to display the notified message. The home electric appliance diagnostic system realizes diagnosis of the home electric appliance 2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for supporting the diagnosis of so-called home appliances. [Background technology]

[0002] Nowadays, home appliances are widely used by general consumers. When using home appliances, there is a possibility that malfunctions may occur. Patent Document 1 proposes a method for dealing with such malfunctions.

[0003] Patent document 1 discloses a clothing processing device which includes a water tub 3, a rotating tub 5 provided in the water tub 3, a motor 7 for rotating the rotating tub 5, detection units 22-24 which detect physical quantities indicating the operating state of components related to the operation of the appliance, a communication unit 29 which communicates with a server 32, and a control unit 18 which determines whether or not there are signs of an error occurring in the components based on the physical quantities detected by the detection units 22-24, and, if it is determined that there are signs, causes the communication unit 29 to transmit sign information indicating the content of the signs to the server 32. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-141154 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] When home appliances are in operation, they produce a variety of sounds. Some of these sounds can be considered abnormal noises and may lead to malfunctions. Users can determine whether a sound is abnormal by listening to it, so they can be used to predict malfunctions. Some sounds are normal operating sounds, and it is difficult for users to distinguish between all of these sounds. For this reason, explanations about the sounds that are produced are provided in the instruction manuals and websites of home appliances.

[0006] In addition, the sounds made by home appliances vary depending on the conditions, and onomatopoeia can be difficult to understand. For this reason, home appliance users often become anxious about the sounds made by home appliances. For example, they may mistake a normal sound for a problem with the home appliance.

[0007] In Patent Document 1, the current value, the number of rotations, etc. are used to determine the signs of a malfunction, and therefore the user's sense of anxiety about the generated sound and accurate judgment of the malfunction are not taken into consideration. Therefore, the present invention aims to more accurately determine the cause of the generated sound in home appliances. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, a sound generated by a home appliance picked up by a user terminal is analyzed, and the status of the home appliance including the cause of the generated sound is estimated.

[0009] More specifically, the home appliance diagnosis system has a user terminal, and includes a sound collection unit provided in the user terminal for collecting sounds generated by the home appliance, a sound data analysis unit for analyzing sound data indicating the collected sounds to estimate the status of the home appliance, and an output unit for executing output according to the status of the home appliance.

[0010] The present invention also includes each device constituting the home appliance diagnostic system and a subcombination constituted by a part of the device. The present invention also includes a home appliance diagnostic program for causing each device to function as a computer and a storage medium storing the program. The present invention also includes a home appliance diagnostic method using the program. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, it is possible to more accurately determine the cause of sound generated by a home appliance and to grasp the status of the home appliance. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1]1 is a system configuration diagram of a home appliance diagnosis system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of a user terminal 1 in one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 2 is a functional block diagram of a home appliance 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 4] 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a home appliance diagnosis device 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing master information 371 used in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing log data 372 used in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] 1 is a flowchart showing a process flow in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] 1 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in the first embodiment. [Figure 9] 11 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In this embodiment, a washing machine or the like is used as a home appliance, and sounds generated by these various home appliances are analyzed. The sounds include normal sounds such as abnormal sounds and operating sounds.

[0014] First, Fig. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a home appliance diagnostic system in this embodiment. In Fig. 1, a home appliance support system including a user terminal 1, which is an example of an information processing device (computer), and a home appliance diagnostic device 3 analyzes sounds generated by a home appliance 2 and estimates the status of the home appliance 2. In this way, diagnosis of the home appliance 2 is realized.

[0015] For this purpose, at least the user terminal 1 and the home appliance diagnostic device 3 are connected to each other. It is also desirable to connect these to the home appliances 2. For this purpose, the home appliances 2 can be realized as so-called IoT home appliances having a communication function. The user terminal 1, the home appliance diagnostic device 3, and the home appliances 2 may be connected via a router 4 or a network 5, or may be directly connected using a short-range communication function. The user terminal 1 and the home appliance diagnostic device 3 cooperate to determine the status of the multiple home appliances 2. This determination result can be displayed on the user terminal 1 and / or the home appliances 2.

[0016] Each device will be described below. First, the user terminal 1 is an information processing device used by a user of the home appliance 2. Therefore, the user terminal 1 can be realized by various computers such as a smartphone, a tablet, a mobile phone, or a PC. As shown in FIG. 1, the user terminal 1 has a communication unit 10, a sound collection unit 11, an operation mode identification unit 12, a sound data search unit 13, a sound data analysis unit 14, an operation command unit 15, a log data collection unit 16, an input unit 17, a display unit 18, and a memory unit 19.

[0017] First, the communication unit 10 has a function of communication via the router 4 and the network 5 and a function of short-range wireless communication. The sound collection unit 11 is realized by a microphone or the like, and collects sounds generated by the home appliances 2. The operation mode identification unit 12 uses log data from the home appliances 2 to identify the operation mode of the home appliances 2 when the generated sounds were collected.

[0018] Furthermore, the sound data search unit 13 searches the storage unit 19 for master sound data corresponding to the sound data of the collected generated sound. Furthermore, the sound data analysis unit 14 analyzes the sound data of the generated sound to estimate the status of the corresponding home appliance 2. For this purpose, the sound data analysis unit 14 can analyze the sound data according to the master sound data searched by the sound data search unit 13, for example.

