Facility management system, wireless communication device, and program

Abstract

This facility management system comprises: a wireless communication device which is attached to a facility to be managed and is capable of performing short-range wireless communication with a communication terminal existing in the vicinity; a server in which operation data on an operation state of the facility is stored; and a mobile communication terminal which receives the operation data transmitted from the wireless communication device through the short-range wireless communication and transmits the received operation data to the server through a mobile network. The wireless communication device acquires the operation data for the facility, and transmits at least a part of the acquired operation data to the mobile communication terminal by means of an advertisement signal of the short-range wireless communication.

Description

Facility management system, wireless communication device, program

[0001] The present invention relates to a system, an apparatus, and a program for managing the operational status of a facility.

[0002] When various pieces of equipment (e.g., chain hoists, air compressors, etc.) operating in designated locations in factories or other places become unable to operate due to malfunctions or other reasons, the work processes using that equipment cannot be carried out, which may have a significant impact on product production plans, etc. To avoid this, it is necessary for equipment maintenance managers to monitor the operation history and status of the equipment and carry out maintenance at the appropriate time as necessary.

[0003] Generally, equipment maintenance managers (e.g., employees of the equipment manufacturer or maintenance company) are not always stationed at or near the equipment installation location, making it difficult to monitor the equipment's operating status in real time. Therefore, even if there are signs of a malfunction in operating equipment, they are not discovered until the equipment actually stops operating, which creates the problem of long time required for equipment to be restored after it has stopped operating.

[0004] To solve the above-mentioned problems, for example, the invention of Patent Document 1 is known. Patent Document 1 describes an air compressor management system in which a control device is mounted on an air compressor used for nailing work at construction sites, etc., and equipment information about the air compressor is transmitted from the control device to a management server via an information terminal such as a smartphone or mobile phone. As a result, equipment information such as the operating time and operating history of the air compressor is recorded on the management server, making it possible to determine the need for maintenance, etc.

[0005] Japanese Patent No. 6200653

[0006] In the air compressor management system of Patent Document 1, after starting a device management application installed on an information terminal, the security of the compressor is released and the compressor becomes operable by holding the information terminal over the compressor control device to perform short-range wireless communication. Therefore, every time the compressor is operated, the device management application must be started on the information terminal and the information terminal must be held over the compressor control device. This increases the number of steps required to operate the compressor compared to conventional systems, resulting in a problem of reduced convenience.

[0007] In view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique that can manage the operating status of equipment without impairing the convenience of the equipment during operation.

[0008] An equipment management system according to the present invention comprises a wireless communication device attached to equipment to be managed and capable of short-range wireless communication with nearby communication terminals, a server in which operation data relating to the operation status of the equipment is stored, and a mobile communication terminal that receives the operation data transmitted from the wireless communication device via the short-range wireless communication and transmits the received operation data to the server via a mobile network, wherein the wireless communication device acquires the operation data for the equipment and transmits at least a portion of the acquired operation data to the mobile communication terminal via an advertising signal of the short-range wireless communication. The wireless communication device according to the present invention is attached to equipment to be managed and capable of short-range wireless communication with nearby communication terminals, acquires operation data relating to the operation status of the equipment, including at least information on the operation time of the equipment, and transmits the acquired operation data to nearby communication terminals via an advertising signal of the short-range wireless communication. The program according to the present invention causes a mobile communication terminal to execute the following processes: collect, via short-range wireless communication, operation data relating to the operating status of equipment to which a wireless communication device is attached from a wireless communication device present within the communication range of the short-range wireless communication performed by the mobile communication terminal, while no user operation is being performed on the mobile communication terminal; and transmit the collected operation data to a server connected via a mobile network.

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technique that can manage the operating status of equipment without impairing the convenience of the equipment during operation.

