Electronic energy meters and electronic energy meter systems

Abstract

To provide an electronic watt-hour meter and an electronic watt-hour meter system capable of detecting occurrences of disasters and transmitting information emitted from the disaster region to areas surrounding the disaster region.SOLUTION: In an electronic watt-hour meter system composed of a plurality of electronic watt-hour meters installed in buildings such as general houses or office buildings and IoT devices respectively connected to the plurality of electronic watt-hour meters, an electronic watt-hour meter 101 installed in each of a plurality of buildings includes: a power measuring unit 16 that measures power usage amount; a first communication unit 11 that communicates with other electronic watt-hour meters installed in other buildings among the plurality of buildings; a second communication unit 12 that communicates with a communication device owned by a user of the building and capable of communicating with the electronic watt-hour meter; and an electronic watt-hour meter control unit 13 that controls the transmission of disaster region information to the other electronic watt-hour meters when the disaster region information, which is information including information emitted from the disaster region, is received.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an electronic watt-hour meter and an electronic watt-hour meter system capable of detecting the occurrence of a disaster. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses an electricity meter that includes a location calculation unit that receives radio waves from a satellite to calculate a location, a transmission unit that transmits information about the location to a management server, and a detection unit that detects the occurrence of an abnormality based on sensor detection information or power usage, and that calculates the location and transmits the calculated location to the management server when an abnormality is detected.

[0003] According to the electricity meter in Patent Document 1, if an abnormality occurs in the electricity meter or the house in which the electricity meter is installed, the location of the abnormality can be accurately determined, and in particular, it is said that since the location of the abnormality can be easily determined even in the event of a disaster, it can accurately support rescue operations. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-30138 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, while the communication function of the electricity meter in Patent Document 1 can report information about abnormalities detected by the electricity meter, when used to transmit information during a disaster, the function is insufficient to transmit information issued from the disaster site, such as the disaster situation at the disaster site or rescue requests.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above, and aims to obtain an electronic electricity meter that can detect the occurrence of a disaster and transmit information emitted from the disaster area to areas surrounding the disaster area. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the electronic watt-hour meter according to the present disclosure is an electronic watt-hour meter installed in each of a plurality of buildings. The electronic watt-hour meter includes a power measurement unit that measures the amount of power used, a first communication unit that communicates with other electronic watt-hour meters installed in other buildings among the plurality of buildings, a second communication unit that communicates with a communication device that is owned by a user of the building and can communicate with the electronic watt-hour meter, and a control unit that controls the transmission of disaster area information to the other electronic watt-hour meters when the electronic watt-hour meter receives disaster area information that includes information emitted from a disaster area. and, Equipped with. Disaster area information is information that is input into a communication device by a user of a building in the disaster area and transmitted from the communication device. Effect of the Invention

[0008] The electronic energy meter according to the present disclosure has the advantage of being able to detect the occurrence of a disaster and transmit information generated from the disaster site to areas surrounding the disaster site. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an electronic power meter system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a transmission path of text data in the electronic power meter system according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an electronic watt-hour meter in an electronic watt-hour meter system according to a first embodiment; [Figure 4] A block diagram showing a functional configuration of an IoT device in an electronic power meter system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 5]1 is a flowchart showing a procedure of an operation when a disaster is detected in an electronic watt-hour meter of the electronic watt-hour meter system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a display example of text data transmitted from an IoT device of the electronic power meter system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] A flowchart showing a procedure of an operation of an IoT device in the electronic power meter system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 8] 1 is a flowchart showing a procedure of an operation of an electronic watt-hour meter that receives text data in the electronic watt-hour meter system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a mechanism for disseminating disaster area information only within a specific area in the electronic power meter system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 10] A flowchart showing the procedure of an operation of an electronic watt-hour meter in a second embodiment when a disaster is detected. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an electronic watt-hour meter in an electronic watt-hour meter system according to a third embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a distribution path of disaster information from an information system of a public institution to an electronic watt-hour meter of an electronic watt-hour meter system according to a third embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a transmission path of an evacuation situation response from an electronic watt-hour meter of an electronic watt-hour meter system according to a third embodiment to an information system of a public institution that is a source of disaster information. [Figure 14] A flowchart showing the procedure of the operation of an electronic watt-hour meter that receives disaster information from an information system of a public institution in an electronic watt-hour meter system according to a third embodiment. [Figure 15] 11 is a flowchart showing a procedure for determining the evacuation status of residents in an electronic watt-hour meter of an electronic watt-hour meter system according to a third embodiment. [Figure 16] A flowchart showing a procedure of an operation of responding to a location confirmation message in an IoT device of an electronic power meter system according to a third embodiment. [Figure 17]FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration in which the functions of a watt-hour meter control unit and a device control unit of an electronic watt-hour meter according to a first to third embodiments are realized by hardware. [Figure 18] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration in which the functions of the watt-hour meter control unit of the electronic watt-hour meter and the device control unit of the IoT device according to the first to third embodiments are realized by software. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An electronic watt-hour meter and an electronic watt-hour meter system according to embodiments will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0011] Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an electronic watt-hour meter system 1 according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a transmission path of text data in the electronic watt-hour meter system 1 according to the first embodiment. A circle in FIG. 1 indicates an electronic watt-hour meter 101. A square in FIG. 1 indicates an Internet of Things (IoT) device 102. An arrow in FIG. 2 indicates a transmission path of text data. FIG. 2 shows a part of the transmission path of text data in the electronic watt-hour meter system 1.

[0012] The electronic watt-hour meter system 1 according to the first embodiment includes a plurality of electronic watt-hour meters 101, i.e., electronic watt-hour meter 101a, electronic watt-hour meter 101b, electronic watt-hour meter 101c, ..., electronic watt-hour meter 101n, installed in a building such as an ordinary house or an office building, and a plurality of IoT devices 102, i.e., IoT device 102a, IoT device 102b, IoT device 102c, ..., IoT device 102n, connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101. The electronic watt-hour meter system 1 will be described below taking as an example a case in which the electronic watt-hour meter system 1 is applied to a house in a residential area.

[0013] The electronic watt-hour meter 101 is installed in each residence (not shown), either one at a time, or multiple units at each residence, to measure the amount of power used in the residence, i.e., the amount of power supplied to a load device (not shown) in the residence. In the following, the electronic watt-hour meter 101 is described as being installed on the primary side of a home distribution board, but it can also be applied to an electronic watt-hour meter installed in a distribution board or an electronic watt-hour meter installed in a switchboard in a building or commercial facility.

[0014] 1 and 2, the electronic watt-hour meter 101a is connected to an IoT device 102a owned by a resident iA of the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101a is installed, via the IoT. That is, the electronic watt-hour meter 101a is capable of communicating with the IoT device 102a via the IoT. The electronic watt-hour meter 101b is connected to an IoT device 102b owned by a resident iB of the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101b is installed, via the IoT. The electronic watt-hour meter 101c is connected to an IoT device 102c owned by a resident iC of the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101c is installed, via the IoT. The electronic watt-hour meter 101d is connected to an IoT device 102d owned by a resident iD of the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101d is installed, via the IoT. The electronic watt-hour meter 101e is connected, via IoT, to an IoT device 102e owned by a resident iE of the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101e is installed. The electronic watt-hour meter 101f is connected, via IoT, to an IoT device 102f owned by a resident iF of the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101f is installed. The electronic watt-hour meter 101g is connected, via IoT, to an IoT device 102g owned by a resident iG of the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101g is installed. The electronic watt-hour meter 101h is connected, via IoT, to an IoT device 102h owned by a resident iH of the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101h is installed. The electronic watt-hour meter 101i is connected, via IoT, to an IoT device 102i owned by a resident iI of the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101i is installed. The electronic watt-hour meter 101n is connected, via IoT, to an IoT device 102n owned by a resident iN (not shown) of the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101n is installed.

[0015] The electronic watt-hour meter 101 receives text data about a disaster sent by a resident through an IoT device 102 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101 installed in each home. If the electronic watt-hour meter 101 that has received the text data detects a disaster, the electronic watt-hour meter 101 transmits the text data to electronic watt-hour meters 101 installed in homes neighboring the home in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101 is installed.

[0016] The text data is disaster area information that is entered by residents of homes in the disaster-affected area and includes information issued from the disaster-affected area, such as the specific situation of the disaster occurring in the disaster-affected area or rescue requests from residents.

[0017] 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the electronic watt-hour meter 101 in the electronic watt-hour meter system 1 according to the first embodiment. All of the electronic watt-hour meters 101, from the electronic watt-hour meter 101a to the electronic watt-hour meter 101n, have basically the same configuration, which will be described below. The electronic watt-hour meter 101 has a disaster detection function and a disaster area information communication function in addition to the function of an electronic watt-hour meter.

[0018] The electronic watt-hour meter 101 includes a first communication unit 11, a second communication unit 12, a watt-hour meter control unit 13, a disaster detection unit 14, a disaster detection sensor 15, a power measurement unit 16, a voltage input unit 17, a voltage sensor 18, a current input unit 19, a current sensor 20, a display unit 21, and a storage unit 22. Information can be exchanged between the components in the electronic watt-hour meter 101.

[0019] The first communication unit 11 communicates with the other electronic watt-hour meters 101 to exchange information. The first communication unit 11 is connected to the other electronic watt-hour meters 101 via wireless communication so that they can communicate with each other. The first communication unit 11 transmits text data received from the IoT device 102 to the other electronic watt-hour meters 101 under the control of the watt-hour meter control unit 13. The first communication unit 11 transmits text data received from the other electronic watt-hour meters 101 to the watt-hour meter control unit 13.

[0020] The second communication unit 12 communicates with an IoT device 102 connected to the electronic power meter 101 by IoT to exchange information. The second communication unit 12 is connected to the IoT device 102 so that they can communicate with each other by wireless communication such as short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), specific low-power wireless communication, or wireless LAN (Local Area Network) communication.

[0021] The watt-hour meter control unit 13 controls the overall operation of the electronic watt-hour meter 101. The watt-hour meter control unit 13 performs processing to realize the function of the electronic watt-hour meter. The watt-hour meter control unit 13 causes the display unit 21 to display information on the measurement results, such as the amount of power used, transmitted from the power measurement unit 16.

[0022] The watt-hour meter control unit 13 also performs processing for implementing a function for transmitting and receiving disaster detection information and disaster area information, which will be described later. The watt-hour meter control unit 13 performs, for example, conversion of data formats for communicating with the IoT device 102 and other electronic watt-hour meters 101, transmission and reception of text data between the IoT device 102 and other electronic watt-hour meters 101, control of the operation timing of each component of the electronic watt-hour meter 101, and control of holding various data within the electronic watt-hour meter 101.