[0019] Here, the status of the home appliance 2 includes the cause of the generated sound. The status of the home appliance 2 may also include a determination result as to whether the generated sound is a normal sound that does not require any particular measures or an abnormal sound that requires some measures. Furthermore, the sound data analysis unit 14 may output measures to be taken for the home appliance 2 when an abnormal sound occurs as an analysis result. Furthermore, if the master sound data is not found, the sound data analysis unit 14 may output a proposal to stop the corresponding home appliance 2 as an analysis result.

[0020] Furthermore, the operation command unit 15 creates an operation command for controlling the operation of the home appliance 2 according to the analysis result of the sound data analysis unit 14 and the user's operation on the input unit 17. For example, when the analysis result of the sound data analysis unit 14 is a proposal to stop the operation of the home appliance 2, the operation command unit 15 creates a stop command to stop the operation of the home appliance 2.

[0021] Furthermore, the log data collector 16 collects log data indicating the operating status of the home appliance 2. The log data includes the operation mode of the home appliance 2, and preferably includes the date and time of the operation.

[0022] Furthermore, the input unit 17 accepts various operations from the user. Furthermore, the display unit 18 displays the analysis results of the sound data analysis unit 14. The user can check the analysis results, develop a sense of security regarding the generated sound, and take necessary measures. The input unit 17 and the display unit 18 may be integrated into one unit, such as a touch panel.

[0023] Furthermore, the storage unit 19 can store various types of information, and stores master information 191, log data 192, and sound data 193. These pieces of information will be described later.

[0024] The operation mode identification unit 12, the sound data search unit 13, the sound data analysis unit 14, the operation command unit 15 and the log data collection unit 16 are used in the embodiment 1 described below, and are optional configurations, so they can be omitted.

[0025] Next, an implementation example of the user terminal 1 will be described. As described above, the user terminal 1 can be realized by various computers such as a smartphone, a tablet, a mobile phone, or a PC. Fig. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the user terminal 1 in this embodiment. In Fig. 2, the user terminal 1 has a camera 101, a microphone 102, a touch panel 103, a processing device 104, a communication device 105, and a storage device 106, which are connected to each other via a communication path.

[0026] First, camera 101 is a camera that captures moving images and still images. Microphone 102 corresponds to sound collection unit 11 in Fig. 1 and collects sounds generated by home appliance 2. In this embodiment, the moving images captured by camera 101 and the sounds collected by microphone 102 may be treated as sound data together, or sound data extracted from moving image data such as MP4 may be treated.

[0027] 1, and receives operations from the user and displays various information such as the analysis results of the sound data analysis unit 14. Note that the touch panel 103 may be configured as an input device and an output device.

[0028] The processing device 104 can be realized by a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and executes calculations according to a home appliance diagnosis program 107 stored in a storage device 106, which will be described later.

[0029] The home appliance diagnostic program 107 is composed of an operation mode identification module 108, a sound data search module 109, a sound data analysis module 110, an operation command module 111, and a log data collection module 112, each of which has its own function. Each of these modules may be realized as an individual program or a partial combination. The home appliance diagnostic program 107 may be realized as one function of an integrated management application that manages multiple home appliances 2 in an integrated manner.

[0030] The configuration of the user terminal 1 shown in FIG. 1, which executes the same functions as each module, is as follows. Driving mode identification unit 12: Driving mode identification module 108 Sound data search unit 13: Sound data search module 109 Sound data analysis unit 14: Sound data analysis module 110 Operation command unit 15: Operation command module 111 Log data collection unit 16: Log data collection module 112 Therefore, the processing device 104 executes the processes of the operation mode identification unit 12, the sound data search unit 13, the sound data analysis unit 14, the operation command unit 15, and the log data collection unit 16 in accordance with the home appliance diagnosis program 107. The home appliance diagnosis program 107 can be stored in the storage device 106 (to be described later) or other storage media.

[0031] 1, and has a function of communication via the router 4 and the network 5 and a short-distance wireless communication function. The storage device 106 corresponds to the storage device 19 in FIG. 1, and stores the above-mentioned home appliance diagnostic program 107, master information 191, log data 192, and sound data 193. For this reason, the storage device 106 may be realized by a main storage device such as a memory and a secondary storage device (storage medium) that is a so-called storage. The secondary storage device may be realized by an external HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), memory card, or the like.

[0032] Next, returning to FIG. 1, the home appliance 2 will be described. The home appliance 2 is used by a user in a house or the like for housework. The home appliance 2 generates various sounds such as operating sounds. In FIG. 1, a drum-type washing machine 21, a vertical washing machine 22, a microwave oven 23, and a refrigerator 24 are shown as the home appliances 2, but the home appliances 2 are not limited to these. Here, the information processing configuration of each of these home appliances 2 will be described. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the home appliance 2 in this embodiment. Since each home appliance 2 executes common information processing, the functions of the home appliances 2 will be described collectively.

[0033] The home appliance 2 includes a control unit 201, a communication unit 204, a display operation unit 205, an operation unit 206, and a detection unit 207. These are connected to each other via a communication path. Each component will be described below.

[0034] First, the control unit 201 creates control signals for implementing the functions of each home appliance 2, such as cooking and air conditioning, to control the operation of the home appliance 2, and executes other information processing. For this purpose, the control unit 201 includes a control signal creation unit 202 and a log data collection unit 203.