[0010] 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a facility management system according to an embodiment of the present invention; 2 is a sequence diagram of the facility management system according to an embodiment of the present invention; 3 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of a management app in the facility management system according to an embodiment of the present invention; 4 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of a wireless communication device in the facility management system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0011] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0012] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an equipment management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The equipment management system 1 shown in Fig. 1 is a system that manages the operational status of various pieces of equipment operated at a predetermined location such as a factory by collecting and accumulating operational data relating to the operational status of the equipment. The equipment management system 1 includes a wireless communication device 10, a mobile communication terminal 20, and an LCM (Life Cycle Management) server 30.

[0013] The wireless communication device 10 is attached to a facility to be managed and is capable of short-range wireless communication with a nearby communication terminal. The wireless communication device 10 transmits operation data of the facility to be managed to the mobile communication terminal 20 by communicating with the mobile communication terminal 20 using short-range wireless communication, for example, Bluetooth (registered trademark) low energy. Note that while only one wireless communication device 10 is shown in FIG. 1 , in reality, there are many wireless communication devices 10 attached to various facilities, and the facility management system 1 is configured by each wireless communication device 10 communicating with the mobile communication terminal 20 using short-range wireless communication.

[0014] The wireless communication device 10 includes an operational data acquisition unit 11 , a unique ID storage unit 12 , and a wireless communication unit 13 .

[0015] The operation data acquisition unit 11 acquires operation data relating to the operation status of the managed equipment to which the wireless communication device 10 is attached. This operation data includes, for example, information on the cumulative operation time of the managed equipment since manufacture or since the last maintenance was performed, and information on the occurrence history of various alarms relating to operational abnormalities that occurred during operation. In addition to this, any information from various types of information relating to the operation status of the managed equipment can be included in the operation data.

[0016] The unique ID storage unit 12 stores a unique ID assigned to the managed equipment to which the wireless communication device 10 is attached. Each piece of equipment managed by the equipment management system 1 is assigned a unique ID in advance, and this unique ID is stored in the unique ID storage unit 12 in the wireless communication device 10 of each piece of equipment. Note that the unique ID stored in the unique ID storage unit 12 is preferably different from the serial number assigned to the equipment when it is manufactured, and the manufacturer or model name of the equipment cannot be easily guessed from its contents. For example, a different unique ID can be set for each piece of equipment using a combination of random alphanumeric characters, symbols, etc., and this unique ID can be stored in the unique ID storage unit 12 in the wireless communication device 10 of each piece of equipment.

[0017] The wireless communication unit 13 transmits the operation data acquired by the operation data acquisition unit 11 and the unique ID stored in the unique ID storage unit 12 to the mobile communication terminal 20 via short-range wireless communication. At this time, the wireless communication unit 13 transmits at least a portion of the operation data together with the unique ID to the pre-pairing mobile communication terminal 20 via a short-range wireless communication advertising signal. As a result, operation data is transmitted from the wireless communication device 10 to the mobile communication terminal 20 even when no user operation is being performed on the mobile communication terminal 20, and the mobile communication terminal 20 receives this data, allowing the mobile communication terminal 20 to collect operation data of the managed equipment. This point will be described in detail later.

[0018] Mobile communication terminal 20 is a communication terminal such as a smartphone, and is capable of performing short-range wireless communication with wireless communication device 10 and communicating with LCM server 30 via mobile network 40. Mobile communication terminal 20 has a wireless communication unit 21, a location information acquisition unit 22, a communication control unit 23, a display control unit 24, a screen display unit 25, and an operation input unit 26. Note that communication control unit 23 and display control unit 24 are functions realized by executing a facility management app, which is a type of program, on mobile communication terminal 20.

[0019] The wireless communication unit 21 receives the above-mentioned operational data and unique ID transmitted by short-range wireless communication from the wireless communication device 10. It can also perform pairing with the wireless communication device 10 in response to a user operation on the mobile communication terminal 20. After pairing, a connection state via short-range wireless communication is established between the wireless communication unit 21 of the mobile communication terminal 20 and the wireless communication unit 13 of the wireless communication device 10, and mutual communication is performed between them.

