Operating Machine Monitoring System

Abstract

To provide an operating device monitoring system configured to properly reduce traffic of data while suppressing complicated processing for multiple pieces of device information regarding operation status of an operating device, when a monitoring device monitors the operating device.SOLUTION: In an operation monitoring system SY, an operating device WH to be monitored includes a control unit 20 which can execute a control to acquire multiple pieces of device information on operation status and transmit the acquired device information data periodically to a monitoring device A. In the control unit 20, a plurality of groups are set, and the multiple pieces of device information data are stored by group so as to belong to at least one of the groups. The multiple pieces of device information data are transmitted to the monitoring device A according to the order of data transmission to the monitoring device A, defined by group.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an operating device monitoring system for monitoring a desired operating device such as a water heater. In and so on.

Background Art

[0002] As a specific example of an operating device monitoring system, there is a system described in Patent Document 1. The system described in the same document includes an operating device (facility device) to be monitored and a monitoring device capable of performing data communication with this operating device. The operating device is capable of acquiring a plurality of device information regarding the operating status of this operating device. On the other hand, the monitoring device is capable of identifying the plurality of device information and setting information indicating an update cycle corresponding to those device information. When the operating device receives information for identifying device information and information indicating its update cycle from the monitoring device, it acquires the corresponding device information and then transmits this device information to the monitoring device at the update cycle indicated by the monitoring device. According to such a configuration, it is possible to selectively receive only the necessary device information from the operating device in the monitoring device, and it is possible to suppress an excessive amount of data communication.

[0003] However, in the above prior art, as described below, there is still room for improvement.

[0004] That is, in Patent Document 1, information for identifying a plurality of device information regarding the operating status of an operating device and information regarding the update cycle are individually determined for each device information in the monitoring device. For this reason, when the number of device information is large, the total amount of data processed by the monitoring device also increases, and data processing becomes complicated. Also, the amount of data communication from the monitoring device to the operating device may increase. Therefore, it is desired that such a situation be improved.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2021-64905 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-3122 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent No. 5591869 [Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-64416 [Summary of the Invention] [Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

[0006] The present invention has been conceived under the circumstances as described above, and when operating equipment is monitored by a monitoring device, it suppresses the complexity of processing a plurality of device information regarding the operating status of the operating equipment, and appropriately reduces the data communication volume, etc. An operating equipment monitoring system In order to is provided as its problem. [Means for Solving the Problems]

[0007] To solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following technical means.

[0008] The present Clearly The operating equipment monitoring system provided further includes an operating equipment to be monitored and a monitoring device capable of performing data communication with the operating equipment. The operating equipment includes a control unit for the operating status of the operating equipment At least one detection means for detecting, and control capable of acquiring data on the operating status at a predetermined control period using this detection means An operating equipment monitoring system, characterized in that The control unit of the operating device can determine the presence or absence of a failure of the operating device based on the data of the operating status, and during a predetermined data aggregation period that is longer than the control period, using the detection means, it can determine whether the data of the operating status obtained is within a predetermined normal range, and create aggregation data indicating the determination result. When the data of the operating status is not within the normal range, the aggregation data is data indicating that although the data of the operating status is not within the normal range, the determination that the operating device has failed has not been reached, and includes the number of times of deviation from within the normal range to outside the normal range and / or data on the length of time of deviation outside the normal range In the control unit, With the data transmission order to the monitoring device determined A plurality of groups are set, and The aggregation data corresponds to its transmission order to the It is grouped and stored so as to belong to at least one of the plurality of groups Based on the above, the monitoring device has the According to the data transmission order Transmission It is configured to be and the monitoring device can determine whether there is a sign of failure in the operating device based on the aggregation data transmitted from the operating device, and the determination of whether there is a sign of failure is made based on a predetermined criterion that although the failure has not occurred, there is a high probability that a failure will occur in the near future characterized by this. As the operating equipment, for example, a water heater can be used.

