Monitoring center and service system of air conditioner

• US 6,738,014 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2001
• Issued: 05/18/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Air Conditioning Systems Co., Ltd. (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Ueda, Hiroyuki, Mochizuki, Masamichi, Sugiyama, Tatsuya, Satou, Keiji
• Primary Examiner(s): Blum, Theodore M.
• Application Number:
  US09/996,992
• Publication Number:
  US 20020154057A1
• Time in Patent Office: 900 Days
• Field of Search: 342/357.09, 342/357.1, 342/357.06, 701/213
• US Class Current: 342/357.46
• 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 11/49 ensuring correct operation, e.g. by trial operation or configuration checks
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/58 using Internet communication
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0018 Transmission from mobile station to base station

Abstract

In a service system of an air conditioner connected through a network to a monitoring center, the air conditioner receives radio wave transmitted from a GPS satellite to transmit information of the received radio wave and a manufacturer'"'"'s serial number on the air conditioner to the monitoring center and the monitoring center performs service of the air conditioner on the basis of the received information and the serial number. The service system of the air conditioner can perform service, update or renewal, maintenance and the like of an air conditioner more correctly and exactly and attain speedup thereof.

Claims

1. A service system of an air conditioner connected through a network to a monitoring center;

wherein

said air conditioner receives a radio wave transmitted from a GPS satellite and transmits information obtained by calculating position data on a reception position of said radio wave and transmits a manufacturer'"'"'s serial number of said air conditioner to said monitoring center,

wherein said monitoring center identifies, from said calculated position information, an installed location of said air conditioner, and also identifies, from said serial number, a machine type of said air conditioner to permit a service of said air conditioner to be performed.

3. The service system according to claim 1, wherein when anything unusual occurs in said air conditioner, said received position data and said serial number are transmitted to said monitoring center.

4. The service system according to claim 1, wherein said position data and said serial number are transmitted to said monitoring center in response to a request from said monitoring center.

5. The service system according to claim 1, wherein said air conditioner further receives a ground wave of a radio wave band for portable telephones, and information of the received ground wave and the radio wave transmitted from said GPS satellites are used to calculate a position of reception of said radio wave.

2. A service system of an air conditioner for performing maintenance and management of said air conditioner from a monitoring center, comprising:

a concentrated controller connected to said air conditioner to receive a radio wave transmitted from a GPS satellite to calculate position data on a position of said concentrated controller;

wherein said concentrated controller transmits to said monitoring center said calculated position data and a manufacturer'"'"'s serial number of said air conditioner,

said monitoring center identifies, from said position data, an installed location of said air conditioner and also identifies, from said serial number, a machine type of said air conditioner, and transmits a control program required for said air conditioner to said concentrated controller, and

said concentrated controller loads said received control program into said air conditioner.

6. The service system according to claim 2, wherein said concentrated controller stores said received control program and rewrites the control program of said air conditioner based on said received control program when said air conditioner stops its operation.

7. A monitoring system connected through the Internet to an air conditioner and a terminal unit, comprising:

a monitoring unit to prepare a home page based on information of position data and a manufacturer'"'"'s serial number of said air conditioner so as to be accessible from a location of said air conditioner as well as from said terminal unit so as to permit an operation monitoring service to be carried out, wherein said air conditioner receives a radio wave transmitted from a GPS satellite and calculates said information on said position data using said radio wave.

8. The monitoring system according to claim 7, wherein said terminal unit is a portable terminal which can display character information and map information.

9. An air conditioner for use in an air conditioner service system, comprising:

a receiver to receive a radio wave transmitted from a GPS satellite; and

a transmitter to transmit information obtained by calculating data of a position of reception of said radio waves and a manufacturer'"'"'s serial number of said air conditioner through a network to a monitoring center, so that an installed position of said air conditioner is identified by said position data and a machine type of said air conditioner is identified by said serial number, so as to permit an operation monitoring service to be executed.

10. The air conditioner according to claim 9, comprising a time extractor to extract a time signal from information received from said GPS satellite to synchronize an internal clock with said time signal.