Information provision device, information provision method, information provision program and information display device

Abstract

To provide an information provision device, an information provision method, an information provision program, and an information display that can support the efficient management of facilities.SOLUTION: An administrative server 20 includes a receiving part 21 that acquires congestion level information indicating the congestion level of a toilet facility, and a receiving part 21 that acquires paper remaining information related to the remaining amount of toilet paper in each of multiple private rooms 12 included in the toilet facility 10; an urgency determination part 25 that determines the urgency of replenishing supplies in the toilet facility 10 based on the paper remaining levels and congestion levels in each of the multiple private rooms 12; and an output part 26 that outputs the urgency determined by the urgency determination part 25.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information providing apparatus, an information providing method, an information providing program, and an information display apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] There is known a device that detects the remaining amount of toilet paper (paper remaining amount) in a household toilet by a sensor and notifies the detected paper remaining amount (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, in large facilities such as shopping centers and public facilities (for example, inside stations, etc.), a plurality of toilet facilities are provided. In addition, each toilet facility is provided with a plurality of private rooms. By providing the mechanism described in Patent Document 1 in each private room, it is possible to grasp the paper remaining amount for each private room. However, when the number of private rooms to be managed is large as described above, it is very laborious to manage the information notified for each private room. Therefore, for example, there is a demand for a mechanism that supports efficient management of facilities for an administrator who manages equipment replacement and the like in each toilet facility in a large facility as described above.

[0005] One aspect of the present disclosure aims to provide an information providing apparatus, an information providing method, an information providing program, and an information display apparatus that can support efficient management of facilities.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] An information providing device according to an aspect of the present disclosure is an information providing device that provides information on a plurality of private rooms included in a toilet facility, and includes a congestion degree acquisition unit that acquires congestion degree information indicating the congestion degree of the toilet facility, a paper remaining amount acquisition unit that acquires a paper remaining amount that is information related to the remaining amount of toilet paper in each of the private rooms, an urgency determination unit that determines the urgency of supply replenishment of the toilet facility based on the paper remaining amount of each of the plurality of private rooms and the congestion degree of the toilet facility, and an output unit that outputs the urgency determined by the urgency determination unit.

[0007] In the above information providing device, the urgency of supply replenishment of the toilet facility is determined based on the paper remaining amount of each of the plurality of private rooms included in the toilet facility and the congestion degree of the toilet facility, and the determined urgency is output. That is, in the above information providing device, the urgency of supply replenishment is output in consideration of the congestion degree in units of the toilet facility rather than in units of private rooms. As a result, the manager of the toilet facility can accurately grasp the timing at which supply replenishment of the toilet facility should be performed, the priority of supply replenishment work among toilet facilities, etc. based on the urgency of the toilet facility output by the output unit. Therefore, according to the above information providing device, efficient management of the facility can be supported.

Effects of the Invention

[0008] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, it is possible to provide an information providing device, an information providing method, an information providing program, and an information display device that can support efficient management of a facility.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

Figure 13

Figure 14

Figure 15

Figure 16

Figure 17

Figure 18

Figure 19

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail. In the description of the drawings, the same or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicate descriptions are omitted.

[0011] [First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an information providing system 1 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the information providing system 1 includes a plurality of toilet facilities 10, a management server 20 (information providing device), and a management terminal 30 (information display device). The management terminal 30 is a terminal device held by the administrator of the toilet facility 10. As an example, the information providing system 1 is a system for providing information on a plurality of toilet facilities 10 provided in a large facility to an administrator who performs cleaning, replacement / supplementation of equipment, repair, etc. of the toilet facility 10. Note that the large facility in which the plurality of toilet facilities 10 are provided is not limited to a specific facility. Specific examples of large facilities include within a station building, a shopping center, a hotel, an amusement park, a zoo, an aquarium, a museum, a theme park, and the like. In this embodiment, as an example, the large facility is a three-story building (such as a shopping center) having six toilet facilities 10 (three male toilets and three female toilets) (see FIG. 10). Also, in this embodiment, a group of toilet cubicles that can be accessed through a common entrance is regarded as one toilet facility.

[0012] The GW11 provided in each toilet facility 10 and the management terminal 30 held by the administrator are each communicably connected to the management server 20 via a network N. The network N is an arbitrary communication network, wired or wireless. The network N is, for example, the Internet, a public line network, a dedicated line network, or the like.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the toilet facility 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the toilet facility 10 includes a plurality (five in the example of FIG. 2) of individual rooms 12. An opening / closing sensor 121 is provided on the door 12a of each individual room 12. Also, inside each individual room 12, a toilet paper holder 13 for storing a plurality (for example, three) of toilet papers is provided. A paper remaining amount sensor 122 is provided on the toilet paper holder 13.

[0014] FIG. 3 is a functional configuration diagram of the information providing system 1. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration common to the management server 20 and the management terminal 30. As shown in FIG. 4, physically, the management server 20 and the management terminal 30 can be configured as a computer system including a processor 101 such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory 102 such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory), an auxiliary storage device 103 such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a communication device 104 such as a communication interface for communicating with the network N, an input device 105 such as a mouse and a keyboard, and an output device 106 such as a display and a speaker. When the management terminal 30 is a smartphone, a tablet terminal, etc., the touch panel display provided in the management terminal 30 functions as both the input device 105 and the output device 106 described above. In each of the management server 20 and the management terminal 30, the processor 101 reads out and executes a program P (information providing program or information display program) stored in advance in the auxiliary storage device 103 into the memory 102, so that each hardware operates under the control of the processor 101, and data reading and writing in the memory 102 and the auxiliary storage device 103 are performed. Thereby, each function of the management server 20 and the management terminal 30 shown in FIG. 3 is realized. However, the hardware configuration of the management server 20 and the management terminal 30 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 4. For example, the management server 20 may not include the input device 105 and the output device 106.

[0015] [Configuration of Toilet Facility] As described above, the toilet facility 10 is provided with the GW11, and the opening / closing sensors 121 and the paper remaining amount sensors 122 provided in each of the plurality of private rooms 12. The GW11 is a communication device (gateway device) that relays communication between each of the opening / closing sensors 121 and the paper remaining amount sensors 122 in each private room 12 and the management server 20.

[0016] The opening / closing sensor 121 detects whether the private room 12 is vacant (the door 12a is open) or in use (the door 12a is closed) by detecting the opening / closing state of the door 12a (see FIG. 2). The opening / closing sensor 121 can be constituted by, for example, a magnetic sensor or the like. The opening / closing sensor 121 detects the opening / closing state of the door 12a, for example, every predetermined time (for example, 5 seconds). Then, the opening / closing sensor 121 transmits, to the management server 20 via the GW11, usage status information indicating whether the private room 12 is vacant or in use, together with the identification information (opening / closing sensor ID) of the opening / closing sensor 121, every time the above predetermined time elapses.

[0017] The paper remaining amount sensor 122 detects the number of toilet papers (paper remaining amount) stored in the toilet paper holder 13. Various known sensors can be used as the paper remaining amount sensor 122. For example, the paper remaining amount sensor 122 may detect the position of the last toilet paper in the toilet paper holder 13 and detect the paper remaining amount based on the position. Alternatively, the paper remaining amount sensor 122 may detect the weight of the toilet papers in the toilet paper holder 13 and detect the paper remaining amount based on the weight. The paper remaining amount sensor 122 detects the paper remaining amount, for example, every predetermined time (for example, 1 minute ). Then, the paper remaining amount sensor 122 transmits, to the management server 20 via the GW11, the detected paper remaining amount, together with the identification information (paper remaining amount sensor ID) of the paper remaining amount sensor 122, every time the above predetermined time elapses.

[0018] [Configuration of Management Server] As shown in FIG. 3, the management server 20 includes a reception unit 21 (usage status acquisition unit, toilet paper remaining amount acquisition unit), a management unit 22, a storage unit 23, a congestion degree determination unit 24, an urgency degree determination unit 25, and an output unit 26.

[0019] The reception unit 21 receives (acquires) usage status information (information indicating "vacant" or "in use") indicating the usage status of each individual room 12 from the opening / closing sensors 121 provided in each of the plurality of individual rooms 12 of each toilet facility 10. Further, the reception unit 21 receives (acquires) the toilet paper remaining amount, which is information related to the remaining amount of toilet paper in each individual room 12, from the toilet paper remaining amount sensors 122 provided in each of the plurality of individual rooms 12 of each toilet facility 10. The reception unit 21 also receives a request from the management terminal 30.