[0035] The control signal creation unit 202 creates a control signal for executing a function such as cooking in accordance with an operation from a user to the display operation unit 205 or a control command from the user terminal 1. Furthermore, the log data collection unit 203 collects log data including the operation status of the home appliance 2 from the operation unit 206, the detection unit 207, etc. Furthermore, in this embodiment, it is desirable to collect the operation mode of the home appliance 2 as log data in response to the control signal from the control signal creation unit 202. Furthermore, a microphone may be used as the detection unit 207, and the log data collection unit 203 may collect sound data indicating sounds generated by the home appliance 2.

[0036] The control unit 201 can be realized by an MPU (Micro-Processing Unit). Therefore, each of the control unit 201, the control signal generating unit 202, and the log data collecting unit 203 can be realized by dedicated hardware or software such as a program.

[0037] The communication unit 204 also has a function of communication and short-range wireless communication via the router 4 and the network 5. The communication unit 204 notifies the user terminal 1 and the home appliance diagnostic device 3 of log data and receives operation commands from the user terminal 1 and the home appliance diagnostic device 3.

[0038] Furthermore, the display operation unit 205 receives operations for the home appliance 2 from the user and outputs the analysis results of the sound data. The operation unit 206 operates according to the control signal created by the control signal creation unit 202. Furthermore, the detection unit 207 measures the status of the home appliance 2, such as the operation time (date and time) of the operation unit 206. For this reason, it is desirable to prepare a plurality of detection units 207 for each measurement target. As the detection unit 207, for example, a microphone that picks up the sound generated by the home appliance 2 or a device that acquires the operation mode of the operation unit 206 can be used. This concludes the description of the home appliance 2. Next, the home appliance diagnosis device 3 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

[0039] In FIG. 1, the home appliance diagnostic device 3 includes a communication unit 31, an operation mode identification unit 32, a sound data search unit 33, a sound data analysis unit 34, an operation command unit 35, a log data collection unit 36, and a storage unit 37.

[0040] First, the communication unit 31 connects to the home appliance 2 and the user terminal 1 via the network 5. The operation mode identification unit 32, the sound data search unit 33, the sound data analysis unit 34, the operation command unit 35, and the log data collection unit 36 ​​have the same functions as the operation mode identification unit 12, the sound data search unit 13, the sound data analysis unit 14, the operation command unit 15, and the log data collection unit 16, respectively. Therefore, the description of these functions will also be omitted. Furthermore, at least one of the operation mode identification unit 32 to the log data collection unit 36 ​​and the operation mode identification unit 12 to the log data collection unit 16 may be provided, and the other may be omitted.

[0041] Furthermore, the storage unit 37 stores master information 371, log data 372, and sound data 373. Each of these pieces of information will be described later together with the master information 191, the log data 192, and the sound data 193.

[0042] Next, a hardware configuration will be described as an implementation example for executing the functions of the home appliance diagnostic device 3. The home appliance diagnostic device 3 can be realized by a computer such as a server or a cloud system. Fig. 4 is a hardware configuration diagram of the home appliance diagnostic device 3 in this embodiment. In Fig. 4, the home appliance diagnostic device 3 has a processing device 301, a communication device 302, a memory 303, and a secondary storage device 304, which are connected to each other via a communication path.

[0043] First, the processing device 301 can be realized by a processor such as a CPU, and executes calculations according to a home appliance diagnosis program 305 stored in a sub-storage device 304 described later. Also, the communication device 302 corresponds to the communication unit 31 in FIG. 1, connects to the network 5, and communicates with other devices such as the user terminal 1 and the home appliance 2.

[0044] 1. In the memory 303, information used for the home appliance diagnostic program 305 stored in the sub-storage device 304 and the processing by the processing device 301 is expanded. In addition, the sub-storage device 304 can be realized by a so-called storage. The sub-storage device 304 stores the home appliance diagnostic program 305, master information 371, log data 372, and sound data 373. In addition, the sub-storage device 304 may be realized by various storage media such as an external HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), or memory card, or may be realized by a device separate from the home appliance diagnostic device 3, such as a file server.

[0045] Here, the home appliance diagnosis program 305 is composed of an operation mode identification module 306, a sound data search module 307, a sound data analysis module 308, an operation command module 309, and a log data collection module 310, for each function. Each of these modules may be realized as an individual program or a partial combination.

[0046] Here, the configuration of the home appliance diagnosis device 3 shown in FIG. 1, which executes the same functions as each module, is as follows. Driving mode identification unit 32: Driving mode identification module 306 Sound data search unit 33: Sound data search module 307 Sound data analysis unit 34: Sound data analysis module 308 Operation command unit 35: Operation command module 309 Log data collection unit 36: Log data collection module 310 Therefore, the processing device 301 executes the processes of the operation mode identification unit 32, the sound data search unit 33, the sound data analysis unit 34, the operation command unit 35, and the log data collection unit 36 ​​in accordance with the home appliance diagnosis program 305. Moreover, the home appliance diagnosis program 305 can execute the same processes as the home appliance diagnosis program 107 of the user terminal 1. The home appliance diagnosis program 305 can be stored in the secondary storage device 304 or other storage media.

[0047] The home appliance diagnosis device 3 is used by manufacturers and distributors of the home appliances 2, and these distributors manage users as members and can also be realized as a home appliance management device that manages each home appliance 2. In this case, the home appliance management device stores user management information about the user and home appliance management information about the home appliance 2.

