The present invention relates to a laundry room management method and system, and more particularly, to a laundry room management system including laundry room machines such as a washer and a dryer, a communicator such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a computer, and a payment device such as a coin drop assembly and a card reader, and a laundry room management method using the same.
Generally, a commercial laundry room machine means a laundry room machine in a laundry room for providing self-laundry service, which has a payment device such as a coin drop assembly and a card reader. Such a commercial laundry room machine may be a coin-operated washer, a coin-operated dryer, or an all-in-one coin-operated washer and dryer. A laundry room includes a plurality of laundry room machines.
Accordingly, it is required to manage the laundry room and the laundry room machines. In order to effectively and efficiently manage a plurality of the laundry room machines and the laundry room, it is required not only to manage the operating information of the laundry room machines but also to control operators. Also, the laundry room machines must be protected from malicious attacks by customers. For example, the laundry room machines must be protected from being used for free or the operating conditions of the laundry room machine must be prevented from being changed by customers. In order to protect and prevent the laundry room machine from such malicious attacks, the laundry room machine must support a predetermined protection in physical and software manner.
The present invention is achieved to solve the above problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a laundry room management method and system for effectively and efficiently managing laundry room machines in a laundry room.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a laundry room management method and system for enabling a manager to control laundry room machines equipped in the laundry room.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a laundry room management method and system for protecting laundry room machines from malicious attack made by customers.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a laundry room management method and system for separately managing laundry room machines by assigning identification information to laundry room machines through a communicator and for stably managing the laundry room machines without confusion by preventing the assigned identification information from being modified.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a laundry room management method and system for effectively and efficiently managing the laundry room machines without additional high expenses and additional equipment by separately managing the laundry room machines in software manner using a communicator such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), which intermediates communication between a plurality of laundry room machine and a personal computer (PC).
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a laundry room management method and system for managing managers by defining authority of managers logged in a communicator.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a laundry room management method and system for preventing setting of laundry room machine from being modified by customers by setting the laundry room machine using a communicator or a master key.
In order to achieve the above-described objects of the invention, there is provided a laundry room management method using a laundry room management system including laundry room machines in a laundry room and used for performing at least one of a washing operation and a drying operation, payment devices mounted on each of the laundry room machines for collecting payment for operating the laundry room machines, a computer for managing operating information of the laundry room machines, and a communicator for intermediating operating information between the laundry room machines and the computer, the method including the steps of: a) receiving identification information including an ID (identifier) through the communicator; b) setting information about the rate and operating conditions through the communicator; c) performing a predetermined operation allowed by the setting of the step b) according to an inserted payment after receiving information about insertion of the payment from the payment device; d) recording operating information of the performed operation in the step c); and e) transmitting the recorded operating information in response to a request of the communicator.
In the step b), identification information may be transferred from the communicator with the rate and operating conditions, and the step b) may include the step of comparing the transferred identification information with the received identification information of the step a).
In the step e), the identification information received at the step a) and the recorded operating information may be transmitted to the communicator.
The laundry room management system may further include a master key recognizable by the laundry room machines through the payment device, and the step b) may be performed when the compared identification information are matched or when the master key is inserted.
The identification information received at the step a) may be modified only before the identification information is inputted to the laundry room machine.
The laundry room management method may further include the step of displaying operating information transmitted to the communicator through the communicator.
The laundry room management method may further include the step of transmitting operating information from the communicator to a computer.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laundry room management system including: laundry room machines disposed in a laundry room and used for performing at least one of a washing operation and a drying operation; payment devices disposed at the laundry room machines for collecting payment for operating the laundry room machines; a computer for managing operating information of the laundry room machines; a communicator for assigning identification information to the laundry room machines, setting the rate and operating conditions, and collecting operating information through intermediating operating information between the laundry room machine and the computer; and a master key recognized by the laundry room machine through the payment device and used for setting the rate and operating conditions, wherein the laundry room machines include one interface for communicating with the communicator, and the other interface for transferring information about collecting payment from the payment device.
The payment device may include at least one of a coin drop assembly and a card reader.
The master key may include at least one of a service door key interlocked with the coin drop assembly and a service card interlocked with a card reader.
The coin drop assembly may include a door, a key hole for receiving a service door key to open or to close the door, and a sensor for checking whether the service door key is inserted or not.
A plurality of laundry room machines may be equipped in a laundry room, and a plurality of laundry room machines may include a washer and a dryer.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a commercial laundry room machine including: a first interface for communicating with payment devices disposed corresponding to each of laundry room machines to transfer payment collecting information; a second interface for communicating with a communicator to transfer at least one of identification information including an ID (identifier) of each laundry room machine, rate information, and operating information; and a controller for controlling operation of laundry room machines according to communication information of the first and second interfaces.
The payment device may be a coin dope assembly and/or a card reader, which are mounted at an outer surface of the laundry room machine, and the payment device may communicate with the first interface through a wired link. The communicator may communicate with the second interface through a wireless link, and the laundry room machine may be a washer or a dryer.