[0020] The management unit 22 manages the building table T1, the toilet facility table T2, and the individual room table T3 stored in the storage unit 23. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the building table T1, the toilet facility table T2, and the individual room table T3.

[0021] The building table T1 is table information associated with a facility (in this embodiment, a three-story building) including a plurality of toilet facilities 10. The building table T1 includes a building floor map image and a toilet facility ID for identifying each of the plurality of toilet facilities 10 provided in the building. In the example of FIG. 5, m toilet facilities 10 are provided in the building, and m toilet facility IDs (toilet facility ID_1 to toilet facility ID_m) corresponding to each toilet facility 10 are stored in the building table T1. The information stored in the building table T1 is registered in advance by the building administrator or the like.

[0022] The toilet facility table T2 is table information associated with the toilet facility 10. The toilet facility table T2 is created for each toilet facility 10. That is, in the example of FIG. 5, the storage unit 23 stores m toilet facility tables T2 corresponding to m toilet facilities 10 (toilet facility ID_1 to toilet facility ID_m). The toilet facility table T2 includes a toilet facility ID, a toilet facility name, a type, position coordinates, the number of private rooms, a private room ID for identifying each private room included in the toilet facility, a toilet facility image, a congestion level, a congestion level determination date and time, a replenishment urgency level, and a replenishment urgency level determination date and time. The toilet facility ID of the toilet facility table T2 is information corresponding to the toilet facility ID stored in the building table T1. In the example of FIG. 5, the toilet facility 10 corresponding to "toilet facility ID_1" includes n private rooms 12. Therefore, n private room IDs (private room ID_1 to private room ID_n) corresponding to each private room 12 are stored in the toilet facility table T2 of the toilet facility 10 corresponding to "toilet facility ID_1". The type is information indicating the form of the toilet facility 10 and includes, for example, information indicating whether the toilet facility 10 is a men's toilet or a women's toilet. The position coordinates are position information indicating the position of the toilet facility 10 in the building. The position coordinates are used to specify the position of the toilet facility 10 in the building floor map image stored in the building table T1. For example, the position coordinates can be defined by coordinates expressed in pixel units with the top leftmost pixel in the building floor map image as the origin.

[0023] Among the information stored in the toilet facility table T2, the toilet facility ID, the toilet facility name, the type, the position coordinates, the number of private rooms, the private room ID of each private room, and the toilet facility image are registered in advance by an administrator or the like. The congestion level and the congestion level determination date and time are stored after the processing by the congestion level determination unit 24 described later is performed. The replenishment urgency level and the replenishment urgency level determination date and time are stored after the processing by the urgency level determination unit 25 described later is performed.

[0024] The individual room table T3 is table information associated with the individual room 12 of the toilet facility 10. The individual room table T3 is created for each individual room 12. The individual room table T3 includes an individual room ID, an opening / closing sensor ID, a paper remaining amount sensor ID, position coordinates, usage status information, the reception date and time of the usage status information, the paper remaining amount, and the reception date and time of the paper remaining amount. The individual room ID of the individual room table T3 is information corresponding to the individual room ID stored in the toilet facility table T2. The opening / closing sensor ID is information for identifying the opening / closing sensor 121 provided in the individual room 12. The paper remaining amount sensor ID is information for identifying the paper remaining amount sensor 122 provided in the individual room 12. The position coordinates are position information indicating the position of the individual room 12 within the toilet facility 10. The position coordinates are used to specify the position of the individual room 12 in the toilet facility image stored in the toilet facility table T2. For example, the position coordinates can be defined by coordinates expressed in pixel units with the top-leftmost pixel in the toilet facility image as the origin.

[0025] Among the information stored in the individual room table T3, the individual room ID, the opening / closing sensor ID, the paper remaining amount sensor ID, and the position coordinates are registered in advance by an administrator or the like. The usage status information and the reception date and time of the usage status information are registered when the receiving unit 21 receives the usage status information from the corresponding opening / closing sensor 121. The paper remaining amount and the reception date and time of the paper remaining amount are registered when the receiving unit 21 receives the paper remaining amount from the corresponding paper remaining amount sensor 122.

[0026] The usage status information stored in the individual room table T3 is the usage status information received by the receiving unit 21. As described above, from each opening / closing sensor 121 provided in each individual room 12 of each toilet facility 10, the opening / closing sensor ID of the opening / closing sensor 121 and the usage status information are periodically transmitted to the management server 20. The management unit 22 stores the received usage status information in the individual room table T3 of the individual room 12 corresponding to the received opening / closing sensor ID (that is, the individual room table T3 including the received opening / closing sensor ID), and registers the reception date and time of the usage status information. Through the above processing, the usage status information and the reception date and time in the individual room table T3 are updated every time information from the opening / closing sensor 121 of the corresponding individual room 12 is received. As a result, the latest usage status information (information indicating "vacant" or "in use" in this embodiment) of each individual room 12 is stored in the individual room table T3 of each individual room 12.

[0027] The remaining paper amount stored in the individual room table T3 is the remaining paper amount received by the receiving unit 21. As described above, from each paper remaining amount sensor 122 provided in each individual room 12 of each toilet facility 10, the paper remaining amount sensor ID of the paper remaining amount sensor 122 and the paper remaining amount are periodically transmitted to the management server 20. The management unit 22 stores the received paper remaining amount in the individual room table T3 of the individual room 12 corresponding to the received paper remaining amount sensor ID (that is, the individual room table T3 including the received paper remaining amount sensor ID), and registers the reception date and time of the paper remaining amount. Through the above processing, the remaining paper amount and the reception date and time in the individual room table T3 are updated every time information from the paper remaining amount sensor 122 of the corresponding individual room 12 is received. As a result, the latest paper remaining amount of each individual room 12 is stored in the individual room table T3 of each individual room 12.

[0028] The congestion determination unit 24 determines the congestion level of each toilet facility 10. More specifically, the congestion determination unit 24 determines the congestion level of the toilet facility 10 based on the usage status information of each of the plurality of individual rooms 12 of the toilet facility 10 for each toilet facility 10.

[0029] Referring to FIG. 6, an example of the processing procedure of the congestion determination unit 24 will be described. In step S101, the congestion determination unit 24 selects the toilet facility 10 to be processed. In step S102, the congestion determination unit 24 acquires the usage status information of each individual room 12 of the selected toilet facility 10. For example, the congestion determination unit 24 refers to the toilet facility table T2 (see FIG. 5) corresponding to the selected toilet facility 10, and acquires all the individual room IDs included in the toilet facility table T2. Then, the congestion determination unit 24 refers to each individual room table T3 (see FIG. 5) corresponding to the acquired individual room IDs, thereby acquiring the usage status information of each individual room 12.

[0030] In step S103, the congestion determination unit 24 calculates the utilization rate of the individual rooms 12 of the toilet facility 10 based on the usage status information of each individual room 12. For example, the congestion determination unit 24 refers to the number of individual rooms in the toilet facility table T2 corresponding to the selected toilet facility 10, and calculates the utilization rate by calculating "the number of individual rooms with usage status information of 'in use' ÷ the total number of individual rooms in the toilet facility 10".

[0031] In step S104, the congestion determination unit 24 determines whether the utilization rate is 100%. If the utilization rate is 100% (step S104: YES), the congestion determination unit 24 sets the congestion level to level 3 (fully occupied), the highest level (step S105). On the other hand, if the utilization rate is not 100% (step S104: NO), the congestion determination unit 24 determines whether the utilization rate is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold t1 (for example, 70% etc.) (step S106). The threshold t1 is set in advance by an administrator or the like, for example. If the utilization rate is equal to or higher than the threshold t1 (step S106: YES), the congestion determination unit 24 sets the congestion level to level 2 (congested), the middle level (step S107). On the other hand, if the utilization rate is less than the threshold t1 (step S106: NO), the congestion determination unit 24 sets the congestion level to level 1 (vacant), the minimum level (step S108).

[0032] The congestion level and determination date and time set in any of steps S105, S107, and S108 are stored in the toilet facility table T2 corresponding to the toilet facility 10 selected in step S101. The congestion determination unit 24 can set (determine) the congestion level of each toilet facility 10 by performing the processing of FIG. 6 for all the toilet facilities 10 included in the building.

