Air conditioner management device, and method for generating screen image for managing air conditioner

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Solution Overview

Problem

Managing a large number of air conditioners in a building is inefficient due to the need for scrolling through multiple icons on a touch panel terminal to grasp their working status, making it time-consuming to monitor ON/OFF states and set modes.

Innovation Solution

An air conditioner management device with a displayed-information generation unit that creates a summary screen displaying the number of units in each working mode (ON or OFF) and set modes, allowing easy visualization of the status across multiple air conditioners, using a tablet terminal with a touch panel for centralized control and communication.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If all air conditioner icons are displayed on the touch panel screen, then complete status information is provided, but the screen area required exceeds the available display area

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestatus information completenessVSAvoiddisplay area
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSArea of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The display screen is segmented into multiple functional areas: a summary information display area showing aggregated status (total units, ON/OFF counts, mode distribution), and an icon display area showing individual air conditioner icons. This segmentation allows comprehensive information presentation within limited screen space by hierarchically organizing data from macro to micro level.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent transitions from a two-dimensional grid layout to a hierarchical display structure that adds a dimensional layer of information organization. Summary statistics provide an overview dimension, while individual icons provide detailed dimension, allowing users to grasp overall status immediately without scanning all icons, thus fitting more information effectively into the available display area.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Loss of information

If individual air conditioner icons are displayed, then detailed status of each unit is visible, but time is required to scroll through the screen to grasp all statuses

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestatus visibilityVSAvoidmonitoring time
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary aggregation of air conditioner status data before display, calculating summary statistics (total units, operational counts, mode distribution) in advance. This preliminary processing allows the summary information to be displayed immediately upon screen loading, eliminating the need for users to manually scroll through all icons to grasp overall status, thus reducing monitoring time significantly.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The display provides immediate visual feedback through summary statistics that reflect the current state of all air conditioners. This feedback mechanism allows managers to quickly assess overall system status without time-consuming manual inspection, and the summary information updates automatically when status changes occur, maintaining real-time awareness with minimal user effort.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP3809058B1Air conditioner management device, and method for generating screen image for managing air conditioner
Publication Date: 2023.10.25 TOSHIBA CARRIER CORP
  • EP3809058B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3809058B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3809058B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

An air conditioner management device (50) that has a plurality of air conditioners as management targets, includes: a displayed-information generation unit (522) that, as for the plurality of air conditioners, generates display information on a summary screen including mode-specific working unit number information indicating the number of air conditioners currently in an ON state in each set working mode and mode-specific stopped unit number information indicating the number of air conditioners currently in an OFF state in each set working mode; and a display unit (512) that displays the display information generated by the displayed-information generation unit (522).