[0009] According to such a configuration, the following effects can be obtained. That is, The aggregation data is Data is sequentially transmitted to the monitoring device according to the data transmission order for each group. Therefore, different from Patent Document 1, in the monitoring device, it is not necessary to identify a plurality of device information and individually determine and store information regarding the update cycle thereof, and then transmit this information to the operating device, and the above-described data transmission process is easy. Further, according to the present invention, The aggregation data Although it is necessary to group so as to belong to at least one of a plurality of groups in which the data transmission order is determined, such processing is also easy, and even when the amount of device information is considerably large, it is possible to easily and appropriately respond and group. Therefore, it is possible to facilitate and simplify data processing in the entire system, reduce the data communication volume, and suitably reduce the running cost.

[0011] Furthermore, the According to the configuration, it is possible to determine whether there is a failure prediction in the operating device in the monitoring device, which is preferable for preventing the failure of the operating device in advance. In addition to this, the following effects can be further obtained. That is, the data transmitted from the control unit of the operating device to the monitoring device is aggregated data indicating a determination result as to whether the data obtained during a predetermined data aggregation period Operating status is within a predetermined normal range. Therefore, in the monitoring device, it is possible to appropriately determine whether there is a failure prediction in the operating device based on this aggregated data. When comparing the aggregated data with the data itself obtained in a predetermined control cycle Operating status while reducing the total amount of data, it more accurately indicates the content or trend of the operating status. Therefore, even when the control cycle of the operating device is short or the variation in the data of the operating status is large, it is possible to further suppress an increase in the amount of data transmitted from the operating device to the monitoring device and appropriately detect a failure prediction.

[0013] Furthermore, the According to the configuration, the content of the aggregated data is adapted by determining the presence or absence of a fault omen, which is more preferable for enhancing the accuracy and reliability of the determination of the presence or absence of a fault omen.

[0016] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0018] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

[0019] The operation device monitoring system SY shown in FIG. 1 includes a water heater WH corresponding to an example of an "operation device" to be monitored in the present invention, and a monitoring device A for monitoring the water heater WH. Further, as means for constructing a wireless LAN system 6 near the installation location of the water heater WH, a line termination device 61 (modem) for the communication network N and a router 60 (wireless LAN master unit) are provided.

[0020] The monitoring device A is a server (computer) connected to the communication network N, and is owned and managed by, for example, the manufacturer, sales company, or maintenance company of the water heater WH. It includes a communication unit 80, a data processing unit 81, a storage unit 82, an operation unit 83 composed of various operation switches, a display unit 84 capable of displaying data, and the like. As will be described later, this monitoring device A is configured to receive predetermined data from the water heater WH and determine a failure sign of the water heater WH based on the received data. Of the data - Receive data and, based on the received data, determine a failure sign of the water heater WH.

[0021] The water heater WH is, for example, a gas water heater, and since its basic configuration is the same as that of a conventionally known one, the configuration of each part will be described relatively simply. That is, the water heater WH includes a water supply operation unit B capable of performing general water supply to a water supply faucet 33 installed in, for example, a kitchen, or water filling for a bathtub 39. It further includes a control unit 20 having a storage unit 20a for controlling the water supply operation unit B and a communication unit 21. A remote control 7A, 7B and a communication unit 7C installed in a bathroom or a kitchen are wired-connected to the communication unit 21. The control unit 20 is configured using a microcomputer, similar to the control unit 70 of the communication unit 7C and the control units of the remote controls 7A, 7B described later, and executes data processing and operation control described later.

[0022] The remote controllers 7A and 7B are provided with a plurality of operation switches 72 capable of data settings such as changing the set target hot water supply temperature and operations such as an instruction to start filling the bathtub 39 with hot water, a display unit 73 capable of displaying predetermined data such as the target hot water supply temperature, a speaker SP, and a control unit (not shown).