[0033] The urgency determination unit 25 determines the replenishment urgency of each toilet facility 10. The replenishment urgency is the urgency of supply item replenishment for the toilet facility 10 (that is, information indicating the degree of necessity for promptly performing supply item replenishment). More specifically, the urgency determination unit 25 determines the replenishment urgency of the toilet facility 10 based on the remaining amount of paper in each of the plurality of individual rooms 12 of the toilet facility 10 for each toilet facility 10.

[0034] With reference to FIG. 7, an example of the processing procedure of the urgency determination unit 25 will be described. In step S201, the urgency determination unit 25 selects the toilet facility 10 to be processed. In step S202, the urgency determination unit 25 acquires the remaining amount of paper in each individual room 12 of the selected toilet facility 10. For example, the urgency determination unit 25 refers to the toilet facility table T2 (see FIG. 5) corresponding to the selected toilet facility 10 and acquires all the individual room IDs included in the toilet facility table T2. Then, the urgency determination unit 25 acquires the remaining amount of paper in each individual room 12 by referring to each individual room table T3 (see FIG. 5) corresponding to the acquired individual room IDs.

[0035] In step S203, the urgency determination unit 25 acquires the minimum value of the remaining amount of paper based on the remaining amount of paper in each individual room 12. That is, the urgency determination unit 25 identifies the individual room 12 with the least remaining amount of paper and acquires the remaining amount of paper in the individual room 12.

[0036] In step S204, the urgency determination unit 25 determines whether the minimum value is 0. If the minimum value is 0 (step S204: YES), the urgency determination unit 25 sets the replenishment urgency to level 3 (high), the highest level (step S205). On the other hand, if the minimum value is not 0 (step S204: NO), the urgency determination unit 25 determines whether the minimum value is 1 (step S206). If the minimum value is 1 (step S206: YES), the urgency determination unit 25 sets the replenishment urgency to level 2 (medium), the medium level (step S207). On the other hand, if the minimum value is 2 or more (step S206: NO), the urgency determination unit 2 5 sets the replenishment urgency to level 1 (low), the lowest level (step S208).

[0037] The replenishment urgency and determination date and time set in any of steps S205, S207, and S208 are stored in the toilet facility table T2 corresponding to the toilet facility 10 selected in step S201. By performing the process of FIG. 7 for all the toilet facilities 10 included in the building, the urgency determination unit 25 can set (determine) the replenishment urgency of each toilet facility 10.

[0038] The output unit 26 outputs various information in response to a request from the management terminal 30. For example, the output unit 26 outputs (transmits) the replenishment urgency information for each toilet facility 10 to the management terminal 30. Further, the output unit 26 outputs the congestion information of the toilet facility 10 designated in the management terminal 30, as well as the usage status information and the remaining paper amount for each private room 12 included in the toilet facility 10 to the management terminal 30.

[0039] [Configuration of Management Terminal] As shown in FIG. 3, the management terminal 30 includes an operation reception unit 31, a communication unit 32 (acquisition unit), and a display control unit 33.

[0040] The operation reception unit 31 receives user operations. The communication unit 32 transmits and receives data to and from the management server 20. For example, the communication unit 32 transmits a display request for a management screen (see FIG. 10) described later to the management server 20, and periodically receives information regarding each toilet facility 10 from the management server 20. The display control unit 33 generates a management screen based on the information regarding each toilet facility 10 acquired by the communication unit 32, and displays the management screen on the display (output device 106). Details of the processing of the management terminal 30 will be described with reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 8, the flowchart shown in FIG. 9, and an example of the management screen 50 shown in FIG. 10. As shown in FIG. 10, in this embodiment, as an example, the management screen 50 includes a building floor map image 51 in which marks (icons) indicating the locations and replenishment urgency levels of the respective toilet facilities 10 are superimposed, and a toilet facility image 52 in which various information of the selected toilet facility 10 (for example, usage status information of each individual room 12 and remaining paper amount, etc.) is superimposed.

[0041] As shown in FIG. 8, in step S301, the communication unit 32 requests the management server 20 to display the management screen 50. That is, the communication unit 32 requests the management server 20 for display data necessary for generating the management screen 50. For example, the administrator performs an operation to access the management screen 50 of the building to be managed by operating the management terminal 30. The operation is, for example, an operation of inputting connection destination information such as a URL associated with the management screen 50 into a browser or the like, or an operation of starting a dedicated application for displaying the management screen 50. When the operation reception unit 31 receives the operation in response, the communication unit 32 requests the management server 20 for the display data.

[0042] In step S302, the management server 20 generates display data in response to a request from the management terminal 30. For example, the display data includes a building floor map image of the building to be managed, the toilet facility name, type, position coordinates, toilet facility image, congestion level, and replenishment urgency of each toilet facility 10 included in the building, and information (position coordinates, usage status information, paper remaining amount) of each individual room 12 included in each toilet facility 10. For example, the output unit 26 of the management server 20 refers to the building table T1 corresponding to the building to be managed stored in the storage unit 23, the toilet facility table T2 corresponding to each toilet facility 10 included in the building, and the individual room table T3 corresponding to each individual room 12 included in each toilet facility 10 in response to the reception unit 21 receiving a request from the management terminal 30, thereby generating the above-described display data. In step S303, the output unit 26 transmits the generated display data to the management terminal 30.

[0043] In step S304, the management terminal 30 generates and displays a management screen 50 based on the display data received from the management server 20. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure of step S304. With reference to FIG. 9, the details of the processing in step S304 will be described.

[0044] In step S401, the communication unit 32 acquires display data from the management server 20. Subsequently, in steps S402 to S404, the display control unit 33 generates a building floor map image 51 (see FIG. 10) in which the information of each toilet facility 10 is superimposed based on the display data (mainly the building floor map image and the type, position coordinates, and replenishment urgency of each toilet facility 10).

[0045] In step S402, the display control unit 33 selects one toilet facility 10 in the building. In step S403, the display control unit 33 arranges a toilet icon 61 and a replenishment urgency icon 62 at a position corresponding to the toilet facility 10 on the building floor map image. For example, the display control unit 33 specifies the position of the toilet facility 10 in the building floor map image by referring to the position coordinates of the selected toilet facility 10. The display control unit 33 arranges a toilet icon 61 corresponding to the type (male or female) of the toilet facility 10 at the specified position of the toilet facility 10. The toilet icon 61 is configured to be selectable by a click operation (a tap operation in the case of a touch panel display) or the like. Further, the display control unit 33 refers to the replenishment urgency of the selected toilet facility 10, and arranges a replenishment urgency icon 62, which is display information indicating the replenishment urgency, at a position corresponding to the toilet facility 10 (for example, a position adjacent to the toilet icon 61).

[0046] The replenishment urgency icons 62 are prepared in advance for each replenishment urgency level. In this embodiment, as an example, the replenishment urgency icon 62 corresponding to the replenishment urgency level "Level 1 (low)" is represented by a plain round mark, the replenishment urgency icon 62 corresponding to the replenishment urgency level "Level 2 (medium)" is represented by a round mark with one exclamation mark "!" inscribed therein, and the replenishment urgency icon 62 corresponding to the replenishment urgency level "Level 3 (high)" is represented by a round mark with two exclamation marks "!" inscribed therein. However, the display mode of the replenishment urgency icon 62 is not limited to the above. For example, the replenishment urgency icon 62 may be realized by a color or the like corresponding to the replenishment urgency level. For example, it may be represented by a round mark colored green for "Level 1 (low)", a round mark colored yellow for "Level 2 (medium)", and a round mark colored red for "Level 3 (high)".

[0047] In step S404, the display control unit 33 determines whether there is an unprocessed toilet facility 10. If there is an unprocessed toilet facility 10 (step S404: YES), the display control unit 33 repeats the processes of steps S402 and S403 until the processing for all toilet facilities 10 is completed.

[0048] When the processing for all toilet facilities 10 is completed (step S404: NO), the display control unit 33 generates a toilet facility image 52 (see FIG. 10) in which various information of the selected toilet facility 10 is superimposed and displayed based on the display data (mainly, the toilet facility name, toilet facility image, congestion level, and replenishment urgency of each toilet facility 10, and information on each individual room 12 included in each toilet facility 10 (position coordinates, usage status information, paper remaining amount)) (steps S405 to S409).

[0049] In step S405, the display control unit 33 selects the toilet facility 10 to be displayed on the toilet facility image 52. The toilet facility 10 to be displayed may be selected according to, for example, a predetermined default setting (initial setting), or according to the content preset by the administrator. Alternatively, the display control unit 33 may select, as the toilet facility 10 to be displayed, the toilet facility 10 that was being displayed immediately before the management screen 50 was closed when the management screen 50 was last viewed.