The present invention will become better understood with reference to the accompanying drawings which are given only by way of illustration and thus are not limitative of the present invention, wherein:
A laundry room management method and system in accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
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Hereinafter, each of the constituent elements of the laundry room management system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
1. Laundry room machines 1 and 2
Each of the laundry room machines 1 and 2 is a washer or a dryer. Also, each of the laundry room machines 1 and 2 may be an all-in-one washer and dryer. A plurality of laundry room machines are equipped in a laundry room for performing a washing operation, a drying operation, or a washing and drying operation.
In order to manage the laundry room machines 1 and 2, identification information having an identifier (ID) is assigned to the laundry room machines 1 and 2. The identification information may include serial numbers and location information of the laundry room machines 1 and 2. Since the identification information is assigned to the laundry room machines as described above, the laundry room machines can be separately managed.
It is preferable to allow only the communicator 5 to assign the identification information. Further preferably, the identification information is assigned only before inputting the identification information into the laundry room machines 1 and 2 in order to prevent the assigned identification information from being modified. That is, the identification information is modified only when the laundry room machine is reset to have a state of no identification information inputted like a newly manufactured laundry room machine. Since the identification information is prevented from being modified, the laundry room machine 1 and 2 can be stably managed without confusion.
In order to operate the laundry room machines 1 and 2, the rate and operating conditions must be set. The rate and the operating conditions can be set by the communication with the communicator 5 or by the operation of the control panel 13 with the master key 10 or 11 inserted according to the present embodiment. Due to such a method of setting up the rate and the operating conditions according to the present embodiment, only a manager who has the communicator 5 or the master key 10 or 11 is allowed to set the rate and the operating conditions. Therefore, the laundry room management system according to the present embodiment can prevent users from modifying the rate and the operating conditions of the laundry room machines.
After a user inserts coins or a card to the payment devices 3 or 4 and sets the operating conditions through the control panel 13, the laundry room machines 1 and 2 performs predetermined operations according to the set operating conditions and records operating information thereof.
Then, the laundry room machines 1 and 2 transmit the recorded operating information to the communicator 5 in response to a request from the communicator 5.
2. Payment devices 3 and 4
The payment devices 3 and 4 are a coin drop assembly 3 and a card reader 4. Each of the laundry room machines 1 and 2 includes one of the coin drop assembly 3 and the card reader 4 or both of the coin drop assembly 3 and the card reader 4.
The payment devices 3 and 4 check whether or not a coin or a card is inserted. If payment devices 3 and 4 detect insertion of the coin or the card, the payment devices 3 and 4 inform the laundry room machines 1 and 2 of the insertion. When the mater keys 10 and 11 are inserted, the payment devices 3 and 4 also notice the insertion of the master keys to the laundry room machines 1 and 2. Then, the laundry room machine 1 and 2 changes a current mode to a setting mode.
3. Communicator 5
The communicator 5 is a device for communicating with the laundry room machines 1 and 2 and the computer 6. It is preferable to use a personal digital assistant (PDA) capable of communicating with the laundry room machines 1 and 2 as the communicator in a short range Infrared data communication scheme. A mobile phone may be used as the communicator if the capacity thereof allows.
The communicator 5 has a unique function of assigning identification information to the laundry room machines 1 and 2. The communicator 5 also has functions of setting the rate and operating conditions of the laundry room machines 1 and 2, collecting the recorded operating information of the laundry room machines 1 and 2, and transmitting the collected information to the computer 6. The collected operating information is transmitted to the computer for management. However, the collected operating information may be transmitted to the communicator 5 and displayed on the communicator 5 in order to easily confirm the operating information.
4. Computer 6
In case of managing a small sized laundry room, a personal computer (PC) is sufficient to use as the computer 6. In case of managing a plurality of laundry rooms, a computing system composed of a plurality of computers can be used.
The computer 6 manages the operating information of the laundry room machines 1 and 2, which are transferred from the communicator 5. Furthermore, the computer 6 can set the communicator 5 to manage managers having the communicator 5, for example, to assign authority. Based on such a setting, the communicator 5 may be set to perform all or one of an operation of assigning identification information, an operation of setting operating information, and an operation of collecting operating information.
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The laundry room management system and method according to the certain embodiment of the present invention can effectively and efficiently manage the laundry room machines equipped in the laundry room.
Also, the laundry room machines can be protected from malicious attack by customers.
Furthermore, the laundry room management system and method according to the certain embodiment of the present invention assigns identification information to laundry room machines through the communicator and prevents the assigned identification from being modified. Therefore, the laundry room machines can be separately and stably managed without confusion.
Moreover, the laundry room management system and method according to the certain embodiment of the present invention separately manages the laundry room machine in software manner using a communicator such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), which intermediates communication between a plurality of laundry room machine and a personal computer (PC). Therefore, laundry room machines can be effectively and efficiently managed without additional high expenses and additional equipment.
The laundry room management system and method according to the certain embodiment of the present invention defines authority of a manager logged in a communicator. Therefore, managers can be managed.
The laundry management system and method according to the certain embodiment of the present invention sets the laundry room machines using the communicator or the master key. Therefore, it prevents users from modifying setting of the laundry room machine.
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, it is understood that the present invention should not be limited to these preferred embodiments but various changes and modifications can be made by one skilled in the art within the spirit and scope of the present invention as hereinafter claimed.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2006-0047732 | May 2006 | KR | national |