Node monitoring unit and remote node monitoring system

Abstract

To provide a node monitoring unit that includes connection means which makes a connection with a node of a facility apparatus incompatible with external PLC control or network control and that can serve as an IoT device.SOLUTION: A node monitoring unit includes: connection means that makes a connection with a node of a facility apparatus incompatible with external PLC control or network control; AC-DC conversion means that converts an input AC voltage into a DC voltage; condition detection means that detects the condition of the node by applying the DC voltage into which the AC voltage is converted by the AC-DC conversion means; relay circuit means that receives a node signal which is an output from the node detected by the condition detection means; a single-board computer having a built-in wireless communication feature which determines a condition of a node signal received by the relay circuit means and detects a change in the connection condition of the node; and power supply means that supplies a DC voltage, which is different from the DC voltage into which the AC voltage is converted by the AC-DC conversion means, to the single-board computer.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a contact monitoring unit and a remote contact monitoring system. In particular, the present invention relates to a contact monitoring unit that can be IoT-enabled even for old equipment such as equipment that is not compatible with external PLC control or network control, and a remote contact monitoring system that is suitable for sharing information on the operation status by connecting the contact monitoring unit to the equipment, remotely controlling the contact monitoring of the equipment, and using a push notification function of a mobile communication terminal to notify the equipment operation status in real time. [Background technology]

[0002] Traditionally, equipment in factories and buildings was managed by adding a programmable logic controller (PLC) to the equipment installed in the factory or building, and controlling the input and output of the various equipment. In many cases, each manufacturer made their own PLCs, and in order to connect to each company's PLC and perform remote monitoring and control, it was necessary to use a small gateway device compatible with each company's PLC to convert it to IoT and perform remote control. It was also common to make the equipment in factories and buildings network-compatible equipment, build a monitoring management system, and perform remote monitoring and control.

[0003] However, when performing remote monitoring using old equipment in factories or buildings, it is necessary to modify or improve the old equipment in order to make the equipment without a connection interface IoT-compatible. If such equipment is modified or improved, the manufacturer's warranty for the equipment will no longer be valid. In such cases, even if you want to receive maintenance support for the equipment, there are few companies that provide maintenance support or maintenance for old equipment or special processing machines, so the equipment managers of factories or buildings and production engineers at factories have to provide maintenance support or maintenance themselves.

[0004] Conventional remote monitoring systems can handle equipment whose control information is predetermined to a certain extent, but for systems that use special production equipment and perform unique control, it is not possible to incur large system costs.

[0005] Therefore, it is desirable to realize a contact monitoring unit with a low cost and simple configuration, use that contact monitoring unit to build a remote contact monitoring system, and share information on the operation status of facility equipment (operation information, alarm information, production information), allowing remote monitoring to be performed only by those involved in the factory or building.As building a system is difficult in factories where there are no network engineers, we have developed a remote contact monitoring system in which only cloud management is outsourced and daily factory operation status information is shared. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-195153 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2018-67098 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] In the above Patent Document 1, the target equipment is limited to a numerically controlled machining device, and the purpose is to display data displayed on the display unit of the numerically controlled machining device, so there is a problem that only limited remote monitoring is possible.

[0008] In the above-mentioned Patent Document 2, notification information and notification action information are simply stored in a monitoring server and an information acquisition device, and no consideration is given to sharing the information among workers and managers.

[0009] In addition, when a factory or building contains the same or different types of equipment and equipment manufactured by multiple equipment manufacturers, if the IoT functions that each equipment manufacturer installs in its own equipment are used, applications and interfaces prepared by each equipment manufacturer will be used. In order to remotely manage such products from multiple different manufacturers, multiple remote management systems are also required. Therefore, there was a problem that remote management had to be performed using a separate system for each equipment manufacturer, which made the management of equipment in factories and buildings complicated. In other words, there was also a problem that it was difficult to centrally manage equipment by managing it on a single shared screen.

[0010] The object of the present invention is to solve the conventional problems and provide a remote contact monitoring unit that is equipped with a connection means for connecting to the contacts of external equipment that does not support PLC control or network control, thereby enabling the contact monitoring unit to be IoT-enabled.

[0011] Another object of the present invention is to provide a remote contact monitoring system that uses an IoT-based contact monitoring unit equipped with a means for connecting equipment to perform user registration and equipment status management on a cloud server, and pushes real-time information about monitored equipment to registered users to enable information sharing. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] In order to solve the above problems, the contact monitoring unit of the first invention is characterized in that it comprises a connection means for connecting to a contact of an external facility device that is not compatible with PLC control or network control, a DC conversion means for converting an input AC voltage into a DC voltage, a status detection means for detecting the status of the contact by applying the DC voltage converted by the DC conversion means, a relay circuit means for receiving a contact signal that is an output from the contact detected by the status detection means, a single-board computer with an internal wireless communication function that determines the status of the contact signal received by the relay circuit means and detects a change in the connection status of the contact, and a power supply means for supplying the single-board computer with a DC voltage different from the DC voltage converted by the DC conversion means.

