SYSTEM

The disclosure relates to management of laundry machines in a laundry room, and specifically, to a laundry room management method and management system.

At present, the self-laundry industry has been entering people's daily life. Laundromats have sprung up in personnel-intensive zones, such as large-scale residential communities, studio apartments, and schools. However, the existing self-laundry machines still have the following problems:

(1 ) Most of the existing laundry machines are coin-operated laundry machines and usually can only identify specific coins and paper money of fixed denominations, and a coin- operated apparatus needs to be configured. Alternatively, by a card swipe method, storage cards need to be configured, and the costs are increased.

(2) Regardless of the laundry machine in a coin-operated mode or using a radio frequency card, a user cannot reserve a laundry machine and has to go to a laundry room to queue and wait. This undoubtedly further increases the time effort. In an existing smart laundry machine, a code scanning device is added to the laundry machine, so that the laundry machine scans identity information, for example, two- dimensional code, of a mobile phone, to verify the identity information of a user. This however increases the complexity of the system and costs of the laundry machine. With respect to the inconvenience in reservation for a laundry machine in a laundry room and high costs of the laundry room in the prior art, no effective solution is provided yet.

The disclosure provides a laundry room management method and management system, so as to at least resolve the problem of inconvenience in reservation for a laundry machine in a laundry room in the prior art.

Accordingly this invention To achieve the objective, the disclosure provides a laundry room management method and a management system as defined in the respective independent claim. Preferred facultative embodiments of the invention are defined in dependent claims, described in the subsequent description or exhibited in the figures of the attached drawing. These preferred embodiments may also be combined among themselves, and each also used in the context of the invention as embodied in each of a laundry room management method and a management system.

Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosure provides a laundry room management method. In the method, the laundry machine is a washer, a clothes dryer, a washing and drying machine, or the like.

The laundry room management method is applicable to a server side, where the server is in communication with at least one laundry machine and a plurality of user terminals and includes the following steps: receiving and confirming a reservation request sent by the user terminal and used for reserving a laundry machine in idle state; sending a control instruction to a reserved laundry machine, to lock a machine door of the reserved laundry machine; sending reservation information that indicates successful reservation to the user terminal; and receiving and determining verification information that is sent by the user terminal and indicates whether the user terminal is paired with the reserved laundry machine, and controlling locking and unlocking of the machine door of the reserved laundry machine according to the determined result. The user terminal, that is, the terminal (which may be a mobile terminal, a tablet computer, or other smart terminals), communicates with the server by means of a plurality of methods, sends an application to the server for requesting for reserving a laundry machine in idle state. The server remotely controls and manages a plurality of laundry machines in the laundry room. If the server confirms reservation after receiving the reservation request, the server sends a control instruction to the reserved laundry machine, to lock the reserved laundry machine, so that other users cannot use the reserved laundry machine. Information indicating successful reservation is sent to the user terminal, and then the server receives the verification information that is sent by the user terminal and used for indicating whether the user terminal is paired with the reserved laundry machine, to determine whether the user terminal matches the reserved laundry machine, so as to control locking and unlocking of the machine door. The solution can facilitate remote reservation of a laundry machine for a user, and after being reserved, other uses are not allowed to use the reserved laundry machine, thereby ensuring use rights of the user who has made a reservation.

Preferably, if the determined result is matching, the server sends a control instruction to the reserved laundry machine, to unlock the machine door of the reserved laundry machine; and if the determined result is not matching, the machine door of the reserved laundry machine is kept locked.

Preferably, if the determined result is not matching, the server prompts the user terminal to reselect another laundry machine in idle state.

Preferably, the server provides information about laundry machines in idle state to the user terminal in real time. Any user terminal capable of communicating with the server can obtain information about idle laundry machines from the server in real time, and freely select a laundry machine.

Preferably, the reservation information includes reserved time, and if the server does not receive the verification information from the user terminal within the reserved time, the server sets and marks the reserved laundry machine in idle state available for reservation and controls the machine door of the reserved laundry machine. The setting may prevent a user who has made a reservation from not performing a laundry operation within a reserved time, thereby not resulting in idling of a laundry machine.

Preferably, the reservation information includes laundry procedure information and laundry fee information. The user terminal needs to confirm the reservation information, including payment of fees.