[0050] In step S406, the display control unit 33 arranges a replenishment urgency icon 62 and text information 63 indicating the congestion level of the selected toilet facility 10 at a predetermined position on the toilet facility image 52 of the selected toilet facility 10. In the present embodiment, the display control unit 33 arranges the replenishment urgency icon 62 together with the toilet facility name of the selected toilet facility 10 at the upper part of the toilet facility image 52. Further, the display control unit 33 arranges text information 63 indicating the congestion level of the selected toilet facility 10 at the lower part of the toilet facility image 52.

[0051] In step S407, the display control unit 33 selects one of the individual rooms 12 of the selected toilet facility 10. In step S408, the display control unit 33 arranges text information 64 indicating the usage status information of the individual room 12 and a toilet paper remaining amount icon 65 at a position corresponding to the individual room 12 in the toilet facility image 52 of the selected toilet facility 10. For example, the display control unit 33 identifies the position of the individual room 12 in the toilet facility image 52 by referring to the position coordinates of the selected individual room 12. The display control unit 33 arranges the text information 64 at the identified position of the individual room 12. Further, the display control unit 33 arranges the toilet paper remaining amount icon 65, which is display information indicating the toilet paper remaining amount, at the position of the identified individual room 12 by further referring to the toilet paper remaining amount of the selected individual room 12.

[0052] The toilet paper remaining amount icon 65 is prepared in advance for each toilet paper remaining amount. In this embodiment, as an example, the toilet paper remaining amount icon 65 corresponding to a toilet paper remaining amount of "2 or more" is represented by a plain round mark similar to the replenishment urgency icon 62 corresponding to a replenishment urgency of "Level 1 (low)". Also, the toilet paper remaining amount icon 65 corresponding to a toilet paper remaining amount of "1" is represented by a round mark with one exclamation mark "!" inscribed inside, similar to the replenishment urgency icon 62 corresponding to a replenishment urgency of "Level 2 (medium)". Further, the toilet paper remaining amount icon 65 corresponding to a toilet paper remaining amount of "0" is represented by a round mark with two exclamation marks "!" inscribed inside, similar to the replenishment urgency icon 62 corresponding to a replenishment urgency of "Level 3 (high)". However, the display mode of the toilet paper remaining amount icon 65 is not limited to the above. For example, the toilet paper remaining amount icon 65 may be realized by a color or the like according to the toilet paper remaining amount. For example, it may be represented by a round mark colored green for "toilet paper remaining amount of 2 or more", a round mark colored yellow for "toilet paper remaining amount of 1", and a round mark colored red for "toilet paper remaining amount of 0".

[0053] In step S409, the display control unit 33 determines whether there is an unprocessed private room 12. If there is an unprocessed private room 12 (step S409: YES), the display control unit 33 repeats the processes of steps S407 and S408 until the processing for all private rooms 12 is completed.

[0054] When the processing for all private rooms 12 is completed (step S409: NO), in step S410, the display control unit 33 displays a management screen 50 (see FIG. 10) including the building floor map image 51 generated by the processes of steps S402 to S404 and the toilet facility image 52 generated by the processes of steps S405 to S409 on the display (output device 106) of the management terminal 30. Thus, the process of step S304 in FIG. 8 ends.

[0055] Steps S305 to S308 in FIG. 8 are processes for maintaining the display content of the management screen 50 in the latest state when the display of the management screen 50 continues. In step S305, the management terminal 30 determines whether a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds) has elapsed since the time when the management screen 50 was generated in step S304 (or the time when it was updated in step S308). When the predetermined time has elapsed (step S305: YES), in step S306, the management terminal 30 (communication unit 32) requests the latest information regarding the toilet facility 10. For example, the communication unit 32 requests information that may change in state according to time change among the display data. For example, the communication unit 32 requests the management server 20 for the latest information regarding the congestion level and replenishment urgency of each toilet facility 10, and the usage status information and paper remaining amount of each private room 12 of each toilet facility 10. In step S307, the management server 20 transmits the latest information regarding the toilet facility 10 in response to the request from the management terminal 30. That is, the output unit 26 refers to the storage unit 23 and transmits the latest information regarding the toilet facility 10 to the management terminal 30. In step S308, the communication unit 32 acquires the latest information from the management server 20, and the display control unit 33 updates the management screen 50 based on the latest information.

[0056] In addition, when the toilet facility 10 for which the toilet facility image 52 is to be displayed on the management screen 50 is changed (for example, when the toilet icon 61 of a toilet facility 10 different from the currently displayed toilet facility 10 is clicked on the building floor map image 51), the display control unit 33 may update the toilet facility image 52 included in the management screen 50 by executing steps S405 to S409 in FIG. 9. More specifically, in step S405, the display control unit 33 may select the toilet facility 10 corresponding to the clicked toilet icon 61 as the display target and then execute the processes of steps S406 to S409.

[0057] In the management server 20 described above, the replenishment urgency (urgency of supplies replenishment) of the toilet facility 10 is determined based on the amount of remaining paper in each of the plurality of individual rooms 12 included in the toilet facility 10, and the determined replenishment urgency is output. That is, in the management server 20, the replenishment urgency is output in units of toilet facilities rather than in units of individual rooms. As a result, the administrator of the toilet facility 10 can accurately grasp the timing for replenishing the supplies of the toilet facility 10, the priority of the supplies replenishment work among the toilet facilities 10, etc., based on the replenishment urgency of the toilet facility 10 output by the output unit 26. Therefore, according to the management server 20, efficient management of the facility (in this embodiment, a building including a plurality of toilet facilities 10) can be supported.

[0058] In addition, the output unit 26 further outputs the remaining paper amounts of each of the plurality of private rooms 12. In the present embodiment, the output unit 26 transmits, as display data, the remaining paper amounts for each private room 12 included in the toilet facility 10 to the management terminal 30. According to the above configuration, together with the replenishment urgency level for the toilet facility unit, detailed information on the remaining paper amounts for each private room is also output to the management terminal 30. Thereby, the administrator of the toilet facility 10 can quickly grasp the toilet facility 10 for which supplies need to be replenished promptly based on the replenishment urgency level for the toilet facility unit (in the present embodiment, the replenishment urgency icons 62 for each toilet facility 10 superimposed on the building floor plan image 51), and can accurately grasp the private rooms 12 in which toilet paper needs to be replenished in the toilet facility 10 based on the remaining paper amounts for each private room (in the present embodiment, the remaining paper amount icons 65 for each private room 12 superimposed on the toilet facility image 52). Therefore, according to the above configuration, facility management can be made even more efficient.

[0059] Further, the urgency determination unit 25 determines the replenishment urgency based on the comparison result between the minimum value of the remaining paper amounts of each of the plurality of private rooms 12 and a predetermined threshold value (in the present embodiment, the threshold value "0" corresponding to the replenishment urgency level "Level 3 (high)" and the threshold value "1" corresponding to the replenishment urgency level "Level 2 (medium)") (see FIG. 7). According to the above configuration, the replenishment urgency can be determined simply and quickly based on the comparison between the minimum value of the remaining paper amount and the threshold value.

[0060] In addition, the management terminal 30 functions as an information display device that displays information regarding the toilet facility 10. The management terminal 30 acquires, via the communication unit 32, the remaining paper amounts of each of the plurality of individual rooms 12 included in the toilet facility 10 and the replenishment urgency level of the toilet facility 10. Further, the management terminal 30 causes the display control unit 33 to display the replenishment urgency level on the screen together with the remaining paper amounts of each of the plurality of individual rooms 12. In the present embodiment, the management terminal 30 displays a management screen 50 as shown in FIG. 10. According to such a management terminal 30, detailed information on the remaining paper amounts in individual rooms, together with the replenishment urgency level for the toilet facility as a whole, is displayed. As a result, the administrator of the toilet facility 10 can quickly grasp the toilet facility 10 for which supplies need to be replenished promptly based on the replenishment urgency level for the toilet facility as a whole, and can accurately grasp the individual rooms 12 in which toilet paper needs to be replenished in the toilet facility 10 based on the remaining paper amounts in individual rooms. Therefore, according to the above configuration, facility management can be made even more efficient.