[0013] A contact monitoring unit according to a second aspect of the present invention is the contact monitoring unit of the first aspect of the present invention, characterized in that the single board computer further has a USB terminal, and an external SIM module is connected to the USB terminal.

[0014] The remote contact monitoring system of the third invention is characterized in that the contact monitoring unit described in the first invention is connected to the facility equipment and is also connected to a cloud server via a communication network, and the cloud server is connected via the communication network to a plurality of mobile communication terminals on which a contact monitoring application has been installed in advance, and the cloud server receives operation information indicating the operation status of the facility equipment from the contact monitoring unit in real time, and notifies the mobile communication terminal of the operation information of the facility equipment by push notification.

[0015] The remote contact monitoring system according to a fourth invention is the third invention, further comprising an infrared sensor detection means, the equipment being production equipment, and the number of production units is counted by detecting the movement of the production equipment using a signal from an infrared sensor attached to an operating part of the production equipment by the infrared sensor detection means.

[0016] The remote contact monitoring system of the fifth invention is characterized in that, in the third invention, a user launches the contact monitoring application, links the contact monitoring unit to be monitored for each user to a user account, and enters the ID and password of the contact monitoring unit to register the contact monitoring unit to be monitored in the cloud server and turn on / off push notifications for the registered contact monitoring unit to be monitored. Effect of the Invention

[0017] According to the first and second inventions, a remote contact monitoring unit can be realized that is equipped with a connection means for connecting to the contacts of external equipment that is not compatible with PLC control or network control, thereby enabling the contact monitoring unit to be IoT-enabled.

[0018] Furthermore, according to the third to fifth inventions, a remote contact monitoring system can be realized in which an IoT-based contact monitoring unit equipped with a means for connecting equipment can be used to register users and manage the equipment status on a cloud server, and real-time information on the monitored equipment can be pushed to registered users to facilitate information sharing. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a contact monitoring unit showing an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a contact monitoring unit (multiple contacts) showing an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of a contact monitoring unit showing an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a single board computer according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining configuration examples of a connection means between a contact monitoring unit and equipment etc. in an embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is an example of direct connection to the contacts of the equipment, (b) is an example of connection by adding a relay contact circuit, and (c) is an example of adding an additional circuit to the contact monitoring unit and adding a production number count function to the production equipment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a remote contact monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the account management and notification settings of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an account data structure in the cloud server. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of an account for managing notification targets. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of the contact point monitoring unit. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a process flowchart of the contact monitoring unit. [Figure 12] Figure 12 is a flowchart of the cloud server in the remote contact monitoring unit, where (a) is the processing flow of cloud (1), (b) is the processing flow of cloud (1)', (c) is the processing flow of cloud (2), and (d) is the processing flow of cloud (3). [Figure 13] Fig. 13(a) is a diagram showing an example of remote contact management of multiple facility devices by one administrator, and Fig. 13(b) is a diagram showing an example of remote contact management of one facility device by multiple administrators. [Figure 14] Fig. 14(a) is a diagram showing a specific example of a user's use of the remote contact monitoring system of the present invention, and Fig. 14(b) is a diagram for explaining a connection method between facility devices and a contact monitoring unit in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15] Fig. 15(a) is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a mobile communication terminal application in an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 15(b) is a diagram showing an example of a push notification. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0020] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0021] <Embodiment> The contact monitoring unit of this embodiment is connected to the contacts of an external facility device that is not compatible with PLC control or network control via a connection means, and can know the operating status of the facility device to be monitored.

[0022] <Embodiment Configuration> 1 is a functional block diagram of a contact monitoring unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. The contact monitoring unit will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 1, the contact monitoring unit 2 includes a connection means 21, a DC conversion means 22, a state detection means 23, a relay circuit means 24, a single board computer 25, a power supply means 26, a wireless communication function 27, a USB terminal 28, and a SIM module 29. The contact monitoring unit 2 is connected to the equipment 1 via the connection means 21. Here, the equipment 1 is often old existing equipment that is used individually in factories and the like, and is equipment that is not compatible with PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) control or network control. By devising a connection method via the connection means 21 for such equipment that is not compatible with PLC control or network control, the IoT of the existing equipment is realized. In addition, the contact monitoring unit is realized with a simple configuration using a general-purpose single board computer (for example, Raspberry Pi (registered trademark))-based general-purpose industrial endibet STB, reducing system costs. For example, Raspberry Pi (registered trademark) has a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) interface with a built-in antenna as standard, so it can be connected to a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) router to enable IoT. In addition, in an environment where a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) connection is not possible, a SiM module 29 for LTE communication can be connected to the USB terminal 28 to enable cloud connection, real-time notifications to multiple mobile communication terminals can be realized, and remote monitoring by a contact monitoring unit can be realized.