Preferably, the verification information includes identity information of the user terminal and identity information of the reserved laundry machine. The verification information is used for determining whether the user terminal has the right to use the reserved laundry machine. Only after the verification matches and the user terminal determines that the laundry machine to perform the laundry operation is the reserved laundry machine, the server unlocks the machine door and the user can use the laundry machine. Preferably, the verification information includes information about geographic location where the user terminal is located. It is necessary to determine, according to location information, whether the user is near the laundry machine, so as to avoid malicious reservation.

Preferably, the user terminal obtains the identity information of the reserved laundry machine and sends the identity information of the reserved laundry machine to the server by means of short-range wireless communication. Preferably, the short-range wireless communication includes scanning, by the user terminal, two-dimensional code information on the reserved laundry machine. The user terminal having a scanning function may directly scan the identity information on the reserved laundry machine, for example, the two-dimensional code information including the machine identity. The two-dimensional code information further includes a special set instruction, for example, uploading the scanned two-dimensional code information to the server.

Another aspect of the disclosure provides another laundry room management method, applicable to a user terminal, and corresponding to the foregoing method applied to the server side. The user terminal may be a portable smart device having a display screen, such as a mobile terminal, a tablet, and a remote control. The user terminal is in communication connection with a server, and the server is in communication connection with at least one laundry machine and controls the laundry machine to perform a corresponding operation. The management method includes the following steps: sending a reservation request for reserving a laundry machine in idle state to the server; receiving reservation information that indicates successful reservation sent by the server; and sending verification information to the server, so that the server determines whether the user terminal is paired with the reserved laundry machine, where after receiving and confirming the reservation request, the server sends a control instruction to the reserved laundry machine, to lock a machine door of the reserved laundry machine; and after receiving and determining the verification information, the server controls locking and unlocking of the machine door of the reserved laundry machine according to the determined result. Preferably, if the determined result is matching, the server sends a control instruction to the reserved laundry machine, to unlock the machine door of the reserved laundry machine; and if the determined result is not matching, the machine door of the reserved laundry machine is kept locked.

Preferably, if the determined result is not matching, the user terminal receives a prompt of reselecting another laundry machine in idle state from the server.

Preferably, the user terminal receives, in real time, information about laundry machines in idle state provided by the server.

Preferably, the reservation information includes reserved time, and if the server does not receive the verification information from the user terminal within the reserved time, the server sets and marks the reserved laundry machine in idle state available for reservation and controls the reserved laundry machine to release the machine door.

Preferably, the reservation information includes laundry procedure information and laundry fee information. Preferably, the verification information includes identity information of the user terminal and identity information of the reserved laundry machine.

Preferably, the verification information includes information about geographic location where the user terminal is located.

Preferably, the user terminal obtains the identity information of the reserved laundry machine and sends the identity information of the reserved laundry machine to the server for verification by means of short-range wireless communication. Preferably, the short-range wireless communication includes scanning, by the user terminal, two-dimensional code information on the reserved laundry machine.

The disclosure also provides a laundry room management system, including: at least one laundry machine, configured in a laundry room and configured to perform at least one of a laundry operation or a drying operation; a server, in communication connection with the laundry machine, and configured to manage and control an operation of the laundry machine; a user terminal, in communication connection with the server, where the user terminal sends a reservation request for reserving a laundry machine in idle state to the server; after receiving and confirming the reservation request, the server sends a control instruction to a reserved laundry machine, to lock a machine door of the reserved laundry machine; the server sends reservation information that indicates successful reservation to the user terminal; the user terminal sends verification information to the server, so that the server determines whether the user terminal is paired with the reserved laundry machine; and after receiving and determining the verification information, the server controls locking and unlocking of the machine door of the reserved laundry machine according to the determined result.

Preferably, if the determined result is matching, the server sends a control instruction to the reserved laundry machine, to unlock the machine door of the reserved laundry machine; and if the determined result is not matching, the machine door of the reserved laundry machine is kept locked.

Preferably, if the determined result is not matching, the server prompts the user terminal to reselect another laundry machine in idle state.