[0048] The home appliance diagnosis device 3 may also be connected to a maintenance staff terminal used by a maintenance staff member who maintains the home appliance 2 or the manager of the maintenance staff member. In this case, if the analysis result of the sound data satisfies a predetermined condition, a maintenance request to a maintenance staff member or a request to confirm the necessity of maintenance is sent to the maintenance staff member. As a result, a maintenance staff member can be dispatched as necessary.

[0049] This concludes the explanation of the home appliance diagnostic device 3, and we will now explain the other devices in Figure 1. Also, the router 4 is a device that mediates communications between the user terminal 1 and the home appliances 2, but may be omitted. The network 5 connects the above-mentioned devices, and can be realized by a wide area network such as the Internet or a combination of a wide area network and a local network. This concludes the explanation of the devices in this embodiment.

[0050] Next, information used in the present embodiment will be described. Here, master information 371, log data 372, and sound data 373 will be described together with master information 191, log data 192, and sound data 193.

[0051] 5 is a diagram showing master information 371 used in this embodiment. Master information 371 is information related to sounds of home appliances 2. Therefore, master information 371 has items of operation mode, master sound data, and message for each home appliance. Each item will be described below.

[0052] First, the home appliance indicates the type of the home appliance, for example, the model. Here, the range of home appliances is the home appliances managed by the home appliance diagnosis device 3, for example, the home appliances manufactured by the relevant manufacturer. The operation mode indicates the operation content (the content of operation) of the relevant home appliance. In this embodiment, the operation course and the operations included therein are used as the operation mode. An operation course is composed of multiple operations, and can be the washing course of a washing machine or the menu (auto course) of a microwave oven. An operation indicates the execution of one function of the home appliance. For example, in a drum-type washing machine, the operation course can be a "standard course," and the operations that compose this can be "water supply," "washing," "spinning," etc.

[0053] However, the operation mode is not limited to the operation course and the operation. For example, a certain function may be set as the operation mode, such as "automatic cleaning" in FIG. 5. In this way, the operation mode is not limited to the format of FIG. 5 as long as it can indicate the operation content of the home appliance. For example, the operation course may be omitted and created for each operation. The temperature setting of the refrigerator 24 can also be treated as an operation mode. Furthermore, in the example of FIG. 5, one record (row) is configured for each operation or operation course, but multiple records (items after the master sound data) may be provided for one operation or operation course. Furthermore, energy saving operation, night operation, etc., which are automatically switched regardless of the user, can be treated as operation modes.

[0054] The master sound data is sound data of the sounds generated by the home appliance when it is operating in the corresponding operation mode. This sound data may be an audio file or may be sound features such as frequency components. The sounds that are the subject of the master sound data may be sounds that are described in instruction manuals or on websites, sounds that are frequently asked about, etc.

[0055] Additionally, normal sound / abnormal sound indicates whether the generated sound indicated by the corresponding master sound data is a normal sound or an abnormal sound. Here, a normal sound indicates a generated sound for which no action needs to be taken for the corresponding home appliance. In other words, it means that even if the corresponding generated sound occurs, it is possible to remain silent. Additionally, an abnormal sound indicates a generated sound for which some action is required for the corresponding home appliance. For example, an abnormal sound generated when the amount of water being supplied to the washing machine is too much requires that the water faucet be turned down.

[0056] Furthermore, the message indicates the content to be output to the user when the corresponding sound is generated. In this embodiment, the cause of the generated sound and the necessary measures are indicated. For example, for a normal sound generated while a drum-type washing machine is filling with water, the cause is indicated as "This is a sound that is generated while filling with water and is normal." Furthermore, for the same abnormal sound, the measures indicated are "Turn the water faucet to adjust the amount of water being supplied and check if the sound becomes quieter."

[0057] A normal sound message includes at least the cause of occurrence, and an abnormal sound message includes at least a remedy. However, it is preferable that an abnormal sound message includes both the cause of occurrence and a remedy. Note that the message is an example of the output contents according to the analysis results of the generated sound. The output contents also include operation commands, which will be described later when explaining the processing flow.

[0058] Furthermore, the master information 191 has the same items as the master information 371. However, since the master information 191 is used by the user terminal 1, it is desirable that the information is limited to the home appliances 2 owned by the user of the user terminal 1. In other words, the home appliance items are limited to those indicated by the home appliances 2. Furthermore, the master sound data may be information that specifies the link destination of a server on a network, such as the home appliance diagnostic device 3. As a result, the resources of the user terminal 1 can be used effectively.

[0059] Next, Fig. 6 is a diagram showing log data 372 used in this embodiment. However, the log data 372 is used in the embodiments described later and can be omitted. The log data 372 indicates the operation status of the home appliance 2, and is collected by the log data collection unit 203 or the log data collection unit 36. Therefore, the log data 372 has items such as the home appliance, date and time, and operation status.

[0060] First, a home appliance is information that identifies an individual home appliance. Here, the scope of home appliances is home appliances managed by the home appliance diagnosis device 3, for example, home appliances manufactured by the relevant manufacturer. Therefore, home appliances used by multiple users are the target. Furthermore, the date and time indicates the date and time when the log data was collected or the relevant operating status occurred. The operating status indicates the operating status of the relevant home appliance 2 at the relevant date and time, and includes at least the operation mode that was operated.

