Home appliance status display program

The home appliance status display program addresses the inconvenience of selecting individual appliances by allowing users to directly access frequently used appliances through a user-determined screen type, enhancing user convenience.

JP2025150401APending Publication Date: 2025-10-09HITACHI GLOBAL LIFE SOLUTIONS INC
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Patent Information

Application Number
JP2024051253
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Applications
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2024-03-27
Publication Date
2025-10-09

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Existing technologies require users to select an individual home appliance even when multiple are registered, reducing convenience by necessitating an additional step for frequently used appliances.

Method used

A home appliance status display program that determines whether to display a list screen of multiple appliances or a detailed screen of an individual appliance based on user selection, allowing direct access to frequently used appliances.

Benefits of technology

Improves user convenience by enabling quick access to desired appliance screens without the need for additional selection steps.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Abstract

To provide a home appliance status display program capable of improving user convenience by quickly accessing the screen of the home appliance desired by a user.SOLUTION: The home appliance status display program is a program for displaying the status of multiple home appliances connected to a server or user terminal for communication on a computer that constitutes the user terminal. The computer functions as a home screen management unit that determines, based on user selection, whether the first home screen of the home appliance status display after the program starts should be a multiple home appliances list screen or a details screen for each home appliance.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1
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Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a home appliance information status program. [Background technology]

[0002] Currently, various home appliances are used in homes and other places. There are technologies for checking the status of such home appliances and remotely controlling them using a user terminal such as a smartphone. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for displaying an operation screen after an application is launched, in which if multiple home appliances are registered, a selection screen is displayed to transition to a remote control screen for an individual home appliance from among the multiple home appliances, and if only one home appliance is registered, the selection screen is not displayed and the remote control screen for that single home appliance is displayed (Claim 1, etc.). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 7136632 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, when multiple home appliances are registered, the screen that is first displayed after launching the application is limited to a screen for selecting an individual home appliance. Therefore, even if there is a home appliance that is frequently used, a step of selecting that home appliance is required, which reduces convenience for users. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a home appliance status display program that displays the status of multiple home appliances that are communicatively connected to a server or a user terminal on a computer that constitutes the user terminal, and causes the computer to function as a home screen management unit that determines, based on the user's selection, whether the first home screen after the home appliance status display program is launched will be a list screen of multiple home appliances or a detailed screen of an individual home appliance. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to the present invention, a user can quickly access the screen of a home appliance that the user desires, thereby improving user convenience. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a system configuration diagram of a home appliance management system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of a user terminal 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 2 is a functional block diagram of a home electric appliance 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 4] 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a home electric appliance management device 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing user management information 361 used in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6A] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a list screen of multiple home appliances 2, which is a first home screen displayed on the output unit 18 of the user terminal 1 when an integrated app used in one embodiment of the present invention is launched. [Figure 6B] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a detailed screen of an individual home appliance 2 (refrigerator), which is a second home screen displayed on the output unit 18 of the user terminal 1 when the integrated app used in one embodiment of the present invention is launched. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen for the home screen immediately after startup, which is displayed on the output unit 18 of the user terminal 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a notification screen displayed on the output unit 18 of the user terminal 1 in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 9] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a home screen provided with a notification area, which is displayed on the output unit 18 of the user terminal 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, in which a system for displaying the status of one or more home appliances in a home is realized.

[0009] <Configuration> First, the configuration of this embodiment will be described. Fig. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a home appliance management system in this embodiment. In Fig. 1, the home appliance management system has a user terminal 1 and a home appliance management device 3, which can be realized by a computer, and these are connected to home appliances 2 such as a microwave oven 21, a washing machine 22, and a refrigerator 23 via a router 4 and a network 5.

[0010] The user terminal 1 and the home appliance 2 may be directly connected using short-range wireless communication, etc. Furthermore, the user terminal 1, the home appliance 2, the router 4, and the network 5 may be connected via wired or wireless connections. Each of these devices will be described below.