Preferably, the reservation information includes reserved time, and if the server does not receive the verification information from the user terminal within the reserved time, the server sets and marks the reserved laundry machine in idle state available for reservation and controls the reserved laundry machine to release the machine door.

Preferably, the reservation information includes laundry procedure information and laundry fee information. Preferably, the verification information includes identity information of the user terminal and identity information of the reserved laundry machine.

Preferably, the verification information includes information about geographic location where the user terminal is located. Preferably, the user terminal obtains the identity information of the reserved laundry machine and sends the identity information of the reserved laundry machine to the server by means of short-range wireless communication. Preferably, the short-range wireless communication includes scanning, by the user terminal, two-dimensional code information on the reserved laundry machine.

By means of the disclosure, the problems of inconvenience in reservation for a laundry machine in a laundry room and high costs of the laundry room in the prior art are resolved. A user terminal makes a reservation for a laundry machine and a server manages operations of the laundry machine, so that it is convenient for a user to make a reservation for the laundry machine, and other unauthorized users are not allowed to use the reserved laundry machine, thereby achieving on-site queuing free laundry and saving time. Meanwhile, no extra software and hardware devices need to be configured for the laundry machine, thereby reducing running costs of the laundry room.

The accompanying drawing described from here is used to explain the disclosure in more detail, and constitutes a part of the present application. The exemplary embodiments and description thereof of the disclosure are used to interpret the present invention, but are not limitative of the disclosure, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a laundry room management system;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart (1 ) of a laundry room management method; and

FIG. 3 is a flowchart (2) of the laundry room management method.

The disclosure is presented in detail in the embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawing. It should be noted that the embodiments and the features in the embodiments of the present application can be mutually combined if there is not a conflict. This embodiment provides a laundry room management system. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a laundry room management system. The laundry room management system includes two laundry machines (1 , 2), a server, and a user terminal. The two laundry machines (1 , 2) are configured in a laundry room and configured to perform at least one of a laundry operation or a drying operation, and mainly are washers, clothes dryers, or washing and drying machines. A communication module is disposed on the laundry machine and the laundry machine may be connected to the server in a wired or wireless manner, for example, the laundry machine is connected to a remote server by means of a cable or a router.

The server mainly is a cloud server, in communication connection with a laundry machine, and configured to manage and control an operation of the laundry machine. The server manages and controls running of the laundry machine and can obtain the states and running information about all the laundry machines in real time.

The user terminal is a mobile terminal, and may alternatively be a tablet computer, a smart terminal, a personal computer, or the like. An application (APP) is installed in the user terminal. The user terminal is in communication connection with the server and can query information about laundry machines in idle state provided by the server in real time, for example, the user terminal queries whether the laundry machine is marked as "reserved".

The user terminal sends a reservation request for reserving a laundry machine in idle state to the server. The APP selects a laundry machine in idle state, confirms the selection, and then sends the reservation request to the server.

After receiving and confirming the reservation request, the server sends a control instruction to a reserved laundry machine, to lock a machine door of the reserved laundry machine. In this case, other users are not allowed to use the laundry machine and meanwhile the status of the laundry machine is marked as reserved state by the server. After the reservation succeeds, the server sends reservation information that indicates successful reservation to the user terminal. The user terminal sends verification information to the server, so that the server determines whether the user terminal is paired with the reserved laundry machine. Specifically, the user terminal obtains the identity information of the reserved laundry machine and sends the identity information of the reserved laundry machine to the server by means of short-range wireless communication. The short-range wireless communication may include scanning, by the user terminal, two-dimensional code information on the reserved laundry machine (a two-dimensional code is provided on the laundry machine, identifying a machine identity or other information). The user terminal having a scanning function may directly scan the identity information on the reserved laundry machine, for example, the two-dimensional code information including the machine identity. The two-dimensional code information further includes a special set instruction, for example, uploading the scanned two-dimensional code information to the server. As compared with the verification method in the prior art in which a scanning device is configured on a washer and scans identity information of a user on a mobile phone, the solution of this embodiment is simpler and has lower costs.

After receiving and determining the verification information, the server controls locking and unlocking of the machine door of the reserved laundry machine according to the determined result. If the determined result is matching, the server sends a control instruction to the reserved laundry machine, to unlock the machine door of the reserved laundry machine; and if the determined result is not matching, the machine door of the reserved laundry machine is kept locked. Meanwhile, if the determined result is not matching, the server prompts the user terminal to reselect another laundry machine in idle state.