[0061] As described above, the operation mode can be defined by the operation course and the operations that constitute the operation course. Therefore, the operation status of the log data 372 can be recorded hierarchically. For example, in Fig. 6, as the operation status of drum type washing machine 21 on 8 / 10, it is shown that the standard course is operated as the operation course from 10:00 to 11:00, and each operation (water supply, washing, etc.) is performed between 10:00 and 11:00.

[0062] Furthermore, the log data 192 has the same items as the log data 372. However, since the log data 192 is used by the user terminal 1, it is preferable that the information is limited to the home appliances 2 owned by the user of the user terminal 1.

[0063] Furthermore, the sound data 373 is sound data of the sound generated by the home appliance acquired by the sound collection unit 11. This sound data may be an audio file or may be a feature of the sound such as a frequency component, and is associated with information for individually identifying the home appliance that is the source of the sound. Here, the range of home appliances is home appliances managed by the home appliance diagnosis device 3, for example, home appliances manufactured by the relevant manufacturer. The sound data 193 is data similar to the sound data 373, but is desirably information limited to the home appliance 2 owned by the user of the relevant user terminal 1.

[0064] The above is the explanation of the information used in this embodiment, and the process flow will be explained below. Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing the process flow in this embodiment. In the following, the configurations of the user terminal 1 and the home appliance diagnosis device 3 will be explained using the configurations shown in Fig. 1.

[0065] In step S1, the sound collection unit 11 of the user terminal 1 collects a sound generated in the home appliance 2 to obtain sound data. Then, at least one of the storage unit 19 of the user terminal 1 and the storage unit 37 of the home appliance diagnosis device 3 stores the sound data. That is, at least one of the sound data 193 and the sound data 373 is stored.

[0066] In step S2, the sound data analysis unit 14 of the user terminal 1 or the sound data analysis unit 34 of the home appliance diagnosis device 3 (hereinafter simply referred to as the sound data analysis unit) analyzes the collected sound data and estimates the status of the home appliance 2 that generated the generated sound. An example of step S2 will be described below.

[0067] First, in step S2-1, the sound data analysis unit compares the stored sound data with the master sound data of the master information 191 to the master information 371 (hereinafter simply referred to as the master information).

[0068] Then, in step S2-2, the sound data analysis unit uses the master information to estimate the status of the home appliance 2. For example, the sound data analysis unit identifies normal sounds / abnormal sounds and messages from the master information according to the comparison result in step S2-1, and estimates this as the status of the home appliance 2. This status of the home appliance 2 is the analysis result of step S2 in this embodiment.

[0069] In response to this, in step S3, the output unit performs output according to the analysis result of step S2. Here, the output according to the analysis result includes the analysis result and an operation command according to the analysis result. In addition, the display unit 18 of the user terminal 1 that displays the analysis result, the communication unit 10, the display operation unit 205 of the home appliance 2, and the communication unit 31 of the home appliance diagnostic device 3 can be used as the output unit. Here, the display unit 18 and the display operation unit 205 display the analysis result, and the communication unit 10 and the communication unit 31 output the analysis result and the operation command. Note that the analysis result to be output may be only a part of the analysis result, and more preferably includes a message.

[0070] This concludes the description of this embodiment, but according to this embodiment, it is possible to perform more appropriate output in response to the analysis of the generated sound, such as estimating the status of the home appliance 2. Below, examples 1 and 2, which are specific examples of this embodiment, will be described. At this time, since the configuration and information have already been described, their description will be omitted. EXAMPLES

[0071] In the first embodiment, the user terminal 1 performs analysis of sound data, etc. Hereinafter, a process flow of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the process flow in the first embodiment. In step S101, the operation unit 206 of the home appliance 2 operates. For example, the drum type washing machine 21 performs washing in a standard course.

[0072] In step S102, the log data collection unit 203 of the home appliance 2 collects log data indicating the operation status in step S101. This log data includes the date and time of collection or operation and the operation mode of the home appliance 2. For example, as the operation mode, a standard course and each operation constituting the standard course, such as water supply, can be used.

[0073] In step S103, the control unit 201 notifies the user terminal 1 of the collected log data using the communication unit 204. This notification may be performed periodically, such as for each operation mode, or may be performed as appropriate. Furthermore, this notification may be performed in response to a request for log data from the user terminal 1, or may be performed proactively by the home appliance 2.

[0074] In step S104, the log data collection unit 16 of the user terminal 1 registers the log data received by the communication unit 10 as log data 192 in the storage unit 19. The user then listens to the sounds generated by the operating home appliances 2, and inputs a sound collection instruction to the input unit 17 of the user terminal 1 if the generated sound is of concern. As a result, in step S105, the sound collection unit 11 collects the sounds generated by the home appliances 2 in response to the sound collection instruction to the input unit 17, and obtains sound data. The storage unit 19 then registers this as sound data 193, that is, records it. Note that this sound data 193 includes a date and time indicating the date and time of collection or generation of the sound.

[0075] In step S106, the driving mode identification unit 12 uses the log data 192 to identify a driving mode corresponding to the collected sound data. In step S106, a driving mode used to improve the efficiency and accuracy of comparison with the master sound data in FIG. 2-1 is identified. Details of step S106 will be described below. First, the driving mode identification unit 12 identifies the date and time of the sound data. Then, the driving mode identification unit 12 identifies the driving mode corresponding to the identified date and time from the master information 191.