[0023] The disaster detection sensor 15 is a sensor that measures a physical quantity used to detect the occurrence of a disaster, such as the temperature at a predetermined location or the acceleration at a predetermined location. The disaster detection sensor 15 transmits a measurement signal, which is the measurement result of the disaster detection sensor 15, to the disaster detection unit 14. The disaster detection sensor 15 includes various sensors such as a temperature sensor and an acceleration sensor.

[0024] The disaster detection unit 14 has a disaster detection function and detects the occurrence of a disaster based on the measurement result of the disaster detection sensor 15 transmitted from the disaster detection sensor 15. The disaster detection unit 14 receives a measurement signal which is the measurement result of the disaster detection sensor 15 transmitted from the disaster detection sensor 15, and performs a predetermined calculation on the received measurement signal to obtain a measurement value. The disaster detection unit 14 then determines whether or not a disaster has occurred based on the calculated measurement value, and detects the occurrence of a disaster. Details of the method of detecting the occurrence of a disaster will be described later.

[0025] The voltage sensor 18 measures the voltage between a power line (not shown) and a load device (not shown) at a predetermined period. The voltage sensor 18 outputs a measurement signal, which is the measurement result of the voltage sensor 18, to the voltage input unit 17.

[0026] The voltage input unit 17 converts the measurement signal output from the voltage sensor 18 into a predetermined electrical signal, and outputs it to the power measurement unit 16 .

[0027] The current sensor 20 measures the current flowing between a power line (not shown) and a load device (not shown) at a predetermined period. The current sensor 20 outputs a measurement signal, which is the measurement result of the current sensor 20, to the current input unit 19.

[0028] The current input unit 19 converts the measurement signal output from the current sensor 20 into a predetermined electrical signal and outputs it to the power measurement unit 16 .

[0029] The power measurement unit 16 calculates the voltage, current, and amount of power used between a power line (not shown) and a load device (not shown) based on inputs from the voltage input unit 17 and the current input unit 19, and acquires the measurement results. The power measurement unit 16 transmits the measurement results to the watt-hour meter control unit 13.

[0030] The display unit 21 displays the measurement results from the power measurement unit 16 and information within the electronic power meter 101. The display unit 21 may be, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL (ElectroLuminescence) display.

[0031] The storage unit 22 stores various information used to control the electronic watt-hour meter 101 .

[0032] The IoT device 102 is a device that corresponds to a "thing" in the Internet of Things. The IoT device 102 is owned by a resident of a house in which an electronic watt-hour meter 101 is installed, and is connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101 by IoT. That is, the IoT device 102 is a communication device that is owned by a resident of a house in which an electronic watt-hour meter 101 is installed and can communicate with the electronic watt-hour meter 101. The number of IoT devices 102 connected to each electronic watt-hour meter 101 is not limited to one, and may be multiple. The resident of the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101 is installed can be said to be a user of the building. Similarly, a person who works for a tenant in a building such as an office building can also be said to be a user of the building.

[0033] The IoT devices 102 owned by multiple residents do not need to be the same type of device, and various types of IoT devices 102 can be used. Examples of the IoT devices 102 include communication devices that can be connected to the Internet or a network, such as smartphones, tablets, and personal computers. The IoT devices 102 may be dedicated communication devices, or communication devices such as smartphones, tablets, and personal computers that are implemented with application software that executes the functions of the IoT devices 102 described below.

[0034] 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the IoT device 102 in the electronic energy meter system 1 according to the first embodiment. The IoT device 102 includes an input unit 31, a device control unit 32, a device communication unit 33, an output unit 34, and a storage unit 35. Information can be exchanged between the components in the IoT device 102.

[0035] The input unit 31 accepts setting operations for controlling the IoT device 102 and setting operations for inputting text data. When the input unit 31 accepts an operation from the resident, it transmits information corresponding to the resident's operation to the device control unit 32 as an operation signal.

[0036] The device control unit 32 performs overall control of the IoT device 102. The device control unit 32 controls the IoT device 102 based on an operation signal transmitted from the input unit 31. The device control unit 32 performs control related to communication with the electronic watt-hour meter 101. The device control unit 32 performs control related to storage of information received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101, control related to storage of text data input by the resident, and control related to transmission of the text data.

[0037] The device communication unit 33 communicates with an electronic power meter 101 installed in a house inhabited by a resident who owns an IoT device 102, and transmits and receives information.

[0038] The output unit 34 outputs various information in the IoT device 102. The output unit 34 includes a display unit 341 and an audio output unit 342. The display unit 341 displays various information in the IoT device 102. The display unit 341 displays information such as information received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101 and text data input by the resident. The audio output unit 342 outputs various information in the IoT device 102 by audio. The audio output unit 342 outputs information such as information received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101 and text data input by the resident by audio.

[0039] The storage unit 35 stores various types of information in the IoT device 102. The storage unit 35 stores information received from the electronic power meter 101 and information such as text data input by the resident.

[0040] 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of an operation when a disaster is detected in the electronic watt-hour meter 101 of the electronic watt-hour meter system 1 according to the first embodiment. Here, as an example of an operation when a disaster is detected in the electronic watt-hour meter 101, a disaster detection operation in the electronic watt-hour meter 101a which is the electronic watt-hour meter 101 will be described.

[0041] First, in step S110, it is determined whether or not the measurement value by the disaster detection sensor 15 exceeds the disaster detection threshold, that is, whether or not the measurement value is greater than the disaster detection threshold. Specifically, the disaster detection unit 14 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101a receives measurement signals, which are the measurement results of the disaster detection sensors 15, from one or more disaster detection sensors 15. The disaster detection unit 14 performs a predetermined calculation on the received measurement signals to calculate a measurement value. When the disaster detection unit 14 receives measurement signals from multiple different types of disaster detection sensors 15, it performs a predetermined calculation on each of the multiple different types of measurement signals received from the multiple different types of disaster detection sensors 15 to calculate a measurement value. Then, the disaster detection unit 14 compares the calculated measurement value with a predetermined disaster detection threshold to determine whether or not the measurement value exceeds the disaster detection threshold.

[0042] The disaster detection threshold is a reference value for the disaster detection unit 14 to compare with the calculated measurement value to determine whether or not a disaster has occurred, and is determined in advance and stored in the disaster detection unit 14. The disaster detection threshold is determined for each type of calculated measurement value.

[0043] The predetermined calculation is a calculation for converting the measurement signal received from the disaster detection sensor 15 into a numerical value that can be compared with the disaster detection threshold value. The predetermined calculation is determined for each type of measurement value.

[0044] When it is determined that the measurement value does not exceed the disaster detection threshold, the disaster detection unit 14 determines that the occurrence of a disaster has not been detected, i.e., that a disaster has not occurred. When multiple different types of measurement values ​​are calculated, the disaster detection unit 14 determines that the occurrence of a disaster has not been detected when it is determined that all of the multiple different types of measurement values ​​do not exceed the disaster detection threshold.

[0045] When it is determined that the calculated measurement value exceeds the disaster detection threshold, the disaster detection unit 14 determines that the occurrence of a disaster has been detected, i.e., that a disaster has occurred. When multiple different types of measurement values ​​are calculated, the disaster detection unit 14 determines that the occurrence of a disaster has been detected when it is determined that at least one of the calculated multiple different types of measurement values ​​exceeds the disaster detection threshold. The disaster detection unit 14 may determine that the occurrence of a disaster has been detected when it is determined that one of the calculated multiple different types of measurement values ​​exceeds the disaster detection threshold, or may determine that the occurrence of a disaster has been detected when it is determined that predetermined multiple types of measurement values ​​of the calculated multiple different types of measurement values ​​exceed the disaster detection threshold.

[0046] As described above, when the disaster detection unit 14 determines whether or not a disaster has occurred based on a plurality of different types of measured values, the determination criteria can be set to any combination.

[0047] If it is determined that the measurement value does not exceed the disaster detection threshold, that is, if it is determined that the measurement value is equal to or less than the disaster detection threshold, the result is No in step S110, and step S110 is repeated for a new measurement value received from the disaster detection sensor 15. If it is determined that the measurement value exceeds the disaster detection threshold, the result is Yes in step S110, and the process proceeds to step S120.

[0048] In step S120, disaster detection information, which is information that a disaster has been detected, is transmitted to the IoT device 102a. Specifically, the disaster detection unit 14 generates disaster detection information, which is information that a disaster has been detected, and transmits the generated disaster detection information to the watt-hour meter control unit 13 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101a. Upon receiving the disaster detection information from the disaster detection unit 14, the watt-hour meter control unit 13 transmits the disaster detection information to the IoT device 102a connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101a via the second communication unit 12 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101a. Then, the process proceeds to step S130.

[0049] In step S130, it is determined whether or not the text data transmitted from the IoT device 102a has been received. Specifically, the power meter control unit 13 determines whether or not the text data transmitted from the IoT device 102a has been received via the second communication unit 12.

[0050] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of text data transmitted from the IoT device 102a of the electronic energy meter system 1 according to the first embodiment. In the text data shown in Fig. 6, information on the type of disaster can be selected from four options: fire, flood, earthquake, and others. In addition, in the message field, information such as the specific situation of the disaster that has occurred or a rescue request from a resident can be freely written. In this way, the text data transmitted from the IoT device 102a is partially formatted, reducing the burden on the resident who inputs the text data.

[0051] The watthour meter control unit 13 determines that the text data transmitted from the IoT device 102a has not been received when the text data transmitted from the IoT device 102a is not stored in the watthour meter control unit 13. The watthour meter control unit 13 determines that the text data transmitted from the IoT device 102a has been received when the text data transmitted from the IoT device 102a is stored in the watthour meter control unit 13.

[0052] If it is determined that the text data transmitted from the IoT device 102a has not been received, the result in step S130 is No, and step S130 is repeated. If it is determined that the text data transmitted from the IoT device 102a has been received, the result in step S130 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S140.

[0053] In step S140, the text data received from the IoT device 102a is transmitted to other nearby electronic watt-hour meters 101. Specifically, the watt-hour meter control unit 13 transmits the text data received from the IoT device 102a and stored therein to other electronic watt-hour meters 101 installed in houses nearby the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101a is installed, via the first communication unit 11 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101a. That is, the watt-hour meter control unit 13 transmits the text data to other electronic watt-hour meters 101 installed in the vicinity of the electronic watt-hour meter 101a. As shown in FIG. 2, the watt-hour meter control unit 13 transmits the text data to the electronic watt-hour meter 101b, the electronic watt-hour meter 101c, the electronic watt-hour meter 101d, the electronic watt-hour meter 101e, and the electronic watt-hour meter 101f, which are other electronic watt-hour meters 101 installed in the vicinity of the electronic watt-hour meter 101a. The electronic watt-hour meter 101a transmits the disaster information to the other electronic watt-hour meters by broadcasting. A specific method for transmitting the disaster information from the electronic watt-hour meter 101a to the other electronic watt-hour meters will be described later.