[0024] <Description of the embodiment configuration> The connection means 21 connects to contacts of external equipment that is not compatible with PLC control or network control.

[0025] The DC conversion means 22 converts the input AC voltage into a DC voltage. The input AC voltage supplied from a commercial 100V power supply (not shown) is converted into a DC voltage. The DC voltage is supplied to the state detection means at 24V. 7.5V is supplied to the single board computer 25 via the power supply means 26.

[0026] The status detection means 23 detects the status of the contacts of the equipment 1 by applying the DC voltage converted by the DC conversion means 22. The status detection means 23 detects whether the equipment is in operation, whether an alarm has been issued, etc. If the equipment is a production facility, it may be configured to count the number of production units.

[0027] The relay circuit means 24 receives a contact signal that is an output from a contact detected by the state detection means 23. The contact signal may be an operation signal, an alarm signal, etc. Furthermore, the relay circuit means 24 may have a production number count signal as a contact signal. Regarding power supply, 3.3V is supplied from the single board computer 25 to the relay circuit means 24.

[0028] The single-board computer 25 determines the state of the contact signal received by the relay circuit means 24 and detects a change in the connection state of the contact of the facility device 1. This single-board computer 25 has built-in wireless communication functions such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) and Bluetooth (registered trademark), and a general-purpose single-board computer such as Raspberry Pi (registered trademark) 3 can be used.

[0029] The power supply means 26 converts the input AC voltage into a DC voltage, and supplies a DC voltage (for example, 5 V) different from the DC voltage converted by the DC conversion means 22 to the single-board computer 25. The power supply means 26 corresponds to a so-called AC adapter.

[0030] The wireless communication function 27 has a built-in antenna and interfaces for Wi-Fi (registered trademark) and Bluetooth (registered trademark), making it possible to turn existing equipment into IoT devices.

[0031] The USB terminal 28 is a general-purpose serial communication interface. The USB terminal 28 can realize LTE mobile communication by connecting an external SIM module 29. Here, in the remote monitoring of the contact monitoring unit, if an LTE communication module is installed as standard, the cost of the system will increase, so the LTE communication module can be selected as necessary to suppress the increase in cost.

[0032] The SIM module 29 is an external USB-type SIM module for LTE communication, which enables cloud connection via mobile communication in LTE communication.

[0033] <Embodiment: Connection configuration of multiple equipment devices> 2 is a functional block diagram of a system in which a contact monitoring unit according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected to a plurality of contacts. The contact monitoring unit will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0034] 2, the contact monitoring unit 2 includes a connection means 21, a DC conversion means 22, a state detection means 23, a relay circuit means 24, a single board computer 25, a power supply means 26, a wireless communication function 27, a USB terminal 28, and a SIM module 29. The contact monitoring unit 2 is connected to the equipment devices 1a, 1b, and 1c via the connection means 21. Here, the configuration of the contact monitoring unit 2 is the same as that in FIG. 1, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0035] Since the contact monitoring unit 2 is provided with a plurality of connection terminals, one contact monitoring unit 2 can remotely monitor the contacts of the plurality of facility devices 1a, 1b, and 1c via the connection means 21.

[0036] FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing the inside of the housing of the contact monitoring unit according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 3, the contact monitoring unit 2' is housed in a housing, and includes a single board computer 25, a relay circuit means 24', a SIM module 29, contacts 30, a signal cable inlet 31, a terminal block 32, an AC adapter (7.5V) 33, an AC adapter (24V) 34, a spare outlet 35 for maintenance, a main power supply 36, and a power supply terminal 37. Input and output of each contact is performed by setting GPIO pins, and in this embodiment, 40 GPIO pins are used. In the description of the present invention, the setting of the GPIO pins is not a characteristic configuration of the present invention, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[0037] The contact 30 has, for example, eight contacts, and is configured to be capable of monitoring the contacts of a maximum of eight devices.

[0038] There are two signal intake ports 31 for both directions.

[0039] The terminal block 32 has eight terminals on each side.