[0061] In addition, the communication unit 32 acquires a toilet facility image 52 (map image) of the toilet facility 10 as part of the display data, and the display control unit 33 superimposes and displays display information (in the present embodiment, a remaining paper amount icon 65) indicating the remaining paper amount of each individual room 12 at a position corresponding to each of the plurality of individual rooms 12 on the toilet facility image 52. According to the above configuration, the remaining paper amounts of each individual room 12 can be presented to the administrator of the toilet facility 10 in a visually intuitive and easy-to-understand manner.

[0062] In addition, the communication unit 32 acquires the usage status information of each of the plurality of private rooms 12 as part of the display data, and the display control unit 33 superimposes and displays display information (in this embodiment, text information 64) indicating the usage status information of each private room 12 at positions corresponding to each of the plurality of private rooms 12 on the toilet facility image 52. According to the above configuration, not only the remaining amount of paper in each private room 12 but also the usage status of each private room 12 can be presented to the administrator of the toilet facility 10 in a visually and intuitively understandable manner. Thereby, for example, the administrator can identify the private room 12 that requires replenishment of toilet paper and can grasp whether it is currently possible to replenish the toilet paper in the private room 12 (that is, whether the private room 12 is vacant). In this way, by presenting the management screen 50 in a manner that comprehensively allows the administrator to confirm the usage status and remaining paper amount of each private room 12, the administrator can intuitively and accurately grasp which toilet facility 10 should be used for spare parts replenishment work.

[0063] By referring to the management screen 50, the administrator can intuitively grasp which of the plurality of toilet facilities 10 included in the building are in urgent need of spare parts replenishment. In the example of FIG. 10, by referring to the building floor plan image 51 included in the management screen 50, the administrator can intuitively grasp that the replenishment urgency of the "3F women's toilet" and the "1F women's toilet" is high, and next, the replenishment urgency of the "1F men's toilet" is high. In addition, by referring to the toilet facility image 52 included in the management screen 50, the administrator can comprehensively and intuitively grasp the usage status and remaining paper amount of each private room 12 of the selected toilet facility 10 (in this example, the "3F women's toilet").

[0064] [Modification Example of the First Embodiment] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a modified example of the management screen (management screen 50A). The management screen 50A shown in FIG. 11 does not include the building floor plan image 51 and includes toilet facility images 52 of a plurality of toilet facilities 10 (in this example, all women's toilets included in the building). In contrast, it is mainly different from the management screen 50. Thus, the management screen 50A may not include a map of the entire facility (building floor map image 51). For example, by listing a plurality of toilet facility images 52 of the toilet facilities 10 picked up by the administrator as in the management screen 50A, it is possible to easily let the administrator determine whether there is a toilet facility 10 to be visited (that is, a toilet facility 10 that requires supply replenishment), and in what order each toilet facility 10 should be visited.

[0065] Also, the processing by the urgency determination unit 25 is not limited to the processing shown in FIG. 7. In the example of FIG. 7, "0" is used as the threshold value corresponding to the replenishment urgency "level 3 (high)", and "1" is used as the threshold value corresponding to the replenishment urgency "level 2 (medium)". However, these threshold values can be arbitrarily set. Further, the urgency determination unit 25 may determine the replenishment urgency based on the minimum value of the paper remaining amount and also the number of individual rooms having the paper remaining amount of the minimum value. For example, even if the minimum value of the paper remaining amount is "1", when the number of individual rooms having the paper remaining amount of "1" is equal to or more than a predetermined number (for example, 30% of the total number of individual rooms, etc.), the urgency determination unit 25 may set the replenishment urgency to the maximum (level 3 (high)).

[0066] Also, the urgency determination unit 25 may calculate a score corresponding to the paper remaining amount of each of the plurality of individual rooms 12, and determine the replenishment urgency based on the comparison result between the score and a predetermined threshold value. According to the above configuration, the replenishment urgency can be determined simply and quickly based on the comparison between the score corresponding to the paper remaining amount and the threshold value. With reference to FIG. 12, an example of the procedure of the above determination process will be described.

[0067] In step S501, the urgency determination unit 25 selects the toilet facility 10 to be processed. In step S502, the urgency determination unit 25 acquires the paper remaining amount of each individual room 12 of the selected toilet facility 10.

[0068] In step S503, the urgency determination unit 25 calculates a score according to the remaining paper amount in each individual compartment 12. For example, the urgency determination unit 25 assigns a score determined in advance according to the remaining paper amount to each individual compartment 12. For example, the urgency determination unit 25 assigns 5 points to the individual compartment 12 with a remaining paper amount of "0", 3 points to the individual compartment 12 with a remaining paper amount of "1", 1 point to the individual compartment 12 with a remaining paper amount of "2", and 0 points to the individual compartment 12 with a remaining paper amount of "3" or more. Then, the urgency determination unit 25 calculates the final score (the score associated with the selected toilet facility 10) by adding up the scores of all the individual compartments 12 included in the selected toilet facility 10.

[0069] In step S504, the urgency determination unit 25 determines whether the score is equal to or greater than the threshold value t2. The threshold value t2 is set, for example, to "the maximum score that each individual compartment 12 can obtain (5 points in this example) × the total number of individual compartments of the toilet facility 10 (10 in the example of FIG. 10) × 80%". If the score is equal to or greater than the threshold value t2 (step S504: YES), the urgency determination unit 25 sets the replenishment urgency to the highest level, level 3 (high) (step S505). On the other hand, if the score is less than the threshold value t2 (step S504: NO), the urgency determination unit 25 determines whether the score is less than the threshold value t2 and equal to or greater than the threshold value t3 (step S506). The threshold value t3 is set, for example, to "the maximum score that each individual compartment 12 can obtain (5 points in this example) × the total number of individual compartments of the toilet facility 10 (10 in the example of FIG. 10) × 40%". If the score is less than the threshold value t2 and equal to or greater than the threshold value t 3 (step S506: YES), the urgency determination unit 25 sets the replenishment urgency to the medium level, level 2 (medium) (step S507). On the other hand, if the score is less than the threshold value t3 (step S506: NO), the urgency determination unit 25 sets the replenishment urgency to the minimum level, level 1 (low) (step S508).

[0070] In addition, the urgency determination unit 25 may determine the replenishment urgency of the toilet facility 10 based on the congestion level of the toilet facility 10. In a toilet facility 10 with a high congestion level, it is considered that the toilet paper in each individual room 12 decreases at a faster rate than in a toilet facility 10 with a low congestion level. Therefore, the urgency determination unit 25 may set a higher replenishment urgency as the congestion level of the toilet facility 10 increases. For example, the urgency determination unit 25 may vary the threshold value according to the congestion level so that the threshold value (in the example of FIG. 7, "0" and "1", and in the example of FIG. 12, threshold values t2 and t3) becomes smaller as the congestion level increases. According to the above configuration, the replenishment urgency can be more appropriately determined based not only on the remaining paper amount of the toilet facility 10 but also on the congestion level of the toilet facility 10. For example, for a toilet facility 10 with a high congestion level (i.e., a toilet facility 10 with a high utilization rate and a high consumption rate of toilet paper), it is preferable to replenish the supplies preferentially over a toilet facility 10 with a low congestion level (i.e., a toilet facility 10 with a low utilization rate and a low consumption rate of toilet paper). According to the above configuration, among toilet facilities 10 with similar remaining paper amounts, a toilet facility 10 with a high congestion level is more likely to have a higher replenishment urgency set than a toilet facility 10 with a low congestion level. This makes it possible to present a more appropriate replenishment urgency according to the congestion level to the administrator, and appropriately guide the administrator to the toilet facility 10 with a high need for replenishment.

[0071] Note that in the first embodiment, the congestion level of each toilet facility 10, the remaining paper amount of each individual room 12, and the usage status information may not be output from the management server 20 to the management terminal 30. That is, it is sufficient that at least the replenishment urgency at the toilet facility unit is output from the management server 20 to the management terminal 30. Also, in the management screen 50, it is sufficient that display information (replenishment urgency icon 62) indicating at least the replenishment urgency at the toilet facility unit is displayed.

[0072] [Second Embodiment] Referring to FIGS. 13 to 16, the information providing system 1A according to the second embodiment will be described. In the information providing system 1A, in addition to the remaining amount of paper in each individual room 12 of the toilet facility 10, the replenishment urgency is determined based on the remaining amount of liquid soap (handwashing soap) contained in a container provided in the washbasin of the toilet facility 10 (soap remaining amount). The information providing system 1A is mainly different from the information providing system 1 in that it includes a management server 20A and a management terminal 30A instead of the management server 20 and the management terminal 30. The management server 20A is mainly different from the management server 20 in that it includes a receiving unit 21A, a storage unit 23A, an urgency determination unit 25A, and an output unit 26A instead of the receiving unit 21, the storage unit 23, the urgency determination unit 25, and the output unit 26. The management terminal 30A is mainly different from the management terminal 30 in that it includes a communication unit 32A and a display control unit 33A instead of the communication unit 32 and the display control unit 33.

