INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR MULTI-AIR CONDITIONER AND INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT METHOD THEREOF

• US 20080186160A1
• Filed: 11/30/2007
• Published: 08/07/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Youn, Sang-Chul, Jeon, Duck-Gu, KIM, Jun-Tae
• Granted Patent: US 7,876,231 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/501
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/32 Responding to malfunctions or emergencies
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/38 Failure diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/52 Indication arrangements, e.g. displays
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/54 using one central controller connected to several sub-controllers

Abstract

An integrated management system having at least one air conditioner group including a plurality of air conditioners, and a remote integrated management system connected to the at least one air conditioner group and configured to analyze operation state information related to the plurality of air conditioners in the at least one air conditioner group and to generate an alarm signal based on the analyzed operation state information.

Claims

1. An integrated management system, comprising:

at least one air conditioner group including a plurality of air conditioners; and

a remote integrated management system connected to the at least one air conditioner group and configured to analyze operation state information related to the plurality of air conditioners in the at least one air conditioner group, and to generate an alarm signal based on the analyzed operation state information.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the operation state information includes malfunction information indicating that at least one air conditioner in the at least one air conditioner group has malfunctioned or regular inspection service information indicating that the at least one air conditioner needs a regular inspection service.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the operation state information further includes priority information indicating a priority level of the malfunction information.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the remote integrated management system includes an application server that analyzes the malfunction information and the priority information, and transmits the alarm signal to a service personnel based on the analyzed malfunction and priority information.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the application server transmits the alarm signal to the service personnel via a short message when the priority information indicates the priority level of the malfunction is high, and transmits the alarm signal to the service personnel via an email message when the priority information indicates the priority level of the malfunction is low.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the remote integrated management system includes a storage unit configured to store the priority levels of the malfunction information and service records for the plurality of air conditioners.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the remote integrated management system further comprises a monitoring server configured to display the malfunction information, the regular inspection service information and the priority information for the plurality of air conditioners.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of gateways respectively connected to the plurality of air conditioners included in the at least one air conditioner group;

a local controller connected to each of the gateways and configured to convert the operation state information related to the plurality of air conditioners according to a remote communication protocol and to send the converted information to the remote integrated management system; and

an exclusive service group connected to the local controller and the remote integrated management system and configured to receive the alarm signal from the remote integrated management system and provide service for the air conditioner based on the alarm signal.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the malfunction information and the regular inspection service information are transmitted from the at least one air conditioner to the remote management system automatically and without user intervention.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the malfunction information and the regular inspection service information are transmitted directly to a service personnel.

11. A method of controlling at least one air conditioner group including a plurality of air conditioners, the method comprising:

analyzing operation state information related to the plurality of air conditioners in the at least one air conditioner group; and

generating an alarm signal based on the analyzed operation state information.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the operation state information includes malfunction information indicating that at least one air conditioner in the at least one air conditioner group has malfunctioned or regular inspection service information indicating that the at least one air conditioner needs a regular inspection service.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the operation state information further includes priority information indicating a priority level of the malfunction information.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the analyzing step analyzes the malfunction information and the priority information, and the generating step transmits the alarm signal to a service personnel based on the analyzed malfunction and the priority information.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the generating step transmits the alarm signal to the service personnel via a short message when the priority information indicates the priority level of the malfunction is high, and transmits the alarm signal to the service personnel via an email message when the priority information indicates the priority level of the malfunction is low.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

storing the priority levels of the malfunction information and service records for the plurality of air conditioners.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

displaying the malfunction information, the regular inspection service information and the priority information for the plurality of air conditioners.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

converting the operation state information related to the plurality of air conditioners according to a remote communication protocol;

sending the converted information to a service personnel; and

providing service for the air conditioner based on the alarm signal.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein the malfunction information and the regular inspection service information are transmitted from the at least one air conditioner to the service personnel automatically and without user intervention.