[0040] The AC100V main power supply 36 is converted to DC by the 7.5V AC adapter 33 and the 24V AC adapter 34 via the power terminal 37, and supplies DC7.5V and DC24V power. The case has a battery power supply and a simple UPS function to protect against sudden power shutdowns. In the event of a power shutdown, the system is configured to back up data and cut off the power supply.

[0041] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a single board computer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0042] As shown in Fig. 4, the single board computer 38 has a processor 39, a memory 40 (arranged on the rear surface), a power supply USB (microB) connector 41, a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) antenna 42, four USB Type A terminals 43, a GPIO pin 44, an HDMI (registered trademark) output terminal 45, a display connector 46, a MicroSD card slot 47 (arranged on the rear surface), a camera connector 48, an audio jack 49, and a wired LAN connector 50. Here, GPIO stands for General-purpose input / output and means "general-purpose input / output". The single board computer is a general-purpose single board computer, such as Raspberry Pi (registered trademark) 3, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0043] An example of contact connection of the contact monitoring unit according to the embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figure 5 (a) (b) (c). Using Figure 5 (a) (b) (c), a method of connecting a contact monitoring unit to equipment that does not support PLC control or network control and making the existing equipment IoT-enabled will be described.

[0044] FIG. 5(a) shows a case where the existing equipment has a contact signal output, and is an example of a pattern that does not require relay installation. In this case, the terminal block of the contact monitoring unit 52 and the contact output terminal of the equipment are directly wired, and a DC voltage of 24 V is applied to detect the contact state. FIG. 5(b) shows an example of a pattern where the existing equipment does not have a contact signal output, and a relay can be installed. In this case, the terminal block of the contact monitoring unit 52 and a relay 53 are retrofitted to the equipment, wired to the terminal block of the contact monitoring unit 52, and a DC voltage of 24 V is applied to detect the contact state. FIG. 5(c) shows an example of a configuration in which a projector 57 and a receiver 58 that detect the movement of an object are added to the production equipment 55, an infrared sensor 59 with a built-in relay 60 is retrofitted inside the contact monitoring unit 52', and the number of productions is counted without interfering with the movement of the object by the projector 57 and the receiver 58. In the contact monitoring unit 52', a DC voltage of 24 V converted by the DC conversion means 22 is applied to the infrared sensor amplifier 59. Also, in the contact monitoring unit 52', a DC voltage of 3.3 V is supplied to the relay 60 from the single board computer 25, thereby achieving this.

[0045] FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a remote contact monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6, the remote contact monitoring system of this embodiment configures a network system including an equipment device 1, a contact monitoring unit 2 connected to the equipment device 1, and a communication network 62 such as the Internet via a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) router or via LTE mobile communication, and connected to a cloud 63. Here, since the internal configuration of the contact monitoring unit 2 is similar to that shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, a description thereof will be omitted, and a description will be given of real-time notification by push notification to mobile communication terminals 67, 68, and 69 in a cloud environment.

[0046] The cloud 63 includes a cloud server 64, a notification means 65, and a database 66. Here, the cloud may be a public cloud or a private cloud. As the public cloud, AWS (Amazon Web Services) cloud service, Azure (Microsoft Azure) cloud service, Google Cloud service, etc. may be used. When using these public clouds, it is possible to have users sign a cloud service contract and to configure so that registered users are managed on the cloud service.

[0047] The contact monitoring unit 2 is connected to the facility equipment 1 and is also connected to a cloud server 64 via a communication network 62. The cloud server 64 is connected to a plurality of mobile communication terminals 67, 68, 69 on which a contact monitoring application has been installed in advance, via the communication network 62 and the cloud 63. The cloud server 64 receives operation information indicating the operating status of the facility equipment 1 in real time from the contact monitoring unit 2 and notifies the mobile communication terminals 67, 68, 69 of the operation information of the facility equipment 1 by push notification via a notification means 65 on the cloud 63, thereby forming a remote contact monitoring system.

[0048] Cloud server 64 notifies mobile communication terminals 67, 68, 69 of the operation status of the equipment (operation / alarm / production number count information) in real time by push notification. Users who own mobile communication terminals 67, 68, 69 can also view the history / registered information of the equipment by logging in to cloud 63 and viewing database 66. Furthermore, users who own mobile communication terminals 67, 68, 69 can change the registered contents of their user accounts and turn push notifications on and off.