[0020] The location information acquisition unit 22 acquires location information of the mobile communication terminal 20. The location information acquisition unit 22 can acquire the location information of the mobile communication terminal 20 by using, for example, a positioning signal transmitted from a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) satellite, or location information of a base station used for connection to the mobile network 40.

[0021] When the wireless communication unit 21 receives the operation data and unique ID of the managed equipment transmitted from the wireless communication device 10, the communication control unit 23 transmits this information to the LCM server 30 via the mobile network 40. For this communication, it is preferable to use an encrypted communication method such as HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) communication. Furthermore, when information is transmitted from the LCM server 30 via the mobile network 40, the communication control unit 23 receives the information and outputs it to the display control unit 24.

[0022] As described above, the wireless communication device 10 transmits at least a portion of the operational data of the managed equipment and the ID of the equipment to the mobile communication terminal 20 in an advertising signal before pairing with the mobile communication terminal 20. The communication control unit 23 transmits this information received before pairing to the LCM server 30 together with the location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit 22.

[0023] The display control unit 24 controls the display of the screen display unit 25 based on information input from the communication control unit 23. The screen display unit 25 is configured using, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display, and displays various screens in accordance with the display control by the display control unit 24. This allows various information transmitted from the LCM server 30 to the mobile communication terminal 20 via the mobile network 40 to be displayed on the screen display unit 25 and presented to the user.

[0024] The operation input unit 26 detects operations input by the user to the mobile communication terminal 20, and outputs the operation contents to the communication control unit 23 and the display control unit 24. The communication control unit 23 and the display control unit 24 each perform various controls according to the operation contents from the operation input unit 26. The operation input unit 26 is configured by, for example, a touch panel integrated with the screen display unit 25.

[0025] The LCM server 30 has an equipment management DB 31 and an operation DB 32. The equipment management DB 31 is assigned to each piece of equipment managed by the equipment management system 1 and holds equipment management data 311 (see FIG. 2 ) that indicates the relationship between the unique ID stored in the unique ID storage unit 12 in the wireless communication device 10 of each piece of equipment and the serial number of each piece of equipment. The operation DB 32 stores operation data 321 (see FIG. 2 ) of each piece of equipment that is transmitted from the mobile communication terminal 20 via the mobile network 40. The LCM server 30 may be a physical server, a cloud server, or a combination of these.

[0026] Fig. 2 is a sequence diagram of an equipment management system according to one embodiment of the present invention. In the equipment management system 1 shown in Fig. 1, the wireless communication device 10, the mobile communication terminal 20, and the LCM server 30 collect and manage operation data of each piece of equipment according to the sequence diagram shown in Fig. 2. At this time, the LCM server 30 executes an LCM application 301 to communicate with the mobile communication terminal 20 and to control the reading and writing of equipment management data 311 stored in the equipment management DB 31 and operation data 321 stored in the operation DB 32.

[0027] When the facility management application is launched, the mobile communication terminal 20 transmits predetermined login information to the LCM server 30 (S1). The LCM server 30 performs login processing using the login information transmitted from the mobile communication terminal 20, and if the login is successful, returns a session ID to the mobile communication terminal 20 that transmitted the login information (S2).

[0028] The wireless communication device 10 periodically transmits information about a unique ID preset for the managed facility and the operating time of the managed facility to nearby communication terminals via a short-range wireless communication advertising signal. When the mobile communication terminal 20 receives the advertising signal from the wireless communication device 10 (S3), the mobile communication terminal 20 transmits this information together with its own location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit 22 to the LCM server 30 (S4).

[0029] When the LCM server 30 receives the unique ID and operating time information of the managed equipment and the location information of the mobile communication terminal 20 transmitted from the mobile communication terminal 20, it transmits a request to the equipment management DB 31 to acquire the serial number corresponding to the unique ID (S5). The equipment management DB 31, which receives this request, refers to the equipment management data 311 to identify the serial number corresponding to the unique ID and returns the serial number (S6).