[0054] The electronic watt-hour meters 101b to 101f receive the text data transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101a and store it in their respective watt-hour meter control units 13.

[0055] 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of the operation in the IoT device 102 of the electronic energy meter system 1 according to the embodiment 1. Here, as an example of the operation in the IoT device 102, the operation in the IoT device 102a which is the IoT device 102 will be described.

[0056] First, in step S210, it is determined whether or not disaster detection information transmitted from the electronic power meter 101a has been received. Specifically, the device control unit 32 of the IoT device 102a determines whether or not the device control unit 32 has received the disaster detection information transmitted from the electronic power meter 101a via the device communication unit 33.

[0057] The device control unit 32 determines that the disaster detection information transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101a has not been received when the disaster detection information transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101a is not stored in the device control unit 32. The device control unit 32 determines that the disaster detection information transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101a has been received when the disaster detection information transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101a is stored in the device control unit 32.

[0058] If it is determined that the disaster detection information transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101a has not been received, the result in step S210 is No, and step S210 is repeated. If it is determined that the disaster detection information transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101a has been received, the result in step S210 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S220.

[0059] In step S220, the disaster detection information is displayed on the display unit 341 of the IoT device 102a. Specifically, the device control unit 32 causes the display unit 341 to display the disaster detection information transmitted from the electronic power meter 101a. The device control unit 32 also causes the display unit 341 to display a dialog box for transitioning to a screen for inputting text data for the disaster detection information. The resident iA can input text data on the screen for inputting text data for the disaster detection information displayed on the display unit 341 by selecting the dialog box displayed on the display unit 341. Then, the process proceeds to step S230.

[0060] In step S230, it is determined whether or not text data has been input for the disaster detection information displayed on the display unit 341. Specifically, the device control unit 32 determines whether or not text data has been input by the resident iA from the input unit 31 of the IoT device 102a for the disaster detection information displayed on the display unit 341. An example of the text data is the text data shown in FIG. 6 described above. Note that the text data may be input from the input unit 31 of the IoT device 102a by a resident other than the resident iA. The text data input from the input unit 31 is transmitted to the device control unit 32 and stored in the device control unit 32.

[0061] When the text data input from the input unit 31 is not stored in the device control unit 32, the device control unit 32 determines that text data has not been input for the disaster detection information displayed on the display unit 341. When the text data input from the input unit 31 is stored in the device control unit 32, the device control unit 32 determines that text data has been input for the disaster detection information displayed on the display unit 341.

[0062] If it is determined that no text data has been input for the disaster detection information displayed on the display unit 341, the result in step S230 is No, and step S230 is repeated. If it is determined that text data has been input for the disaster detection information displayed on the display unit 341, the result in step S230 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S240.

[0063] In step S240, the text data input by the resident iA is transmitted to the electronic energy meter 101a. Specifically, the device control unit 32 transmits the text data input by the resident iA to the electronic energy meter 101a via the device communication unit 33.

[0064] In the above operation example, a case has been described in which the resident iA is allowed to input text data to the IoT device 102a when the IoT device 102a receives disaster detection information from the electronic power meter 101a. a The resident iA may be configured to be able to input text data to the IoT device 102a even if the resident iA does not receive disaster detection information from the IoT device 102a, and the input text data may be transmitted to the electronic watt-hour meter 101a. In this case, the electronic watt-hour meter 101a may be configured to perform the steps S110 and S120 in the flowchart of FIG. 5 described above. and It is sufficient to omit step S130 and carry out the operations from step S130 onward.

[0065] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure of the operation of the electronic watt-hour meter 101 that receives text data in the electronic watt-hour meter system 1 according to the first embodiment.

[0066] When the electronic watt-hour meter 101 receives text data, it checks whether the received text data is the same as text data previously transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101. The text data is transmitted by broadcast to electronic watt-hour meters 101 installed in the vicinity of the electronic watt-hour meter 101.

[0067] The electronic watt-hour meter 101 discards the text data if the received text data is the same as the text data previously transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101, and performs confirmation by the area code if the received text data is not the same as the text data previously transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101. The electronic watt-hour meter 101 compares the area code held in the electronic watt-hour meter 101 with the area code assigned to the text data, confirms that the two area codes match, and transmits the text data to the IoT device 102 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101 and the electronic watt-hour meter 101 installed in the vicinity of the electronic watt-hour meter 101. Here, the electronic watt-hour meter 101 that has received the text data from another electronic watt-hour meter 101 transmits the text data to the electronic watt-hour meter 101 installed in the vicinity of the electronic watt-hour meter 101 by broadcasting.

[0068] The area code is identification information for identifying the area where the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101 is installed is located. The area code can be said to be identification information for identifying the area where the electronic watt-hour meter 101 is located. All electronic watt-hour meters 101 store in advance in the watt-hour meter control unit 13 the area code of the area where the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101 is installed is located. The watt-hour meter control unit 13 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101 that detects the occurrence of a disaster assigns the area code of the area where the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101 is installed is located to the text data that the electronic watt-hour meter 101 receives from the IoT device 102 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101. The area code may be stored in the storage unit 22 provided in the electronic watt-hour meter 101.

[0069] Here, the operation of electronic watt-hour meter 101b that receives text data from electronic watt-hour meter 101a will be described as an example of the operation of electronic watt-hour meter 101 that receives text data from electronic watt-hour meter 101a. It is assumed that the house in which electronic watt-hour meter 101a is installed and the house in which electronic watt-hour meter 101b is installed are both located in areas with the same area code.

[0070] First, in step S310, it is determined whether or not text data has been received. Specifically, the watt-hour meter control unit 13 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101b determines whether or not text data has been received via the first communication unit 11. When the electronic watt-hour meter 101b receives the text data, it stores the received text data.

[0071] The watthour meter control unit 13 of the electronic watthour meter 101b determines that the text data has not been received when the text data is not stored in the watthour meter control unit 13. The watthour meter control unit 13 of the electronic watthour meter 101b determines that the text data has been received when the text data is stored in the watthour meter control unit 13.

[0072] If it is determined that the text data has not been received, the result in step S310 is No, and step S310 is repeated. If it is determined that the text data has been received, the result in step S310 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S320. Here, it is assumed that the watt-hour meter control unit 13 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101b has received text data from the electronic watt-hour meter 101a, which is another electronic watt-hour meter 101.

[0073] In step S320, it is determined whether the received text data is the same as text data that has been transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101b in the past. Specifically, the electronic watt-hour meter 101b determines whether the received text data is the same as text data that has been transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101b in the past.

[0074] The received text data is provided with information on the serial number of the electronic watt-hour meter 101 that is the sender of the text data and information on the time when the text data was sent. The electronic watt-hour meter 101b makes the above-mentioned determination based on the information provided to the received text data. The electronic watt-hour meter 101b stores the serial number of the electronic watt-hour meter 101 that is the sender and the time when the text data was sent, which were provided to text data sent in the past.

[0075] The electronic energy meter 101b compares the serial number and sending time information attached to the received text data with the serial number and sending time information of the sending electronic energy meter 101 attached to previously transmitted text data to determine whether the received text data is identical to text data that the electronic energy meter 101b has previously transmitted.

[0076] The electronic watt-hour meter 101b determines that the received text data is identical to the text data previously transmitted by the electronic watt-hour meter 101b when information on previously transmitted text data stored in the electronic watt-hour meter 101b includes information on text data to which the serial number and transmission time of the electronic watt-hour meter 101, which are the sender and match the serial number and transmission time of the electronic watt-hour meter 101, which are the sender and match the transmission time, respectively, of the received text data. When information on previously transmitted text data stored in the electronic watt-hour meter 101b includes information on text data to which the serial number and transmission time of the electronic watt-hour meter 101, which are the sender and match the transmission time, respectively, of the received text data, the electronic watt-hour meter 101b determines that the received text data is not identical to the text data previously transmitted by the electronic watt-hour meter 101b.

[0077] Here, the text data previously transmitted by the electronic watt-hour meter 101b includes text data transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101b. Therefore, the text data determined to be different from the text data previously transmitted by the electronic watt-hour meter 101b does not include text data transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101b.

[0078] If it is determined that the received text data is not the same as the text data previously transmitted by the electronic watt-hour meter 101b, the result in step S320 is No, and the process proceeds to step S330. If it is determined that the received text data is the same as the text data previously transmitted by the electronic watt-hour meter 101b, the result in step S320 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S360.

[0079] In step S360, the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101a is discarded. b Then, the process returns to step S310.

[0080] In step S330, it is determined whether the area code attached to the received text data matches the area code stored in the electronic watt-hour meter 101b. Specifically, the watt-hour meter control unit 13 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101b compares the area code attached to the text data transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101a with the area code stored in the watt-hour meter control unit 13 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101b, and determines whether the two area codes match.

[0081] If it is determined that the two area codes do not match, the result in step S330 is No, and the process proceeds to step S360, where the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101a is discarded. If it is determined that the two area codes match, the result in step S330 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S340.

[0082] In step S340, the text data received from the other electronic watt-hour meter 101 is transmitted to the IoT device 102b connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101b. Specifically, the text data determined to have been received in step S310 is text data transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101a installed near the electronic watt-hour meter 101b. The text data transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101a is assigned by the electronic watt-hour meter 101a with the regional code of the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101a is installed. The regional code of the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101a is installed is the same as the regional code of the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101b is installed. Therefore, the regional code assigned to the text data determined to have been received in step S310 matches the regional code held in the electronic watt-hour meter 101b.

[0083] In this case, the watthour meter control unit 13 of the electronic watthour meter 101b transmits the text data received from the electronic watthour meter 101a and stored to the IoT device 102b connected to the electronic watthour meter 101b so that the text data is displayed on the IoT device 102b. Then, the process proceeds to step S350. When the IoT device 102b receives the text data, the display unit 341 displays the received text data. This allows the electronic watthour meter system 1 to notify the resident iB of the text data.

[0084] In step S350, the text data is transferred to another electronic watt-hour meter 101 installed nearby. Specifically, the watt-hour meter control unit 13 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101b transmits the text data received from and stored in the electronic watt-hour meter 101a to the other electronic watt-hour meter 101 installed nearby the electronic watt-hour meter 101b via the first communication unit 11 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101b.