[0023] The communication unit 7C serves as a slave unit of the wireless LAN system 6 and enables data communication between the control unit 20 of the hot water supply device WH and the monitoring device A, and is provided with a communication unit 71 and a control unit 70. In FIG. 1, the communication unit 7C is shown as a unit installed separately from the remote controllers 7A and 7B, but it is not limited to this. For example, the communication unit 7C may be assembled to or substantially built into at least one of the remote controllers 7A and 7B, and a configuration may be adopted in which the communication unit 7C separate from the remote controllers 7A and 7B is omitted.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 2, the hot water supply operation unit B has a configuration in which a fan 11, a can body 14 that receives the supply of combustion air from the fan 11 inside, first and second burners 10a and 10b as gas burners arranged in the can body 14, first and second heat exchangers 12a and 12b that recover sensible heat and latent heat from the combustion gas generated by the first and second burners 10a and 10b, and a neutralizer 9 are provided inside the exterior case 19. General hot water supply in the hot water supply operation unit B is executed by opening the hot water supply faucet 33 and sending the hot water into the first heat exchanger 12a through the pipe section 30 from the water inlet 30a, and then heating it with the first burner 10a. The heated hot water reaches the hot water outlet 31a through the pipe section 31 and is then supplied to the hot water supply faucet 33 through the hot water supply pipe 32.

[0025] Filling the bathtub 39 with hot water is executed by switching the on-off valve V1 of the hot water injection pipe section 36 branched and connected to the pipe section 31 to the open state. In this case, the hot water flowing from the pipe section 31 into the hot water injection pipe section 36 is supplied to the bathtub 39 through the pipe sections 35a and 35b that constitute the bathtub supplementary heating circuit. The bath reheating is executed by driving the circulation pump P provided in the piping section 35b. When the circulation pump P is driven, the hot water in the bathtub 39 is sent into the second heat exchanger 12b through the piping section 35b and heated, and then returned to the bathtub 39 through the piping section 35a.

[0026] The neutralizer 9 is for neutralizing strongly acidic condensed water (drain water) generated when latent heat is recovered from combustion gas by the first and second heat exchangers 12a and 12b. This neutralizer 9 has a configuration in which, for example, granular neutralizing agent 91 is accommodated in a container 90 having a condensed water inlet 90a and an outlet 90b.

[0027] The water supply device WH is further provided with a plurality of sensors (detection means), which will be described later, for detecting the operating status of each part. Functionally, the control unit 20 determines whether a predetermined failure has occurred in the water supply operation unit B based on the data of the device information obtained by using the plurality of detection means, and includes a failure determination unit 20b for making such a determination, and an aggregated data creation unit 20c for repeatedly creating aggregated data, which will be described later, to be transmitted to the monitoring device A at a predetermined cycle. On the other hand, the data processing unit 81 of the monitoring device A includes a failure prediction determination unit 81a for determining whether there is a failure omen in the water supply device WH based on the aggregated data transmitted from the water supply device WH.

[0028] Specific examples of the plurality of sensors provided in the water supply device WH include a water level sensor Sa that outputs a predetermined signal to detect when clogging occurs in the neutralizer 9 and the water level of the condensed water in the neutralizer 9 becomes an abnormal water level exceeding a predetermined level, and a fan rotation speed sensor Sb provided on the fan 11. Also, as other detection means, there are a frame rod (flame sensor, not shown) for determining whether the first and second burners 10a and 10b are being driven for combustion, a can body temperature sensor Sc for detecting the temperature of the can body 14, a water inlet temperature sensor Sd, a hot water outlet temperature sensor Se, a bath water inlet temperature sensor Sf, and a bath water outlet temperature sensor Sg. In addition, various flow sensors (not shown) for detecting the hot water flow rate and the presence or absence of hot water circulation in each part are also provided.

[0029] Data on the operating status detected using the plurality of sensors Sa to Sg and the like described above , Machine corresponds to specific examples of data on device information. When such data on a plurality of pieces of device information are referred to as Data 1, 2, 3, …, these are grouped so as to belong to at least any one of a plurality of groups G1 to Gn, for example, as shown in FIG. 3. Such grouped data Da is stored in a storage unit 20a provided in the control unit 20. In the data Da shown in FIG. 3, for example, Data 1 of the device information does not belong to any of the groups G1 to Gn, and Data 2 belongs to odd-numbered groups G1, G3, G5, …. Thus, one type of data may be classified so as to belong to a plurality of groups.