[0073] In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the toilet facility 10 is provided with one or more (one in the example of FIG. 2) washbasins 14. The washbasin 14 is provided with a container 15 for containing liquid soap (handwashing soap) and a soap remaining amount sensor 16 for detecting the remaining amount of the liquid soap in the container 15. The soap remaining amount sensor 16 can be constituted by, for example, a light amount sensor that detects the height of the liquid surface of the liquid soap in the container 15. For example, the soap remaining amount sensor 16 is configured to be able to detect the soap remaining amount in five levels with the empty state as the minimum value of "0" and the full state as the maximum value of "4" based on the height of the liquid surface of the liquid soap in the container 15. Similar to the above-described open / close sensor 121 and paper remaining amount sensor 122, the soap remaining amount sensor 16 detects the soap remaining amount, for example, every predetermined time (for example, one hour). Then, the soap remaining amount sensor 16 transmits the detected soap remaining amount to the management server 20 via the GW11 together with the identification information of the soap remaining amount sensor 16 (soap remaining amount sensor ID) every time the predetermined time elapses.

[0074] The receiving unit 21A (usage acquisition unit, paper remaining amount acquisition unit, soap remaining amount acquisition unit) receives (acquires) the soap remaining amount of each washbasin 14 from the soap remaining amount sensors 16 provided in each of one or more washbasins 14 of each toilet facility 10, in addition to the functions of the receiving unit 21 described above.

[0075] Similar to the storage unit 23, the storage unit 23A stores the building table T1 and the private room table T3 described above. In addition, instead of the toilet facility table T2, the storage unit 23A stores the toilet facility table T2a shown in FIG. 14. Further, the storage unit 23A stores the washbasin table T4 shown in FIG. 14. In the toilet facility table T2a, in addition to the information provided in the toilet facility table T2 (see FIG. 5), washbasin IDs (in the example of FIG. 14, washbasin ID_1 to washbasin ID_k corresponding to each of the k washbasins 14) for identifying each of one or more washbasins 14 included in the toilet facility 10 are stored. The washbasin table T4 is created for each washbasin 14. The washbasin table T4 includes a washbasin ID, a soap remaining amount sensor ID, position coordinates, a soap remaining amount, and a soap remaining amount reception date and time. The washbasin ID in the washbasin table T4 is information corresponding to the washbasin ID stored in the toilet facility table T2a. The soap remaining amount sensor ID is information for identifying the soap remaining amount sensor 16 provided in the washbasin 14. The position coordinates are position information indicating the position of the washbasin 14 in the toilet facility 10. The position coordinates are used to specify the position of the washbasin 14 in the toilet facility image stored in the toilet facility table T2a. Among the information stored in the washbasin table T4, the washbasin ID, the soap remaining amount sensor ID, and the position coordinates are registered in advance by an administrator or the like. The soap remaining amount and the soap remaining amount reception date and time are registered when the receiving unit 21A receives the soap remaining amount from the corresponding soap remaining amount sensor 16.

[0076] The emergency degree determination unit 25A determines the replenishment emergency degree based on both the remaining amount of paper and the remaining amount of soap. With reference to FIG. 15, an example of the processing procedure of the emergency degree determination unit 25A will be described. In step S601, the emergency degree determination unit 25A selects the toilet facility 10 to be processed. In steps S602 and S603, the emergency degree determination unit 25A calculates a score corresponding to the remaining amount of paper in each individual room 12 in the same manner as steps S502 and S503 of FIG. 12 described above.

[0077] Also, in step S604, the emergency degree determination unit 25A acquires the remaining amount of soap in each washbasin 14 of the selected toilet facility 10. For example, the emergency degree determination unit 25A refers to the toilet facility table T2a corresponding to the selected toilet facility 10 and acquires all the washbasin IDs included in the toilet facility table T2a. Then, the emergency degree determination unit 25A refers to each washbasin table T4 corresponding to the acquired washbasin IDs to acquire the remaining amount of soap in each washbasin 14.

[0078] In step S605, the emergency degree determination unit 25A calculates a score corresponding to the remaining amount of soap in each washbasin 14. For example, the emergency degree determination unit 25A assigns a score determined in advance according to the remaining amount of soap to each washbasin 14. For example, the emergency degree determination unit 25A assigns 5 points to the washbasin 14 with the remaining amount of soap being "0 (empty)", 4 points to the washbasin 14 with the remaining amount of soap being "1", 3 points to the washbasin 14 with the remaining amount of soap being "2", and 0 points to the washbasin 14 with the remaining amount of soap being 3 or more. Then, the emergency degree determination unit 25A calculates the final score (the score associated with the selected toilet facility 10) by adding up the scores of all the washbasins 14 included in the selected toilet facility 10.

[0079] In step S606, the urgency determination unit 25A calculates a comprehensive score based on the score based on the remaining amount of paper calculated in step S603 (hereinafter referred to as the "first score") and the score based on the remaining amount of soap calculated in step S605 (hereinafter referred to as the "second score"). For example, the comprehensive score is the maximum value that the first score can take, "the maximum score that each individual room 12 can take × the total number of individual rooms in the toilet facility 10" (for example, when the maximum score is 5 and the total number of individual rooms is 10, it is "50"), and the maximum value that the second score can take, "the maximum score that each washbasin 14 can take × the total number of washbasins in the toilet facility 10" (for example, when the maximum score is 5 and the total number of washbasins is 6, it is "30"). After performing weighting based on the ratio, the first score and the second score are added together. For example, when the maximum value of the first score is "50" and the maximum value of the second score is "30" as described above, in order to make the influence degrees of the remaining amount of paper and the remaining amount of soap on the replenishment urgency the same, the urgency determination unit 25A may calculate the comprehensive score by adding the value obtained by multiplying the second score by the weight "50 / 30" to the first score. However, the above calculation method is just an example. For example, if it is considered that the replenishment of toilet paper in the individual room 12 is more important than the replenishment of liquid soap in the washbasin 14, the above weight may be set so that the influence degree of the first score on the comprehensive score is greater than the influence degree of the second score on the comprehensive score.

[0080] In step S607, the urgency determination unit 25A determines whether the comprehensive score is equal to or greater than the threshold value t4. The threshold value t4 is set, for example, to "the maximum value that the comprehensive score can take (100 in this example) × 80%". If the comprehensive score is equal to or greater than the threshold value t4 (step S607: YES), the urgency determination unit 25A sets the replenishment urgency to level 3 (high), the highest level (step S608). On the other hand, if the comprehensive score is less than the threshold value t4 (step S607: NO), the urgency determination unit 25A determines whether the comprehensive score is less than the threshold value t4 and equal to or greater than the threshold value t5 (step S609). The threshold value t5 is set, for example, to "the maximum value that the comprehensive score can take (100 in this example) × 40%". If the comprehensive score is less than the threshold value t4 and equal to or greater than the threshold value t5 (step S609: YES), the urgency determination unit 25A sets the replenishment urgency to level 2 (medium), the medium level (step S610). On the other hand, if the comprehensive score is less than the threshold value t5 (step S609: NO), the urgency determination unit 25A sets the replenishment urgency to level 1 (low), the minimum level (step S611).

[0081] In addition to the functions of the output unit 26 described above, the output unit 26A further outputs the remaining amount of soap in each washbasin 14 of each toilet facility 10 to the management terminal 30A in response to a request from the management terminal 30A.

[0082] In addition to the functions of the communication unit 32 described above, the communication unit 32A further acquires the remaining amount of soap in each washbasin 14 of each toilet facility 10 as part of the display data.

