JP7737968B2 - Facility monitoring system, facility monitoring device, and facility monitoring method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an equipment monitoring system, an equipment monitoring device, and an equipment monitoring method.

As background technology in this technical field, the abstract of Patent Document 1 below states, "[Problem] To provide a water supply device that can clearly notify users who do not have specialized knowledge about water supply devices that consumable parts need to be replaced. [Solution] The water supply device 1 includes a pump 2, an electric motor 3 that drives the pump 2, a control unit 40 that measures the usage period of the consumable parts of the water supply device 1 and compares the usage period with a threshold value, and a display 49 that, when the usage period is equal to or greater than the threshold value, displays that the usage period has exceeded the threshold value and that the consumable parts need to be replaced."

JP 2016-197382 A

However, in the above-mentioned technology, there is a demand for presenting a more appropriate estimated life span of various components.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and aims to provide an equipment monitoring system, equipment monitoring device, and equipment monitoring method that can present appropriate estimated life spans of various parts in monitored equipment.

In order to solve the above problems, the equipment monitoring system of the present invention comprises an equipment monitoring device that monitors monitored equipment, the equipment monitoring device having a function of reading out the estimated part lives of parts included in the monitored equipment from a memory unit, and a corrected part life calculation function that calculates a corrected part life that is the result of correcting the estimated part life based on operation information of the monitored equipment, the operation information including temperature and humidity as environmental information for the monitored equipment, and the corrected part life calculation function applies the lower of the constants corresponding to temperature and humidity as a weighting constant, and calculates the corrected part life using the result of multiplying the applied weighting constant by the estimated part life .

The present invention makes it possible to present corrected component lifespans, which are appropriate estimated lifespans for various components in monitored equipment.

1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a remote monitoring system according to a first embodiment; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a pressurized water supply unit. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a life curve of a bearing included in a cooling fan. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a constant definition table. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a transition of an operating value. 10 is a flowchart of a recommended replacement time notification program executed in the remote monitoring system. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a remote monitoring system according to a second embodiment.

[Prerequisites for the embodiment]
To prevent pump and other equipment breakdowns, it is advisable to perform periodic part replacement maintenance, and pump manufacturers provide recommended replacement intervals based on standard usage in their instruction manuals. However, inexperienced users who are not dedicated to pumps, such as facility managers in buildings or apartment complexes, may not know how to check data such as the lifespan of each pump part or the current operating time. This often leads to pumps continuing to be used even after the recommended replacement interval has passed, which can lead to breakdowns due to lack of maintenance.

By applying the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is possible to notify users that a consumable part has reached its recommended replacement time. That is, it is conceivable that a threshold value corresponding to the recommended replacement time for the consumable part can be set, and the recommended replacement time can be determined by comparing the operating status of the pump, such as the operating time and number of times it has been operated, with the threshold value. However, Patent Document 1 does not specifically mention taking into consideration the location environment of the pump machine. Furthermore, with technology that applies Patent Document 1, in order to check the notification, the user must either go to the pump room and look at the display panel of the water supply device, or display the information on an external display device via short-range wireless communication or a wired connection.

In general, it is difficult to determine signs of impending failure and carry out appropriate part replacement using instantaneous data. In other words, to determine the appropriate recommended replacement time, it is necessary to check operational trends through long-term logging, and to use the experience and know-how of a service company that has been specializing in pump maintenance for many years. It is also often necessary to stop the pump and perform an overhaul and inspection.

In particular, disassembly and inspection work involves water outages, and due to the need to prepare for the response and ensure sufficient time for construction, it is costly and cannot be performed frequently. Furthermore, the lifespan of parts is easily affected not only by factors such as operating time, but also by the environment in which the pump is installed. Therefore, recommended replacement times calculated based solely on operating time may not always be appropriate, and there may be parts that need to be replaced even earlier. Therefore, the embodiments described below aim to solve the various problems mentioned above and present appropriate recommended replacement times.

[First embodiment]
<Configuration of First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a remote monitoring system 100 (facility monitoring system) according to the first embodiment.
1, remote monitoring system 100 includes pressurized water supply units 500A and 500B (monitored equipment) and monitoring server 110. Monitoring server 110 is provided on the cloud and is capable of communicating with user terminals 120 such as personal computers and smartphones. Pressurized water supply units 500A and 500B each include a communication terminal (not shown) and perform bidirectional data communication with monitoring server 110.