[0085] The watt-hour meter control unit 13 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101b transmits text data by broadcasting to other electronic watt-hour meters 101 installed near the electronic watt-hour meter 101b. In the example shown in Fig. 2, the watt-hour meter control unit 13 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101b transmits text data to the other electronic watt-hour meters 101 installed near the electronic watt-hour meter 101b, that is, the electronic watt-hour meter 101a, the electronic watt-hour meter 101c, the electronic watt-hour meter 101d, the electronic watt-hour meter 101e, the electronic watt-hour meter 101f, the electronic watt-hour meter 101g, the electronic watt-hour meter 101h, and the electronic watt-hour meter 101i.

[0086] The electronic watt-hour meter 101a, the electronic watt-hour meter 101c, the electronic watt-hour meter 101d, the electronic watt-hour meter 101e, the electronic watt-hour meter 101f, the electronic watt-hour meter 101g, the electronic watt-hour meter 101h, and the electronic watt-hour meter 101i receive the text data transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101b, and store it in each watt-hour meter control unit 13. Furthermore, these electronic watt-hour meters 101 perform the same processing as the electronic watt-hour meter 101b. That is, the electronic watt-hour meter 101a, the electronic watt-hour meter 101c, the electronic watt-hour meter 101d, the electronic watt-hour meter 101e, the electronic watt-hour meter 101f, the electronic watt-hour meter 101g, the electronic watt-hour meter 101h, and the electronic watt-hour meter 101i transmit text data to the IoT device 102 connected to each electronic watt-hour meter 101, and notify the residents of the houses in which each electronic watt-hour meter 101 is installed of the text data. Also, the electronic watt-hour meter 101a, the electronic watt-hour meter 101c, the electronic watt-hour meter 101d, the electronic watt-hour meter 101e, the electronic watt-hour meter 101f, the electronic watt-hour meter 101g, the electronic watt-hour meter 101h, and the electronic watt-hour meter 101i transmit the text data to the other electronic watt-hour meters 101 by broadcasting. By transmitting and receiving such text data among a plurality of electronic watt-hour meters 101 located in close proximity to one another, it is possible to make the text data known to people living in the vicinity.

[0087] As described above, the electronic watt-hour meter 101 has a function of transmitting disaster area information to other electronic watt-hour meters 101 and a function of receiving disaster area information from other electronic watt-hour meters 101. In addition, the IoT device 102 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101 has a display function of displaying text data received by the electronic watt-hour meter 101 to show the resident.

[0088] 9 is a diagram for explaining a mechanism for disseminating disaster area information only within a specific area in the electronic energy meter system 1 according to the first embodiment. The disaster area information is the text data described above. In FIG. 9, a circle indicates an electronic energy meter 101. In FIG. 9, a square indicates an IoT device 102.

[0089] 9 shows a first region A whose region code is "AAAA" and a second region B whose region code is "BBBB". The first region A and the second region B are adjacent to each other. The first region A is an area with region code "AAAA" where the electronic watt-hour meter 101 has region code "AAAA". The second region B is an area with region code "BBBB" where the electronic watt-hour meter 101 has region code "BBBB".

[0090] Here, a plurality of electronic watt-hour meters 101, from an electronic watt-hour meter 101A1 to an electronic watt-hour meter 101An, are installed in the first region A. A plurality of electronic watt-hour meters 101, from an electronic watt-hour meter 101B1 to an electronic watt-hour meter 101Bn, are installed in the second region B. Each of the electronic watt-hour meters 101A1 to the electronic watt-hour meter 101An stores in advance data of "AAAA", which is a region code corresponding to the location of the electronic watt-hour meter 101. Meanwhile, each of the electronic watt-hour meters 101B1 to the electronic watt-hour meter 101Bn stores in advance data of "BBBB", which is a region code corresponding to the location of the electronic watt-hour meter 101.

[0091] Here, a case where the electronic watt-hour meter 101A1 installed in the first region A detects a disaster will be described as an example. The electronic watt-hour meter 101A1 that detects the disaster receives text data, which is disaster area information, from the IoT device 102A1 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101A1 by performing the process described above. The electronic watt-hour meter 101A1 adds data of "AAAA", which is information of the area code held by the electronic watt-hour meter 101A1, to the text data received from the IoT device 102A1. Then, the electronic watt-hour meter 101A1 transmits the text data with the data of "AAAA" added to the electronic watt-hour meter 101A2, the electronic watt-hour meter 101A3, the electronic watt-hour meter 101A4, the electronic watt-hour meter 101A5, and the electronic watt-hour meter 101A6, which are the neighboring electronic watt-hour meters 101.

[0092] Each of the electronic watt-hour meters 101 from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A2 to the electronic watt-hour meter 101A6 that receives text data from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A1 checks whether the received text data is the same as the text data previously transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101, discards the text data if the received text data is the same as the text data previously transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101, and performs confirmation using a regional code if the received text data is not the same as the text data previously transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101. Each of the electronic watt-hour meters 101A2 to the electronic watt-hour meter 101A6 checks the regional code held by the electronic watt-hour meter 101 against the regional code attached to the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A1 if the received text data is not the same as the text data previously transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101.

[0093] When each of the electronic energy meters 101, from electronic energy meter 101A2 to electronic energy meter 101A6, determines that the regional codes of both electronic energy meters match, it transmits text data to the IoT device 102 connected to each electronic energy meter 101 and to other electronic energy meters 101 in the vicinity of each electronic energy meter 101.

[0094] When each of the electronic watt-hour meters 101 from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A2 to the electronic watt-hour meter 101A6 determines that the two area codes do not match, it does not transmit text data to the IoT device 102 connected to each electronic watt-hour meter 101 and to other electronic watt-hour meters 101 in the vicinity of each electronic watt-hour meter 101. When it determines that the two area codes do not match, each electronic watt-hour meter 101 discards the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A1.

[0095] Then, in the same manner as described above, the electronic watt-hour meter 101 that has received the text data from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A1 transmits the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A1 to other electronic watt-hour meters 101 in the vicinity of each electronic watt-hour meter 101. In this manner, the text data transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A1 is transferred to other electronic watt-hour meters 101 in the vicinity of the electronic watt-hour meter 101A1.

[0096] For example, the electronic watt-hour meter 101A2 transmits the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A1 to the electronic watt-hour meter 101A7, which is another electronic watt-hour meter 101 located in the vicinity of the electronic watt-hour meter 101A2.

[0097] The electronic watt-hour meter 101A7 checks whether the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A2 is the same as the text data previously transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A7, and checks the area code if the received text data is not the same as the text data previously transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A7. If the received text data is not the same as the text data previously transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A7, the electronic watt-hour meter 101A7 checks the area code held by the electronic watt-hour meter 101A7 against the area code attached to the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A2. Here, the area code held by the electronic watt-hour meter 101A7 is the area code "AAAA". Therefore, the electronic energy meter 101A7 transmits the text data received from the electronic energy meter 101A2, without discarding it, to the electronic energy meter 101B3, which is another electronic energy meter 101 installed in the second area B and is adjacent to the electronic energy meter 101A7.

[0098] The electronic watt-hour meter 101B3 that has received text data from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A7 checks whether the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A7 is the same as the text data previously transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101B3, and if the received text data is not the same as the text data previously transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101B3, checks the area code. If the received text data is not the same as the text data previously transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101B3, the electronic watt-hour meter 101B3 checks the area code held by the electronic watt-hour meter 101B3 against the area code attached to the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A7. Here, the area code attached to the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A7 is "AAAA". On the other hand, the area code held by the electronic watt-hour meter 101B3 is "BBBB". Therefore, the area code held by the electronic watt-hour meter 101B3 does not match the area code attached to the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A7.

[0099] In this case, the electronic watt-hour meter 101B3 does not transmit the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A7 to the IoT device 102B3 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101B3 and to other electronic watt-hour meters 101 in the vicinity of the electronic watt-hour meter 101B3. The electronic watt-hour meter 101B3 discards the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A7. This makes it possible to transfer the text data, which is disaster area information, only within the first region A, which is a specific region, and to publicize the disaster area information.

[0100] The electronic watt-hour meter 101A3 also transmits the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A1 to the electronic watt-hour meter 101A8, which is another electronic watt-hour meter 101 in the vicinity of the electronic watt-hour meter 101A3. The electronic watt-hour meter 101A8 also transmits the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A3 to the electronic watt-hour meter 101A9, which is another electronic watt-hour meter 101 in the vicinity of the electronic watt-hour meter 101A8. The electronic watt-hour meter 101A9 also transmits the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A8 to the electronic watt-hour meter 101B4, which is another electronic watt-hour meter 101 in the vicinity of the electronic watt-hour meter 101A9 and is installed in the second region B.

[0101] The electronic watt-hour meter 101B4 that receives the text data from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A9 checks whether the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A9 is the same as the text data previously transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101B4, and checks the area code if the received text data is not the same as the text data previously transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101B4. If the received text data is not the same as the text data previously transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101B4, the electronic watt-hour meter 101B4 checks the area code held by the electronic watt-hour meter 101B4 against the area code attached to the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A9. Here, the area code attached to the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A9 is "AAAA". On the other hand, the area code held by the electronic watt-hour meter 101B4 is "BBBB". Therefore, the area code held by the electronic watt-hour meter 101B4 does not match the area code attached to the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A9.

[0102] In this case, the electronic watt-hour meter 101B4 does not transmit the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A9 to the IoT device 102B4 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101B4 and to other electronic watt-hour meters 101 in the vicinity of the electronic watt-hour meter 101B4. The electronic watt-hour meter 101B4 discards the text data received from the electronic watt-hour meter 101A9. This makes it possible to transfer the text data, which is disaster area information, only within the first region A, which is a specific region, and to publicize the disaster area information.

[0103] As described above, in the electronic energy meter system 1 of embodiment 1, the electronic energy meter 101 is equipped with a disaster detection unit 14 and a disaster detection sensor 15, so that the electronic energy meter 101 can detect the occurrence of a disaster at the location where the electronic energy meter 101 is installed.

[0104] Furthermore, when a disaster occurs, that is, when the occurrence of a disaster is detected by the electronic watt-hour meter 101, the electronic watt-hour meter system 1 can transmit disaster detection information, which is information that the occurrence of a disaster has been detected, to the IoT device 102 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101, and display it on the IoT device 102. In this way, the electronic watt-hour meter system 1 can quickly notify users of the building in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101 is installed that the occurrence of a disaster has been detected, and can encourage them to respond to the disaster.

[0105] Furthermore, the electronic watt-hour meter 101 receives text data, which is disaster area information including information about the disaster and issued from the disaster area, input in response to the disaster detection information in the IoT device 102 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101, from the IoT device 102. When the electronic watt-hour meter 101 receives the text data, it transmits the text data to other electronic watt-hour meters 101 installed in the vicinity of the electronic watt-hour meter 101.

