JP3785451B2 - Home appliance maintenance service system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a home appliance maintenance / repair service system that automatically performs a failure diagnosis necessary for maintenance when a failure occurs in a home appliance in a general household at a remote maintenance / repair service center.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Currently, many household appliances such as televisions, telephones, air conditioners, and fully automatic washing machines are widely used in each household. If a failure occurs in these appliances, a maintenance service will be provided if a failure notification is received from the user. Employees are dispatched to the home of the reporter to deal with repairs, or depending on the type of product, they are brought in and repaired.
[0003]
And, if you want to send to the home of failure maintenance service personnel has occurred, the person in charge has accepted the repair request, or directed maintenance service personnel the correspondence is to confirm at the request primarily phone in advance failure situation, Oh of elsewhere The cause of the failure is estimated, and the repair technique corresponding to the cause is determined and necessary replacement parts are determined so as to go to the client's location.
[0004]
In addition, a failure diagnosis system may be used to determine the cause of failure, necessary repair technology, and the necessity of replacement parts.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in such a conventional failure response system, even if a home appliance malfunctions, for example, “TV no longer appears”, “No sound”, “Laundry machine no longer turns” However, it is not possible to obtain detailed information such as which part of the circuit built in the home appliance has an abnormality. In order to be able to deal with them, it is necessary to prepare replacement parts and go to the client's whereabouts. To be able to deal with such a flexible failure, maintenance service personnel must have a wide range of product knowledge and experience. As a result, it takes time for maintenance service personnel to become full-fledged, and the number of maintenance service personnel cannot be prepared. As a result, it takes time to deal with failures and inconveniences customers. That problem there was.
[0006]
In addition, it is expected that each home appliance will become highly functional and more sophisticated and complex home appliances will appear in the future. However, one maintenance service worker is responsible for repairing each of the multiple types of home appliances that have been improved in functionality. Therefore, it is preferable to specialize the repair for each maintenance service person if possible.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional technical problems. In a remote maintenance / repair service center connected to a large number of households via the WWW and telephone networks, a failure occurs in a household electrical appliance at a certain household. If a failure occurs, failure diagnosis such as identification of the cause of the failure, necessary repair technology, and identification of required replacement parts is performed to identify the location of the customer where the failure occurred and the necessary repair technology. It also aims to provide a home appliance maintenance service system that can also be proposed to maintenance service personnel.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention of claim 1 is a home appliance maintenance / repair service system in which a maintenance / repair service center and each door are connected by an information communication network, and the maintenance / repair service center is connected to the information communication network, A WWW server that publishes a maintenance service registration homepage and diagnostic information of the registered electrical product on the information communication network, a customer database that manages customer information, and a failure diagnosis process for the electrical product. Fault diagnosis database for registering information, electrical product database for registering product-related information for each of various types of electrical products , and each electrical product in the fault diagnosis database for self-fault diagnostic information sent from each door metric measurement point of each electric product measurement information and the electrical product database measurement spots DOO perform failure diagnosis of the corresponding electric products based on, and referring to the customer database for customer information sent from the each household extracting the customer information, the repair technician information and customer information required Each door includes a self-diagnostic circuit incorporated in each home appliance, a transmission / reception circuit that outputs data from the self-fault diagnosis circuit with information specific to the corresponding fault device, and outputs the data, Collecting self-fault diagnostic information of the self-fault diagnostic circuit, equipment information management device that automatically contacts the maintenance service center through the information communication network when a fault occurs,
It is equipped with.
[0009]
In the maintenance / repair service system according to the first aspect of the invention, first, a user of a home appliance who wants to conclude a maintenance contract for the home appliance accesses a homepage published by the WWW server of the maintenance / repair service center on the WWW and Register matters and sign a maintenance contract. If this maintenance contract is properly established, the contractor is registered as a regular contractor in the customer database of the maintenance / repair service center.
[0010]
The self-diagnosis diagnostic circuit built into each household electrical appliance in each house monitors the operating status of each part of the household electrical appliance, and if there is a failure, sends it to the transmission / reception circuit. In addition, the device information management device notifies the device information management device, but the device information management device that has received this automatically calls the maintenance / repair service center through the information communication network and reports the failure information to the failure diagnosis device.