The pressurized water supply units 500A, 500B can be various types of equipment that supplies water. For example, the pressurized water supply units 500A, 500B may be a water tank-type booster pump or a direct-coupled booster pump. The pressurized water supply units 500A, 500B are each equipped with a control panel 103b, 104b that controls operation, and these control panels 103b, 104b have a control board (not shown) inside. In this embodiment, the pressurized water supply units 500A, 500B are water supply units, but the pressurized water supply units 500A, 500B may also be a land-based pump type or a submersible pump type.

The monitoring server 110 (facility monitoring device) includes a web server 104, a system information database 105, a receiving server 106, an operation information database 107 (storage unit), a calculation unit 108, and a mail server 109.

The receiving server 106 receives operation information DWA and DWB from the pressurized water supply units 500A and 500B, respectively. The system information database 105 also stores registration information data for the pressurized water supply units 500A and 500B. The operation information database 107 links the operation information DWA and DWB to the registration information data for the pressurized water supply units 500A and 500B and stores the operation information DWA and DWB. The calculation unit 108 calculates the recommended replacement times for various parts based on the operation information DWA and DWB. The web server 104 provides the notification information DWU to the user terminal 120 in the form of a web page via an IP network (not shown), such as the Internet.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the pressurized water supply unit 500 (monitored facility).
This pressurized water supply unit 500 is one of the pressurized water supply units 500A and 500B shown in Fig. 1. Furthermore, the operation information DW shown in Fig. 2 is one of the operation information DWA and DWB shown in Fig. 1.
In Figure 2, the pressurized water supply unit 500 includes water tanks 262, 263, water level sensors 264, 265, inlet pipes 202, 203, inlet side gate valves 204, 205, pumps 206, 207, motors 208, 209, inverters 210, 211, inverter control units 212, 213, and a control device 250.

Water level sensors 264, 265 measure water levels X1, X2 in water receiving tanks 262, 263. Inlet pipes 202, 203 are connected to water receiving tanks 262, 263, respectively. Inlet-side gate valves 204, 205 are inserted into inlet pipes 202, 203. Motors 208, 209 drive pumps 206, 207, respectively. Inverters 210, 211 supply AC power to motors 208, 209. Inverter control units 212, 213 control the output frequency, output voltage, etc. of inverters 210, 211. Control device 250 controls each part of the pressurized water supply unit 500.

Inverters 210, 211, inverter control units 212, 213, and control device 250 are mounted in housing 240, which is a rack. Housing 240 is equipped with a cooling fan 242 that cools its interior. Cooling fan 242 is equipped with bearings 244.

Check valves 222 and 223 and gate valves 224 and 225 are connected in sequence to the discharge sides (right side in the figure) of pumps 206 and 207. The discharge sides of gate valves 224 and 225 are connected to a common pipeline 228. Pipe 228 is also connected to pressure tank 218 and pressure sensor 217. Pressure tank 218 maintains the pressure in pipeline 228 and reduces the frequency of starting pumps 206 and 207. Pressure sensor 217 measures the pressure in pipeline 228.

The control device 250 also includes an LCD display 252, a control unit 254 that is an MCU (Micro Controller Unit), a sensor interface 256, and a memory 258 (storage unit). Although not shown, the memory 258 includes a RAM (Random Access Memory) and an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory). The EEPROM stores the control programs and various data described below. A temperature sensor 219, a humidity sensor 220, and a pressure sensor 217 are connected to the sensor interface 256.

The sensor interface unit 256 is also supplied with water levels X1 and X2 from water level sensors 264 and 265. The temperature sensor 219 measures the ambient temperature TE (temperature) of the pumps 206 and 207, and the humidity sensor 220 measures the ambient humidity HE (humidity) of the pumps 206 and 207. A communication terminal 231 equipped with an antenna 232 is also connected to the control device 250. Via this communication terminal 231, the pressurized water supply unit 500 transmits operation information DW to the monitoring server 110 (see Figure 1).