[0106] Then, the other electronic watt-hour meter 101 that has received the text data transmits the text data to the IoT device 102 connected to the other electronic watt-hour meter 101, and causes the IoT device 102 to display the text data. In this way, the electronic watt-hour meter system 1 can quickly notify the user of the IoT device 102 connected to the other electronic watt-hour meter 101, i.e., the resident who owns the IoT device 102 connected to the other electronic watt-hour meter 101, of disaster area information, and can encourage a response to the disaster or relief activities for the disaster.

[0107] Furthermore, the other electronic watt-hour meter 101 that has received the text data transmits the received text data to another electronic watt-hour meter 101 that is installed in the vicinity of the other electronic watt-hour meter 101. The other electronic watt-hour meter 101 that has received the text data displays the text data on the IoT device 102 connected to the other electronic watt-hour meter 101, and transmits the text data to another electronic watt-hour meter 101 that is installed in the vicinity of the other electronic watt-hour meter 101.

[0108] As a result, in the electronic energy meter system 1, text data can be transmitted in sequence from the electronic energy meter 101 that detects the occurrence of a disaster to the electronic energy meters 101 in the vicinity of that electronic energy meter 101, allowing the text data to be transmitted quickly, making it possible to quickly communicate information about complex disaster situations or rescue requests to surrounding areas.

[0109] By enabling such rapid communication of text data, for example, in the event of a house fire, residents in the vicinity of the house where the fire occurred can rapidly begin rescue operations. Furthermore, the electronic watt-hour meter system 1 can be used as a means of communicating information about a disaster when a disaster causes a breakdown or congestion in the mobile phone network.

[0110] In the electronic watt-hour meter system 1, only when the occurrence of a disaster is detected in the electronic watt-hour meter 101, text data can be input in the IoT device 102 in response to the disaster detection information transmitted to the IoT device 102 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101. In the electronic watt-hour meter system 1, when the occurrence of a disaster is detected in the disaster detection unit 14 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101, the watt-hour meter control unit 13 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101 transmits the disaster area information received from the IoT device 102 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101 to other electronic watt-hour meters. 101 This makes it possible to prevent unnecessary information from being transferred and disseminated except when a disaster occurs.

[0111] Therefore, the electronic energy meter system 1 according to the first embodiment has an effect of being able to detect the occurrence of a disaster and transmit information issued from the disaster area to areas surrounding the disaster area.

[0112] Embodiment 2 In the second embodiment, a case will be described in which the disaster detection threshold can be changed after the electronic watt-hour meter 101 according to the first embodiment is installed at the installation location of the electronic watt-hour meter 101. In the second embodiment, as the disaster detection threshold, a first disaster detection threshold is determined in advance and stored in the disaster detection unit 14. In addition, as the disaster detection threshold, a second disaster detection threshold different from the first disaster detection threshold is determined in advance and stored in the device control unit 32 of the IoT device 102. Then, after the electronic watt-hour meter 101 is installed, the disaster detection unit 14 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101 can obtain the second disaster detection threshold from the IoT device 102 when detecting the occurrence of a disaster, and detect the occurrence of a disaster based on the second disaster detection threshold.

[0113] The second disaster detection threshold is a disaster detection threshold used to change the disaster detection threshold for determining whether or not a disaster has occurred in the disaster detection unit 14 after the installation of the electronic watt-hour meter 101. The second disaster detection threshold is stored in the device control unit 32 of the IoT device 102. The second disaster detection threshold can be changed to an arbitrary value using the input unit 31 of the IoT device 102. The second disaster detection threshold may also be changed to an arbitrary value using a mobile communication function of the IoT device 102, which is a communication device such as a smartphone. When the IoT device 102 is a communication device such as a smartphone that can connect to the Internet, the second disaster detection threshold stored in the device control unit 32 can be changed to an arbitrary value by remote control from an external device using the mobile communication function of the smartphone. This makes it possible to change the second disaster detection thresholds stored in the device control units 32 of multiple IoT devices 102 installed in a specific area from the external device all at once. In this case, the mobile communication function may be realized by a communication unit (not shown) independent of the device communication unit 33, or may be realized by the device communication unit 33. The second disaster detection threshold may be stored in the storage unit 35 of the IoT device 102.

[0114] 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure of an operation when a disaster is detected by the electronic watt-hour meter 101 in the embodiment 2. Here, a disaster detection operation in the electronic watt-hour meter 101a, which is the electronic watt-hour meter 101, will be described as an example of the operation when a disaster is detected by the electronic watt-hour meter 101 in the embodiment 2.

[0115] First, in step S410, it is determined whether the current time has reached the update time of the first disaster detection threshold. Specifically, the disaster detection unit 14 determines, by a clock function of the disaster detection unit 14, whether the current time has reached the update time of the first disaster detection threshold.

[0116] The update times of the first disaster detection threshold are times at equal intervals that are determined in advance for the disaster detection unit 14 to update the first disaster detection threshold.

[0117] If it is determined that the current time has not yet reached the update time of the first disaster detection threshold, the result in step S410 is No, and the process proceeds to step S440. If it is determined that the current time has reached the update time of the first disaster detection threshold, the result in step S410 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S420.

[0118] In step S420, a second disaster detection threshold is acquired. Specifically, the disaster detection unit 14 acquires the second disaster detection threshold from the device control unit 32 of the IoT device 102a via the second communication unit 12 of the electronic power meter 101a and the device communication unit 33 of the IoT device 102a. The disaster detection unit 14 stores the acquired second disaster detection threshold. As a result, the second disaster detection threshold is acquired at a predetermined cycle. Then, the process proceeds to step S430.

[0119] In step S430, the first disaster detection threshold is reset to the second disaster detection threshold. Specifically, the disaster detection unit 14 resets the second disaster detection threshold acquired from the device control unit 32 as the first disaster detection threshold. As a result, the first disaster detection threshold set in the disaster detection unit 14 is overwritten with the second disaster detection threshold. Then, the process proceeds to step S440.

[0120] In step S440, it is determined whether the measurement value by the disaster detection sensor 15 exceeds the first disaster detection threshold, that is, whether the measurement value is greater than the first disaster detection threshold. Specifically, the disaster detection unit 14 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101a receives measurement signals, which are measurement results at the disaster detection sensor 15, from one or more disaster detection sensors 15. The disaster detection unit 14 performs a predetermined calculation on the received measurement signals to calculate a measurement value. When the disaster detection unit 14 receives measurement signals from multiple different types of disaster detection sensors 15, it performs a predetermined calculation on each of the multiple different types of measurement signals received from the multiple different types of disaster detection sensors 15 to calculate a measurement value. Then, the disaster detection unit 14 compares the calculated measurement value with the reset first disaster detection threshold to determine whether the measurement value exceeds the reset first disaster detection threshold.

[0121] The disaster detection unit 14 determines that the occurrence of a disaster has not been detected when it is determined that the calculated measurement value does not exceed the reset first disaster detection threshold. When multiple different types of measurement values ​​have been calculated, the disaster detection unit 14 determines that the occurrence of a disaster has not been detected when it is determined that all of the multiple different types of measurement values ​​do not exceed the reset first disaster detection threshold.

[0122] When it is determined that the calculated measurement value exceeds the reset first disaster detection threshold, the disaster detection unit 14 determines that the occurrence of a disaster has been detected, i.e., that a disaster has occurred. When multiple different types of measurement values ​​are calculated, the disaster detection unit 14 determines that the occurrence of a disaster has been detected when it is determined that at least one type of measurement value among the calculated multiple different types of measurement values ​​exceeds the reset first disaster detection threshold. The disaster detection unit 14 may determine that the occurrence of a disaster has been detected when it is determined that one type of measurement value among the calculated multiple different types of measurement values ​​exceeds the reset first disaster detection threshold, or may determine that the occurrence of a disaster has been detected when it is determined that predetermined multiple types of measurement values ​​among the calculated multiple different types of measurement values ​​exceed the reset first disaster detection threshold.

[0123] As described above, when the disaster detection unit 14 determines whether or not a disaster has occurred based on a plurality of different types of measured values, the determination criteria can be set to any combination.

[0124] If it is determined that the measurement value does not exceed the reset first disaster detection threshold, that is, if it is determined that the measurement value is equal to or less than the reset first disaster detection threshold, the result in step S440 is No, and the process returns to step S410. If it is determined that the measurement value exceeds the reset first disaster detection threshold, the result in step S440 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S450.

[0125] After that, in steps S450 to S470, the same processes as those in steps S120 to S140 in FIG. 5 are performed.

[0126] As described above, in the second embodiment, the disaster detection unit 14 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101a acquires the second disaster detection threshold from the device control unit 32 of the IoT device 102a via the second communication unit 12 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101a and the device communication unit 33 of the IoT device 102a at a predetermined cycle. The disaster detection unit 14 resets the second disaster detection threshold acquired from the device control unit 32 as the first disaster detection threshold. Then, the disaster detection unit 14 can determine whether or not a disaster has occurred based on whether or not the measurement value exceeds the reset first disaster detection threshold.

[0127] That is, in the second embodiment, the disaster detection unit 14 can acquire the second disaster detection threshold from the device control unit 32 of the IoT device 102 and reset it as the first disaster detection threshold, so that the disaster detection threshold used to determine whether or not a disaster has occurred can be changed even after the electronic watt-hour meter 101 is installed. As a result, in the second embodiment, the first disaster detection threshold set in the electronic watt-hour meter 101 can be reset using the second disaster detection threshold, so that the disaster detection threshold can be changed to an arbitrary value. As a result, even after the electronic watt-hour meter 101 is installed, the disaster detection threshold can be easily changed in accordance with changes in the environment around the house, and the accuracy of disaster detection in the electronic watt-hour meter 101 can be improved and the degree of freedom of the disaster detection form can be improved.

[0128] In addition, if the disaster detection threshold set in the electronic watt-hour meter 101 cannot be changed after the electronic watt-hour meter 101 is installed from the viewpoint of security, etc., the occurrence of a disaster may be determined in two stages: disaster detection based on a first disaster detection threshold by the electronic watt-hour meter 101, and disaster detection based on a second disaster detection threshold by the IoT device 102. This makes it possible to improve the accuracy of disaster detection and the flexibility of the disaster detection mode even after the electronic watt-hour meter 101 is installed.

[0129] In this case, the second disaster detection threshold is stored in the device control unit 32 of the IoT device 102. The IoT device 102 also has a sensor similar to the disaster detection sensor 15 and a detection unit similar to the disaster detection unit 14. The device control unit 32 then performs processing similar to that of the disaster detection unit 14 based on the above-mentioned sensor, the detection unit, and information obtained by the sensor to determine whether or not a disaster has occurred.

[0130] Embodiment 3 In embodiment 3, an electronic energy meter system 1-1 is described which, in addition to the functions of the electronic energy meter system 1 according to embodiment 1 described above, has the function of receiving disaster information transmitted from an information system 200 of a public institution and transmitting the disaster information to an IoT device 102 connected to the electronic energy meter 101 and to other electronic energy meters 101.