[0049] FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the account management and notification settings of the present invention. For example, as shown in Fig. 7, when there are contact monitoring units 71, 72, and 73, the management of user accounts allows push notification settings for each contact monitoring unit. Notification settings include operation, alarm, and count notification settings, and are set according to the monitoring objectives of the worker group and manager. Account 74 is the notification setting for worker group WG1, and units A and B are monitored. Account 75 is the notification setting for facility manager EM, and units A, B, and C are monitored. Account 74 is the notification setting for worker group WG1, and units B and C are monitored.

[0050] The registered account data includes information such as an email address (login ID), a login password, an identification ID (unit ID), a creation date, and a login date, as shown in Fig. 8. Other information may also be registered.

[0051] As shown in Figure 9, the account data for managing notification targets consists of an identification ID, a device token, and a string. This string is an associative array, and includes a string (device token) and a string array (unit ID). The number of account data registered is the same as the number of accounts. The account data for managing notification targets is data for restoring notification settings at the time of logout when logging in, and consists of collection data and documents. A collection is like a folder, for example, and documents are created in a collection, and data such as strings and numbers are recorded in the documents. Subcollections can be created in documents, and a hierarchical structure can be created by creating documents in subcollections. Also, collections cannot be linked to collections. For example, the data model specifications of Google Cloud's Firebase FireStore are used for "collections" and "documents" in the database.

[0052] The unit data structure of a contact monitoring unit consists of collections, subcollections, and documents, as shown in Fig. 10. The unit data of a single board computer consists of unit ID (character string), password (character string), power supply (true or false), communication error (true or false), alarm occurrence (true or false), heartbeat update date and time (character string), unit name (character string), unit number (character string), installation location (character string), accounts to be displayed (array of character strings), mobile communication terminals to be notified (array of character strings), etc. The unit name is set arbitrarily by the user from the contact monitoring application. The unit number and installation location are also set arbitrarily by the user. This unit data is stored in a database in the cloud 63 for the number of units.

[0053] GPIO terminal data is saved as a sub-collection as shown in Fig. 10. The terminal data includes ID (logical number of terminal), signal type (alarm / operation / count), in use, latest update date and time, open / close state at the time of last update (0 or 1), contact open / close setting (0 or 1), and contact name (character string). In the example of the embodiment, there are eight contacts, so eight pieces of terminal data are saved.

[0054] Operation / alarm history data is saved as a sub-collection, as shown in Figure 10. Monthly opening / closing history data consists of an ID (year and month) (character string) and opening / closing record (0 or 1). The opening / closing history is saved in the database by month. The opening / closing record uses the date and time of opening / closing as the field key. A field is added each time it is opened or closed.

[0055] Count history data is stored in a subcollection as shown in Figure 10. Monthly count history data consists of an ID (year and month) (string) and an open / close record (integer). Here, the field key is the year, month, and date.

[0056] Fig. 11 is a processing flowchart of the contact monitoring unit of this embodiment, and Fig. 12 is a flowchart of the cloud server in the remote contact monitoring system. Hereinafter, the processing of the contact monitoring unit will be described with reference to Fig. 11 and Fig. 12.

[0057] First, the power switch provided on the contact monitoring unit housing is turned on to start up the unit (step 1101), and the OS startup LED starts flashing (step 1102). Next, communication with the cloud is started (step 1103). The start date and time is transmitted to the cloud (step 1104). By executing the process of step 1104, the cloud side executes the process of cloud (2) of step 1207 in FIG. 12(C).

[0058] Next, when the LED turns on (step 1105), normal startup is completed. After that, steps 1106 to 1118 are simultaneously performed in parallel.

[0059] First, the unit starts communication confirmation (step 1106) and transmits the date and time to the cloud (step 1107). This date and time transmission in step 1107 is performed at predetermined intervals (e.g., every 5 minutes). This transmission timing may be changed as appropriate depending on the usage pattern of the facility device. On the cloud side, cloud (1) processing in step 1201 in FIG. 12(a) is executed.

[0060] Next, contact monitoring is started (step 1108). Contact monitoring is confirmed through the GPIO terminal (pin). The opening and closing of the contact and the time are recorded in an array (step 1109). The opening and closing of the contact is checked every predetermined time (for example, 5 seconds), but is not limited to this. After the predetermined time has elapsed, the changed value is always sent to the cloud (step 1111). On the cloud side, cloud (3) processing is executed in step 1209 of FIG. 12(d).

[0061] Waiting for operation of a physical button such as a power switch is started (step 1112). If the corresponding GPIO interface is pressed (GPIO27 in this case), the shutdown date and time is sent to the cloud (step 1113). Then, shutdown is executed (step 1114). If GPIO17 is pressed, the restart date and time is sent to the cloud (step 1113). On the cloud side, cloud (2) processing of step 1207 in FIG. 12(c) is executed. Inside the unit, the device is restarted (step 1115).