[0030] The LCM server 30 notifies the mobile communication terminal 20 of the serial number returned from the equipment management DB 31 (S7). The mobile communication terminal 20 displays the serial number notified by the LCM server 30 on the screen display unit 25 and presents it to the user. This allows the user to easily confirm which wireless communication device 10 of which equipment the pairing instruction is to be issued when the user issues a pairing instruction using the mobile communication terminal 20 (described later). The LCM server 30 also transmits the serial number returned from the equipment management DB 31, along with the operating time and location information received from the mobile communication terminal 20, to the operation DB 32 (S8). The operation DB 32 combines this information and stores it as operation data 321 for the managed equipment.

[0031] On the other hand, when the user of the mobile communication terminal 20 uses the operation input unit 26 to instruct pairing with the wireless communication device 10, the mobile communication terminal 20 transmits a pairing request to the wireless communication device 10 (S9). The wireless communication device 10 that receives this transmits a predetermined pairing process and establishes a connection state with the mobile communication terminal 20 via short-range wireless communication.

[0032] Thereafter, when the user performs a predetermined operation using operation input unit 26 of mobile communication terminal 20, mobile communication terminal 20 transmits an operation data acquisition request to wireless communication device 10 (S10). Wireless communication device 10, upon receiving this, replies with operation data other than the operation time of the managed equipment, such as a history of alarm occurrences (S11). After pairing, mobile communication terminal 20 receives the operation data transmitted from wireless communication device 10 in response to the request from mobile communication terminal 20 (S3), and transmits the received operation data to LCM server 30 (S11). Note that at this time, unlike before pairing, mobile communication terminal 20 does not transmit its own location information.

[0033] The LCM server 30 transmits the operation data received from the mobile communication terminal 20 to the operation DB 32 together with the serial number already acquired from the equipment management DB 31 (S12). The operation DB 32 stores the received operation data together with the above-mentioned operation time and location information as operation data 321 for the managed equipment.

[0034] 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of a management application in a facility management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In mobile communication terminal 20 running the management application, processing is performed according to the flowchart in FIG. 3 during the operation shown in the sequence diagram of FIG.

[0035] In step S21, a login process is performed for the LCM server 30. As described above, predetermined login information is sent to the LCM server 30, and a session ID returned from the LCM server 30 in response is received.

[0036] In step S22, it is determined whether or not an advertising signal transmitted by short-range wireless communication has been received from the wireless communication device 10. If an advertising signal has not been received, the process remains in step S22, and if an advertising signal has been received, the process proceeds to the next step S23.

[0037] In step S23, the unique ID and operating time of the managed equipment are acquired. As described above, the unique ID and operating time of the managed equipment can be acquired from the information included in the received advertising signal.

[0038] In step S24, the location information acquisition unit 22 detects the location of the mobile communication terminal 20 itself.

[0039] In step S25, the unique ID and operating time acquired in step S23 and its own location information detected in step S24 are transmitted to the LCM server 30 via the mobile network 40.

[0040] In step S26, it is determined whether or not a pairing instruction has been issued by the user. If the user has issued an instruction to pair with the wireless communication device 10 using the operation input unit 26, it is determined that a pairing instruction has been issued, and the process proceeds to step S29; otherwise, it is determined that a pairing instruction has not been issued, and the process proceeds to step S27.

[0041] In step S27, it is determined whether or not the serial number of the equipment to be managed, which was transmitted from the LCM server 30 in response to the unique ID transmitted in step S25, has been received. If the serial number has not been received, the process returns to step S26; if it has been received, the process proceeds to step S28.

[0042] In step S28, the display control unit 24 displays the serial number received in step S27 on the screen display unit 25. This allows the user to check the serial number of the equipment to be managed on the screen of the mobile communication terminal 20. After the processing of step S28 is performed, the process returns to step S26.