[0131] Disaster information is information distributed to inform people of the occurrence of a disaster, and includes various types of information related to the disaster that has occurred, such as the type of disaster, the location where the disaster occurred, and the date and time of the disaster.

[0132] The electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 according to the third embodiment includes a plurality of electronic watt-hour meters 101-1. All of the electronic watt-hour meters 101-1 included in the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 basically have the same configuration, which will be described below.

[0133] 11 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 in an electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 according to the third embodiment. The electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 differs from the electronic watt-hour meter 101 according to the first embodiment in that it further includes a third communication unit 23 and includes a watt-hour meter control unit 24 instead of the watt-hour meter control unit 13. An IoT device 102 is connected to each electronic watt-hour meter 101-1, as in the first embodiment.

[0134] The third communication unit 23 communicates with the information system 200 of the public institution to send and receive information. When the communication method with the information system 200 of the public institution is the same as the communication method used by the above-mentioned first communication unit 11, the first communication unit 11 can also function as the third communication unit 23. Examples of public institutions include fire stations and government offices, which are administrative agencies that perform work related to disasters.

[0135] In addition to the functions of the watt-hour meter control unit 13, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 controls a function of calculating an evacuation situation response request time based on information attached to disaster information received from the information system 200 of a public institution, a function of transmitting a location confirmation message to the IoT device 102, a function of performing a resident's at-home determination process, which is a process of determining whether or not a resident is present in the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 is installed based on the amount of power used, and a function of transmitting an evacuation situation response to the information system 200 of a public institution. The watt-hour meter control unit 24 also controls the third communication unit 23. The process of determining whether or not a resident is present in the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 is installed based on the amount of power used can be called a resident's at-home determination process, which is a process of determining whether or not a resident who owns the IoT device 102 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 is present in the house, that is, a user's at-home determination process, which is a process of determining whether or not a user who owns the IoT device 102 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 is present in the building. The process of determining whether the user is at home can be considered as an evacuation situation determination for determining the evacuation situation of users in a plurality of buildings in which the electronic power meters 101-1 that have received disaster information are installed.

[0136] Fig. 12 is a diagram showing a distribution path of disaster information from the public institution information system 200 to the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 of the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 according to the third embodiment. Fig. 13 is a diagram showing a transmission path of an evacuation situation response from the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 of the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 according to the third embodiment to the public institution information system 200 that is the source of the disaster information. In Figs. 12 and 13, a circle indicates the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1.

[0137] The evacuation status response is information indicating the evacuation status of residents of the house in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 that received the disaster information is installed, which is transmitted as a response to the disaster information by the multiple electronic watt-hour meters 101-1 that received the disaster information to the information system 200 of a public institution. In other words, the evacuation status response can be said to be information indicating the evacuation status of users of the building in which the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 that received the disaster information is installed.

[0138] As shown in FIG. 12, disaster information is distributed from the information system 200 of a public institution to one electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 of the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 by, for example, wireless communication. In the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 according to the third embodiment, a local network in a specific area is configured by the information system 200 of the public institution and a plurality of electronic watt-hour meters 101-1. The electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 that receives the disaster information transmits the disaster information to other electronic watt-hour meters 101-1 in the vicinity of the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1. That is, the disaster information is transmitted to the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 in the local network by multi-hopping by the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1. As a result, the disaster information is transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 that receives the disaster information to the plurality of other electronic watt-hour meters 101-1 included in the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 in turn, and the disaster information is quickly transmitted to the plurality of other electronic watt-hour meters 101-1.

[0139] The multiple electronic watt-hour meters 101-1 that have received the disaster information transmit an evacuation status response in response to the received disaster information to the public institution's information system 200. Specifically, the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 that has received the disaster information transmits the received disaster information to the IoT device 102 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1, and causes the IoT device 102 to display the disaster information.

[0140] A resident who has viewed the disaster information through the IoT device 102 inputs an evacuation situation response to the received disaster information into the IoT device 102. The IoT device 102 transmits the input evacuation situation response to the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 connected to the IoT device 102. The electronic watt-hour meter 101-1, which has received the evacuation situation response data, transmits the evacuation situation response to the information system 200 of the public institution that transmitted the disaster information.

[0141] 13, an evacuation situation response is transmitted from the multiple electronic power meters 101-1 that received the disaster information to the information system 200 of the public institution that transmitted the disaster information. The transmission route of the evacuation situation response is the reverse route of the distribution route of the disaster information shown in FIG.

[0142] FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the operation of the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 that receives disaster information from the information system 200 of a public institution in the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 according to the third embodiment.

[0143] First, in step S510, it is determined whether or not disaster information has been received from the information system 200 of the public institution. Specifically, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 determines whether or not the watt-hour meter control unit 24 has received, via the third communication unit 23, the disaster information distributed from the information system 200 of the public institution.

[0144] The watt-hour meter control unit 24 determines that the disaster information distributed from the information system 200 of the public institution has not been received when the disaster information distributed from the information system 200 of the public institution is not stored in the watt-hour meter control unit 24. The watt-hour meter control unit 24 determines that the disaster information distributed from the information system 200 of the public institution has been received when the disaster information distributed from the information system 200 of the public institution is stored in the watt-hour meter control unit 24.

[0145] If it is determined that the disaster information distributed from the public institution information system 200 has not been received, the result in step S510 is No, and step S510 is repeated. If it is determined that the disaster information distributed from the public institution information system 200 has been received, the result in step S510 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S520.

[0146] In step S520, the response request time is calculated. Specifically, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 calculates the response request time according to the information on the calculation method of the response request time that is added to the distributed disaster information. The purpose of calculating the response request time is to reduce the amount of communication when the multiple electronic watt-hour meters 101-1 included in the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 transmit evacuation situation responses, thereby reducing communication congestion within the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 and also reducing communication congestion between the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 and the information system 200 of the public institution. Then, proceed to step S530.

[0147] The response request time is information that specifies the time at which the electronic energy meter 101-1 that has received the disaster information transmits an evacuation situation response, which is a response to the disaster information, to the information system 200 of the public institution. The calculation method of the response request time is a time calculation method that is set to adjust the time at which each electronic energy meter 101-1 that has received the disaster information transmits an evacuation situation response so that the evacuation situation responses transmitted from the multiple electronic energy meters 101-1 that have received the disaster information are not concentrated at the same time.

[0148] In step S530, the disaster information is transmitted to the IoT device 102. Specifically, the watthour meter control unit 24 transmits the disaster information distributed from the information system 200 of the public institution to the IoT device 102 connected to the electronic watthour meter 101-1. Then, the process proceeds to step S540. In the IoT device 102 that has received the disaster information, the device control unit 32 displays the disaster information on the display unit 341, presents the disaster information to the resident, and prompts the resident to input a response to the disaster information.

[0149] In step S540, the evacuation situation of the resident is determined. Then, an evacuation situation response is generated based on the result of the determination of the evacuation situation of the resident. Details of the determination of the evacuation situation of the resident and the generation of the evacuation situation response will be described later. Then, the process proceeds to step S550.

[0150] In step S550, it is determined whether the current time has reached the response request time calculated in step S520. Specifically, the watthour meter control unit 24 determines, by a clock function of the watthour meter control unit 24, whether the current time has reached the response request time calculated in step S520.

[0151] If it is determined that the current time has not yet reached the response request time, the result in step S550 is No and the process returns to step S540. If it is determined that the current time has reached the response request time, the result in step S550 is Yes and the process proceeds to step S560.

[0152] In step S560, the evacuation situation response is transmitted to the public institution's information system 200. Specifically, the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 that first receives the disaster information distributed from the public institution's information system 200, that is, the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 located closest to the public institution's information system 200 on the distribution path of disaster information from the public institution's information system 200 to the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 of the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 shown in Fig. 12, transmits the evacuation situation response to the public institution's information system 200. That is, the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 transmits the evacuation situation response to the public institution's information system 200 at the calculated response request time.

[0153] Furthermore, the other electronic watt-hour meters 101-1 among the electronic watt-hour meters 101-1 that have received the disaster information transmit an evacuation situation response to the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 that is the source of the disaster information for the other electronic watt-hour meter 101-1. The electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 that has received the evacuation situation response from the other electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 transmits the received evacuation situation response to the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 that is the source of the disaster information for the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1. Send Believe.

[0154] FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a process for determining the evacuation situation of residents in the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 of the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 according to the third embodiment.

[0155] When the disaster information is transmitted from the watt-hour meter control unit 24 to the IoT device 102, in step S610, determination of the evacuation situation of the resident who owns the IoT device 102 to which the disaster information was transmitted from the watt-hour meter control unit 24 is started.

[0156] In step S620, a location confirmation message is transmitted to the IoT device 102. Specifically, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 transmits a location confirmation message to the IoT device 102 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 to confirm whether or not there is a resident in the vicinity of the IoT device 102 to which the disaster information was transmitted from the watt-hour meter control unit 24. Then, the process proceeds to step S630.

[0157] The location confirmation message is a message that the power meter control unit 24 transmits to the IoT device 102 in order to confirm whether or not a resident is present in the vicinity of the IoT device 102.

[0158] In step S630, it is determined whether or not an automatic response has been received from the IoT device 102 within a determination time that is a predetermined unit time. Specifically, the power meter control unit 24 determines whether or not an automatic response to the location confirmation message has been received from the IoT device 102 via the second communication unit 12 within the determination time that is a predetermined unit time.

[0159] In the IoT device 102 that has received the location confirmation telegram, the device control unit 32 automatically transmits an automatic response to the location confirmation telegram to the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1. In the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1, when the automatic response to the location confirmation telegram is received, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 stores the received automatic response. In addition, in the IoT device 102 that has received the location confirmation telegram, the device control unit 32 displays the location confirmation telegram on the display unit 341 to present the location confirmation telegram to the resident and prompts the resident to input a response to the location confirmation telegram. When the resident inputs a response to the location confirmation telegram from the input unit 31, the device control unit 32 transmits the input information to the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 via the device communication unit 33 as a resident response to the location confirmation telegram.

[0160] The watt-hour meter control unit 24 determines that it has not received an automatic response to the location confirmation message sent from the IoT device 102 when the automatic response to the location confirmation message sent from the IoT device 102 is not stored in the watt-hour meter control unit 24. The watt-hour meter control unit 24 determines that it has received an automatic response to the location confirmation message sent from the IoT device 102 when the automatic response to the location confirmation message sent from the IoT device 102 is stored in the watt-hour meter control unit 24. When it determines that it has received an automatic response to the location confirmation message, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 determines that the resident is in a non-evacuated state in which they have not yet evacuated.