[0030] The data of the groups G1 to Gn described above are configured to be transmitted from the water heater WH to the monitoring device A at a substantially constant period T in accordance with their group order. Therefore, Data 1 of the device information shown in FIG. 3 will be transmitted to the monitoring device A at a substantially constant period T every time. Note that in the present embodiment, what is transmitted from the water heater WH to the monitoring device A is not the data on the operating status itself detected using the plurality of sensors Sa to Sg and the like, but instead, aggregated data described later.

[0031] Next, a specific example of the operation procedure and the operation in the operation device monitoring system SY described above will be described with reference to flowcharts and the like shown in FIGS. 5 to 10.

[0032] First, in the water heater WH, the control unit 20 receives output signals from the plurality of sensors Sa to Sg etc. described above at a predetermined control cycle, acquires data on the operating status of each part of the water heater WH, and based on this data, controls the operation of the water heater WH and determines whether there is a failure (S1, S2). The control cycle is a short cycle of about 0.1 seconds, for example. Note that the acquisition of the data on the operating status described above and the creation process of the aggregated data described later are continuously executed regardless of the on / off state of the operation switches of the remote controllers 7A and 7B of the water heater WH.

[0033] In the above determination, if it is determined that there is a failure in the water heater WH, a notification operation to that effect is performed and the operation of the water heater WH is immediately stopped (S3: NO, S9, S10). The notification operation is performed, for example, by displaying data using the display units 73 of the remote controllers 7A and 7B, or by outputting a predetermined sound from the speaker SP. Specific examples of cases where it is determined that there is a failure in the water heater WH will be described later. However, when the data on the operating status of the water heater WH is abnormal and it is clearly determined that there is a failure, the operation of the water heater WH is immediately stopped, thereby ensuring safety. Although omitted in FIG. 5, when it is determined that there is a failure in the water heater WH, preferably, data to that effect is transmitted to the monitoring device A. Also, even after it is determined that there is a failure in the water heater WH and its operation is immediately stopped, the acquisition of the data on the operating status in the water heater WH and the creation process of the aggregated data described later are continuously executed. Even after it is determined that there is a failure in the water heater WH and its operation is immediately stopped, the acquisition of the data on the operating status in the water heater WH and the creation process of the aggregated data described later are continuously executed.

[0034] On the other hand, the control unit 20 randomly executes a process of creating aggregated data based on the acquired data on the operating status, and stores the aggregated data in the storage unit 20a (S4). Here, the process of creating the aggregated data is a process of determining whether the data on a specific operating status during a predetermined data aggregation period Pa is within a predetermined normal range, and creating data (aggregated data) indicating the determination result.

[0035] For a specific example, Fig. 7 shows an example of the change in the data D1 of the rotation speed of the fan 11 detected using the fan rotation speed sensor Sb as data on the operating status. The data D1 is acquired by the control unit 20 at a predetermined control period. The control unit 20 determines whether the data D1 acquired during the data aggregation period Pa falls within the ranges of the upper and lower threshold values TH1 and TH2, that is, within a predetermined normal range. The data indicating the determination result is the aggregated data, and this aggregated data is created. Note that if the previous data D1 exceeds the threshold value TH3 for failure determination or falls below the threshold value TH4, and this situation continues for a predetermined time Ta or more, the fan 11 is determined to be faulty.

[0036] Since the data D1 shown in Fig. 7 exceeds the upper threshold value TH1 once, it is determined that the data of the rotation speed of the fan 11 does not fall within the normal range. However, in the present embodiment, in addition to this, the content that the rotation speed of the fan 11 exceeds the upper threshold value TH1 once is also included in the aggregated data. This aggregated data is temporarily stored in the storage unit 20a. In this case, for example, it is simply set to "1", and if it exceeds the threshold value TH1 twice, it is set to "2", for example. In contrast, if it falls below the lower threshold value TH2 once or twice, it is set to "-1" or "-2", and if all of the data D1 falls within the normal range, it is set to "0". Of course, the aggregated data can be expressed in a different form. For example, the number of times exceeding the upper threshold value TH1 and the number of times falling below the lower threshold value TH2 can be counted and included in the aggregated data.