[0062] Power interruption detection is started (step 1116). When a power interruption is detected, a log is recorded (step 1117), and an emergency shutdown is performed (step 1118).

[0063] FIG. 13(a) is a diagram showing an example of remote contact management of multiple equipment devices by one administrator, and FIG. 13(b) is a diagram showing an example of remote contact management of one equipment device by multiple administrators. FIG. 14(a) is a diagram showing a specific example of user use of the remote contact monitoring system of the present invention. FIG. 14(b) is a diagram for explaining a connection method between equipment devices and contact monitoring units in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15(a) is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a mobile communication terminal application in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15(b) is a diagram showing an example of a push notification. In FIG. 15(a), the display surrounded by a double box indicates a button. By pressing (tapping) this button, the contact monitoring application can be operated.

[0064] The operation of the contact point monitoring application by the user in FIG. 15(a) will be described for each operation screen.

[0065] <User operations on the login screen> A registered user can log in to the contact monitoring application by inputting the login ID and password given to the registered user and pressing the login button. In the case of an unregistered user, the contact monitoring application can be used by registering with the cloud server. Registration with the cloud server can be performed by the operator of the cloud server or the facility manager set for each user company. The contact monitoring application needs to be installed in advance on the mobile communication terminal, but it may be provided from the Apple (registered trademark) store or the Goggle (registered trademark) Play store, and the user may download the contact monitoring application and install it on the mobile communication terminal owned by the user. Examples of the mobile communication terminal to be used include smartphones such as Android (registered trademark) terminals and iPhone (registered trademark) terminals. Note that the mobile communication terminal is not limited to a smartphone, and may be any portable terminal, such as a small tablet or tablet PC with built-in wireless communication function. In addition, other contact monitoring items may be added to the contact monitoring items in FIG. 15(a) depending on the screen size of the mobile communication terminal.

[0066] <Home screen operations> Displays a list of units to be monitored that are linked to the user account. The unit list displays the unit's operating status, communication status, notification settings, alarm activation, unit ID, and any unit information that you have set, and this information is automatically updated in real time. When you select a unit from the unit list, you will be taken to a screen that displays the unit's details. You can add or remove monitored units by tapping the button in the top right of the home screen.

[0067] <Unit Details Screen Operations> Next, detailed information about the unit selected on the home screen is displayed. The user can edit any unit information and set notifications for each mobile communication device. Terminal information is displayed in a list, along with the terminal number, contact type (operation / alarm / count), name, last update date and time, and current status. When a terminal is selected from the terminal list, the screen transitions to one that displays detailed terminal information. Tapping the button in the top right of the unit details screen transitions to a screen where a PDF document summarizing the history can be created.

[0068] <Operations on the terminal details screen> Next, detailed information about the terminal selected on the unit details screen is displayed. The user can edit any terminal information. The most recent history and this month's history are displayed with "year-month-day (day of the week)" and status. Tapping the monthly history button will take you to a screen that displays history from the current month and earlier. This makes it possible to simplify equipment management by consolidating contact monitoring applications into a single application, even if a factory or building contains a mixture of equipment from multiple equipment manufacturers.

[0069] Hereinafter, the processing on the cloud side will be described using Figs. 12(a), (b), (c), and (d) while also referring to Figs. 13 to 15.

[0070] In the process of step 1201 of cloud (1) in FIG. 12(a), when a communication confirmation update request is received from BH3, the communication confirmation transmission date and time is recorded in the cloud server (step 1202).

[0071] In the process of step 1203 of cloud (1)' in FIG. 12(b), the update time is checked every predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes). The predetermined time may be set according to the facility device to be monitored, and is not limited to 10 minutes. If the status of the contact is in operation and has not been updated more than twice (step 1204), the status is changed to a communication error (step 1205), and a push notification is sent to the target mobile communication terminal (step 1206). As shown in FIG. 15(b), in the case of a communication error, an error message such as communication failure or power off unintentionally is displayed together with the unit number / name. The owner of the mobile communication terminal that receives the push notification can immediately take appropriate action afterwards. Here, the notification setting of the mobile communication terminal is performed by the user starting a contact monitoring application, linking the contact monitoring unit to be monitored for each user to the user account, and inputting the ID and password of the contact monitoring unit, thereby registering the contact monitoring unit to be monitored in the cloud server, and turning on / off the push notification of the registered contact monitoring unit to be monitored.

[0072] In step 1207 of FIG. 12(c), when a request to update the start-up / shutdown date and time is received from BH3, cloud (2) changes the status to "operating" or "stopped" and records the update date and time (step 1208).