[0076] Furthermore, in step S107, the sound data search unit 13 searches the master information 191 using the identified operation mode and home appliance 2 as search conditions. As a result, the sound data search unit 13 identifies a corresponding record (a row in the table format of FIG. 5) from the master information 191. That is, in a comparison process in step S108 described later, the comparison target is narrowed down to master sound data that may be generated in the operation mode when the corresponding sound data is generated.

[0077] Then, in step S108, the sound data analysis unit 14 compares the master sound data of the identified record with the stored sound data. As a result, if the master sound data corresponds (for example, matches) with the stored sound data, the process proceeds to step S109. If it does not correspond (for example, does not match), the process proceeds to step S116. Note that in this embodiment, the operation mode is used to narrow down the sound data comparison, but this may be omitted or other information may be used. For example, the master information 191 may include the number of inquiries (the number of times searched in this flowchart), and comparison is performed preferentially in descending order of the number of inquiries.

[0078] If the result of step S108 is not a match, the sound data analysis unit 14 may repeat the process from step S107 onward using a similar driving mode. A similar driving mode indicates that the course of motion or a part of the motion matches, and the driving mode identification unit 12 searches the master information 191 for a driving mode similar to the driving mode in the log data 192.

[0079] In step S109, the sound data analysis unit 14 determines whether the corresponding master sound data is a normal sound. That is, the sound data analysis unit 14 checks whether the record identified in step S107 is a normal sound / abnormal sound. As a result, if it is a normal sound, the process proceeds to step S110. If it is an abnormal sound, the process proceeds to step S112.

[0080] In addition, in step S110, the sound data analysis unit 14 estimates the cause of the generated sound. In this embodiment, a message including the cause of the record identified in step S107 is identified. Then, in step S111, the sound data analysis unit 14 displays the identified message as the estimated cause on the display unit 18. As a result, the display unit 18 displays a message such as "This is a sound that occurs during water supply and is normal," allowing the user to confirm that there is no problem with the generated sound, which fosters a sense of security for the user. This also reduces inquiries about the generated sound to call centers and manufacturer offices.

[0081] Furthermore, in step S112, the sound data analysis unit 14 estimates the cause of the generated sound and the necessary measures for the generated sound. In this embodiment, similar to step S110, the message of the record identified in step S107 is identified. This message includes the cause of the sound and the necessary measures. Then, in step S113, the sound data analysis unit 14 displays the identified message on the display unit 18 as the estimated cause of the sound and the necessary measures. The process may end at this step, but in this embodiment, the process from step S112 onwards is carried out as follows.

[0082] First, in step S112, the sound data analysis unit 14 further determines whether the measure can be controlled by an operation command from the user terminal 1. If the result indicates that the measure can be controlled by an operation command, in step S113, the sound data analysis unit 14 displays on the display unit 18 including an instruction button for proposing an operation command.

[0083] As a result, when the input unit 17 receives an operation on the instruction button from the user, step S114 is executed. That is, in step S114, the operation command unit 15 creates an operation command for executing the specified measure, and notifies the home appliance 2 of the operation command via the communication unit 10.

[0084] In step S115, the control signal generating unit 202 of the home appliance 2 generates a control signal according to the notified operation command, and controls the operation of the operation unit 206. As a result, the user can confirm the cause of the generated sound and the measures to be taken, which fosters a sense of security. Furthermore, if the user can handle the processes from step S114 onwards and the displayed measures by themselves, maintenance requests regarding the generated sound to the call center or manufacturer's help line can be reduced.

[0085] Moreover, if it is determined in step S108 that the generated sound is not applicable, it can be assumed that the generated sound is an unexpected sound. Therefore, in step S116, the sound data analysis unit 14 displays a stop proposal proposing to stop the home appliance 2 on the display unit 18. At this time, it is preferable that the stop proposal includes an instruction button for stopping the home appliance.

[0086] Also, in step S117, the sound data analysis unit 14 determines whether a stop instruction has been input to the input unit 17 within a certain period of time. For example, it is determined whether an instruction button for stopping has been pressed. As a result, if a stop instruction has been received (YES), the process proceeds to step S118. Also, if there has been an input indicating that stopping is not necessary (NO), the process ends this flowchart. Note that in step S117, the process also proceeds to step S118 if there is no input in response to the stop suggestion display for a certain period of time. Furthermore, the process may also end when the user manually stops the home appliance 2. In this case, it is desirable for the home appliance 2 to notify the user terminal 1 of a stop notification.

[0087] Furthermore, in step S118, the operation command unit 15 creates a stop command to stop the operation of the home appliance 2, and notifies the home appliance 2 of this via the communication unit 10. Furthermore, in step S119, the control signal creation unit 202 of the home appliance 2 creates a control signal according to the notified stop command, and stops the operation of the operation unit 206. That is, it specifies that an unexpected malfunction may have occurred, and forcibly shuts down the home appliance 2. As a result, even if an unexpected malfunction may have occurred in the home appliance 2, its operation can be stopped, and safety can be ensured.

[0088] 7. Steps S108 to S110 and S112 in the first embodiment correspond to step S2 in FIG. 7. Steps S111, S113, S114, S116 and S118 in the first embodiment correspond to step S3 in FIG. 7. For this reason, the communication unit 10 and the display unit 18 of the user terminal 1 are examples of the output unit in the above-mentioned embodiment. Examples of output include display and communication. Furthermore, output includes audio output.