[0037] Regarding the data D1 of the rotation speed of the fan 11, the maximum value and the minimum value during the data aggregation period Pa are also determined, and these data are stored in the storage unit 20a in the form of being added to the above-described aggregated data as reference data (S5). [[ID=⑨]] [[ID=⑩]]

[0038] [[ID=⑪]] In the above description, as a specific example of the data on the operating status, the data D1 of the rotational speed of the fan 11 was given. However, for the data on the operating status other than this data D1, for the data on the operating status specified in advance, the control unit 20 creates and stores aggregated data. Also, for the data on the operating status for which additional specification (further specification) has been made, data on values indicating the characteristics of the data, such as the maximum value and the minimum value, are obtained as reference data and stored. As examples of the reference data, in addition to the maximum value and the minimum value, the average value, the median value, or the difference from a predetermined reference value (threshold value) can be used.

[0039] On the other hand, when the control unit 20 receives a command to transmit the data on the device information from the monitoring device A, it transmits the aggregated data and the reference data of the transmission target group (the aggregated data and the reference data created at that time and stored in the storage unit 20a) to the monitoring device A (S6: YES, S7). Here, the transmission target group is the group G1 for the first time, and then it is sequentially changed to the groups G2, G3, ….

[0040] When the above-described data transmission is completed, the transmitted-completed data is deleted from the storage unit 20a, and then the above-described series of operation processes is repeatedly executed (S8, S1). That is, With the transmission of the aggregated data to the monitoring device A, in the water heater WH, the data that has been transmitted and completed is reset, and a process of creating new aggregated data is started. Such a process of creating aggregated data is repeatedly executed regardless of the on / off of the operation of the water heater WH. When a communication error or the like occurs and the data cannot be appropriately transmitted to the monitoring device A, it is stored in the storage unit 20a until the next transmission time.

[0041] On the other hand, in the monitoring device A, the following operation process is executed. That is, in the monitoring device A, a timing operation is being executed (S21). When a predetermined time (cycle T) counts up, a command is sent to the water heater WH to request data transmission corresponding to the above-described step S6 (S22: YES, S23). In response to this, the water heater WH sends aggregated data and reference data of a predetermined group in response to such a request. When the monitoring device A receives such data, it stores these data in the storage unit 82 (S24: YES, S25). Next, based on these data, it is determined whether there is a sign of failure in the water heater WH (S26).

[0042] Regarding the above determination, several specific examples will be given and described as follows. FIG. 8 shows a procedure when the data of the operation status is data regarding the rotation speed of the fan 11. As previously described, the failure determination of the fan 11 is made based on the threshold values TH3 and TH4 shown in FIG. 7. More precisely, when the error between the actual rotation speed of the fan 11 and the target rotation speed of the fan 11 becomes larger than a predetermined value and this state continues for a predetermined time Ta or more, it is determined that a failure has occurred in the fan 11 (S31: YES, S32 in FIG. 8). As described above, this determination is made by the control unit 20 of the water heater WH. On the other hand, when it is not determined that a failure has occurred in the fan 11, the monitoring device A determines, based on the aggregated data, whether the cumulative number of times the rotation speed of the fan 11 has deviated from the normal range (the range of the threshold values TH1 to TH2 in FIG. 7) for failure prediction determination has reached a predetermined number Na (S31: NO, S33). If the cumulative number of times has reached the predetermined number Na, it is determined that there is a sign of failure in the fan 11 (S33: YES, S34).

[0043] However, when making the above determination, it is possible to refer to reference data indicating the maximum value, minimum value, etc. of the rotation speed of the fan 11 and change (correct) the value of the predetermined number of times Na. For example, when the rotation speed of the fan 11 is on the high side compared to the target rotation speed, if the maximum value of the rotation speed is large, it is possible to make a change such that the predetermined number of times Na is less than when it is small.

[0044] FIG. 9 shows a procedure when the operation status data is data regarding an abnormal water level rise of the neutralizer 9 detected using the water level sensor Sa. When an abnormal water level rise of the neutralizer 9 is detected using the water level sensor Sa and that state continues for a predetermined time Tb or more, in the control unit 20, it is determined that a failure (clogging) has occurred in the neutralizer 9 (S41: YES, S42). On the other hand, when it is not determined that a failure has occurred in the neutralizer 9, the monitoring device A determines whether or not the number of times an abnormal water level rise that has continued for a predetermined time Tc (a shorter time than the predetermined time Tb) or more in the neutralizer 9 has reached a predetermined number of times Nb based on the aggregated data (S41: NO, S43). The aggregated data is data indicating the number of times an abnormal water level rise that has continued for a predetermined time Tc or more has occurred in the neutralizer 9. If the number of times of the abnormal water level rise has reached the predetermined number of times Nb, it is determined that there is a sign of failure in the neutralizer 9 (S43: YES, S44).

