# US 11,442,773 B2 · Equipment management method, equipment management apparatus and equipment management system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,442,773 B2 - Document ID: US11442773B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/498,451 - Filed: 2018-03-28 - Published: 2020-12-17 - Granted: 2022-09-13 - Earliest claimed: 2017-03-29 - Assignees: KYOCERA Corporation - Applicants: KYOCERA Corporation - Inventors: Kei Iwata; Taku Nakayama; Takashi Furukawa - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11442773B2 ## CPC - G06F 9/485: {Task life-cycle, e.g. stopping, restarting, resuming execution (G06F9/4881 takes precedence)} - G06Q 10/20: Administration of product repair or maintenance - G06F 9/5038: {considering the execution order of a plurality of tasks, e.g. taking priority or time dependency constraints into consideration (scheduling strategies G06F9/4881 and subgroups)} - G06F 9/542: {Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications} - G06F 16/2379: {Updates performed during online database operations; commit processing} - G06Q 10/00: Administration; Management - G06Q 10/107: Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing] - H04L 41/0604: using filtering, e.g. reduction of information by using priority, element types, position or time - H04L 41/064: {involving time analysis} - H04L 41/069: using logs of notifications; Post-processing of notifications - G05B 23/0272: {Presentation of monitored results, e.g. selection of status reports to be displayed; Filtering information to the user} - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) - G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G) ## Abstract An equipment management method comprises a step A of registering, in a database, an alert that includes content of an equipment error, a step B of registering, in the database, a processing status that includes processing of the error, a step C of managing a thread for managing the alert and the processing status in a one-to-one relationship, and a step D of transmitting, to a user terminal, an error notification that includes information indicating generation of the error. The step D includes a step of, when two or more errors do not satisfy a predetermined condition, not integrating the two or more errors in one error notification, and, when the two or more errors satisfy the predetermined condition, integrating the two or more errors in one error notification. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An equipment management method, comprising: registering, in a database, an alert that includes content of an equipment error; registering, in the database, a processing status that includes processing of the error; managing a thread for managing the alert and the processing status in a one-to-one relationship; and transmitting, to a user terminal, an error notification that includes information indicating generation of the error, wherein the transmitting to the user terminal the error notification includes, when two or more errors do not satisfy a predetermined condition, not integrating the two or more errors in one error notification, and, when the two or more errors satisfy the predetermined condition, integrating the two or more errors in one error notification, and wherein the predetermined condition includes at least any one of: a condition that the two or more errors are generated by an identical cause in a first time period in one equipment; a condition that the two or more errors are generated by an identical cause in a second time period that is longer than the first time period in two or more equipments which are provided in one area; a condition that the two or more errors are generated by an identical cause in the second time period in two or more equipments which are provided in one area; and a condition that the two or more errors are generated by an identical cause in a third time period that is longer than the second time period in two or more equipments which are provided in two or more areas. ### Claim 2 An equipment management method, comprising: registering, in a database, an alert that includes content of an equipment error; registering, in the database, a processing status that includes processing of the error; and managing a thread for managing the alert and the processing status in a one-to-one relationship, wherein the managing the thread includes, when two or more threads do not satisfy a predetermined condition, not integrating the two or more threads, and, when the two or more threads satisfy the predetermined condition, integrating the two or more threads. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The equipment management method according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined condition includes a condition that the two or more threads are generated by an identical cause. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The equipment management method according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined condition includes a condition that the two or more threads are generated by an identical cause in one equipment. ### Claim 5 An equipment management method, comprising: registering, in a database, an alert that includes content of an equipment error; registering, in the database, a processing status that includes processing of the error; managing a thread for managing the alert and the processing status in a one-to-one relationship; and transmitting, to a user terminal, an error notification that includes information indicating generation of the error, wherein the transmitting to the user terminal the error notification includes, when two or more errors do not satisfy a predetermined condition, not integrating the two or more errors in one error notification, and, when the two or more errors satisfy the predetermined condition, integrating the two or more errors in one error notification, and wherein the managing the thread includes: managing a priority of the thread according to content of the error; managing a first priority as the priority of the thread when a predetermined error has been generated out of a maintenance period of the equipment; and managing a second priority which is lower than the first priority as the priority of the thread when the predetermined error has been generated within the maintenance period. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The equipment management method according to claim 5, wherein the managing the thread includes restoring the second priority to the first priority when the predetermined error is not repaired even when the maintenance period has ended. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The equipment management method according to claim 6, further comprising: transmitting, to the user terminal, an error notification which includes information indicating generation of the predetermined error, wherein the transmitting to the user terminal the error notification includes: handling the error notification using a first method when the thread which corresponds to the predetermined error is managed at the first priority; and handling the error notification using a second method that differs from the first method when the thread which corresponds to the predetermined error is managed at the second priority. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The equipment management method according to claim 7, wherein the second method is a method in which the error notification is not issued in at least the maintenance period. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The equipment management method according to claim 8, wherein the second method is a method in which the error notification is issued after the maintenance period. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The equipment management method according to claim 7, wherein the first method is a method in which the error notification is issued in a first aspect, and the second method is a method in which the error notification is issued in a second aspect which is different from the first aspect. ### Claim 11 An equipment management apparatus, comprising: a controller configured to register, in a database, an alert that includes content of an equipment error; and a transmitter configured to transmit, to a user terminal, an error notification that includes information indicating generation of the error, wherein the controller is configured to register, in the database, a processing status that includes processing of the error, and manage a thread for managing the alert and the processing status in a one-to-one relationship, wherein the transmitter is configured to not integrate two or more errors in one error notification when the two or more errors do not satisfy a predetermined condition and to integrate the two or more errors in one error notification when the two or more errors satisfy the predetermined condition, and wherein the predetermined condition includes at least any one of: a condition that the two or more errors are generated by an identical cause in a first time period in one equipment; a condition that the two or more errors are generated by an identical cause in a second time period that is longer than the first time period in two or more equipments which are provided in one area; a condition that the two or more errors are generated by an identical cause in the second time period in two or more equipments which are provided in one area; and a condition that the two or more errors are generated by an identical cause in a third time period that is longer than the second time period in two or more equipments which are provided in two or more areas. ### Claim 12 An equipment management system having at least an equipment management apparatus, wherein the equipment management apparatus comprises: a controller configured to register, in a database, an alert that includes content of an equipment error; and a transmitter configured to transmit, to a user terminal, an error notification that includes information indicating generation of the error, wherein the controller is configured to register, in the database, a processing status that includes processing of the error, and manage a thread for managing the alert and the processing status in a one-to-one relationship, wherein the transmitter is configured to not integrate two or more errors in one error notification when the two or more errors do not satisfy a predetermined condition and to integrate the two or more errors in one error notification when the two or more errors satisfy the predetermined condition, and wherein the predetermined condition includes at least any one of: a condition that the two or more errors are generated by an identical cause in a first time period in one equipment; a condition that the two or more errors are generated by an identical cause in a second time period that is longer than the first time period in two or more equipments which are provided in one area; a condition that the two or more errors are generated by an identical cause in the second time period in two or more equipments which are provided in one area; and a condition that the two or more errors are generated by an identical cause in a third time period that is longer than the second time period in two or more equipments which are provided in two or more areas.