[0043] In step S29, a pairing request is transmitted to the wireless communication device 10. In response to this pairing request, the wireless communication device 10 performs a predetermined pairing process, whereby the mobile communication terminal 20 and the wireless communication device 10 are paired, and a connection state is established between them via short-range wireless communication.

[0044] In step S30, it is determined whether pairing with the wireless communication device 10 has been completed. If pairing has been completed, the process proceeds to the next step S31. If pairing has not been completed, the process remains in step S30 and waits until pairing is completed. Note that, during the wait, the process of step S29 may be executed again to retransmit a pairing request to the wireless communication device 10 and prompt the execution of the pairing process.

[0045] In step S31, a request to acquire operational data is sent to the wireless communication device 10.

[0046] In step S32, the operation data transmitted from the wireless communication device 10 in response to the operation data acquisition request transmitted in step S31 is received, and information other than the operating time already acquired in step S23 is acquired from the operation data of the managed equipment.

[0047] In step S33, the operational data acquired in step S32 is transmitted to the LCM server 30 via the mobile network 40.

[0048] After the process of step S33 is completed, the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 ends.

[0049] 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing by the wireless communication device in the facility management system according to one embodiment of the present invention. The wireless communication device 10 performs the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 at a predetermined cycle to perform the operation shown in the sequence diagram of FIG.

[0050] In step S41, the wireless communication unit 13 acquires the unique ID and operation data of the equipment to be managed from the unique ID storage unit 12 and operation data acquisition unit 11, respectively.

[0051] In step S42, the unique ID of the managed equipment acquired in step S41 and information on the operating time from the operating data are transmitted to nearby mobile communication terminals 20 within a specified communication range via a short-range wireless communication advertising signal.

[0052] In step S43, it is determined whether or not a pairing request has been made from the mobile communication terminal 20. If a pairing request was transmitted from the mobile communication terminal 20 in step S29 of Fig. 3 and received by the wireless communication unit 13, it is determined that a pairing request has been made, and the process proceeds to the next step S44. On the other hand, if the wireless communication unit 13 has not received a pairing request, it is determined that a pairing request has not been made, and the process returns to step S41, where the unique ID and operating time of the managed equipment are continued to be transmitted by the advertising signal.

[0053] In step S44, a pairing process is performed with the mobile communication terminal 20. As a result, the mobile communication terminal 20 and the wireless communication device 10 are paired, and a connection state is established between them via short-range wireless communication.

[0054] In step S45, it is determined whether or not there is a request to acquire operational data from the paired mobile communications terminal 20. If an operation data acquisition request is sent from the mobile communications terminal 20 in step S31 of Fig. 3 and is received by the wireless communication unit 13, it is determined that there is a request to acquire operational data, and the process proceeds to the next step S46. On the other hand, if there is no request to acquire operational data received by the wireless communication unit 13, it is determined that there is no request to acquire operational data, and the process remains in step S45 until a request to acquire operational data is made.

[0055] In step S46, the wireless communication unit 13 transmits to the paired mobile communication terminal 20 the operation data of the managed equipment acquired from the operation data acquisition unit 11 in step S41, except for the operation time already transmitted in step S42.

[0056] After the process of step S46 is completed, the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 ends.

[0057] According to the embodiment of the present invention described above, the following advantageous effects can be obtained.

[0058] (1) The facility management system 1 includes a wireless communication device 10 attached to a facility to be managed and capable of short-range wireless communication with nearby communication terminals; an LCM server 30 that stores operation data 321 related to the operation status of the facility; and a mobile communication terminal 20 that receives the operation data transmitted from the wireless communication device 10 via short-range wireless communication and transmits the received operation data to the LCM server 30 via a mobile network 40. The wireless communication device 10 acquires operation data about the facility (step S41) and transmits at least a portion of the acquired operation data to the mobile communication terminal 20 via an advertising signal in short-range wireless communication (step S42). As a result, when the mobile communication terminal 20 running an facility management app is located near the wireless communication device 10, operation data related to the operation status of the facility to be managed can be automatically collected according to a normal procedure without user operation and stored in the LCM server 30. Therefore, a technology that enables management of the operation status of the facility can be provided without impairing the convenience of the facility during operation.

