Remote management system

Claim 2

A remote management system where a central control apparatus manages a machine remotely based on data concerning the machine which is transmitted from the machine to said central control apparatus, said central control apparatus comprising: layout setting means for setting a machine layout of an area indicating the arrangement where said machine is installed in said area; and layout displaying means for displaying a picture of said machine layout of said area.

Claim 3

A remote management system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said central control apparatus manages machines in a plurality of areas and said layout setting means sets a machine layout for each of said areas; said central control apparatus further comprising: area specifying means for specifying one of said plurality of areas, and storing means for storing data of the machine layout of said plurality of areas corresponding to data for specifying each said area, and said layout displaying means including: means for displaying a picture of the machine layout of a specified area.

Claim 4

A remote management system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said machine is a laundry machine.

Claim 5

A remote management system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said layout displaying means includes means for displaving a picture of an area divided into a plurality of blocks, and said central control apparatus, further comprising: first specifying means for specifying a position on said picture of said area displayed by said layout displaying means; and storing means for storing data of said machine layout of said area, said layout setting means including: means for causing said storing means to store data of the specified area to indicate the position of the machine in the area where the machine is installed, and said layout displaying means further including: means for differing the display mode of said specified block from that of the other blocks of said picture.

Claim 6

A remote management system as set forth in claim 4, wherein said central control apparatus further comprises: second specifying means for specifying a position around said plurality of blocks, said layout setting means including: means for setting a layout of an element which forms the outline of said area at the position specified by said second specifying means; and means for causing said storing means to store data of the layout of said element set by said setting means, and said layout displaying means including: means for displaying a picture of said element at the specified position around said displayed plurality of blocks.

Claim 7

A remote management system as set forth in claim 4, wherein said layout setting means includes: first data setting means for setting first data concerning the machine on the block specified by said first specifying means; and means for causing said storing means to store said first data set by said first data setting means, and said layout displaying means includes: means for displaying said first data set by said first data setting means on the block which is specified by said first specifying means from said plurality of displayed blocks.

Claim 8

A remote management system as set forth in claim 6, wherein said central control apparatus further comprises: means for causing said storing means to store second data concerning a machine other than said first data by correlating said second data to said first data, and said layout displaying means includes: means for displaying said stored second data correlated to said first data of the block specified by said first specifying means when the block among said plurality of blocks which displays the machine layout is specified by said first specifying means.

Claim 9

A remote management system as set forth in claim 7, wherein said central control apparatus further comprises: transmitting means for transmitting to said machine a transmission instruction of said first and second data to set the machine layout at the central control apparatus, receiving means for receiving said first and second data transmitted from the machine in response to the transmission instruction; and means for causing said storing means to store the data received by said receiving means whereby said layout displaying means displays said stored first and second data when said plurality of blocks is displayed.

Claim 10

A remote management system as set forth in claim 8, wherein said central control apparatus, further comprises: means for causing said storing means to store said first and second data by correlating this data to data which specifies the area where the machine is installed.

Claim 11

A remote management system as set forth in claim 4, wherein said machine is a laundry machine.

Claim 12

A remote management system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said lavout displaying means includes means for displaying a picture of a machine layout in said area and a layout of an element which forms the outline of said area as being divided into a plurality of blocks, and said central control apparatus further comprises: first specifying means for specifying a position on the picture of the machine layout displayed by said layout displaying means; third specifying means for specifying a layout position on the picture of said element displayed by said layout displaying means; and storing means for storing the data of said machine layout and said element layout, said layout setting means including: means for causing said storing means to store the data of the block specified by said first specifying means as data to indicate the arranged position of the machine in said area; and means for causing said storing means to store the data of the block specified by said third specifying means as data to indicate the position of the element around said area, and said layout displaying means further comprising: means for respectively differing display modes of the block specified by said first specifying means the block specified by said third specifying means, and the other blocks.

Claim 13

A remote management system as set forth in claim 11, wherein said layout setting means includes: first data setting means for setting first data concerning the machine on the block specified by said first specifying means; and said layout displaying means includes means for displaying said first data set by said first data setting means on the block which is specified by said first specifying means among said displayed plurality of blocks.

Claim 14

A remote management system as set forth in claim 11, wherein said layout setting means includes: third data setting means for setting third data concerning the element layout around said area; and means for causing said storing means to store said third data set by said third data setting means; and said layout displaying means includes: means for displaying said third data set by said third data setting means on the block which is specified by said third specifying means among said displayed plurality of blocks.

Claim 15

A remote management system as set forth in claim 11, wherein said third specifying means includes: on/off specifying means for specifying the status of each of said plurality of blocks to display or erase, said layout setting means including: means for causing said storing means to store the data of said status and the position of the block when said block and the status thereof are specified by said on/off specifying means of said third specifying means, and said layout displaying means includes: means for displaying or erasing the block specified by said third specifying means according to the status specified by said on/off specifying means of said third specifying means.

Claim 16

A remote management system as set forth in claim 12, wherein said central control apparatus further comprises: means for causing said storing means to store second data concerning the machine other than said first data by correlating said second data to said first data, and said layout displaying means including: means for displaying said stored second data correlated to said first data of the block specified by said first specifying means when the block among the plurality of blocks which displays the machine layout is specified by said first specifying means.

Claim 17

A remote management system as set forth in claim 15, wherein said central control apparatus further comprises: transmitting means for transmitting to said machine a transmission instruction of said first and second data therefrom; receiving means for receiving said first and second data transmitted from the machine in response to the transmission instruction; and means for causing said storing means to store the data received by said receiving means, whereby said layout displaying means displays said stored first and second data when said plurality of blocks is displayed.

Claim 18

A remote management system as set forth in claim 16, wherein said central control apparatus further comprises: means for causing said storing means to store said first and second data by correlating this data to data which specifies the area where the machine is installed.

Claim 19

A remote management system as set forth in claim 11, wherein said machine is a laundry machine.