[0073] In the process of step 1209 of cloud (3) in FIG. 12(d), upon receiving a request from BH3 to update the contact opening and closing records, the type of item to be saved (operation / alarm / count) is determined (step 1210). If it is an operation signal or an alarm signal (step 1210), the change date and time and all contact information are saved in the cloud server database (step 1211). A push notification is sent to the target mobile communication terminal (step 1212). An example of this alarm issuance is shown in FIG. 15(b). As shown in FIG. 15(b), in the case of an alarm issuance, the alarm issuing unit number / name, terminal number / name, date and time, etc. are displayed.

[0074] In step 1213, in the case of counting, the number of times that opening or closing has been transmitted is calculated (step 1213), and the number is added to the target day (step 1214).

[0075] As shown in FIG. 13(a), a configuration may be adopted in which two contact monitoring units 133, 137 are used to remotely monitor contacts of multiple equipment devices 131, 132, and 133 on a cloud 134, and push notifications are sent in real time to one administrator (equipment administrator) 135.

[0076] 13(b), one facility device 138 may be configured to perform remote contact monitoring on the cloud 140 using one contact monitoring unit 139, and this may be performed by multiple administrators 141, 142, and 143. The administrators 142 and 143 may be configured to send push notifications from the cloud 140 to the target mobile communication terminals of the administrators 142 and 143, but not to the mobile communication terminal of the administrator 141.

[0077] FIG. 14(a) is a diagram showing a specific example of user use of the remote contact monitoring system of the present invention, and FIG. 14(b) is a diagram for explaining the connection method between facility equipment and a contact monitoring unit in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0078] As shown in FIG. 14(a), an example will be described in which equipment devices including a processing machine 151, a cooling water facility 152, a circulation pump 153, and an air conditioner 154 are connected to a contact monitoring unit 150 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 14(b), the processing machine 151 has an existing contact for operation S1, an existing contact for alarm S2, and an infrared contact for count S3. The count S3 indicates a configuration in which an infrared sensor is attached to the operating part of the processing machine 151 to count the number of productions. The cooling water facility 152 has an existing contact for operation S4 and an existing contact for alarm S5. The circulation pump 153 has a retrofit contact for operation S6. The air conditioner 154 has an existing contact for operation S7 and an existing contact for alarm S8.

[0079] The contact monitoring unit 150 and cloud 155 are connected via a communication network, and remote contact monitoring is performed on the cloud 155. Real-time push notifications can be sent to the mobile communication terminal 156 of the manager inside the building, or to the mobile communication terminal 157 of the manager away from the office.

[0080] The cooling water equipment 152 and the circulation pump 153 are installed on the rooftop and operate 24 hours a day, so even equipment that is not compatible with PLC control or network control can be connected to the contact monitoring unit 150 and IoT-enabled by the connection method shown in FIG. 14(b), so remote contact monitoring can be performed in places such as the rooftop where there is little traffic and where the administrator is unlikely to notice a malfunction, which is a great advantage. The contact monitoring unit is realized with equipment of a simple configuration, so the system cost can be reduced. Even an air conditioner 154 for paper and other items that are easily affected by temperature / humidity in an underground storage facility is an equipment that operates 24 hours a day, so the effect of this embodiment is great.

[0081] <Effects of the embodiment> In this way, according to this embodiment, existing equipment that is not compatible with PLC control or network control can be converted to IoT, and the production status can be notified to a mobile communication terminal (e.g., a smartphone, etc.) in real time. In addition, the production status can be notified to multiple smartphones that are far away. Therefore, since it is possible to send notifications in real time to multiple smartphones, whether inside or outside the factory, the status of the production equipment, such as operation, alarms, and production counts, can be efficiently shared.

[0082] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, existing equipment that is not compatible with PLC control or network control can be easily converted to IoT by connecting a dedicated contact monitoring unit to an existing alarm output contact. In addition, in an environment where Wi-Fi (registered trademark) cannot be connected, an external USB type SIM module can be used for mobile communication as needed. History can be shared on the cloud. Information on the cancellation of generated alarms and their types is stored in the cloud, so the contents can be checked later. This is convenient for sharing within a group or for handover when the person in charge is changed. [Explanation of symbols]