[0089] In addition, in the first embodiment, when step S118 is executed, a notification to a maintenance staff terminal may be realized in addition to or instead of this. In this case, the operation command unit 15 notifies the home appliance diagnosis device 3 of a maintenance request including sound data using the communication unit 10, and a maintenance command including sound data is deployed to the maintenance staff terminal based on this. As a result, a visit response by a maintenance staff and remote support can be realized. This is the end of the explanation of the first embodiment. EXAMPLES

[0090] In the second embodiment, analysis of sound data and the like is mainly performed by the home appliance diagnosis device 3. Hereinafter, a processing flow of the second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Steps S101 to S104 are also performed in the second embodiment. Therefore, the processing after step S104 will be described with reference to Fig. 9.

[0091] Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing a process flow in the embodiment 2. In step S105 in Fig. 9, similarly to the embodiment 1, the sound collection unit 11 collects the sound generated by the home appliance 2 in response to a sound collection instruction to the input unit 17 to obtain sound data. Then, in step S201, the log data collection unit 16 notifies the home appliance diagnosis device 3 of the collected sound data and the collected log data using the communication unit 10.

[0092] In addition, in step S202, the log data collection unit 36 ​​of the home appliance diagnosis device 3 stores the sound data and the log data received by the communication unit 31 as the sound data 373 and the log data 372 in the storage unit 37.

[0093] In step S203, the operation mode identification unit 32, similar to step S106 in the first embodiment, identifies an operation mode corresponding to the collected sound data by using the log data 372. In step S204, the sound data search unit 33, similar to step S107 in the first embodiment, searches the master information 371 by using the identified operation mode and the home appliance 2 as search conditions.

[0094] Also, in step S205, the sound data analysis unit 34 compares the master sound data of the identified record with the stored sound data, similar to step S108 in the first embodiment. As a result, if the master sound data corresponds (for example, matches) with the stored sound data, the process proceeds to step S211. If it does not correspond (for example, does not match), the process proceeds to step S206. Note that in this embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the operation mode is used to narrow down the sound data comparison, but this may be omitted or other information may be used. For example, the master information 371 in the second embodiment includes the number of inquiries (the number of times searched in this flowchart), and comparison is performed preferentially in descending order of the number of inquiries.

[0095] In step S206, the sound data analysis unit 34 notifies the user terminal 1 of the stop proposal information using the communication unit 31. This stop proposal information is information indicating the stop proposal displayed in step S116 of the first embodiment. In step S207, the sound data analysis unit 14 of the user terminal 1 displays the stop proposal on the display unit 18, similar to step S116 of the first embodiment. At this time, it is preferable that the stop proposal includes an instruction button for stopping. In addition, the sound data analysis unit 34 specifies the notification destination using information indicating the notification destination in the user terminal 1, such as an email address or application identification information. It is preferable that the information indicating the notification destination is included in the user management information or home appliance management information (not shown). It may also be included in the log data 372. Note that the specification of the notification destination is similar in other notification processes.

[0096] Furthermore, in step S208, the sound data analysis unit 14 determines whether a stop instruction has been input to the input unit 17 within a certain period of time, similar to step S117 in the first embodiment. As a result, if a stop instruction has been received (YES), the process proceeds to step S209. Furthermore, if there has been an input indicating that stopping is not necessary (NO), the process ends this flowchart. Note that, also in step S208, if there is no input in response to the stop suggestion display for a certain period of time, the process proceeds to step S209. Furthermore, the process may also end if the user manually stops the home appliance 2. In this case, it is desirable for the home appliance 2 to notify the user terminal 1 of a stop notification.

[0097] Furthermore, in step S209, the operation command unit 15 creates a stop command to stop the operation of the home appliance 2, similar to step S118 in the first embodiment, and notifies the home appliance 2 of this stop command via the communication unit 10. Furthermore, in step S210, the control signal creation unit 202 of the home appliance 2 creates a control signal according to the notified stop command, in the same manner as step S119 in the first embodiment, and stops the operation of the operation unit 206. This allows the home appliance 2 to be forcibly terminated. Furthermore, similar to the first embodiment, even if there is a possibility that an unexpected malfunction has occurred in the home appliance 2, its operation can be stopped, and safety can be ensured.

[0098] In step S211, the sound data analysis unit 34 determines whether the corresponding master sound data is a normal sound, similar to step S109 in the first embodiment. If the master sound data is a normal sound, the process proceeds to step S212. If the master sound data is an abnormal sound, the process proceeds to step S215.

[0099] Furthermore, in step S212, the sound data analysis unit 34 estimates the cause of the generated sound, similar to step S110 in the first embodiment. That is, a message including the cause of the generated sound is specified. Furthermore, in step S213, the sound data analysis unit 34 notifies the user terminal 1 of the cause of the generated sound using the communication unit 31. Then, in step S214, the sound data analysis unit 14 displays the specified message as the estimated cause of the generated sound on the display unit 18, similar to step S111 in the first embodiment. As a result, similar to the first embodiment, it is possible to foster a sense of security among users and reduce inquiries about the generated sound to call centers and manufacturer help desks.

[0100] In step S215, the sound data analysis unit 34 estimates the cause of the generated sound and the necessary measures for the generated sound, similar to step S112 in the first embodiment. In this embodiment, the sound data analysis unit 34 also identifies the message of the record identified in step S204, similar to step S212. This message includes the cause of the generated sound and the necessary measures.