When the pressure PT detected by the pressure sensor 217 falls below a predetermined starting pressure PTth (not shown), the control device 250 starts one of the pumps 206 and 207. After the pump 206 or 207 starts, the control device 250 controls the output frequency of the inverter 210 or 211 via the inverter control units 212 and 213 in accordance with changes in the pressure PT. When the frequency control detects that the amount of water being supplied is insufficient, the frequency is increased, and the internal pressure of the pressure tank 218 increases. When the pressure PT reaches a predetermined value, the control device 250 stops the pumps 206 and 207. The control device 250 alternately operates the pumps 206 and 207 each time the pressure PT falls below the starting pressure PTth. This allows the operating times of the pumps 206 and 207 to be equalized.

The control device 250 monitors the status of the inverters 210 and 211, and periodically stores the frequency and current value of the inverters 210 and 211, pressure PT, ambient temperature TE, and ambient humidity HE in the RAM of the memory 258. The control device 250 also stores the power-on time TW, operating time TP1 and TP2, and start-up counts CS1 and CS2 (none of which are shown) in the EEPROM of the memory 258.

Here, the power supply time TW is the total time that power has been supplied to the pressurized water supply unit 500 after it was installed. Furthermore, the operating times TP1 and TP2 are the operating times of the pumps 206 and 207, respectively, after the pressurized water supply unit 500 was installed. Furthermore, the start counts CS1 and CS2 are the number of times that the pumps 206 and 207 were started, respectively, after the pressurized water supply unit 500 was installed.

The recommended replacement times for various parts in the pressurized water supply unit 500 are determined based on the power-on time TW, operating time TP1, TP2, and/or number of starts CS1, CS2. In the following explanation, these "time," "number of times," and other values that represent the degree of deterioration of each part are collectively referred to as the "operating value L" (see Figure 5). In other words, the power-on time TW, operating time TP1, TP2, and/or number of starts CS1, CS2 are the "operating value L" that represents the degree of deterioration of each part.

Although not specifically shown, pumps 206 and 207 include impellers, mechanical seals, etc., and motors 208 and 209 include bearings. Since the main cause of deterioration of these parts is wear due to rotation, it is often preferable to use operating times TP1 and TP2 as the operating value L.

On the other hand, even when pumps 206 and 207 are stopped, various electrical circuits are often energized. Therefore, since the inverter control units 212 and 213 and the circuit boards, controllers, pressure sensors, etc. of inverters 210 and 211 are constantly worn down by being energized, it is often preferable to use the energization time TW as the operating value L for various electrical components.

Furthermore, since the pressure tank 218 is constantly under pressure while the pressurized water supply unit 500 is operating, it is possible to use the energization time TW as the operation value L. However, the lifespan of the pressure tank 218 is often bottlenecked by the various rubber parts (not shown) installed inside it. When one of the pumps 206, 207 starts, a load is placed on the various rubber parts, so it is preferable to use the sum of the start counts CS1, CS2 (CS1 + CS2) as the operation value L.

The control device 250 stores in the EEPROM of the memory 258 the operating value L applied to various components within the pressurized water supply unit 500 and the estimated component life L0 (see Figure 5), which is the threshold value of the operating value L corresponding to the recommended replacement period for these components.

The communication terminal 231 periodically acquires the operation information DW stored in the control device 250. When adding an input/output unit to the communication terminal 231, a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) or communication board may be added to the communication terminal 231. These communication boards should be compatible with the communication protocol of the connected device. It is preferable to use wide-area communication such as LTE (Long Term Evolution) as the communication protocol for the communication terminal 231. Since the pressurized water supply unit 500 is often installed in a basement, for example, radio wave strength can be an issue. In such cases, it is preferable to separate the communication terminal 231 and the antenna 232 so that the installation location of the antenna 232 can be freely selected.

The operation information DW sent from the control device 250 to the monitoring server 110 (see Figure 1) via the communication terminal 231 includes operating status information DW1, parts management information DW2, and environmental information DW3.

Here, the driving state information DW1 includes the following:
- the discharge pressure of the pumps 206 and 207;
the rotational speed of the pumps 206, 207;
Output current of inverters 210 and 211
Power supply time TW of the pressurized water supply unit 500,
Operation times TP1 and TP2 of the pumps 206 and 207
The number of starts CS1, CS2 of the pumps 206, 207, and the operating value L of each of the other components.

