Remote Maintenance for Apartment Intercom Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional intercommunication systems for apartment complexes are heavy in maintenance load, requiring on-site visits for troubleshooting and repair due to centralized control apparatus vulnerabilities, such as data or software damage from events like lightning strikes.
Innovation Solution
An intercommunication system that allows maintenance companies to access and diagnose terminal devices remotely through an external network-connected apparatus, using building control units with signal conversion capabilities to communicate between intercom lines and networks, enabling remote maintenance and data backup.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a control apparatus connected to individual residential buildings manages call signals intensively, then the system achieves centralized control functionality, but the maintenance load increases significantly requiring on-site visits for troubleshooting and repair
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a building control unit as an intermediary device between the terminal devices and the external network. This unit includes a first conversion unit that converts intercom line signals to network signals, and a second conversion unit that converts network signals back to intercom line signals. This intermediary structure enables remote access to building control information without requiring direct access to vulnerable centralized control apparatus, thus reducing maintenance load while preserving centralized control functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the control system into distributed building control units, each managing its own building's terminal devices independently. This segmentation allows maintenance personnel to access and diagnose issues in one building without affecting other buildings, reducing the overall maintenance load and enabling parallel maintenance operations across multiple buildings.
2Measurement precision
If maintenance personnel visit each building to diagnose and repair terminal devices, then accurate troubleshooting can be performed, but time and resources are consumed for each on-site visit
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the building's control environment by allowing external apparatus to access building control units through the network. This copying approach enables maintenance personnel to remotely diagnose and repair terminal devices with the same accuracy as on-site visits, eliminating the need for physical presence while maintaining troubleshooting precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of on-site physical visits with an electronic network-based access system. External apparatus connected to the network can access building control units remotely, substituting the mechanical travel and on-site manipulation with electronic signal transmission and remote control, thereby eliminating time loss while maintaining diagnostic accuracy.
3Ease of operation
If terminal information is stored locally in each terminal device, then data accessibility is improved, but vulnerability to damage from events like lightning strikes increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the data storage function across multiple locations by maintaining terminal information in both local terminal devices and remotely accessible building control units. This merging approach ensures that data remains accessible locally for immediate operations while simultaneously being protected through remote redundancy, mitigating the risk of complete data loss from local damage events.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements beforehand cushioning by pre-establishing remote copies of terminal information in building control units that can be accessed through the network. In the event of data damage at any terminal device, these pre-prepared remote copies serve as immediate backup, cushioning against data loss without requiring complex restoration procedures.
Data Source
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AI summary
The intercommunication system according to the invention is an intercommunication system used in an apartment complex comprising plural residential buildings. Each of the plural residential buildings is equipped with room parent devices (30) installed in respective rooms; a collective entrance device (10) which enables a call manipulation for calling one of the room parent devices (30); and a building control unit (40) which connects, by an intercom line, the collective entrance device (10) and the room parent devices (30) of the respective rooms of the residential building. The collective entrance device (10) has a storage unit (102) which is stored with terminal information of the collective entrance device (10). The building control units (40) of the plural respective residential buildings are connected to each other by a network (N1) in which a communication is performed according to a general-purpose protocol and can communicate, over the network (N1), with an external apparatus (80) that is connected to an external network (N2).