[0045] FIG. 10 shows a procedure when the operation status data is data regarding an ignition operation error detected using a frame rod. The control unit 20 of the water heater WH controls an operation of driving an ignition plug (not shown) to ignite the first and second burners 10a, 10b and is possible. At that time, it is possible to determine the presence or absence of ignition using the frame rod, and further, when the ignition operation error is repeated, it is possible to determine the number of times. When the ignition operation error is continuously repeated a predetermined number of times Nc, in the control unit 20, it is determined that a failure of poor ignition has occurred (S51: YES, S52). On the other hand, if such a determination has not been made, the monitoring device A determines whether or not the cumulative number of times that the ignition operation error has occurred continuously a plurality of predetermined times Nd (less than the predetermined number of times Nc) has reached a predetermined number of times Ne based on the aggregated data (S51: NO, S53). The aggregated data is data indicating the number of times that the ignition operation error has occurred continuously a plurality of predetermined times Nd. If the cumulative number of times has reached the predetermined number of times Ne, it is determined that there is a sign of a malfunction in the ignition (S53: YES, S54).

[0046] In the water heater WH, cases where a malfunction is determined include, in addition to the above, for example, the following cases. The phenomenon that the burners 10a and 10b of the first and second burners suddenly go out during the driving combustion occurs a predetermined number of times or more. The maximum flame temperature during the driving combustion at a predetermined stage of the burners 10a and 10b of the first and second burners is lower than the original temperature by a predetermined temperature or more. The phenomenon that the pump discharge amount does not increase to a predetermined flow rate or more after a predetermined time has elapsed since the circulation pump P is driven on occurs a predetermined number of times or more. The phenomenon that the error between the actual hot water supply temperature and the hot water supply target temperature becomes larger than a predetermined value occurs a predetermined number of times or more. Regardless of the hot water supply target temperature, the event that the actual hot water supply temperature becomes a high temperature range exceeding a predetermined temperature occurs a predetermined number of times or more. The event that the temperature of the can body 14 becomes a high temperature range exceeding a predetermined temperature occurs a predetermined number of times or more. The water flow rate [L / sec] exceeds a predetermined flow rate. The cumulative number of communication errors occurs a predetermined number of times or more.

[0047] Regarding the determination of the above-described malfunction, the determination of the presence or absence of a sign of a malfunction is made based on a criterion that is looser than the conditions for determining the above-described malfunction, that is, a criterion (allowable range) in which, although the malfunction has not occurred yet, there is a high probability that a malfunction will occur in the near future. However, different from such a determination, for example, when the cumulative number of times of the hot water supply operation reaches a predetermined number of times, when the cumulative flow rate of the hot and cold water flowing through the hot water supply device WH reaches a predetermined flow rate, or when the cumulative combustion time of the first and second burners 10a and 10b reaches a predetermined time, etc., it is considered that the durability life of the hot water supply device WH is approaching and the probability of a failure occurring in the hot water supply device WH is increasing. It is also possible to use such matters as the criteria for determining the presence or absence of a failure omen.

[0048] As a result of the determination of the presence or absence of the above-mentioned failure omen, if it is determined that there is a failure omen, a predetermined notification operation is executed (S27: YES, S28 in FIG. 6). This notification operation is executed, for example, in the monitoring device A. Thereby, the person in charge of monitoring who is monitoring the hot water supply device WH using the monitoring device A can accurately detect that there is a predetermined failure omen in the hot water supply device WH and take appropriate countermeasures to prevent the hot water supply device WH from failing. Preferably, the data indicating that there is a failure omen is transmitted from the monitoring device A to the hot water supply device WH, and a notification operation is also performed in the hot water supply device WH. Thereby, the user of the hot water supply device WH can also quickly and accurately detect that there is a failure omen, and it becomes possible to more appropriately avoid the hot water supply device WH from failing.