[0161] If it is determined that the automatic response to the location confirmation message sent from the IoT device 102 has not been received, the result in step S630 is No, and the process proceeds to step S640. If it is determined that the automatic response to the location confirmation message sent from the IoT device 102 has been received, the result in step S630 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S670.

[0162] In step S670, it is determined whether or not a resident response has been received from the IoT device 102 within a determination time, which is a predetermined unit of time. Specifically, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 determines whether or not a resident response to the location confirmation message has been received from the IoT device 102 via the second communication unit 12 within the determination time, which is a predetermined unit of time. In the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1, when a resident response to the location confirmation message is received, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 stores the received resident response.

[0163] The watt-hour meter control unit 24 determines that a resident response to the location confirmation message sent from the IoT device 102 has not been received when the resident response to the location confirmation message sent from the IoT device 102 is not stored in the watt-hour meter control unit 24. The watt-hour meter control unit 24 determines that a resident response to the location confirmation message sent from the IoT device 102 has been received when the resident response to the location confirmation message sent from the IoT device 102 is stored in the watt-hour meter control unit 24. When the watt-hour meter control unit 24 determines that a resident response to the location confirmation message has been received, it determines that the resident is in a non-evacuated state, that is, has not yet evacuated.

[0164] If it is determined that a resident response to the location confirmation message sent from the IoT device 102 has not been received, the result in step S670 is No, and the process proceeds to step S640. If it is determined that a resident response to the location confirmation message sent from the IoT device 102 has been received, the result in step S670 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S680.

[0165] In steps S640 and S650 described below, a resident's at-home determination process is performed, which is a process for determining whether or not a resident is at home based on the amount of power used in the home to which the location confirmation message was transmitted.

[0166] In step S640, it is determined whether or not there is a change in power usage that is equal to or greater than a predetermined power threshold in the home to which the location confirmation message was sent. Specifically, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 determines whether or not there is a change in power usage that is equal to or greater than a predetermined power threshold in a predetermined unit of time, that is, a determination time, based on the information on the amount of power usage sent from the power measurement unit 16. When there is a change in power usage that is equal to or greater than a certain amount, such as when an electronic device used in the home is turned on or off, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 can detect, from the information on the amount of power usage sent from the power measurement unit 16, a change in power usage that is equal to or greater than a predetermined power threshold in a predetermined determination time.

[0167] If it is determined that there is no change in power usage equal to or greater than the power threshold, the result in step S640 is No, and the process proceeds to step S650. If it is determined that there is a change in power usage equal to or greater than the power threshold, the result in step S640 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S680. If it is determined that there is a change in power usage equal to or greater than the power threshold, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 determines that the residents have not yet evacuated, and is therefore in a non-evacuated state.

[0168] In step S650, it is determined whether or not the amount of power usage in the past is equal to or greater than a certain amount, that is, whether or not the amount of power usage in the determination time, which is a predetermined unit of time, exceeds a predetermined ratio with respect to the amount of power usage in the past. Specifically, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 determines whether or not the amount of power usage in the past exceeds a predetermined ratio with respect to the statistics of the amount of power usage in the past, which is calculated from the amount of power usage in the past for each day of the week and each time period, for the house to which the location confirmation message was sent. In other words, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 uses the statistics of the amount of power usage in the past corresponding to the current day of the week and each time period to determine whether or not the amount of power usage in the determination time for the house to which the location confirmation message was sent exceeds a predetermined ratio. The watt-hour meter control unit 24 stores statistical data of the amount of power usage in the past, which is calculated from the amount of power usage in the past for each day of the week and each time period, for the house to which the location confirmation message was sent.

[0169] If it is determined that the power usage at the determination time does not exceed a predetermined rate with respect to the power usage shown in the past statistics, the result is No in step S650, and the process proceeds to step S660. If it is determined that the power usage at the determination time exceeds a predetermined rate with respect to the power usage shown in the past statistics, the result is Yes in step S650, and the process proceeds to step S680. If it is determined that the power usage at the determination time exceeds a predetermined rate with respect to the power usage shown in the past statistics, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 determines that the resident has not yet evacuated and is in a non-evacuated state.

[0170] In step S660, the not-evacuated determination flag in the watt-hour meter control unit 24 is set to 0. Specifically, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 determines that the resident has already evacuated, and sets and stores the not-evacuated determination flag in the watt-hour meter control unit 24 to 0. The not-evacuated determination flag: 0 indicates that the resident has already evacuated, which is an evacuation state. Then, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 sets the not-evacuated determination flag: 0 as the content of the evacuation situation response. That is, the evacuation situation response in this case is a response indicating that the resident has already evacuated. Then, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 generates an evacuation situation response indicating that the resident has already evacuated.

[0171] In step S680, the not-evacuated determination flag in the watt-hour meter control unit 24 is set to 1. Specifically, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 determines that the resident has not yet evacuated, and sets and stores the not-evacuated determination flag in the watt-hour meter control unit 24 to 1. The not-evacuated determination flag: 1 indicates that the resident has not yet evacuated and is in a not-evacuated state. Then, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 sets the not-evacuated determination flag: 1 as the content of the evacuation situation response. That is, the evacuation situation response in this case is a response indicating that the resident has not yet evacuated and is in a not-evacuated state. Then, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 generates an evacuation situation response indicating that the resident has not yet evacuated and is in a not-evacuated state.

[0172] 16 is a flowchart showing the procedure of an operation of responding to a location confirmation message in the IoT device 102 of the electronic energy meter system 1-1 according to the embodiment 3. This example describes a case where the IoT device 102, which has received a location confirmation message transmitted from the electronic energy meter 101-1, sends a resident response, which is a response regarding the evacuation status of the resident, to the electronic energy meter 101-1 connected to the IoT device 102.

[0173] The response to the location confirmation message transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 has two meanings: to confirm whether the IoT device 102 is near the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 and whether the resident is near the IoT device 102. In particular, the automatic response to the location confirmation message transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 has the meaning of confirming whether the IoT device 102 is near the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1. And the resident's response to the location confirmation message transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 has the meaning of confirming whether the resident is near the IoT device 102.

[0174] In step S710, it is determined whether or not a location confirmation message has been received from the electronic power meter 101-1 connected to the IoT device 102. Specifically, the device control unit 32 of the IoT device 102 determines whether or not the location confirmation message has been received via the device communication unit 33 from the electronic power meter 101-1.

[0175] The device control unit 32 determines that the location confirmation message transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 has not been received when the location confirmation message transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 is not stored in the device control unit 32. The device control unit 32 determines that the location confirmation message transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 has been received when the location confirmation message transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 is stored in the device control unit 32.

[0176] If it is determined that the location confirmation message transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 has not been received, the result in step S710 is No, and step S710 is repeated. If it is determined that the location confirmation message transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 has been received, the result in step S710 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S720.

[0177] In step S720, a response message is transmitted to the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1, that is, an automatic response is transmitted. Specifically, the device control unit 32 automatically responds to the location confirmation message transmitted from the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 by notifying the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 that the location confirmation message has been received. The automatic response is a response that notifies the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 that the IoT device 102 is located near the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1. Then, the process proceeds to step S730.

[0178] In step S730, an input screen for the evacuation situation is displayed on the display unit 341 of the IoT device 102. Specifically, the device control unit 32 displays a location confirmation message on the display unit 341 to present the location confirmation message to the resident, and displays an input screen for the evacuation situation on the display unit 341 to prompt the resident to input the evacuation situation. Here, the evacuation situation input to the IoT device 102 is limited to a non-evacuated state in which the resident has not yet evacuated, because the IoT device 102 is located near the electronic power meter 101-1 and the resident is within a distance where the IoT device 102 can be operated. Then, the process proceeds to step S740.

[0179] In step S740, at a determination time which is a predetermined unit time, it is determined whether or not information on an evacuation situation has been input by a resident into the evacuation situation input screen displayed on the display unit 341. Specifically, the device control unit 32 determines whether or not information on an evacuation situation in a not-evacuated state has been input into the evacuation situation input screen displayed on the display unit 341 at a determination time which is a predetermined unit time. When information on an evacuation situation in a not-evacuated state has been input into the evacuation situation input screen displayed on the display unit 341, the device control unit 32 stores the information on the evacuation situation in the not-evacuated state.

[0180] The device control unit 32 determines that information on the evacuation situation has been input when information on the evacuation situation has been stored in the device control unit 32. When information on the evacuation situation has not been stored in the device control unit 32, the device control unit 32 determines that information on the evacuation situation has been input. Enter It is determined that the

[0181] If it is determined that the information on the evacuation situation has not been input, the result in step S740 is No, and the process proceeds to step S760. If it is determined that the information on the evacuation situation has been input, the result in step S740 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S750.

[0182] In step S750, a resident response, which is information on the evacuation status of the resident, is transmitted to the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1. Specifically, the device control unit 32 transmits the resident response of the resident to the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 via the device communication unit 33.

[0183] In step S760, information that the evacuation status of the resident has not been input is transmitted to the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1. Specifically, the device control unit 32 transmits information that the evacuation status of the resident has not been input to the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1 via the device communication unit 33. Then, the process returns to step S710.

[0184] If the evacuation situation of the resident is not input on the evacuation situation input screen displayed on the display unit 341, it is assumed that the resident has not responded to the evacuation situation input, or that the resident has already evacuated without carrying the IoT device 102. In these cases, the evacuation situation of the resident is determined in step S640 or S650 in FIG.

[0185] As described above, in the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 according to the third embodiment, when the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 receives disaster information distributed from the information system 200 of a public institution, the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 transmits the received disaster information to the IoT device 102 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1. This allows the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 to quickly notify the disaster information to a resident having an IoT device 102 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 that received the disaster information.

[0186] Moreover, the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 that has received the disaster information transmits it to other nearby electronic watt-hour meters 101. Then, the other nearby electronic watt-hour meters 101 transmit the received disaster information to the IoT devices 102 connected to the other nearby electronic watt-hour meters 101. The other electronic watt-hour meters 101 that have received the disaster information transmit the disaster information to the IoT devices 102 connected to each of them. In this way, the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 can quickly transfer the disaster information to the multiple electronic watt-hour meters 101, and can quickly notify the disaster information to residents who have IoT devices 102 connected to the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 that has received the disaster information.

[0187] Furthermore, in response to the delivery of disaster information transmitted from the public institution's information system 200, the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 can automatically collect the evacuation status of residents in the area where the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 that received the disaster information is installed, and transmit it to the public institution's information system 200. This allows the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 to automatically and quickly collect the evacuation status of residents without manual effort, and transmit it to the public institution's information system 200. This allows the public institution to automatically and quickly determine, without manual effort, whether evacuation of residents in the area where the electronic watt-hour meter system 1-1 that received the disaster information is installed has actually been performed.