[0059] (2) The operation data of the equipment includes information (first information) related to the operation time of the equipment. In step S42, the wireless communication device 10 transmits this first information to the mobile communication terminal 20 by using an advertising signal in short-range wireless communication. In this manner, information on the accumulated operation time, which is the most important information for managing the equipment among the operation data related to the operation status of the equipment, can be automatically collected without user operation.

[0060] (3) The operation data of the equipment also includes information (second information) related to the history of alarms generated by the equipment. The wireless communication device 10 pairs with the mobile communication terminal 20 (step S44), and after pairing, transmits the second information to the mobile communication terminal 20 via short-range wireless communication (step S46). In this manner, security can be improved by collecting information other than the cumulative operation time, which should be collected with priority, among the operation data related to the operation status of the equipment, after obtaining the user's consent.

[0061] (4) The LCM server 30 holds equipment management data 311 that indicates the relationship between a unique ID, which is a unique ID assigned to each of multiple pieces of equipment, and a serial number assigned to the equipment when it was manufactured. In step S42, the wireless communication device 10 transmits at least a portion of the equipment's operation data and the equipment's unique ID to the mobile communication terminal 20 via a short-range wireless communication advertising signal. The mobile communication terminal 20 then transmits at least a portion of the operation data transmitted from the wireless communication device 10 via the advertising signal and the unique ID to the LCM server 30 via the mobile network 40 (step S25). The LCM server 30 identifies the serial number corresponding to the unique ID transmitted from the mobile communication terminal 20 based on the equipment management data 311. This prevents the manufacturer and model name of the equipment from being easily guessed, even if the advertising signal transmitted from the wireless communication device 10 via short-range wireless communication is intercepted illicitly.

[0062] (5) The LCM server 30 notifies the mobile communication terminal 20 of the serial number identified based on the equipment management data 311. The mobile communication terminal 20 displays the serial number notified from the LCM server 30 on the screen display unit 25 (step S28). This allows the user to confirm the serial number of the equipment to be managed when issuing a pairing instruction with the wireless communication device 10. This prevents the wireless communication device 10 from being erroneously paired with an equipment not intended by the user, and the collection of operation data of that equipment.

[0063] (6) In step S25, the mobile communication terminal 20 transmits at least a portion of the operation data transmitted by the wireless communication device 10 via the advertising signal together with its own location information to the LCM server 30 via the mobile network 40. In this manner, even if the wireless communication device 10 does not have a location detection function, the location detection function of the mobile communication terminal 20 can be used to collect approximate location information of the managed facilities. This makes it possible to reduce the cost of the wireless communication device 10.

[0064] In the embodiment of the present invention described above, multiple types of equipment management apps may be prepared to run on the mobile communications terminal 20, and different equipment management apps may be used depending on the user's attributes. For example, a mobile communications terminal 20 owned by an employee of a factory where the managed equipment is installed may use an equipment management app with limited functionality that collects only the operation data of the managed equipment in that factory and cannot collect operation data of managed equipment installed in other locations. On the other hand, a mobile communications terminal 20 owned by a person in charge of after-sales service for the managed equipment may use an equipment management app with no limited functionality that can collect operation data of all managed equipment regardless of its location. Alternatively, different equipment management apps may be used in any other manner.

[0065] In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, an example has been described in which, among the operation data of the managed equipment, only information on the accumulated operation time is transmitted from the wireless communication device 10 to the mobile communication terminal 20 via an advertisement signal, and other operation data is transmitted after pairing. However, the content of the operation data transmitted via the advertisement signal and after pairing is not limited to this, and other information may be transmitted. Furthermore, all operation data may be transmitted via the advertisement signal, making pairing unnecessary. Furthermore, the content of the operation data transmitted via the advertisement signal and after pairing may be changed for each type of equipment management app as described above.