[0083] The display control unit 33A, in addition to the functions of the above-described display control unit 33, arranges display information (soap remaining amount icon 66) indicating the remaining amount of soap for each washstand 14 at a position corresponding to each washstand 14 in the toilet facility image 52 displayed on the management screen. FIG. 16 shows an example of the management screen 50B generated and displayed by the processing of the above-described display control unit 33A. As shown in FIG. 16, the soap remaining amount icon 66 is arranged at a position corresponding to the washstand 14 in the toilet facility image 52. The soap remaining amount icons 66 are prepared in advance for each soap remaining amount. In this embodiment, as an example, the soap remaining amount icon corresponding to a soap remaining amount of "2 or more" is represented by a plain round mark similar to the replenishment urgency icon corresponding to the replenishment urgency level "Level 1 (low)". Also, the soap remaining amount icon corresponding to a soap remaining amount of "1" is represented by a round mark with one exclamation mark "!" inscribed inside, similar to the replenishment urgency icon corresponding to the replenishment urgency level "Level 2 (medium)". Further, the soap remaining amount icon corresponding to a soap remaining amount of "0" is represented by a round mark with two exclamation marks "!" inscribed inside, similar to the replenishment urgency icon corresponding to the replenishment urgency level "Level 3 (high)". However, the display mode of the soap remaining amount icon is not limited to the above. For example, the soap remaining amount icon may be realized by a color or the like according to the soap remaining amount. For example, it may be represented by a round mark colored green for "soap remaining amount of 2 or more", a round mark colored yellow for "soap remaining amount of 1", and a round mark colored red for "soap remaining amount of 0".

[0084] The display control unit 33A arranges the soap remaining amount icon 66 on the toilet facility image 52 by performing the same processing as the processing for the private room 12 described above (steps S407 to S409 in FIG. 9) on the washstands 14 included in the toilet facility 10. That is, the display control unit 33A specifies the position of the washstand 14 in the toilet facility image 52 by referring to the position coordinates and the soap remaining amount of the selected washstand 14, and arranges the soap remaining amount icon 66 at the specified position.

[0085] According to the management server 20A, by determining not only the remaining amount of paper in each individual room 12 but also the remaining amount of liquid soap provided in the washbasin 14 of the toilet facility 10, it is possible to more appropriately determine the urgency of replenishing the supplies in the toilet facility 10.

[0086] [Modification Example of the Second Embodiment] In the above embodiment, the urgency determination unit 25A determines the replenishment urgency based on both the remaining amount of paper and the remaining amount of soap. However, the urgency determination unit 25A may determine the replenishment urgency based on any one of a plurality of modes including at least two of a first mode of determining the replenishment urgency based only on the remaining amount of paper, a second mode of determining the replenishment urgency based only on the remaining amount of soap, and a third mode of determining the replenishment urgency based on both the remaining amount of paper and the remaining amount of soap in response to a request from the management terminal 30. For example, the receiving unit 21A may receive a designation of any one of the above first mode, second mode, and third mode from the management terminal 30. Then, the urgency determination unit 25A may determine the replenishment urgency based on the mode received by the receiving unit 21A.

[0087] For example, as shown in FIG. 16, the display control unit 33A may display a display area 67 on the management screen 50B where an operation of selecting any one of the first mode (paper), the second mode (soap), and the third mode (paper + soap) is acceptable. Then, the operation receiving unit 31 may receive an administrator's selection operation on the display area 67, and the communication unit 32A may transmit information indicating the selected mode to the management server 20. Thereby, the receiving unit 21A can receive a mode designation from the management terminal 30.

[0088] However, which mode to use for determining the replenishment urgency may be determined by means other than the administrator's selection operation. For example, which mode to use may be predetermined according to the time zone. For example, when the replenishment operation of the liquid soap in the washbasin 14 is performed only at night, the urgency determination unit 25A may be configured to determine the replenishment urgency using the third mode during a predetermined night time zone, and determine the replenishment urgency using the first mode during time zones other than the above-mentioned night time zone. In this case, the reception unit that receives the designation of the mode may be configured by, for example, a processing mechanism that reads the information of the mode to be applied for each time zone and notifies the urgency determination unit 25A of the mode.

[0089] When the first mode is designated, the urgency determination unit 25A may determine the replenishment urgency, for example, by the processing of the first embodiment (urgency determination unit 25) (for example, the processing of the flowchart in FIG. 7 or FIG. 12). When the third mode is designated, the urgency determination unit 25A may determine the replenishment urgency by the processing of the second embodiment (for example, the processing of the flowchart in FIG. 15). When the second mode is designated, the urgency determination unit 25A may determine the replenishment urgency, for example, by the processing in which the "paper remaining amount" in the processing of the first embodiment (for example, the processing of the flowchart in FIG. 7 or FIG. 12) is replaced with the "soap remaining amount".

[0090] According to the configuration in which the mode can be switched as described above, it is possible to present an appropriate replenishment urgency corresponding to the parts to be replenished to the administrator, so that the convenience of the administrator can be further improved.

[0091] [Third Embodiment] Referring to FIGS. 17 to 19, the information providing system 1B according to the third embodiment will be described. The information providing system 1B has a function of detecting an abnormality in the private room 12 of the toilet facility 10. The information providing system 1B is mainly different from the information providing system 1 in that it includes a management server 20B and a management terminal 30B instead of the management server 20 and the management terminal 30. The management server 20B is mainly different from the management server 20 in that it further includes a notification unit 27. The management terminal 30B is mainly different from the management terminal 30 in that it includes a communication unit 32B and a display control unit 33B instead of the communication unit 32 and the display control unit 33. Also, in the third embodiment, the storage unit 23 stores at least the history information of the paper remaining amount and the usage status information of each private room 12 for a past predetermined period (for example, the most recent 30 minutes).

[0092] Based on the usage status information and the paper remaining amount of each private room 12, the notification unit 27 notifies an alert regarding a specific private room 12. For example, based on the paper remaining amount and the usage status information of each of the plurality of private rooms 12 during the above-mentioned predetermined period, the notification unit 27 extracts unused private rooms, which are private rooms 12 that have not been used during the above-mentioned predetermined period and whose paper remaining amount is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. That is, the notification unit 27 extracts, as unused private rooms, private rooms 12 in which the toilet paper remains but have not been used for a predetermined period. Based on the usage status information during the above-mentioned predetermined period, the notification unit 27 determines whether there has been a period during which all private rooms 12 other than the unused private rooms among the plurality of private rooms 12 were in use during the above-mentioned predetermined period. When there has been such a period, the notification unit 27 notifies an alert regarding the unused private rooms.

[0093] Referring to FIG. 18, an example of the processing procedure of the notification unit 27 will be described. In step S701, the notification unit 27 selects the toilet facility 10 to be processed. In step S702, the notification unit 27 acquires the history of the usage status information and the paper remaining amount of each private room 12 during a predetermined period of the selected toilet facility 10. In this embodiment, the notification unit 27 accesses the history information stored in the storage unit 23.

[0094] In step S703, the notification unit 27 determines whether there is an unused private room that has not been used during the above-mentioned predetermined period. For example, the notification unit 27 refers to the history of the usage status information of each private room 12 during the above-mentioned predetermined period, and extracts the private room 12 that was "vacant" during the predetermined period as an unused private room. When an unused private room is extracted (step S703: YES), in step S704, the notification unit 27 determines whether the remaining paper amount of the unused private room is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value t6 (for example, "1"). The threshold value t6 is a value greater than 0 and can be arbitrarily set by an administrator or the like. When the remaining paper amount of the unused private room is equal to or greater than the threshold value t6 (step S704: YES), the notification unit 27 determines whether there was a period during which all private rooms 12 other than the unused private room were in use based on the history of the usage status information of each private room 12 during the above-mentioned predetermined period (step S705). When there was such a period (step S705: YES), the notification unit 27 notifies the management terminal 30 of an alert regarding the unused private room (step S706). The alert is information indicating that the unused private room may be unusable due to an abnormality other than running out of supplies (running out of toilet paper), for example, water leakage, toilet failure or contamination, door failure, etc. The alert includes information for identifying the corresponding unused private room (for example, the private room ID of the unused private room, etc.).

[0095] By periodically performing the process of FIG. 18 for all toilet facilities 10 included in the building, the notification unit 27 can notify the administrator of an unused private room that may be unusable due to an abnormality other than running out of supplies in each toilet facility 10. According to the above mechanism, based on the remaining paper amount and usage status information of each private room 12 during a predetermined period, an unused private room that needs to be promptly checked can be automatically detected and notified to the administrator. Thereby, the management of the toilet facility 10 can be suitably supported.