[0101] Furthermore, in step S216, the sound data analysis unit 34 notifies the user terminal 1 of the identified message using the communication unit 31. Then, in step S217, the sound data analysis unit 14 displays the identified message as the estimated cause and measures on the display unit 18, similar to step S113. In this embodiment, the process may end at step S217, but steps S215 and after are executed as follows.

[0102] First, in step S215, the sound data analysis unit 34 further determines whether the measure can be controlled by an operation command from the user terminal 1, similar to step S112. If the result indicates that the measure can be controlled by an operation command, in step S216, the sound data analysis unit 34 notifies the user terminal 1 of information for proposing an operation command using the communication unit 31. Then, in step S217, the sound data analysis unit 14 of the user terminal 1 displays, on the display unit 18, an instruction button for proposing an operation command, similar to step S113 in the first embodiment.

[0103] As a result, when the input unit 17 receives an operation on the instruction button from the user, step S218 is executed. That is, in step S218, the operation command unit 15 creates an operation command for executing the specified measure, similar to step S114 in the first embodiment, and notifies the home appliance 2 of the operation command via the communication unit 10.

[0104] In step S219, the control signal generating unit 202 of the home appliance 2 generates a control signal according to the notified operation command, and controls the operation of the operating unit 206, similarly to step S115 in the first embodiment. As a result, the user can confirm the cause of the generated sound and the measures to be taken, which fosters a sense of security. Furthermore, in the second embodiment, if the user can handle the processes from step S218 onwards and the displayed measures by themselves, maintenance requests regarding the generated sound to the call center or the manufacturer's office can be suppressed.

[0105] Although the description of each embodiment of the present invention is finished above, the present invention is not limited to these. In particular, the processing subject is not limited to the above-mentioned examples. For example, the display of the message may be executed by the display operation unit 205 of the home appliance 2. In addition, the home appliance 2 to be diagnosed is not limited to the exemplified ones, and further, the present invention can be applied to various durable consumer goods and various commercial devices that may generate abnormal noise. [Explanation of symbols]

[0106] 1...user terminal, 10...communication unit, 11...sound collection unit, 12...operation mode identification unit, 13...sound data search unit, 14...sound data analysis unit, 15...operation command unit, 16...log data collection unit, 17...input unit, 18...display unit, 19...storage unit, 191...master information, 192...log data, 193...sound data, 2...home appliance, 21...drum washing machine, 22...vertical washing machine, 23...microwave oven, 24...refrigerator, 201...control unit, 20 2...control signal creation unit, 203...log data collection unit, 204...communication unit, 205...display operation unit, 206...operation unit, 207...detection unit, 3...home appliance diagnostic device, 31...communication unit, 32...operation mode identification unit, 33...sound data search unit, 34...sound data analysis unit, 35...operation command unit, 36...log data collection unit, 37...memory unit, 371...master information, 372...log data, 373...sound data, 4...router, 5...network

Claims

1. In a home appliance diagnosis system having a user terminal, A sound pickup unit provided in the user terminal for picking up sounds generated by home appliances; a sound data analysis unit that analyzes sound data indicating the collected generated sound and estimates a state of the home appliance; A home appliance diagnostic system having an output unit that executes output according to a status of the home appliance.

2. The home appliance diagnosis system according to claim 1, Further, a storage unit for storing master sound data of the sounds generated by the home appliance, The sound data analysis unit compares the master sound data with the sound data, and estimates the status of the home appliance based on the comparison result.

3. The home appliance diagnosis system according to claim 2, Further, a log data collection unit that collects log data indicating an operation status of the home appliance including an operation mode, The storage unit stores the log data, The sound data analysis unit uses the log data to identify the operation mode of the home appliance when the sound data was collected, and searches for master sound data corresponding to the identified operation mode.

4. The home appliance diagnosis system according to claim 2, The storage unit stores the generated sound in association with a cause of the generated sound, The output unit outputs a message including the cause of the problem.

5. The home appliance diagnosis system according to claim 4, The output unit outputs an error message when there is no master sound data corresponding to the sound data.

6. The home appliance diagnosis system according to claim 5, The output unit outputs a stop command to stop operation of the home appliance when there is no master sound data corresponding to the sound data.

7. A user terminal, which is a computer, A sound pickup unit provided in the user terminal for picking up sounds generated by home appliances; a sound data analysis unit that analyzes sound data indicating the collected generated sound and estimates a state of the home appliance; A home appliance diagnostic program for causing the home appliance to function as an output unit that executes output according to the status of the home appliance.

8. The home appliance diagnosis program according to claim 7, The user terminal further includes a storage unit that stores master sound data of the sounds generated by the home appliances, The sound data analysis unit compares the master sound data with the sound data, and estimates the status of the home appliance based on the comparison result.

9. 9. The home appliance diagnosis program according to claim 8, The user terminal further has a log data collection unit that collects log data indicating an operation status of the home appliance including an operation mode, The storage unit stores the log data, The sound data analysis unit uses the log data to identify the operation mode of the home appliance when the sound data was collected, and searches for master sound data corresponding to the identified operation mode.

10. 9. The home appliance diagnosis program according to claim 8, The storage unit stores the generated sound in association with a cause of the generated sound, The output unit is a home appliance diagnostic program that outputs a message including the cause of the problem.

11. The home appliance diagnosis program according to claim 10, The output unit outputs an error message when there is no master sound data corresponding to the sound data.

12. The home appliance diagnosis program according to claim 11, The output unit outputs a stop command to stop operation of the home appliance when there is no master sound data corresponding to the sound data.

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