Noritz Corporation

Masayuki Sugioka

Yoshihiko Maekawa

Masaru Ono

Tsuyoshi Yamashita

Naoki Tawada

Daisuke Hirota

Tomoharu Inoue

A communication system includes housing equipment, a relaying apparatus that communicates with the housing equipment, and a management device that communicates with the relaying apparatus via a communication network. The management device is configured to store user identification information sent from a communication terminal that communicates with the management device via the communication network, and association information associated with identification information of the relaying apparatus sent from the relaying apparatus, and permit first communication via the management device between the communication terminal and the relaying apparatus that have been associated with each other in the association information. After the first communication is permitted, if no communication is performed from the relaying apparatus or the communication terminal to the management device during a predetermined first period, the management device is configured to prohibit the first communication in and after the first period.

Communication system

A communication adapter for collecting various kinds of information from a water-heating system and providing the information to an administration center via a wireless LAN router functions as an access point for providing a direct wireless communication with a smartphone; in response to a request from the smartphone via the direct wireless communication, it provides pairing authentication information to the smartphone; in response to a request from the smartphone, it initializes the wireless LAN connection information for the wireless LAN router to disconnect the wireless link to the wireless LAN router; and, when the wireless LAN connection information is set by its WPS function, it establishes a wireless link to the wireless LAN router and transmits the pairing authentication information to the administration center via the wireless LAN router.

Pairing system for remotely managing hot-water utilization facility and communication adapter used in system

Each hot water supply apparatus of a hot water supply system exchanges information with a management center via a communication adapter, thereby being remotely monitored. In a connection test run for the communication adapter in a remote monitoring system, when a part of transmission information about the hot water supply apparatus is transmitted to the communication adapter via a communication line, establishment of a communication connection to the hot water supply system is indicated, and a heartbeat notification is transmitted from the communication adapter to the management center. When the communication adapter receives a response to the heartbeat notification from the management center, establishment of a communication connection to the management center is indicated.

Communication adapter and connection test run method therefor

When a smartphone, which is an operation terminal connectable to the Internet, receives input for change in hot-water set temperature of a hot water supply device having a hot-water supply function, and the hot-water set temperature after the change instructed by the input for change is within a predetermined high-temperature region, then a request for input of a password is generated for the smartphone. When a password input to the smartphone matches with a predetermined registered password, an instruction for change in hot-water set temperature generated in accordance with the input for change is input to the hot water supply device via a communication adapter.

Communication adapter

A communication adapter for transmitting information about a system being monitored, such as a multi-water-heater system, to a remote management apparatus and collecting information about the system being monitored allows the location of an abnormality in communication to be easily identified even when the adapter is communicably connected to the remote management apparatus via a communication relay unit, thereby improving the reliability of the information collection process. The communication adapterincludes a function for detecting an abnormality in communication between the communication adapterand system being monitored, a function for detecting an abnormality in communication between the communication adapterand communication relay unit, and a function for detecting an abnormality in communication between the communication relay unitand remote management apparatus

Communication adapter for collecting information about a system being monitored

A communication adapter includes: a communication circuit configured to receive and transmit information from and to an external apparatus via a communication network; a memory including a plurality of program storage areas whose stored contents are rewritable; and a controller. When a program update process is started up during execution of a program stored in a first program storage area of the plurality of program storage areas selected at the time of a startup process, the controller executes a process of writing an update program received by the communication circuit from the external apparatus into a second program storage area different from the first program storage area. When the process of writing ends normally, the controller re-executes the startup process with the update program read from the second program storage area.

Growing community of inventors

Hyogo, Japan

Masayuki Sugioka