[0188] The functions of the watthour meter control unit 13 of the above-mentioned electronic watthour meter 101, the watthour meter control unit 24 of the electronic watthour meter 101-1 according to the third embodiment, and the device control unit 32 of the IoT device 102 are realized by a processing circuit. The processing circuit may be dedicated hardware or a processing device that executes a program stored in a storage device.

[0189] When the processing circuit is a dedicated hardware, the processing circuit corresponds to a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or a combination thereof. Fig. 17 is a diagram showing a configuration in which the functions of the watt-hour meter control unit 13 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1, and the device control unit 32 of the IoT device 102 are realized by hardware. The processing circuit 51 incorporates a logic circuit 51a that realizes the functions of the watt-hour meter control unit 13, the watt-hour meter control unit 24, and the device control unit 32.

[0190] When the processing circuit 51 is a processing device, each of the watt-hour meter control unit 13, the watt-hour meter control unit 24, and the device control unit 32 Reno The functionality may be realized by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware.

[0191] FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a configuration in which the functions of the watt-hour meter control unit 13 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101, the watt-hour meter control unit 24 of the electronic watt-hour meter 101-1, and the device control unit 32 of the IoT device 102 are realized by software. The processing circuit 51 has a processor 511 that executes the program 51b, a random access memory 512 that the processor 511 uses as a work area, and a storage device 513 that stores the program 51b. The processor 511 deploys the program 51b stored in the storage device 513 on the random access memory 512 and executes it, thereby realizing the functions of the watt-hour meter control unit 13, the watt-hour meter control unit 24, and the device control unit 32. The software or firmware is written in a program language and stored in the storage device 513. The processor 511 can be exemplified by a central processing unit, but is not limited thereto. The storage device 513 may be a semiconductor memory such as a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a flash memory, an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), or an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM (registered trademark)). The semiconductor memory may be a non-volatile memory or a volatile memory. In addition to the semiconductor memory, the storage device 513 may be a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a mini disk, or a digital versatile disk (DVD). The processor 511 may output data such as a calculation result to the storage device 513 for storage, or may store the data in an auxiliary storage device (not shown) via the random access memory 512. By integrating the processor 511, the random access memory 512, and the storage device 513 on one chip, the functions of the watt-hour meter control unit 13, the watt-hour meter control unit 24, and the device control unit 32 can be realized by a microcomputer.

[0192] The processing circuit 51 reads out and executes the program 51b stored in the storage device 513, thereby realizing the functions of the watthour meter control unit 13, the watthour meter control unit 24, and the device control unit 32. It can also be said that the program 51b causes the computer to execute procedures and methods for realizing the functions of the watthour meter control unit 13, the watthour meter control unit 24, and the device control unit 32.

[0193] In addition, the processing circuit 51 may realize some of the functions of the watt-hour meter control unit 13, the watt-hour meter control unit 24, and the device control unit 32 using dedicated hardware, and may realize some of the functions of the watt-hour meter control unit 13, the watt-hour meter control unit 24, and the device control unit 32 using software or firmware.

[0194] Thus, the processing circuitry 51 can realize each of the above-mentioned functions by hardware, software, firmware, or a combination of these.

[0195] The configurations shown in the above embodiments are merely examples, and may be combined with other known technologies, or the embodiments may be combined with each other. Also, parts of the configurations may be omitted or modified without departing from the spirit of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0196] 1,1-1 Electronic watt-hour meter system, 11 First communication unit, 12 Second communication unit, 13,24 Watt-hour meter control unit, 14 Disaster detection unit, 15 Disaster detection sensor, 16 Power measurement unit, 17 Voltage input unit, 18 Voltage sensor, 19 Current input unit, 20 Current sensor, 21,341 Display unit, 22,35 Memory unit, 23 Third communication unit, 31 Input unit, 32 Device control unit, 33 Device communication unit, 34 Output unit, 51 Processing circuit, 51a Logic circuit, 51b Programs, 101, 101a, 101b, 101c, 101d, 101e, 101f, 101g, 101h, 101i, 101n, 101A1, 101A2, 101A3, 101A4, 101A5, 101A6, 101A7, 101A8, 101A9, 101An, 101-1, 101B1, 101B2, 101B3, 101B4, 101Bn Electronic energy meters, 102, 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, 102e, 102f, 102g, 102h, 102i, 102n, 102A1, 102B3, 102B4 IoT devices, 200 Public sector information systems, 342 Audio output unit, 511 processor, 512 random access memory, 513 storage device, A first region, B second region, iA, iB, iC, iD, iE, iF, iG, iH, iI, iN residents.

Claims

1. An electronic energy meter installed in each of a plurality of buildings, a power measurement unit that measures the amount of power used; a first communication unit that communicates with another of the electronic watt-hour meters installed in another of the buildings; A second communication unit that is owned by a user of the building and communicates between the electronic watt-hour meter and a communication device capable of communicating with the electronic watt-hour meter; a control unit that, when receiving disaster area information that includes information issued from a disaster area, controls the transmission of the disaster area information to other electronic watt-hour meters, the disaster area information is information input to the communication device by a user of the building in the disaster occurrence area and transmitted from the communication device; An electronic watt-hour meter characterized by:

2. When the control unit receives the disaster area information from the other electronic watt-hour meter, the control unit transmits the disaster area information received from the other electronic watt-hour meter to the other electronic watt-hour meter; 2. The electronic watt-hour meter according to claim 1 .

3. the control unit transmits the disaster area information received from the other electronic watt-hour meter to the other electronic watt-hour meter and the communication device when a regional code, which is identification information for identifying a region in which the electronic watt-hour meter is located and is stored in the electronic watt-hour meter, matches the regional code assigned to the disaster area information; 3. The electronic watt-hour meter according to claim 2 .

4. A disaster detection unit is provided to detect the occurrence of a disaster, the control unit transmits the disaster area information received from the communication device to another of the electronic watt-hour meters when the occurrence of a disaster is detected by the disaster detection unit; 4. An electronic watt-hour meter according to claim 1, wherein:

5. A disaster detection sensor is provided to measure a physical quantity used to detect the occurrence of a disaster, the disaster detection unit detects the occurrence of a disaster by comparing a measurement value calculated based on a measurement result of the disaster detection sensor with a first disaster detection threshold value that is determined in advance and stored in the electronic watt-hour meter; 5. The electronic watt-hour meter according to claim 4,

6. The disaster detection unit is acquiring a second disaster detection threshold from the communication device, the second disaster detection threshold being different from the first disaster detection threshold; resetting the second disaster detection threshold as the first disaster detection threshold; detecting an occurrence of a disaster by comparing the measured value with the reset first disaster detection threshold; 6. The electronic watt-hour meter according to claim 5,

7. a third communication unit for communicating with an information system of a public institution; when the control unit receives disaster information, which is information distributed to inform the occurrence of a disaster, from the information system of the public institution, transmitting the disaster information to the other electronic watthour meters; 7. An electronic watt-hour meter according to claim 1,

8. when the control unit receives the disaster information from an information system of the public institution, the control unit transmits the disaster information to the communication device; 8. The electronic watt-hour meter according to claim 7,

9. The control unit is determining an evacuation status of the user, and transmitting an evacuation status response, which is information indicating the evacuation status of the user, to an information system of the public institution; determining an evacuation situation of the user based on the presence or absence of a response to a location confirmation message, which is a message transmitted by the control unit to the communication device in order to confirm whether the user is present in the vicinity of the communication device, and based on a change in the amount of power consumption in the power measurement unit; 9. The electronic watt-hour meter according to claim 8,

10. the control unit transmits the evacuation situation response to an information system of the public institution at a response request time calculated based on information on a calculation method of a response request time assigned to the disaster information; 10. The electronic watt-hour meter according to claim 9 .

11. An electronic energy meter installed in each of a plurality of buildings, comprising: a power measurement unit that measures the amount of power used; a first communication unit that communicates with another of the electronic watt-hour meters installed in another of the buildings; A second communication unit that is owned by a user of the building and communicates between the electronic watt-hour meter and a communication device capable of communicating with the electronic watt-hour meter; a control unit that, when receiving disaster area information that includes information issued from a disaster area, controls to transmit the disaster area information to other electronic watt-hour meters; A disaster detection unit that detects the occurrence of a disaster; Equipped with the control unit transmits the disaster area information received from the communication device to another of the electronic watt-hour meters when the occurrence of a disaster is detected by the disaster detection unit; An electronic watt-hour meter characterized by:

12. A disaster detection sensor that measures a physical quantity used to detect the occurrence of a disaster, the disaster detection unit detects the occurrence of a disaster by comparing a measurement value calculated based on a measurement result of the disaster detection sensor with a first disaster detection threshold value that is determined in advance and stored in the electronic watt-hour meter; 12. The electronic energy meter according to claim 11,

13. The disaster detection unit is acquiring a second disaster detection threshold from the communication device, the second disaster detection threshold being different from the first disaster detection threshold; resetting the second disaster detection threshold as the first disaster detection threshold; detecting an occurrence of a disaster by comparing the measured value with the reset first disaster detection threshold; 13. The electronic energy meter according to claim 12,

14. An electronic energy meter installed in each of a plurality of buildings, comprising: a power measurement unit that measures the amount of power used; a first communication unit that communicates with another of the electronic watt-hour meters installed in another of the buildings; A second communication unit that is owned by a user of the building and communicates between the electronic watt-hour meter and a communication device capable of communicating with the electronic watt-hour meter; a control unit that, when receiving disaster area information that includes information issued from a disaster area, controls to transmit the disaster area information to other electronic watt-hour meters; a third communication unit for communicating with an information system of a public institution; Equipped with The control unit is When disaster information, which is information distributed to inform the occurrence of a disaster, is received from the information system of the public institution, the disaster information is transmitted to other electronic watt-hour meters; When the disaster information is received from the information system of the public institution, the disaster information is transmitted to the communication device; determining an evacuation status of the user, and transmitting an evacuation status response, which is information indicating the evacuation status of the user, to an information system of the public institution; Transmitting the evacuation situation response to an information system of the public institution at a response request time calculated based on information on a calculation method of the response request time assigned to the disaster information; An electronic watt-hour meter characterized by:

15. An electronic watt-hour meter installed in each of a plurality of buildings; a plurality of communication devices that are owned by users of the plurality of buildings, are capable of communicating with the electronic watt-hour meter, and, when disaster detection information that indicates that a disaster has been detected is received from the electronic watt-hour meter, transmit disaster area information that includes information emitted from the disaster area to the electronic watt-hour meter that received the disaster detection information; Equipped with The electronic watt-hour meter is an electronic watt-hour meter according to any one of claims 1 to 14; An electronic watt-hour meter system comprising:

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