The reservation information includes reserved time, and if the server does not receive the verification information from the user terminal within the reserved time, the server sets and marks the reserved laundry machine in idle state available for reservation and controls the reserved laundry machine to release the machine door.

The reservation information further includes laundry procedure information and laundry fee information. The reservation information may be used for selecting a laundry procedure and a washing time by a user of a user terminal, and meanwhile for informing the user of washing fees. The verification information includes identity information of the user terminal and identity information of the reserved laundry machine. The verification information is used for determining whether the user terminal has the right to use the reserved laundry machine. Only after the verification matches and the user terminal determines that the laundry machine to perform the laundry operation is the reserved laundry machine, the server unlocks the machine door and the user can use the laundry machine. Preferably, the verification information includes information about geographic location where the user terminal is located. This embodiment further provides a laundry room management method. FIG. 2 is a flowchart (1 ) of a laundry room management method. As shown in FIG. 2, the management method is applicable to a server side and corresponding to the foregoing laundry room management system. The server is in communication connection with at least one laundry machine and a plurality of user terminals, separately. The management method includes the following steps:

Step S102: Receive and confirm a reservation request sent by the user terminal and used for reserving a laundry machine in idle state. Step S104: Send a control instruction to a reserved laundry machine, to lock a machine door of the reserved laundry machine.

Step S106: Send reservation information that indicates successful reservation to the user terminal.

Step S108: Receive and determine verification information that is sent by the user terminal and indicates whether the user terminal is paired with the reserved laundry machine, and control locking and unlocking of the machine door of the reserved laundry machine according to the determined result.

If the determined result is matching, the server sends a control instruction to the reserved laundry machine, to unlock the machine door of the reserved laundry machine; and if the determined result is not matching, the machine door of the reserved laundry machine is kept locked. In this case, the server may prompt the user terminal to reselect another laundry machine in idle state.

The server remotely controls and manages the plurality of laundry machines in the laundry room and provides information about laundry machines in idle state to the user terminal in real time. Any user terminal capable of communicating with the server can obtain information about idle laundry machines from the server in real time, and freely select a laundry machine. After receiving the reservation request from the user terminal, the server sends, if confirming that reservation is available, a control instruction to the reserved laundry machine, to lock the reserved laundry machine, so that other users are not allowed to use the reserved laundry machine. Information indicating successful reservation is sent to the user terminal, and then the server receives the verification information that is sent by the user terminal and used for indicating whether the user terminal is paired with the reserved laundry machine, to determine whether the user terminal matches the reserved laundry machine, so as to control locking and unlocking of the machine door. The solution can facilitate remote reservation of a laundry machine for a user, and after being reserved, other uses are not allowed to use the reserved laundry machine, thereby ensuring use rights of the user who has made a reservation.

The reservation information includes reserved time, and if the server does not receive the verification information from the user terminal within the reserved time, the server sets and marks the reserved laundry machine in idle state available for reservation and controls the machine door of the reserved laundry machine. The setting may prevent a user who has made a reservation from not performing a laundry operation within a reserved time, thereby not resulting in idling of a laundry machine. The reservation information includes laundry procedure information and laundry fee information. The user terminal needs to confirm the reservation information, including payment of fees.

The verification information includes identity information of the user terminal and identity information of the reserved laundry machine. The verification information is used for determining whether the user terminal has the right to use the reserved laundry machine. Only after the verification matches and the user terminal determines that the laundry machine to perform the laundry operation is the reserved laundry machine, the server unlocks the machine door and the user can use the laundry machine. The verification information includes information about geographic location where the user terminal is located. It is necessary to determine, according to location information, whether the user is near the laundry machine, so as to avoid malicious reservation.

The user terminal obtains the identity information of the reserved laundry machine and sends the identity information of the reserved laundry machine to the server by means of short-range wireless communication. The short-range wireless communication includes scanning, by the user terminal, two-dimensional code information on the reserved laundry machine. The user terminal having a scanning function may directly scan the identity information on the reserved laundry machine, for example, the two-dimensional code information including the machine identity. The two-dimensional code information further includes a special set instruction, for example, uploading the scanned two-dimensional code information to the server.