The parts management information DW2 also includes the following:
Estimated part life L0 of the pressure sensor 217 (threshold value of the operating value),
- Estimated parts life L0 of the pressure tank 218;
Estimated component life L0 of the liquid crystal display unit 252,
- Estimated part life L0 of the impellers of the pumps 206 and 207
- Estimated part life L0 of the motors 208 and 209
- Estimated part life L0 of the bearings included in the motors 208 and 209,
- Estimated part life L0 of the mechanical seals included in the motors 208 and 209
Estimated component life L0 of the inverters 210 and 211
Estimated component life L0 of the inverter control units 212 and 213,
- The estimated part life L0 of the check valves 222, 223, and - The estimated part life L0 of the earth leakage breaker (not shown).
The environmental information DW3 also includes the ambient temperature TE and the ambient humidity HE.

Returning to FIG. 1, as described above, the web server 104 of the monitoring server 110 provides the notification information DWU to the user terminal 120 in the form of a web page. Here, the notification information DWU includes the operation information DW (i.e., DWA, DWB) described above. Furthermore, the notification information DWU includes the current operating value L of each part and the recommended replacement time.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a life curve of the bearing 244 included in the cooling fan 242.
Bearing 244 contains grease (not shown), and the degree of deterioration of the grease varies with the ambient temperature (horizontal axis), thereby changing the estimated lifespan (vertical axis). More specifically, according to the Arrhenius law, the estimated lifespan shortens as the temperature rises. This also applies to the estimated lifespans of the bearings and insulating parts of motors 208 and 209 and the capacitors (none of which are shown) used in inverters 210 and 211. Note that ambient temperatures TE1 and TE3 in the figure will be discussed later. In light of these circumstances, it is believed that a more appropriate recommended replacement time for a part can be presented by taking into account environmental information DW3, such as ambient temperature TE and ambient humidity HE, rather than presenting the recommended replacement time based solely on the estimated part lifespan L0, which is the threshold value for current-on time TW, operating time TP1 and TP2, or start count CS1 and CS2.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the calculation unit 108 of the monitoring server 110 reads the estimated part life L0 of each part from the operation information database 107, and calculates a corrected part life L1 by correcting the estimated part life L0 based on the following equation (1).
In equation (1), α is a weighting constant and K is a correction coefficient, which is preferably set to a value based on performance data.

L1=α・K・L0…(1)

In other words, the calculation unit 108 of the monitoring server 110 has the functions of reading the estimated part life L0 of each part from the operation information database 107, correcting this estimated part life L0 to calculate a corrected part life L1, and writing the calculated corrected part life L1 of each part to the operation information database 107. Furthermore, the calculation unit 108 has the function of using this corrected part life L1 to calculate the recommended replacement time for each part.

The corrected part life L1 for each part is the power-on time TW of the pressurized water supply unit 500, the operating time TP1, TP2 of the pumps 206, 207, or the number of starts CS1, CS2 of the pumps 206, 207, and these are stored in the operation information database 107 (see Figure 1) of the monitoring server 110. The calculation unit 108 calculates the corrected part life L1 for each part based on the constant α and the correction coefficient K.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the constant definition table 300. As shown in FIG.
The constant definition table 300 is a table used by the calculation unit 108 (see FIG. 1) to determine the weighting constant α based on the average ambient temperature TEV and the average ambient humidity HEV. Here, the average ambient temperature TEV and the average ambient humidity HEV are the average values of the ambient temperature TE and the ambient humidity HE, respectively, within a predetermined time period. In the constant definition table 300, the average ambient temperature TEV and the average ambient humidity HEV are grouped according to these values.

That is, with respect to the average ambient temperature TEV, temperatures TE1, TE2, and TE3 have the relationship TE1<TE2<TE3, and when TEV≦TE1, the temperature belongs to group Q1; when TE1<TEV≦TE2, the temperature belongs to group Q2; when TE2<TEV≦TE3, the temperature belongs to group Q3; and when TE3<TEV, the temperature belongs to group Q4.