[0066] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to those including all of the described configurations. Furthermore, it is possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of the above-described embodiments with other configurations.

[0067] Furthermore, the above-described configurations, functional units, processing units, processing means, etc. may be partially or entirely implemented in hardware, for example, by designing them as integrated circuits. The above-described configurations, functions, etc. may also be implemented in software, with a processor interpreting and executing a program that implements each function. Information such as the programs, tables, and files that implement each function can be stored in a memory, a recording device such as a hard disk or SSD, or a recording medium such as an IC card, an SD card, or a DVD.

[0068] In addition, in the above figures, the control lines and information lines shown are those that are considered necessary for explanation, and do not necessarily show all the control lines and information lines that are actually implemented. For example, it can be considered that almost all components are actually connected to each other.

[0069] 1: Facility management system 10: Wireless communication device 11: Operation data acquisition unit 12: Unique ID storage unit 13: Wireless communication unit 20: Mobile communication terminal 21: Wireless communication unit 22: Location information acquisition unit 23: Communication control unit 24: Display control unit 25: Screen display unit 26: Operation input unit 30: LCM server 31: Facility management DB 32: Operation DB 40: Mobile network

Claims

1. An equipment management system comprising: a wireless communication device attached to equipment to be managed and capable of short-range wireless communication with nearby communication terminals; a server that stores operation data relating to the operating status of the equipment; and a mobile communication terminal that receives the operation data transmitted from the wireless communication device via the short-range wireless communication and transmits the received operation data to the server via a mobile network, wherein the wireless communication device acquires the operation data for the equipment and transmits at least a portion of the acquired operation data to the mobile communication terminal via an advertising signal of the short-range wireless communication.

2. An equipment management system as described in claim 1, wherein the operation data includes first information regarding the operation time of the equipment, and the wireless communication device transmits the first information to the mobile communication terminal via an advertising signal of the short-range wireless communication.

3. An equipment management system according to claim 2, wherein the operation data includes second information relating to the alarm occurrence history of the equipment, and the wireless communication device pairs with the mobile communication terminal, and after the pairing, transmits the second information to the mobile communication terminal via short-range wireless communication.

4. An equipment management system as described in claim 1, wherein the server holds equipment management data representing the relationship between a unique ID assigned to each of the plurality of pieces of equipment and a serial number assigned to the equipment when it was manufactured; the wireless communication device transmits at least a portion of the operation data together with the ID of the equipment to the mobile communication terminal via the short-range wireless communication advertising signal; the mobile communication terminal transmits at least a portion of the operation data and the ID transmitted from the wireless communication device via the advertising signal to the server via the mobile network; and the server identifies the serial number corresponding to the ID transmitted from the mobile communication terminal based on the equipment management data.

5. An equipment management system according to claim 4, wherein the server notifies the mobile communication terminal of the identified serial number, and the mobile communication terminal displays the serial number notified by the server.

6. In the facility management system described in claim 1, the mobile communication terminal transmits at least a portion of the operation data transmitted from the wireless communication device by the advertising signal, together with its own location information, to the server via the mobile network.

7. A wireless communication device that is attached to a facility to be managed and is capable of short-range wireless communication with a nearby communication terminal, which acquires operation data relating to the operation status of the facility, including at least information on the operation time of the facility, and transmits the acquired operation data to a nearby communication terminal via a short-range wireless communication advertisement signal.

8. A program that causes a mobile communication terminal to execute the following processes: collect, via short-range wireless communication, operation data relating to the operating status of equipment to which a wireless communication device is attached from a wireless communication device present within the communication range of the short-range wireless communication performed by the mobile communication terminal, while no user operation is being performed on the mobile communication terminal; and transmit the collected operation data to a server connected via a mobile network.

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