[0011]
When the failure diagnosis apparatus receives the failure information, the maintenance / repair service center searches the customer database for the failure information to determine whether or not the customer has a regular maintenance contract. If you are registered as an authorized contractor, you will receive failure information formally and search the failure diagnosis database and electrical product database to find out the cause of the electrical product failure, the necessary repair contents, and the failure response information such as replacement parts. And provide necessary repair technical information and customer information .
[0012]
Therefore, personnel at the maintenance / repair service center look at the customer information and confirm the address, and also look at the failure response information to determine the appropriate maintenance service personnel to be dispatched to deal with the failure.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the system configuration of one embodiment of the present invention. The maintenance / repair service system of the present invention comprises a maintenance / repair service center 1, a general home 2, and an Internet network 3 and a telephone network 4 such as the WWW connecting them .
[0014]
The maintenance / repair service center 1 includes a WWW server 101, a failure diagnosis apparatus 102, a customer database 103, a failure diagnosis database 104, and an electrical product database 105.
[0015]
The general home 2 is equipped with home appliances such as a device information management apparatus 201, a home LAN 202, a television 203 to be managed connected to the LAN 202, an air conditioner 204, and an illuminator 205.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 2, each home electric appliance to be managed, such as a television 203, an air conditioner 204, an illuminator 205, etc., together with the main circuit 20 for performing the original function of the product, A failure diagnosis circuit 21 that monitors the operation state of each of the small circuits 1 to n and a transmission / reception circuit 22 that transmits failure diagnosis information of the failure diagnosis circuit 21 to the device information management apparatus 201 via the LAN 202 are incorporated.
[0017]
The failure diagnosis circuit 21 compares the measured values of the diagnostic points 1 to n in the circuit 20 with a reference value, and adds the measured value if it is within the normal range, and adds NG information to the measured value if it is abnormal. Then, the data is transmitted to the transmission / reception circuit 22.
[0018]
The transmission / reception circuit 22 adds device-specific information (manufacturer name, model, date of manufacture) to the data from the failure diagnosis circuit 21, and transmits the data to the device information management apparatus 201 via the LAN 202 according to a certain transmission format. This transmission is performed at regular intervals and when an abnormality is detected.
[0019]
The WWW server 101 of the maintenance / repair service center 1 publishes a homepage on maintenance / repair service information on the WWW3, allows customers who apply for a maintenance / repair contract to access, and writes necessary information according to the application form prepared on the homepage. By that, the contract is concluded. The contract content is registered in the customer database 103. Accordingly, in the customer database 103, information on customers who have made maintenance and repair service contracts, name, postal code, address, telephone number, registration date, information on electrical products subject to contracts, and payment methods and payments for expenses Account number is registered.
[0020]
In the failure diagnosis database 104, information necessary for failure diagnosis of each of various types of electrical products, for example, expert knowledge information for failure diagnosis is registered.
[0021]
In the electric product database 105, models, types, manufacturing periods, operation characteristic data of each part, and replacement part information are registered for various types of electric products.
[0022]
As shown in FIG. 3, the failure diagnosis apparatus 102 on the maintenance / repair service center 1 side can display a registered customer list 107 on the failure diagnosis apparatus screen 106. The customer information displayed in the registered customer list 107 is registered in the customer database 103, and the name, zip code, address, and telephone number of each customer (the device information management apparatus 201 on the customer's side passes through the telephone network 4. Phone number used when sending information to the center 1 side), and the date of registration.
[0023]
Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the failure diagnosis apparatus 102 can display individual customer information 108 on the failure diagnosis apparatus screen 106. The individual customer information 108 includes the customer information listed in the registered customer list 107, the model and model of the electrical product registered as the object of maintenance for each customer, and the operating state of each of the registered electrical products. Contains status data indicating normal / abnormal. In FIG. 4, an electrical product having a circle in the status column indicates that an abnormality has occurred.
[0024]
Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the failure diagnosis apparatus 102 can display failure diagnosis information 109 on the failure diagnosis apparatus screen 106. The fault diagnosis information 109 includes electrical product information (including model name, manufacturer, model, date of manufacture), as well as measured values, reference values, and status data for each measurement point of the circuit. Display in list format. Again, measurement points with a circle in the status column indicate that the measurement value is abnormal.
[0025]
Then, the measurement data of the time series is linked to each measurement point of the failure diagnosis information 109, and the measurement is performed as shown in FIG. 6 by placing the cursor on the measurement point portion and clicking with the mouse or other pointing device. The time series graph of points can be expanded and displayed.