[0083] 1, 1a, 1b, 1c equipment 2, 2' Contact monitoring unit 21 Connection means 22 DC conversion means 23 State detection means 24, 24' Relay circuit means 25 Single Board Computer 26 Power supply means 27 Wireless communication function 28 USB port 29 SIM Module 30 Contacts 31 Signal cable inlet 32 Terminal block 33 AC adapter (7.5V) 34 AC adapter (24V) 35 Spare Outlet 36 Main power AC100V 37 Power Connector 38 Single Board Computer 39 Processors 40 Memory (rear) 41 Power supply USB (microB) connector 42 Wi-Fi® antenna 43 USB Type A × 4 44 GPIO pins 45 HDMI (registered trademark) output terminal 46 Display Connector 47 microSD card slot (located on the back) 48 Camera Connector 49 Audio Jack 50 Wired LAN connector 51 Equipment 52 Contact monitoring unit 53 Relay 54 Alarm buzzer 55 Production Equipment 56 Retrofit circuit 57 Floodlight 58 Receiver 59 Infrared sensor amplifier 60 Relay 61 Wi-Fi (registered trademark) router 62 Communication Network 63 Cloud 64 Cloud Server 65 Means of Notification 66 Databases 67, 68, 69 Mobile communication terminals 71 Contact monitoring unit A 72 Contact monitoring unit B 73 Contact monitoring unit C 74 Account AC1 75 Account AC2 76 Account AC3 77 Equipment Manager 131 Equipment A 132 Equipment B 133 Contact monitoring unit A 134 Cloud 135 Administrator 136 Equipment C 137 Contact monitoring unit B 138 Equipment 139 Contact monitoring unit 140 Cloud 141 Administrator A 142 Administrator B 143 Administrator C 150 Contact monitoring unit 151 Processing machine 152 Cooling water equipment 153 Circulation Pump 154 Air conditioner 155 Cloud 156, 157 Mobile communication terminals 1101 Start (step) 1102 LED flashing (step) 1103 Start of communication (step) 1104 Start date and time transmission (step) 1105 LED lit (step) 1106 Start of unit communication check (step) 1107 Date and time transmission (step) 1108 Start monitoring contacts (step) 1109 Record contact opening and closing and time in sequence (step) 1110 Determining whether the contact is open or closed (step) 1111 Always send changed value (step) 1112 Start waiting for physical button operation (step) 1113 Shutdown date and time transmission (step) 1114 Shutdown (step) 1115 Restart (step) 1116 Power interruption detection start (step) 1117 Log record (step) 1118 System Shutdown (Step) 1201 Cloud (1) Processing (Step) 1202 Record communication confirmation transmission date and time (step) 1203 Cloud (1) 'Update time check (step) 1204 Status judgement (step) 1205 Communication error change (step) 1206 Send a push notification to the target mobile communication device (step 1207 Cloud (2) Processing (Steps) 1208 Change status to running or stopped, record update date and time (step) 1209 Cloud (3) Processing (Steps) 1210 Type of data to be saved (operation / alarm / count) judgement (step) 1211 Save all change dates and contact information (step) 1212 Send push notification to target mobile communication device (step) 1213 Calculate the number of opens or closes sent (step) 1214 Add the number of times to the target date (step)

Claims

1. A connection means for connecting to a contact of an external facility device that is not compatible with PLC control or network control; a DC conversion means for converting an input AC voltage into a DC voltage; a state detection means for detecting a state of the contact by applying the DC voltage converted by the DC conversion means; a relay circuit means for receiving a contact signal which is an output from the contact detected by the state detection means; a single board computer with built-in wireless communication function for determining the state of the contact signal received by the relay circuit means and detecting a change in the connection state of the contact; a power supply means for supplying a DC voltage different from the DC voltage converted by the DC conversion means to the single-board computer; A contact monitoring unit comprising:

2. 2. The contact monitoring unit according to claim 1, wherein the single board computer further comprises a USB terminal, and an external SIM module is connected to the USB terminal.

3. A remote contact monitoring system characterized in that the contact monitoring unit described in claim 1 is connected to the facility equipment and is also connected to a cloud server via a communication network, and the cloud server is connected via the communication network to a plurality of mobile communication terminals on which a contact monitoring application has been installed in advance, and the cloud server receives operation information indicating the operating status of the facility equipment from the contact monitoring unit in real time and notifies the mobile communication terminal of the operation information of the facility equipment by push notification.

4. The remote contact monitoring system according to claim 3, further comprising an infrared sensor detection means, the equipment being production equipment, and the number of production units is counted by detecting the movement of the production equipment using a signal from an infrared sensor attached to a working part of the production equipment by the infrared sensor detection means.

5. The remote contact monitoring system described in claim 3, characterized in that a user launches the contact monitoring application, links the contact monitoring unit to be monitored for each user to a user account, and enters the ID and password of the contact monitoring unit to register the contact monitoring unit to be monitored in the cloud server and turn push notifications on / off for the registered contact monitoring unit to be monitored.

Images