This embodiment also provides a laundry room management method. FIG. 3 is a flowchart (2) of the laundry room management method. As shown in FIG. 3, the management method is applicable to a user terminal and corresponding to the foregoing laundry room management system and the management method on the server side. The user terminal may be a portable smart device having a display screen, such as a mobile terminal, a tablet, and a remote control.

The user terminal is in communication connection with the server. The server is in communication connection with at least one laundry machine and controls the laundry machine to perform a corresponding operation. The management method includes the following steps:

Step S202: Send a reservation request for reserving a laundry machine in idle state to the server.

The user terminal receives, in real time, information about laundry machines in idle state provided by the server. Step S204: Receive reservation information that indicates successful reservation sent by the server.

Step S206: Send verification information to the server, so that the server determines whether the user terminal is paired with the reserved laundry machine.

After receiving and confirming the reservation request, the server sends a control instruction to the reserved laundry machine, to lock a machine door of the reserved laundry machine. After receiving and determining the verification information, the server controls locking and unlocking of the machine door of the reserved laundry machine according to the determined result.

If the determined result is matching, the server sends a control instruction to the reserved laundry machine, to unlock the machine door of the reserved laundry machine; and if the determined result is not matching, the machine door of the reserved laundry machine is kept locked. In this case, the server may prompt the user terminal to reselect another laundry machine in idle state.

The reservation information includes reserved time, and if the server does not receive the verification information from the user terminal within the reserved time, the server sets and marks the reserved laundry machine in idle state available for reservation and controls the machine door of the reserved laundry machine. The setting may prevent a user who has made a reservation from not performing a laundry operation within a reserved time, thereby not resulting in idling of a laundry machine. The reservation information includes laundry procedure information and laundry fee information. The user terminal needs to confirm the reservation information, including payment of fees.

Specifically, a user checks the status of the laundry machine, for example, information such as the number of idle laundry machines, the location of a laundry machine in the laundry room, and whether the laundry machine is reserved or the remaining washing time of the laundry machine, in an APP of the user terminal. A laundry machine in idle state is selected. After obtaining confirmation from the server, the user obtains the right of using the reserved laundry machine within a period of time, for example, within 0.5 h, and the other users are not allowed to either use the reserved laundry machine, or reserve the reserved laundry machine. If the user fails in arriving at the laundry room within the reserved time and verifying the identity information using the user terminal, the server release the laundry machine so that the laundry machine is in idle state. The verification information includes identity information of the user terminal and identity information of the reserved laundry machine. The verification information is used for determining whether the user terminal has the right to use the reserved laundry machine. Only after the verification matches and the user terminal determines that the laundry machine to perform the laundry operation is the reserved laundry machine, the server unlocks the machine door and the user can use the laundry machine. The verification information includes information about geographic location where the user terminal is located. It is necessary to determine, according to location information, whether the user is near the laundry machine, so as to avoid malicious reservation.

Specifically, the user arrives at the laundry room within the reserved time, and the user terminal obtains identity information of the reserved laundry machine and sends the identity information of the reserved laundry machine to the server by means of short-range wireless communication. The short-range wireless communication includes scanning, by the user terminal, two-dimensional code information on the reserved laundry machine. The user terminal having a scanning function may directly scan the identity information on the reserved laundry machine, for example, the two-dimensional code information including the machine identity. The two-dimensional code information further includes a special set instruction, for example, uploading the scanned two-dimensional code information to the server. By means of the method, it is not necessary to add a scanning device on the laundry machine, thereby reducing the complexity of the system and reducing the costs.

By means of the disclosure, the problems of inconvenience in reservation for a laundry machine in a laundry room and high costs of the laundry room in the prior art are resolved. A user terminal makes a reservation for a laundry machine and a server manages operations of the laundry machine, so that it is convenient for a user to make a reservation for the laundry machine, and other unauthorized users are not allowed to use the reserved laundry machine, thereby achieving on-site queuing free laundry and saving time. Meanwhile, no extra software and hardware devices need to be configured for the laundry machine, thereby reducing running costs of the laundry room.