[0026]
Next, the operation of the maintenance / repair service system configured as described above will be described.
[0027]
<General household>
An electrical product that is to receive a failure repair service among electrical products in the home is connected to the device information management apparatus 201 via the LAN 202.
[0028]
Note that the electrical products connected to the LAN 202 are previously measured values of various diagnostic points 1 to n in addition to the circuit 20 for performing the original functions of the electrical products as shown in FIG. Is compared with the reference value, and if it is within the normal range, only the measurement value is added, and if it is outside the normal range, the failure diagnosis circuit 21 adds abnormality occurrence information (NG information) together with the measurement value. The transmission / reception circuit 22 for transmitting the generated fault diagnosis information to the device information management apparatus 201 via the LAN 202 is built in or added later.
[0029]
The fault diagnosis circuit 21 of each electric product 203, 204, 205,... Compares the measured values of the diagnostic points 1 to n in the circuit 20 with a reference value. If the measured value is out of the normal range, the abnormality occurrence information (NG information) is added together with the measured value and passed to the transmitting / receiving circuit 22.
[0030]
The transmission / reception circuit 22 adds information unique to the electrical product, manufacturer name, product name, model, date of manufacture to the failure diagnosis information from the failure diagnosis circuit 21, and the device information management apparatus 201 through the LAN 202 according to a certain transmission format. Send to. This transmission is performed at regular intervals and when failure diagnosis information to which NG information is added is received.
[0031]
The device information management apparatus 201 receives failure diagnosis information sent from each electric product 203, 204, 205,... Via the LAN 202, stores it for a certain time range, and overwrites it with new information every time that time elapses. To do.
[0032]
When failure diagnosis information containing NG information is received, failure diagnosis information of all electrical products is collected, and immediately dialed to the maintenance / repair service center 1 and if a telephone line is connected, failure diagnosis is performed. The customer information of the contractor, that is, the name, postal code, address, and telephone number are added to the information and transmitted. In addition, the structure which only transmits ID number for customer identification here may be sufficient. In this case, the customer information is determined by searching the customer database 103 on the center 1 side.
[0033]
The device information management apparatus 201 also automatically transmits the latest failure diagnosis data for all electric products to the maintenance / repair service center 1 on a regular basis, for example, every month even when no failure occurs.
[0034]
<Maintenance and repair service center>
At the maintenance and repair service center, the WWW server 101 publishes a homepage on the WWW3 for advertising the fault diagnosis service to the customer, accepts the customer application for receiving the fault diagnosis service in the homepage, Register. When this maintenance contract is registered, an ID number is issued and a password is set. Customer registration information includes name, postal code, address, and telephone number (the telephone number of the telephone using this service). In addition, information, model, model, date of manufacture related to electrical products that are subject to maintenance service will be registered.
[0035]
When this customer information registration procedure is completed, the registration information is sent to the failure diagnosis apparatus 102 and registered in the customer database 103.
[0036]
Further, when customer information is registered, diagnostic information about the customer's electrical product is posted on the home page of the WWW server 101, and the customer can view the registered contents on the home page by inputting the ID number and password.
[0037]
Application software for failure diagnosis is registered in the failure diagnosis apparatus 102, and failure diagnosis is executed by searching a database.
[0038]
The database includes a customer database 103 for registering customer information, a failure diagnosis database 104 for storing electrical product diagnosis information transmitted from the customer, pass / fail reference values for each product type of each electrical product manufacturer, and replacement parts list. There is an electrical product database 105 that stores.
[0039]
The failure diagnosis apparatus 102 performs the following process. When a call is received from a customer, it is determined whether the phone number belongs to a registered customer. If the phone number is not registered, acceptance is rejected, and if it is a registered phone number, the incoming call is validated. The failure diagnosis information of the electrical product sent is received.
[0040]
If the received failure diagnosis information includes information indicating failure occurrence (NG information), the entire diagnosis data of the electrical product including the NG information is received and the failure diagnosis database 104 stores the data. And customer information 108 as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the screen 106.
[0041]
If NG information is not included, the corresponding data in the failure diagnosis database 104 is only updated. If it is found that the name of the electric product includes a new part, it is additionally created in the failure diagnosis database 104.