Furthermore, with regard to the average ambient humidity HEV, the humidities HE1, HE2, and HE3 have the relationship HE1<HE2<HE3, and when HEV≦HE1, the device belongs to group Q1, when HE1<HEV≦HE2, the device belongs to group Q2, when HE2<HEV≦HE3, the device belongs to group Q3, and when HE3<HEV, the device belongs to group Q4.

The weighting constant α for these groups Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 is set to "1.0," "0.8," "0.65," and "0.5," respectively. Note that if the groups Q1 to Q4 to which the average ambient temperature TEV and average ambient humidity HEV belong are different, the calculation unit 108 applies the lower constant α to calculate the corrected part life L1.

The correction coefficient K shown in equation (1) corrects the weighting constant α and improves the accuracy of the estimated lifespan. It is preferable to use actual data when calculating this correction coefficient K. That is, when a part is replaced in the pressurized water supply unit 500 due to a component failure, the user records this in the control device 250. When a component replacement occurs due to a component failure, the control device 250 transmits to the monitoring server 110 the operating value L at the time of the component failure (referred to as the operating value LF during failure) and the history of environmental information DW3 (see Figure 2) from the time the pressurized water supply unit 500 was installed until the failure.

The calculation unit 108 of the monitoring server 110 calculates the corrected part life L1 based on the history of the environmental information DW3 and the fault-time operating value LF. Next, the calculation unit 108 calculates the difference ΔL (= L1 - LF) between the fault-time operating value LF and the corrected part life L1. Next, if the difference ΔL exceeds a predetermined value, the calculation unit 108 modifies the correction coefficient K for parts with the same specifications as the failed part so that the corrected part life L1 approaches the fault-time operating value LF. This makes it possible to improve the accuracy of the estimated life time for parts with the same specifications thereafter.

In this way, the calculation unit 108 corrects the correction coefficient K only when a "part replacement due to part failure" occurs, and if a part replacement is performed for other reasons, it is excluded from the correction coefficient K being corrected. For example, if a part is replaced due to regular maintenance or if a part is replaced at the same time as another part is replaced, it is excluded from the correction coefficient K being corrected.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the transition of the operating value L. In FIG.
5, the horizontal axis represents the time elapsed since the pressurized water supply unit 500 was installed or a part was replaced, and the vertical axis represents the operating value L corresponding to the type of part, more specifically, the power supply time TW of the pressurized water supply unit 500, the operating times TP1 and TP2 of the pumps 206 and 207, or the number of starts CS1 and CS2, etc.

In the illustrated example, the period until the operating value L reaches the estimated component life L0 is five years. On the other hand, in the illustrated example, the period until the operating value L reaches the corrected component life L1 is four years. In cases where the temperature and humidity of the environment in which the pressurized water supply unit 500 is installed are high, the corrected component life L1 is often shorter than the estimated component life L0. In this embodiment, the user is notified of the recommended replacement period, etc., based on the corrected component life L1.

In other words, in the illustrated example, even before the elapsed time reaches "4 years," it is possible to predict that the operating value L will reach the corrected part life L1 when the elapsed time reaches "4 years" based on the increasing trend of the operating value L. Therefore, in the illustrated example, the "recommended replacement time" is when the elapsed time reaches "4 years." As a result, according to this embodiment, an appropriate recommended replacement time based on conditions such as temperature and humidity can be presented, and the user can be guided to replace the part. It is preferable to display the predicted recommended replacement time in the Gregorian calendar. The graph shown in Figure 5 may be displayed on the user terminal 120 via the web server 104 of the monitoring server 110 (see Figure 1).

6 is a flowchart of a recommended replacement time notification program executed in the remote monitoring system 100. This program is activated in response to a user operation after the pressurized water supply units 500A, 500B (see FIG. 1) are installed.
When processing proceeds to step S2 in Figure 6, the monitoring server 110, based on user operation, registers the estimated part life L0 of each part as part management information DW2 in the memory 258 (see Figure 2) of the control device 250 in the pressurized water supply units 500A, 500B.
Next, when the process proceeds to step S4, the power to the pressurized water supply units 500A, 500B is turned on based on the user's operation, and operation of the pumps 206, 207 (see FIG. 2) etc. is started. In addition, the control device 250 (see FIG. 2) in the pressurized water supply units 500A, 500B starts communication with the monitoring server 110.