[0096] In addition, when a plurality of unused private rooms to be alerted are extracted, the notification unit 27 may notify an alert for each unused private room. Further, when a sensor (for example, a human sensor installed near a private room 12 close to the entrance of the toilet facility 10) for detecting the presence or absence of a queue waiting for the use of the private room 12 is provided in the toilet facility 10 to be processed, the notification unit 27 may use the information from the above sensor as part of the usage status information indicating the usage status of the plurality of private rooms 12 in the toilet facility 10 and perform the determination process in step S705 above. For example, when a queue is detected by the above sensor at the current time, the notification unit 27 may determine that there is a period (including at least the current time) during which all private rooms 12 other than the unused private rooms are in use during the above predetermined period.

[0097] FIG. 19 shows an example (management screen 50C) of a management screen generated and displayed on the management terminal 30B when an alert is notified by the above-described notification unit 27. For example, when the communication unit 32B receives an alert from the notification unit 27 on the management terminal 30B, the display control unit 33B arranges display information (alert information 68) indicating the alert at a position corresponding to the unused private room targeted by the alert in the toilet facility image 52 on the management screen 50C. In the example of FIG. 19, the alert information 68 is text information described as "attention required". Thereby, the administrator can intuitively and timely grasp the existence and location of the unused private room for which the status should be confirmed promptly.

[0098] Note that the display mode of the alert information on the management screen 50C is not limited to the above example. For example, the alert information 68 may be a mark such as the replenishment urgency icon 62 and the toilet paper remaining amount icon 65. Also, on the management screen 50C, there may be a case where a toilet facility image 52 of a toilet facility 10 different from the toilet facility 10 including the private room 12 targeted by the alert is displayed. In such a case, the display control unit 33B may output (display) text information such as "There may be a possibility that the fourth private room from the front of the 3F women's toilet is in an unusable state." in the empty space (or a dedicated space prepared in advance) of the management screen 50C. Alternatively, the display control unit 33B may display the above text information as a pop-up on the management screen 50C.

[0099] [Modification Example] As described above, some embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, but the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments. In the above embodiments, a toilet facility is exemplified as a specific example of the facility to be managed, but the facility to be managed may be a facility having a plurality of private rooms and in which supplies that need to be regularly replenished are arranged in each private room. Also, as specific examples of the supplies to be replenished, toilet paper and liquid soap are exemplified, but the supplies to be replenished may be supplies according to the facility to be managed and are not limited to these examples.

[0100] Also, in the above embodiment, as the replenishment urgency, a value (level) set higher as the remaining amount of the supply is smaller is used, but the replenishment urgency may use an index in a proportional relationship with the remaining amount (that is, information indicating that the smaller the value, the higher the replenishment urgency). That is, the high or low (large or small) of the data value representing the replenishment urgency may or may not match the high or low of the urgency of replenishment.

[0101] In addition, as a sensor for detecting the usage status information (vacant or in use) of the private room 12, sensors other than the opening / closing sensor 121 (for example, a human presence sensor, etc.) may be used. Also, as the remaining amount of paper, the number of toilet paper (roll) units was used, but when it is possible to detect in detail the remaining amount of the toilet paper in use, the emergency degree determination unit 25 may determine the replenishment emergency degree based also on the remaining amount of the toilet paper in use. For example, when the remaining amount of paper is 1 remaining (only the toilet paper currently in use), and the number of private rooms 12 where the remaining amount of the toilet paper currently in use is less than or equal to the threshold value is greater than or equal to the threshold value, the replenishment emergency degree may be set to the maximum. Also, instead of the number of toilet papers remaining in the private room 12, whether there is toilet paper in the private room 12 (that is, whether the remaining amount is 1 or more or 0), whether there are a predetermined number or more of toilet papers remaining in the private room 12, etc., the replenishment emergency degree may be determined. In other words, the remaining amount of paper (information related to the remaining amount of toilet paper) used for determining the replenishment emergency degree is not limited to information directly indicating the remaining number of toilet papers, and may be, for example, information indicating whether there are a predetermined number or more of toilet papers remaining in the private room 12. In this case, the emergency degree determination unit 25 may determine the replenishment emergency degree of the toilet facility 10, for example, by determining that the replenishment emergency degree is level 3 (high) if there is even one private room 12 where the remaining number of toilet papers is less than the predetermined number, or by determining that the replenishment emergency degree is level 3 (high) if there are a predetermined number or more of private rooms 12 where the remaining number of toilet papers is less than the predetermined number. The same applies to the determination of the replenishment emergency degree based on the remaining amount of soap. That is, the remaining amount of soap used for determining the replenishment emergency degree in the second embodiment is not limited to information directly indicating the remaining amount of liquid soap, and may be, for example, information indicating whether there is a predetermined amount or more of liquid soap remaining in the washstand 14.

[0102] In the above embodiment, each of the plurality of toilet facilities 10 included in the large facility was the management target, but the toilet facility to be managed (a facility having a plurality of private rooms provided with supplies requiring replenishment) may be one.

[0103] In addition, in the second embodiment, the degree of urgency of replenishment was determined (set) based on the remaining amounts of two types of supplies (toilet paper and liquid soap), but the degree of urgency of replenishment may also be determined based on the remaining amounts of three or more types of supplies.

[0104] Furthermore, the information provision system 1B in the third embodiment may be configured as a system that only issues an alert notification by the notification unit 27. In this case, in the information provision system 1B, functional elements that are not necessary for processing related to the alert notification may be omitted. For example, in the management server 20B, the congestion degree determination unit 24 and the urgency degree determination unit 25 may be omitted. Accordingly, information relating to the congestion degree and urgency of replenishment of the toilet facility 10 may not be output from the output unit 26 to the management terminal 30. In this case, display information indicating the congestion degree and urgency of replenishment of the toilet facility 10 may not be displayed on the management screen 50B on the management terminal 30.

[0105] In the above embodiment, the management server 20 determines and outputs the replenishment urgency and congestion level of each toilet facility 10, and the management terminal 30 displays and outputs the determination results. However, the execution entity of each process (the allocation of each process) is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the management server 20 may have the function of the management terminal 30, and the management screen 50 may be displayed on a display (output device 106) provided in the management server 20. In this case, the management server 20 functions as both an information providing device and an information display device. Similarly, the management terminal 30 may have the function of the management server 20. In this case, the management terminal 30 functions as both an information providing device and an information display device. In the above embodiment, the management terminal 30 generates the management screen 50, but the management server 20 may generate the management screen 50 and transmit information on the generated management screen 50 to the management terminal 30. In other words, the management server 20 may have some of the functions of the display control unit 33 of the management terminal 30 (i.e., the function of generating the management screen 50). In this case, the management terminal 30 only needs to have a function for displaying the management screen 50 transmitted from the management server 20. [Explanation of symbols]

[0106] 1, 1A, 1B... information providing system, 10... toilet facility, 12... private room, 16... soap remaining amount sensor, 20, 20A, 20B... management server (information providing device), 21... receiving unit (usage status acquisition unit, paper remaining amount acquisition unit), 21A... receiving unit (usage status acquisition unit, paper remaining amount acquisition unit, soap remaining amount acquisition unit), 22... management unit, 23, 23A... storage unit, 24... congestion degree determination unit, 25, 25A... urgency determination unit, 26, 26A... output unit, 27... notification unit, 30, 30A, 30B... management terminal (information display device), 31... operation reception unit, 32, 32A, 32B... communication unit ( acquisition unit), 33, 33A, 33B... display control unit, 52... toilet facility image (map image), 121... opening / closing sensor, 122... paper remaining amount sensor.

Claims

1. An information providing apparatus for providing information about a plurality of private rooms included in a toilet facility, a congestion degree acquisition means for acquiring congestion degree information indicating the congestion degree of the toilet facility, a paper remaining amount acquisition unit for acquiring a paper remaining amount which is information related to the remaining amount of toilet paper in each of the private rooms, an urgency determination unit for determining the urgency of supply replenishment of the toilet facility based on the paper remaining amount of each of the plurality of private rooms and the congestion degree of the toilet facility, and an output unit for outputting the urgency determined by the urgency determination unit. The information providing apparatus is provided with these components.

2. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the urgency determination unit determines such that a toilet facility with a higher congestion degree is more likely to be set to a higher urgency than a toilet facility with a lower congestion degree.

3. An information providing method executed by a computer, the steps of acquiring congestion degree information indicating the congestion degree of a toilet facility, acquiring a paper remaining amount which is information related to the remaining amount of toilet paper in each of the private rooms, determining the urgency of supply replenishment of the toilet facility based on the paper remaining amount of each of the plurality of private rooms and the congestion degree of the toilet facility, and outputting the urgency, wherein the information providing method includes these steps.

4. A program for functioning as the information providing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.

Images