[0042]
When the received failure diagnosis information includes NG information, the customer information 108 as shown in FIG. 4 is first displayed on the screen 106. In contrast, the center staff adds NG marks in the status column. By specifying the electric product being used and giving a more detailed fault diagnosis execution command (clicking on the corresponding electric product column with the pointing device), a more detailed fault diagnosis is executed.
[0043]
In this detailed failure diagnosis, the electrical product database 105 is searched to read the reference value of each measurement point of the corresponding electrical product, and all the diagnostic data stored in the failure diagnosis database 104 is searched to measure each measurement point. Read the value and identify the measurement point that shows the abnormal value. The result of this detailed failure diagnosis is developed on the screen 106 as failure diagnosis information 109 as shown in FIG. 5, and NG is marked in the status column for the measurement point indicating the abnormal value.
[0044]
If more detailed information is required for fault diagnosis, the center staff will specify the measurement points marked with NG and give a display command for time-series data (again, the corresponding measurement points will be displayed using the pointing device). To display a time-series graph 110 of measured values at the point of failure as shown in FIG.
[0045]
If the failure point is thus determined by failure diagnosis, information on the cause of failure, repair method, necessary replacement parts, and the like is extracted based on the obtained failure information using information in the failure diagnosis database 104 and the electrical product database 105. For this purpose, an expert system for fault diagnosis is used.
[0046]
Thus, in the maintenance / repair service system according to the present embodiment, in a remote maintenance / repair service center 1 connected to a large number of homes 2 via the Internet network 3 and the telephone network 4 such as the WWW, a home appliance at a certain home is broken down. If a failure occurs, failure diagnosis such as identifying the cause of the failure, the necessary repair method, and the identification of the required replacement parts is performed to identify the location of the customer where the failure occurred and the necessary repairs The technology can also be proposed to maintenance service personnel, and the failure can be dealt with quickly and appropriately.
[0047]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when a failure occurs in a certain household electrical appliance, when a failure repair request is received as in the past, the failure symptom is indicated to a non-specialist user. Failure diagnosis such as identifying the cause of failure, necessary repair method, and identification of required replacement parts, as well as detecting the occurrence of failure at the maintenance / repair service center side without having to ask and guess In addition, the location of the customer in which the failure occurred can be specified, and the necessary repair technique can be proposed to the maintenance service staff, so that appropriate failure handling can be performed quickly.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal function of the home appliance in the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a registered customer list screen of the failure diagnosis apparatus in the above embodiment.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a customer information screen of the failure diagnosis apparatus in the above embodiment.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a failure diagnosis information screen of the failure diagnosis apparatus according to the above embodiment.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a time series graph screen of measured values of failure points developed from the above-described failure diagnosis information screen.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Maintenance / repair service center 2 General home 3 Internet network 4 Telephone network 20 This circuit 21 Fault diagnosis circuit 22 Transmission / reception circuit 101 WWW server 102 Fault diagnosis apparatus 103 Customer database 104 Fault diagnosis database 105 Electric product database 201 Equipment information management apparatus 202 LAN
203 TV 204 Air Conditioner 205 Illuminator

Claims (2)

A home appliance maintenance and repair service system comprising a maintenance and repair service center and each house connected by an information communication network,
The maintenance and repair service center is connected to the information and communication network, and has a homepage for registration of the maintenance and repair service and a WWW server that publishes diagnostic information of the electrical product after the registration on the information and communication network, and customer information. A customer database to be managed, a failure diagnosis database for registering information used for failure diagnosis processing for the electrical product, an electrical product database for registering product-related information for each of various types of electrical products, and sent from the respective houses For the self-fault diagnosis information, the fault diagnosis of the corresponding electrical product is performed based on the measurement information of the measurement location of each electrical product in the fault diagnosis database and the measurement reference value of the measurement location of each electrical product in the electrical product database . Execute and refer to the customer database for customer information sent from each house To extract the broadcast, and a failure diagnosis apparatus for presenting and repair technical information and customer information required,
Each door includes a self-fault diagnosis circuit incorporated in each home appliance, a transmission / reception circuit that outputs data from the self-fault diagnosis circuit added with information specific to the corresponding fault device, and self-fault diagnosis information of the self-fault diagnosis circuit A device information management device that automatically contacts the maintenance service center through the information communication network when a failure occurs,
A home appliance maintenance and repair service system comprising: The home appliance maintenance / repair service system according to claim 1, wherein the failure diagnosis apparatus outputs the measurement points of the electrical product as a time series graph.

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