Next, when processing proceeds to step S6, the control device 250 transmits the operation information DW to the monitoring server 110 (see Figure 1). As described above, the operation information DW includes the estimated component life L0 of each component and the current operating value L of each component. Next, when processing proceeds to step S8, the control device 250 determines whether it is time to update the operating value L information for any component. Here, the update timing is, for example, every time one hour has passed for the operating value L related to "time" (power-on time TW, operating time TP1, TP2, etc.). Furthermore, for the operating value L related to "number of times" (number of starts CS1, CS2, etc.), it is, for example, every time the value increases by "1."

If step S8 returns "Yes," processing proceeds to step S10. Here, the control device 250 updates the operating value L of the part that has reached its update timing. Next, when processing proceeds to step S12, the control device 250 reads the estimated part life L0 of the part that has reached its update timing from memory 258, and determines whether the updated operating value L has exceeded the estimated part life L0.

If the answer here is "Yes," processing proceeds to step S14, where the control device 250 causes the LCD display unit 252 to display the name of the part whose operating value L has exceeded the estimated part life L0 (hereinafter referred to as the name of the part recommended for replacement) and a message indicating that the recommended replacement time has arrived. Next, when processing proceeds to step S16, the control device 250 notifies the monitoring server 110 (see Figure 1) of the name of the part recommended for replacement and a message indicating that the recommended replacement time has arrived.

Next, when processing proceeds to step S18, the monitoring server 110 notifies the user terminal 120 via the mail server 109 in the form of an email of the name of the part recommended for replacement and a notice that the recommended replacement time has arrived. Next, when processing proceeds to step S20, the monitoring server 110 updates the notification information DWU and provides the updated notification information DWU to the user terminal 120, etc., via the web server 104. Here, the notification information DWU includes the name of the part recommended for replacement and a notice that the recommended replacement time has arrived. Processing then returns to step S8, and the processing from step S8 onwards is repeated.

On the other hand, if the determination in step S12 above is "No" (the updated operating value L is less than or equal to the estimated component life L0), processing proceeds to step S22. Here, the control device 250 determines whether the current time has reached the timing for transmitting the operation information DW. The timing for transmitting the operation information DW is, for example, the timing when 24 hours have passed since the last time the operation information DW was transmitted (step S6 above or step S24 described below). If the determination in step S22 is "No," processing returns to step S8.

On the other hand, if step S22 returns "Yes," processing proceeds to step S24, where the control device 250 sends operation information DW to the monitoring server 110. Next, processing proceeds to step S26, where the monitoring server 110 reads the corrected part life L1 for each part from the operation information database 107. The monitoring server 110 then determines whether the operating value L for any part has exceeded the corrected part life L1 for that part.

If the answer here is "Yes," processing proceeds to step S28, and the monitoring server 110 notifies the user terminal 120 via the mail server 109 in the form of an email containing the name of the part recommended for replacement and a notice that the recommended replacement time has arrived.

Next, when processing proceeds to step S30, the monitoring server 110 updates the notification information DWU and provides the updated notification information DWU to the user terminal 120, etc. via the web server 104. Processing then returns to step S8. Note that even if the determination in step S26 is "No" (if the operating value L is less than or equal to the corrected part life L1), step S30 is executed, allowing the user to check the notification information DWU via the web page. Because the notification information DWU includes the recommended replacement time for each part, the user can know the recommended replacement time even for parts whose operating value L has not yet reached the corrected part life L1.

Second Embodiment
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a remote monitoring system 150 (facility monitoring system) according to the second embodiment.
7, remote monitoring system 150 includes pressurized water supply units 500A, 500B, monitoring server 110, in-factory server 132 (production planning section), and sales office server 142 (maintenance planning section). The configurations and operations of pressurized water supply units 500A, 500B and monitoring server 110 are the same as those in the first embodiment described above. In-factory server 132 is provided in factory 130 where various parts are manufactured, and sales office server 142 is provided in sales office 140 where various parts are sold.

The factory server 132 and the sales office server 142 are equipped with general computer hardware (all not shown), such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), and ROM (Read Only Memory), and the ROM stores control programs executed by the CPU and various data.