[0049] According to the above-described series of operation processing procedures, the data of a plurality of device information used for the determination of the failure omen in the monitoring device A is divided into a plurality of groups G1 to Gn, and is acquired in a predetermined order for each group and transmitted to the monitoring device A. Therefore, there is no complexity of individually identifying the data of a plurality of device information and transmitting it to the monitoring device A at its own specific cycle. The data processing is easy, and it is also possible to reduce the data communication volume. Since the monitoring device A uses not the data itself obtained by using sensors but the above-mentioned aggregated data, etc., it is possible to further reduce the data communication volume.

[0050] In the grouped data Db shown in FIG. 11, data 1, 2, 3... of a plurality of device information are classified so as to belong to only one of the groups G1 to Gn. Different from the data Da shown in FIG. 3, there is no data belonging to a plurality of groups. In the present invention, such a configuration is also possible.

[0051] The present invention is not limited to the contents of the above-described embodiments. The operating device monitoring system according to the present invention Of the mechanism The specific configuration of each part can be freely designed and changed in various ways within the scope intended by the present invention.

[0052] In the above-described embodiment, the monitoring device A periodically transmits a command for requesting data transmission to the water heater WH, and accordingly, data of predetermined device information is acquired in the water heater WH and transmitted to the monitoring device A. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The transmission timing of the device information data from the water heater WH to the monitoring device A can also be configured to be determined in the water heater WH.

[0053] Failure Since the specific content of the omen and its judgment criteria and the like are matters that can be appropriately determined in advance, it goes without saying that they are not limited to those cited as specific examples in the above-described embodiments. The detection means for acquiring device information is also not limited to the above-described sensors.

[0054] The length of the data aggregation period does not have to be constant and may be indefinite. Also, depending on the type of data, the length of the data aggregation period may be configured to be different. In the above-described embodiment, the control unit 20 of the water heater WH is configured to perform processes such as creation processing of aggregated data. However, instead of or in addition to the control unit 20, for example, the control units provided in the remote controls 7A and 7B may be configured to execute the above processes. Further, the control unit 70 of the communication unit 7C may be configured to be used for the above processes. The operating device referred to in the present invention is not limited to a water heater, and can be various other devices and equipment, such as a bathroom dryer, a fan heater, etc. When the operating device is a water heater, it can be an oil water heater or a storage tank type water heater instead of a gas water heater.

Explanation of Signs

[0055] A Monitoring device SY Operating device monitoring system WH Water heater (operating device) 20 Control unit (of water heater)

Claims

1. An operating device to be monitored, A monitoring device capable of performing data communication with the operating device, Comprising: The operating device includes at least one detection means for detecting the operating status of the operating device, and a control unit capable of executing control to acquire data of the operating status at a predetermined control period using the detection means. An operating device monitoring system, The control unit of the operating device, Can determine the presence or absence of a failure of the operating device based on the data of the operating status, During a predetermined data aggregation period that is longer than the control period, it is possible to determine whether the data of the operating status obtained using the detection means is within a predetermined normal range, and create aggregation data indicating the determination result, When the data of the operating status is not within the normal range, the aggregation data is data when the operating device has not reached a determination of failure although the data of the operating status is not within the normal range, and includes the number of times of deviation from within the normal range to outside the normal range and / or data on the length of time of deviation outside the normal range, In the control unit, a plurality of groups with a determined data transmission order to the monitoring device are set, and the aggregation data is grouped and stored so as to belong to at least one of the plurality of groups corresponding to the transmission order, and then the monitoring device is configured to be transmitted according to the data transmission order, The monitoring device can determine whether there is a failure sign in the operating device based on the aggregation data transmitted from the operating device, and the determination of whether there is a failure sign is based on a predetermined criterion that although the failure has not occurred, the probability of a failure occurring in the near future is considered high. An operating device monitoring system characterized by this.

2. The operating device monitoring system according to Claim 1, Wherein the operating device is a water heater. An operating device monitoring system.

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