[0011] First, the user terminal 1 is used to manage home appliances 2 such as a microwave oven 21, a washing machine 22, and a refrigerator 23, and can be realized by a computer such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet, or a PC. To this end, the user terminal 1 has a communication unit 10, a log data collection unit 11, a home screen management unit 13, a notification management unit 14, a usage frequency determination unit 15, an output unit 18, an input unit 17, and a memory unit 19.

[0012] First, the communication unit 10 has a function of communicating via the router 4 and the network 5 and a function of short-range wireless communication. Furthermore, the log data collection unit 11 collects log data notified from the home appliance 2. This log data includes operation data of the home appliance 2. The operation data is data related to the operating status of the home appliance 2, such as the operating time and operation content, and includes, for example, the number of times each course has been used in the case of the washing machine 22, and the temperature setting of each storage compartment in the case of the refrigerator 23. Furthermore, the log data collection unit 11 can collect log data periodically, when the power is turned on, or when a malfunction is detected. Note that the log data collection unit 11 may be omitted, and the home appliance 2, such as the microwave oven 21, the washing machine 22, or the refrigerator 23, may actively collect log data.

[0013] The home screen management unit 13 also manages the content displayed on the home screen of the home appliance status display program 105 (integrated app). For example, the home screen management unit 13 determines whether the first home screen after the integrated app is launched will be a list screen of multiple home appliances 2 or a detailed screen of an individual home appliance 2, based on a user's selection. The notification management unit 14 manages the notification function of the integrated app, and for example, places notifications regarding home appliances 2 that are used frequently above home appliances 2 that are used less frequently. The usage frequency determination unit 15 determines the usage frequency of each home appliance 2, and for example, determines the usage frequency of a home appliance 2 based on the frequency at which the status is displayed (viewing frequency).

[0014] The output unit 18 displays various information such as a home screen and a notification screen of the integrated application. The input unit 17 accepts various operations such as button operations. The output unit 18 and the input unit 17 can be integrated. The storage unit 19 stores various information used in processing by the usage frequency determination unit 15 and the like.

[0015] Here, we will explain one implementation example of the user terminal 1. Fig. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the user terminal 1 in this embodiment. In Fig. 2, the user terminal 1 has a touch panel 101, a processing device 102, a communication device 103, and a storage device 104, which are connected to each other via a communication path.

[0016] First, touch panel 101 serves as both output unit 18 and input unit 17 in Fig. 1, and receives instructions and operations from the user and displays various information. Note that touch panel 101 may be configured as an input device and an output device. Furthermore, processing device 102 can be realized by a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and performs calculations in accordance with home appliance status display program 105 stored in storage device 104, which will be described later.

[0017] The home appliance status display program 105 is configured with a log data collection module 106, a home screen management module 108, a notification management module 109, and a usage frequency determination module 110, for each of its functions. Note that each of these modules may be realized as an individual program or a partial combination thereof.

[0018] Here, the configuration shown in FIG. 1, which performs the same functions as each module, is as follows. Log data collection module 106: Log data collection unit 11 Home screen management module 108: Home screen management unit 13 Notification management module 109: Notification management unit 14 Use frequency determination module 110: Use frequency determination unit 15 Therefore, the processing device 102 executes the processes of the log data collection unit 11 , the home screen management unit 13 , the notification management unit 14 and the use frequency determination unit 15 in accordance with the home appliance status display program 105 .

[0019] Storage device 104 also stores home appliance status display program 105 and user management information 191. Here, home appliance status display program 105 may be a program for appropriately displaying information about a plurality of registered home appliances 2, or may be configured with a plurality of programs for each home appliance 2. For the latter, management programs for microwave oven 21, washing machine 22, and refrigerator 23 are used.

[0020] Furthermore, the storage device 104 may be realized by a main storage device such as a memory and a secondary storage device (storage medium) which is a so-called storage. The secondary storage device may be realized by an external hard disk drive (HDD), solid state drive (SSD), memory card, or the like. Furthermore, at least a part of the home appliance status display program 105 and the user management information 191 may be omitted. This may be omitted as long as they are held in the home appliance management device 3 described later. Furthermore, at least a part of the modules (functions) of the home appliance status display program 105 may be provided in the home appliance management device 3.

[0021] Next, one or more home appliances 2 to be managed (displayed) in this embodiment will be described. It is assumed that the home appliances 2 are used in one area (for example, within a home). The home appliances 2 in this embodiment include a microwave oven 21, a washing machine 22, and a refrigerator 23. However, these are merely examples, and some of these may be omitted, or additional home appliances 2 may be added. Each of these home appliances 2 preferably has various functions such as cooking, washing, and refrigerating / freezing functions, as well as a communication function such as short-range wireless communication, but this is not necessarily required. Note that although FIG. 1 illustrates home appliances 2, any one of the home appliances 2 or home appliances 2 other than those exemplified here may be managed (displayed).

[0022] Here, the configuration of the home appliance 2 will be described. Fig. 3 is a functional block diagram of the home appliance 2 in this embodiment. This block diagram is representative of each home appliance 2. As shown in Fig. 2, the home appliance 2 has a control unit 201, a communication unit 208, a display operation unit 209, an operation unit 210, and a sensor 211. These are connected to each other via a communication path. Each component will be described below.

[0023] First, control unit 201 has control signal generating unit 202 and log data acquiring unit 203. First, control signal generating unit 202 generates and outputs a control signal for realizing a function of home appliance 2, such as laundry, and controls the operation of home appliance 2. Furthermore, log data acquiring unit 203 acquires log data including operation data of home appliance 2. Here, log data acquiring unit 203 acquires log data from operation unit 210, sensor 211, or control signal generating unit 202. Note that the log data may include any of error codes (identification information for identifying malfunctions), environmental information (temperature, etc.), and events at the start of use, in addition to operation data of home appliance 2.

[0024] The control unit 201 can be realized by an MPU (Micro-Processing Unit), and the control signal generation unit 202 and the log data acquisition unit 203 can be realized by dedicated hardware or software such as a program. The communication unit 208 also has a function of communicating via the router 4 and the network 5 and a function of short-range wireless communication. The communication unit 208 outputs log data such as acquired operation data, and receives control commands and instructions to collect log data including operation data from the user terminal 1, etc. The display operation unit 209 also receives operations on the home appliance 2 from the user, and outputs information such as the operating status of the home appliance 2.

[0025] Furthermore, the operating unit 210 executes various functions under the control of the control unit 201. For this purpose, for example, a control signal generated by the control signal generating unit 202 is used. The functions to be executed include a heating function, a washing function, a refrigerating / freezing function, etc., which can be realized by a heater, a motor, an actuator, a compressor, etc. Furthermore, the sensor 211 measures the usage status and / or operating status of the home appliance 2, including any malfunctions that have occurred. The log data acquiring unit 203 then acquires the measurement results, thereby being able to detect malfunctions, etc. The sensor 211 can be realized by, for example, a temperature sensor, an illuminance sensor, a camera, etc.

[0026] This concludes the explanation of FIG. 3, and we return to the explanation of FIG. The home appliance management device 3 is used to manage the home appliances 2, and can be realized by a computer such as a server or a cloud. To this end, the home appliance management device 3 has a communication unit 30, a log data collection unit 31, a home screen management unit 33, a notification management unit 34, a usage frequency determination unit 35, and a storage unit 36.

[0027] First, the communication unit 30 has a function of communicating via the router 4 and the network 5 and a function of short-range wireless communication. As a result, the home appliance management device 3 can communicate with the user terminal 1 and the home appliance 2. Furthermore, the log data collection unit 31 realizes the same function as the log data collection unit 11, and it is sufficient that at least one of the log data collection unit 31 and the log data collection unit 11 exists. Similarly, the home screen management unit 33, the notification management unit 34, and the usage frequency determination unit 35 realize the same function as the home screen management unit 13, the notification management unit 14, and the usage frequency determination unit 15, respectively, and it is sufficient that at least one of them exists.

[0028] Furthermore, the storage unit 36 ​​stores user management information 361. Note that the user management information 361 is the same in content as the user management information 191 stored in the user terminal 1, and one of them may be omitted. Also, taking into consideration the resources of the user terminal 1, the information may be compressed or simplified. Note that each of these pieces of information will be described later in <Information>.

[0029] Here, we will explain one implementation example of the home appliance management device 3. Fig. 4 is a hardware configuration diagram of the home appliance management device 3 in this embodiment. In Fig. 4, the home appliance management device 3 has a processing device 301, a communication device 302, a memory 303, and a secondary storage device 304, which are connected to each other via a communication path.

[0030] First, the processing device 301 can be realized by a processor such as a CPU, and executes calculations in accordance with a home appliance status display program 305 stored in a sub-storage device 304, which will be described later. The home appliance status display program 305 will be described later.

[0031] 1, and is connected to the network 5 to communicate with other devices.

[0032] 1. Memory 303 expands information used for processing by home appliance status display program 305 and processing device 301, which are stored in secondary storage device 304. Secondary storage device 304 can be realized as a so-called storage, and stores home appliance status display program 305 and user management information 361. Secondary storage device 304 may be realized as various storage media such as an external hard disk drive (HDD), solid state drive (SSD), or memory card, or may be realized as a device separate from home appliance management device 3, such as a file server.

[0033] Here, the home appliance status display program 305 is composed of a log data collection module 306, a home screen management module 308, a notification management module 309, and a usage frequency determination module 310. Note that each of these modules may be realized as an individual program or a partial combination thereof.

[0034] Here, the configuration shown in FIG. 1, which performs the same functions as each module, is as follows. Log data collection module 306: Log data collection unit 31 Home screen management module 308: Home screen management unit 33 Notification management module 309: Notification management unit 34 Use frequency determination module 310: Use frequency determination unit 35 Therefore, the processing device 301 executes the processes of the log data collection unit 31, the home screen management unit 33, the notification management unit 34, and the use frequency determination unit 35 in accordance with the home appliance status display program 305.

[0035] At least one of the home appliance status display program 305 and the home appliance status display program 105 executes the same calculations as the home appliance status display program 305, and it is sufficient for these to exist. In this case, it is sufficient for the modules that make up these to exist in at least one of them. Furthermore, each module that makes up the home appliance status display program 305 may be realized as an independent program or a program that is configured by a partial combination.

[0036] This concludes the explanation of Figure 4, and we will return to the explanation of Figure 1. Router 4 has the function of connecting each device, and is preferably installed on the same premises as home appliance 2. Note that router 4 can be omitted or replaced with other communication equipment. Network 5 is a communication network such as the Internet or a public line network.

[0037] <Information> Next, various information used in this embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing user management information 361 used in this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the user management information 361 includes, for each user of a home appliance 2, the following items: address, contact information, home screen immediately after startup, owned home appliances, log data, and frequency of use. Here, the user may be information that identifies the user. The address and contact information are those of the user and can be omitted. The home screen immediately after startup is a home screen that is first displayed after the integrated app is launched and is set in advance by the user using the user terminal 1. In the example of FIG. 5, a list screen of multiple home appliances 2 is set, but a detailed screen of each individual home appliance 2 may also be set. Furthermore, the owned home appliance is information that identifies the home appliance 2 owned or used by the user.

[0038] The log data is log data of the home appliance 2 collected by the log data collection unit 31 and includes operation data. The use frequency is calculated by the use frequency determination unit 35 based on the operating status obtained from the log data. In the example of FIG. 5, the use frequency is the number of times the home appliance 2 has been used in the most recent month, but the target period may be the most recent week, or the average interval between uses may be used instead of the number of times the home appliance 2 has been used. Furthermore, when the use frequency determination unit 35 calculates the use frequency, it may use weighted data taking into account the characteristics of each home appliance, rather than using data such as the number of times the door is opened and closed as the number of times the refrigerator is used. For example, in the case of a refrigerator, if the use frequency is calculated using the number of times the door is opened and closed as the number of times the refrigerator is used, the use frequency tends to be higher than that of other home appliances 2, so a predetermined coefficient may be multiplied.

[0039] The user management information 191 of the user terminal 1 is the same type of information as the user management information 361 and has similar items, but is limited to the user. The user, address, and contact information can be omitted from the user management information 191. Furthermore, the usage frequency in the user management information 191 may be calculated by the usage frequency determination unit 15 based on the number of times the status of the home appliance is displayed on the integrated app (number of views), instead of the operating frequency of the home appliance (number of actual uses, etc.).

[0040] <Screen display> The screen display of this embodiment will be described. When a user performs a predetermined operation using the input unit 17 of the user terminal 1, the integrated app is launched, and the output unit 18 first displays either the home screen of FIG. 6A or FIG. 6B. FIG. 6A is a diagram showing an example of a list screen of multiple home appliances 2, which is a first home screen. FIG. 6B is a diagram showing an example of a details screen of an individual home appliance 2 (refrigerator), which is a second home screen. The home screen management unit 13 or the home screen management unit 33 determines which home screen to display by referring to the user management information 191 or the user management information 361.

[0041] As described above, the user management information 191 or the user management information 361 includes information about the home screen immediately after startup, and this information is set in advance by the user on the integrated app. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen for the home screen immediately after startup. The setting screen shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the output unit 18 by being selected from multiple items displayed by tapping (specifying) the setting button 185-1 in FIG. 6A or 6B, for example. This setting screen has a screen specification area 181-2 and a setting area 182. First, the screen specification area 181-2 indicates that this screen is a "setting screen." Furthermore, the setting area 182 is an area for selecting whether the home screen immediately after startup is a list screen (e.g., FIG. 6A) or an individual detail screen (e.g., FIG. 6B). Here, when the individual detail screen is selected, if multiple home appliances 2 are registered in the integrated app, it becomes possible to further select which home appliance 2's detail screen to display.

[0042] First, in a case where a list screen is set as a home screen immediately after startup, when the integrated application is started, a first home screen shown in Fig. 6A, for example, is displayed on the output unit 18 of the user terminal 1. As shown in Fig. 6A, the first home screen has a screen specification area 181-1, a setting button 185-1, registered home appliance display areas 183-1 to 183-3, and a menu selection area 184.

[0043] Screen specification area 181-1 indicates that this screen is a "home screen." Next, setting button 185-1 is a button that is tapped when configuring various settings for the integrated app. Tapping this button expands multiple setting items. Registered home appliance display areas 183-1 to 183-3 display icons of home appliances 2 registered in the integrated app. When any icon is tapped, output unit 18 transitions to an individual details screen of the home appliance 2 corresponding to the icon. For example, when the refrigerator icon is tapped, transition occurs to an individual details screen such as that shown in FIG. 6B described later. Note that registered home appliance display areas 183-1 to 183-3 may display part of information about the operation status of each home appliance 2; for example, when a washing machine is operating, the remaining time may be displayed. Furthermore, home appliances 2 that can be registered in the integrated app are not limited to those that can acquire log data via communication unit 208, and may not have communication unit 208.

[0044] Here, the home screen management unit 13 or the home screen management unit 33 refers to the use frequency in the user management information 361 or the user management information 191, and arranges the registered home appliance display area of ​​a home appliance 2 that is used more frequently above the registered home appliance display area of ​​a home appliance 2 that is used less frequently. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, if the use frequencies of the refrigerator, washing machine, and microwave oven are highest, in that order, as shown in FIG. 6A, the home appliances are displayed in this order from top to bottom, in this order: refrigerator, washing machine, microwave oven. This makes it easier for the user to find the home appliance 2 that is used more frequently, improving operability. Note that in the example of FIG. 6A, the registered home appliance display area is arranged in two columns on the left and right, and the home appliance 2 that is used more frequently is located on the left side than on the right side, but the display format is not limited to this.

[0045] Furthermore, the menu selection area 184 is a display area for selecting a menu (screen) of the integrated application. In FIG. 6A, Home, Notification, My Home Appliances, and Support are displayed as menus. Home is an icon for transitioning to a home screen (home screen immediately after startup). Notification is an icon for transitioning to a notification screen (see FIG. 8 described below) that notifies users that a malfunction has occurred in the home appliance 2. Furthermore, My Home Appliances is an icon for transitioning to a management screen (not shown) that manages the user's home appliance 2. Furthermore, Support is an icon for transitioning to a support screen (not shown).

[0046] Next, if the individual detail screen is set as the home screen immediately after startup, when the integrated app is launched, a second home screen, for example, as shown in FIG. 6B, is displayed on the output unit 18 of the user terminal 1. After the integrated app is launched, by displaying the individual detail screen from the beginning without going through the list screen, the step of selecting an individual home appliance 2 is eliminated, improving user convenience. As shown in FIG. 6B, the second home screen has a screen specification area 181-1, a settings button 185-1, a list screen button 185-2, a product specification area 186, a usage confirmation area 187-1, an application area 187-2, an operation status button 188, and a menu selection area 184.

[0047] The screen identification area 181-1, settings button 185-1, and menu selection area 184 are the same as those in the first home screen of FIG. 6A. The list screen button 185-2 is a button for transitioning to the list screen (e.g., FIG. 6A), which is the first home screen, and is used when reselecting a different home appliance. The product identification area 186 displays information for identifying the product, such as the type of home appliance (refrigerator in the example of FIG. 6B), model number (R-123 in the example of FIG. 6B), and serial number (12345 in the example of FIG. 6B). The usage confirmation area 187-1 includes a button for transitioning to the instruction manual and a button for transitioning to a usage video. When each button in the usage confirmation area is tapped, link information that differs for each model is displayed on the output unit 18. Note that if a usage video does not exist for a model, the button is not displayed. The application area 187-2 includes a "FAQ" button, a "Purchase Parts and Consumables" button, and a "Consult / Apply for Repair" button. When the "Frequently Asked Questions" button is tapped, information on different links for each model is displayed, and when the "Purchase Parts and Consumables" button or the "Repair Consultation and Application" button is tapped, an application form with information such as the model entered is displayed. The operation status button 188 is a button for transitioning to a screen with detailed information on the operation status, such as the temperature of each storage compartment in the case of the refrigerator 23. Here, the information on the operation status is transmitted to the user terminal 1 by the home appliance management device 3 based on the operation data acquired from the home appliance 2. Note that if the home appliance 2 does not have the communication unit 208 and cannot acquire log data such as operation data, the operation status button 188 is not displayed.

[0048] 6B shows a home screen that is displayed when an individual detail screen is selected in advance as the home screen immediately after startup and a refrigerator is selected as the home appliance 2. However, when a home appliance 2 is not selected, the home screen management unit 13 or the home screen management unit 33 may refer to the use frequency of the user management information 361 or the user management information 191 and display an individual detail screen of a frequently used home appliance 2 as the home screen immediately after startup.

[0049] Next, the notification function of the integrated application will be described. When "Notification" is selected in menu selection area 184 on the home screen of Fig. 6A or 6B, the notification screen shown in Fig. 8 is displayed. Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the notification screen. This notification screen (notification screen) has screen specification area 181-3, notification areas 189-1 to 189-3, and menu selection area 184.

[0050] First, the screen specific area 181-3 indicates that this screen is a "notification screen." In addition, below the screen specific area 181-3, a selection area for selecting the home appliance 2 for which a notification is to be displayed is provided. In FIG. 8, "all" is selected, and therefore, notifications related to the refrigerator 23, washing machine 22, and microwave oven 21, which are the home appliances 2 registered in the integrated app, are displayed in a list in the notification areas 189-1 to 189-3.

[0051] Moreover, notification areas 189-1 to 189-3 are areas for displaying notifications related to home electric appliances 2. In the example of Fig. 8, the result of diagnosis by home electric appliance management device 3 based on log data collected from a refrigerator is displayed in notification area 189-1, and the result of diagnosis by home electric appliance management device 3 based on log data collected from a microwave oven is displayed in notification area 189-3. For a washing machine, a message urging cleaning of the drying filter is displayed in notification area 189-2. In addition, for a home electric appliance 2 in which a malfunction has occurred, error information may be displayed in the notification area.

[0052] Here, the notification management unit 34 or the notification management unit 14 refers to the user management information 361 or the user management information 191 and arranges the notification area of ​​a frequently used home appliance 2 above the notification area of ​​a less frequently used home appliance 2. This makes it easier for the user to find notifications from a frequently used home appliance 2, improving operability. Also, a home appliance 2 that has notifications related to error information may be arranged above the other home appliances 2.

[0053] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a home screen with a notification area as a modified example. In FIG. 9, the first home screen described above is used as a base, and notification area 189-4 is added below registered home appliance display areas 183-1 to 183-3. If a notification regarding the model, serial number, or device identification number of a home appliance 2 registered in the integrated app is available on the server of the home appliance management device 3, notification management unit 34 or notification management unit 14 displays the notification in notification area 189-4. On the other hand, if there is no notification regarding the model, etc. of a registered home appliance 2, notification management unit 34 or notification management unit 14 displays a general notification common to all registered home appliances 2 regardless of model, etc., in notification area 189-4.

[0054] In the example of FIG. 9, dishes that can be cooked using a microwave oven model registered in the integrated app are displayed in notification area 189-4, and when notification area 189-4 is tapped, a recipe for that dish is displayed. The recipe includes information such as how to set the cooking time and output for the registered microwave oven, and which automatic function to select. Note that if the microwave oven is not registered in the integrated app, dishes that can be cooked in the microwave oven, regardless of model, may be displayed in notification area 189-4. Furthermore, notifications displayed in notification area 189-4 are not limited to those related to cooking, and may include seasonal ingredients, shopping indexes, weather information, etc.

[0055] <Additional Notes> This concludes the description of this embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, the above-described processing may be performed by the home appliance 2 alone, or in cooperation with the user terminal 1 or the home appliance management device 3, or may be performed by the user terminal 1 or the home appliance management device 3 alone. In particular, when the processing is performed by the home appliance management device 3, it is desirable to provide or connect an input device or an output device to the home appliance management device 3. [Explanation of symbols]

[0056] 1...user terminal, 10...communication unit, 11...log data collection unit, 13...home screen management unit, 14...notification management unit, 15...usage frequency determination unit, 17...input unit, 18...output unit, 19...memory unit, 191...user management information, 2...home appliance, 21...microwave oven, 22...washing machine, 23...refrigerator, 201...control unit, 202...control signal creation unit, 203...log data acquisition unit, 208...communication unit, 209...display operation unit, 210...operation unit, 211...sensor, 3...home appliance management device, 30...communication unit, 31...log data collection unit, 33...home screen management unit, 34...notification management unit, 35...usage frequency determination unit, 36...memory unit, 361...user management information, 4...router, 5...network

Claims

1. A home appliance status display program that displays the statuses of a plurality of home appliances that are connected to a server or a user terminal on a computer that constitutes the user terminal, A home appliance status display program that causes the computer to function as a home screen management unit that determines, based on a user's selection, whether the first home screen after the home appliance status display program is launched will be a list screen of multiple home appliances or a detailed screen of an individual home appliance.

2. 2. The home appliance status display program according to claim 1, When the detail screen is displayed, the home screen management unit also displays a transition button for transitioning to the list screen.

3. 2. The home appliance status display program according to claim 1, When the list screen is displayed, the home screen management unit arranges the home appliances that are used more frequently above the home appliances that are used less frequently.

4. 2. The home appliance status display program according to claim 1, A home appliance status display program that causes the computer to further function as a notification management unit that places notifications about frequently used home appliances above notifications about less frequently used home appliances on a notification screen that lists notifications about multiple home appliances.

5. 5. The home appliance status display program according to claim 3, A home appliance status display program that causes the computer to further function as a usage frequency determination unit that determines usage frequency of the home appliance based on data relating to operation status collected from the home appliance.

6. 5. The home appliance status display program according to claim 3, The home appliance status display program further causes the computer to function as a usage frequency determination unit that determines the usage frequency of the home appliance based on the frequency at which the status is displayed.

7. 2. The home appliance status display program according to claim 1, If the server has a notification regarding the model, serial number, or device identification number of the home appliance, display the notification regarding the model, serial number, or device identification number; The home appliance status display program further causes the computer to function as a notification management unit that displays a common notification when there is no home appliance that is the target of the notification.

Citation Information

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