The in-factory server 132 in the factory 130 accesses the monitoring server 110 and collects operation information DWA and DWB for the pressurized water supply units 500A and 500B. The in-factory server 132 then compiles, by type, the parts that have reached their recommended replacement period, and creates a parts shipping plan based on the compilation results.

The in-factory server 132 also searches for parts that are expected to reach their recommended replacement date within a predetermined future period (e.g., within six months) based on past trends in the operation information DWA and DWB, and tally the searched parts by type. Based on the tallying results, the in-factory server 132 manages inventory to prevent various parts from running out, and formulates production plans for each type of part.

The factory server 132 also supplies the monitoring server 110 with information regarding inventory quantities and delivery times for various parts. These inventory quantities and delivery times are published as a web page via the web server 104 and can be viewed on the user terminal 120. This allows the user to predict, via the user terminal 120, when replacement parts will be available.

In addition, the in-office server 142 at the sales office 140 accesses the monitoring server 110 and collects operation information DWA and DWB for the pressurized water supply units 500A and 500B. This allows sales staff at the sales office 140 to understand the maintenance status of the pressurized water supply units 500A and 500B without having to visit the site, and can therefore suggest to users of the pressurized water supply units 500A and 500B that parts that have reached their recommended replacement dates be replaced. Furthermore, the in-office server 142 creates a maintenance plan for maintenance personnel based on the data on the recommended replacement dates.

[Effects of the embodiment]
As described above, according to each of the above-described embodiments, the equipment monitoring system (100, 150) includes an equipment monitoring device (110) that monitors the monitored equipment (500), and the equipment monitoring device (110) has a function of reading out the estimated part life L0 of parts included in the monitored equipment (500) from the storage unit (107), and a function of calculating a corrected part life L1 that is the result of correcting the estimated part life L0 based on the operation information DW of the monitored equipment (500). This allows the equipment monitoring system (100, 150) to present a corrected part life L1 that is an appropriate estimated life based on the operation information DW.

Furthermore, it is even more preferable if the operating information DW includes temperature (TE) and/or humidity (HE) as environmental information DW3 for the monitored equipment (500). This makes it possible to present a more appropriate repair part life L1 according to temperature (TE) and/or humidity (HE).

It is further preferable that the equipment monitoring device (110) further has a function for writing the calculated corrected part life L1 to the memory unit (107). This makes it possible to use the corrected part life L1 for various purposes.

Furthermore, the equipment monitoring device (110) calculates the corrected part life L1 based on the estimated part life L0 and the correction coefficient K, and it is more preferable that the equipment monitoring device (110) further has a function to correct the correction coefficient K for other parts having the same specifications as the failed part when a failure occurs in any part. This makes it possible to correct the correction coefficient K in accordance with the performance of the part that actually failed, thereby further increasing the reliability of the corrected part life L1.

It is even more preferable if the equipment monitoring device (110) further includes a function to calculate the recommended replacement time for each part based on the corrected part lifespan L1 and notify the user of the monitored equipment (500) of the recommended replacement time. This makes it easier for the user to plan countermeasures such as preparing replacement parts.

Furthermore, as in the equipment monitoring system (150) of the second embodiment, it is even more preferable to further include a maintenance plan planning unit (142) that plans a maintenance plan for the monitored equipment (500) by a maintenance technician based on the recommended replacement timing of each part. This makes it easier to plan an appropriate maintenance plan for the monitored equipment (500).

Furthermore, like the equipment monitoring system (150) of the second embodiment, it is even more preferable to further include a production planning unit (132) that creates a production plan for each part based on the recommended replacement timing for each part. This makes it easier to create appropriate production plans for parts in factories, etc.

[Modification]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and various modifications are possible. The above-described embodiments are provided as examples to facilitate understanding of the present invention and are not necessarily limited to those including all of the described configurations. Furthermore, it is possible to replace part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, or to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. It is also possible to delete part of the configuration of each embodiment, or to add or replace other configurations. Furthermore, the control lines and information lines shown in the figures are those considered necessary for explanation, and do not necessarily represent all control lines and information lines necessary for the product. In reality, it is possible to consider that almost all components are interconnected. Possible modifications of the above-described embodiments include, for example, the following:

(1) The hardware of the monitoring server 110, control device 250, factory server 132, and sales office server 142 in the above embodiment can be implemented using a general-purpose computer. Therefore, the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 and other programs that execute the various processes described above may be stored on a storage medium (a computer-readable recording medium on which a program is recorded) or distributed via a transmission path.

(2) In the above embodiment, the processing shown in FIG. 6 and the other processing described above are described as software-based processing using a program. However, some or all of these may be replaced with hardware-based processing using an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), etc.

(3) The various processes performed in the above embodiment may be executed by other server computers via a network (not shown), and the various data stored in the above embodiment may also be stored in these other server computers.

(4) Furthermore, the remote monitoring systems 100, 150 of the first and second embodiments can be applied not only to the pressurized water supply unit 500, but also to various types of monitored equipment, such as various industrial machines, electric vehicles, railway vehicles, ships, etc. This makes it possible to present appropriate estimated life spans for various parts in these monitored equipment.

100, 150 Remote monitoring system (facility monitoring system)
107 Operation information database (storage unit)
110 Monitoring server (facility monitoring device)
132 Factory server (production planning department)
142 Sales office server (Maintenance planning department)
258 memory (storage unit)
500, 500A, 500B Pressurized water supply unit (monitored equipment)
K Correction coefficients DW, DWA, DWB Operation information HE Ambient humidity (humidity)
L0 Estimated part life L1 Corrected part life TE Ambient temperature (Temperature)
DW3 Environmental Information

Claims (8)

An equipment monitoring device is provided for monitoring the monitored equipment,
The facility monitoring device
a function of reading out from a storage unit the estimated lifespan of a part included in the monitored equipment;
a corrected component life calculation function that calculates a corrected component life that is a result of correcting the estimated component life based on the operation information of the monitored equipment ,
The operation information includes temperature and humidity as environmental information of the monitored equipment,
The corrected part life calculation function applies the lower of the constant corresponding to temperature and the constant corresponding to humidity as a weighting constant, and calculates the corrected part life using the result of multiplying the applied weighting constant by the estimated part life.
A facility monitoring system characterized by: The facility monitoring system according to claim 1 , wherein the facility monitoring device further comprises a function of writing the calculated corrected part life into the storage unit. the equipment monitoring device calculates the corrected part life based on the estimated part life, a multiplication result of the weighting constant and the estimated part life to be applied , and a correction coefficient;
2. The equipment monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the equipment monitoring device further comprises a function of, when a failure occurs in any of the parts, correcting the correction coefficients for other parts having the same specifications as the failed part. 2. The equipment monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the equipment monitoring device further comprises a function of calculating a recommended replacement time for each part based on the corrected part lifespan and notifying a user of the monitored equipment of the recommended replacement time. 5. The facility monitoring system according to claim 4 , further comprising a maintenance plan planning unit that plans a maintenance plan for the monitored facility to be performed by a maintenance technician based on the recommended replacement times for each component. 5. The facility monitoring system according to claim 4 , further comprising a production planning unit that creates a production plan for each part based on the recommended replacement time for each part. A function of reading out the estimated lifespan of parts included in the monitored equipment from a storage unit;
a corrected component life calculation function that calculates a corrected component life that is a result of correcting the estimated component life based on the operation information of the monitored equipment ,
The operation information includes temperature and humidity as environmental information of the monitored equipment,
The corrected part life calculation function applies the lower of the constant corresponding to temperature and the constant corresponding to humidity as a weighting constant, and calculates the corrected part life using the result of multiplying the applied weighting constant by the estimated part life.
A facility monitoring device characterized by: a step in which the equipment monitoring device reads out estimated part lifespans of parts included in the monitored equipment from a storage unit;
a corrected component life calculation step in which the equipment monitoring device calculates a corrected component life that is a result of correcting the estimated component life based on operation information of the monitored equipment ,
The operation information includes temperature and humidity as environmental information of the monitored equipment,
The corrected component life calculation step applies the lower of the constant corresponding to temperature and the constant corresponding to humidity as a weighting constant, and calculates the corrected component life using the result of multiplying the applied weighting constant by the estimated component life.
A facility monitoring method comprising: