JP2009211472A - Failure-diagnosing device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform adequate processing to failure in accordance with failure occurrence states in a market even if a diagnosis model is not frequently updated. <P>SOLUTION: A diagnosis server part 301A acquires failure diagnosis information from a diagnosis-object device, and reads out a diagnosis model, which is registered with a diagnosis model database 302b, to extract failure cause candidates, and then reports them to a failure cause deciding server part 301B (S110 - S114). A failure occurrence variation state identifying part 362 acquires the latest failure information from a market quality information database 302a for each failure cause candidate and computes a variation rate of the latest failure cause generation state (S120). A failure cause determination part 364 determines the final failure cause in accordance with the failure occurrence variation states and transmits it (S122, S126). A processing information presentation part 366 identifies processing information to the failure cause determined by the failure cause determination part 364 to transmit it (S128). Results of diagnosis are confirmed by a worker on the diagnosis-object device side, and adequate processing is applied to the failure cause. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a failure diagnosis apparatus and a program for realizing failure diagnosis processing or acquisition / presentation processing of related information related to a cause of failure using an electronic computer (computer).

  In recent years, various machines such as office machines such as copiers and printers require high productivity, so that delay due to failure is not allowed, and it is required to quickly detect and solve the failure. . In addition, many other industrial devices such as automobiles, aviation, robots, and semiconductor design devices are equipped with a number of members that are highly reliable and capable of operating at high speed and high accuracy as means for operation control. In order to cope with these problems, a mechanism for automatically performing failure diagnosis is considered.

  For example, electrophotographic copiers and printers operate in extremely harsh in-machine environments such as charging / development / transfer with high-voltage power supply, high-temperature fixing, scattering of polymer toner, high-speed paper transport, paper dust, etc. In order to maintain good quality, as an example, maintenance is periodically performed. For example, specialized service personnel are dispatched to perform maintenance of electrophotographic copying machines and printers, and maintenance is carried out. Compared with the decline in prices of electrophotographic copying machines and printers, specialized service personnel The service cost of dispatching is increasing relatively. For this reason, the user of an electrophotographic copying machine or printer diagnoses the failure location, and if it is a simple failure, the user replaces or repairs the part, or notifies the service person of accurate failure information, thereby providing service costs. There is an increasing demand to reduce the amount of energy used.

  In response to this request, based on the image defect information of the copying machine, printer, device status information, user operation information, etc., the failure location is determined using a failure diagnosis model composed of a Bayesian network or a causal network. A failure diagnosis mechanism that estimates and presents the diagnosis result has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3).

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-309078 Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-167451 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-075808

  According to the failure diagnosis system using Bayesian network, various information necessary for failure diagnosis is obtained and presented accurately and without stress to users without specialized knowledge, and accurate, homogeneous, and rapid failure diagnosis Is possible. Here, the failure diagnosis model configured by a Bayesian network usually determines the initial value of the probability value of each node by calculating based on the failure occurrence frequency in a predetermined period in the past, and then constant as necessary. Update every period. For example, the probability of each node is updated regularly (for example, every three months) based on market trouble statistical data such as the frequency of parts replacement and the frequency of occurrence of defects.

  In other words, the Bayesian network is given in advance an initial probability based on a database in which failure occurrence frequencies in the market are accumulated for the failure cause node. Then, the number of occurrences of each failure cause is automatically acquired periodically from the database and the initial probability of the Bayesian network model is updated, so that diagnosis based on the latest failure occurrence frequency in the market becomes possible. ing.

  For example, in the mechanism described in Patent Document 1, each diagnostic model set by calculating the initial probability of each failure cause node for each failure content, regardless of the failure occurrence state after the device is introduced to the market, Prepare for each and update the initial probability as appropriate. Basically, only one type of the latest version is used for diagnosis.

  In the mechanism described in Patent Document 2, when a user inputs a symptom of a malfunction, the system provides malfunction information that may occur by an expert system such as a brief network (Bayesian network). Based on the defect information, the information retrieval system provides the contents of the related user manual document.

  In the mechanism described in Patent Document 3, a Bayesian network in which system components that cause a system failure are modeled is used to acquire knowledge necessary for troubleshooting and execute diagnosis. Then, evaluate the probability of the cause and the action cost required for troubleshooting, and propose the appropriate action to the user until the problem is solved, starting with the action with the highest probability of solving the problem and the lowest cost. Yes.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism that enables an operator who performs a measure for a failure to perform a failure treatment that is more suitable for a failure occurrence situation in the market without frequently updating a diagnostic model.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, based on each piece of failure information in the vicinity of the failure diagnosis time of a device of the same type as the device to be diagnosed, the change status of the failure occurrence of the failure cause candidate extracted by the failure diagnosis is specified. A failure diagnosis apparatus comprising: a failure occurrence change state identification unit that performs a failure cause determination unit that determines a failure cause based on a failure occurrence change state identified by the failure occurrence change state identification unit is there.

  The invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that in the invention described in claim 1, a treatment information presenting unit for presenting treatment information for the cause of failure determined by the failure cause determining unit is provided.

  The invention according to claim 3 is related information related to failure cause candidates extracted by failure diagnosis, and related information acquisition for acquiring, for each of the failure cause candidates, related information useful in performing a treatment for the failure. And a related information presentation unit that presents the related information acquired by the related information acquisition unit together with the failure cause candidate.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the related information presenting unit further includes, as the related information, a failure occurrence change situation of a failure cause candidate near a failure diagnosis time point, a market of a diagnosis target device It is characterized by presenting either the introduction time or the degree of difficulty of treatment for the failure cause candidate.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the failure occurrence of the failure cause candidate is further based on each piece of failure information in the vicinity of the failure diagnosis time of the device of the same type as the diagnosis target device to be diagnosed. A failure occurrence change state specifying unit that specifies a change state and passes the change state to the related information acquisition unit is provided.

  The invention described in claim 6 further corresponds to the failure cause candidate based on each failure information in the vicinity of the failure diagnosis time point of the device of the same type as the diagnosis target device that is the target of failure diagnosis in the invention of claim 4. A work difficulty level identifying unit is provided that obtains a work time required for the treatment of the failure cause, identifies a treatment difficulty level of the failure cause candidate based on the work time, and passes the work difficulty level to the related information obtaining unit.

  The invention according to claim 7 is a program for performing a fault diagnosis using an electronic computer, wherein each fault in the vicinity of a fault diagnosis time point of a diagnosis target device to be diagnosed and a device of the same type is stored in the electronic computer. Based on the information, the failure occurrence change situation identification procedure for identifying the failure occurrence change situation of the failure cause candidate extracted by the failure diagnosis, and the failure occurrence change situation identified based on the failure occurrence change situation identified by the failure occurrence change situation identification procedure A failure cause determination procedure for determining the cause is executed.

  The invention according to claim 8 is a program for presenting relevant information useful in performing a measure for a failure by using an electronic computer, the failure cause candidate extracted by failure diagnosis in the electronic computer The related information acquisition procedure for acquiring the related information related to the fault cause candidate for each failure cause candidate and the related information presentation procedure for presenting the related information acquired in the related information acquisition procedure together with the failure cause candidate are executed. And

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, even if the diagnosis model is not frequently updated, a diagnosis confirmation result reflecting the failure occurrence state in the market near the failure diagnosis time point is presented to the operator. The operator can make a diagnosis in accordance with the diagnosis target device based on the diagnosis confirmation result reflecting the presented failure occurrence situation, and can perform a failure treatment more suitable for the failure occurrence situation in the market.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the diagnosis information and the cause of the failure are presented together with the treatment information for the cause of the failure, the operator can easily deal with the failure by referring to the presented treatment information. Can treat.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is useful not only to frequently update the diagnostic model, but also to use the failure cause candidate extracted by the failure diagnosis and the action for the failure cause candidate (failure cause). Since the information is presented, the operator can make an appropriate judgment on the treatment for the failure cause candidate with reference to the presented related information, and can perform a more appropriate failure treatment.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, when the failure occurrence change situation of the failure cause candidate near the failure diagnosis time point is used as the related information, the failure cause and the priority of the treatment when the plurality of failure cause candidates are presented. The effect that can be used as an index for specific judgment is obtained, and if the time of market introduction of the device to be diagnosed is used as related information, if the device has been introduced into the market at the same time, information about that has been reported so far. In the absence of such information, there is an effect that can be used as an index for specific judgment by estimating the degree of deterioration of each failure cause candidate from the elapsed time after market introduction. When the treatment difficulty level for diagnostic failure cause candidates is used as information, an effect can be obtained that can be used as an index for specific determination of treatment order and treatment priority when a plurality of failure cause candidates are presented.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to identify the failure occurrence change state reflecting the latest failure occurrence state with reference to the failure information consistent with the failure diagnosis process.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to identify the treatment difficulty level reflecting the latest failure occurrence state with reference to failure information consistent with failure diagnosis processing.

  According to the invention described in claim 7, it is possible to present the operator with a diagnosis confirmation result reflecting the failure occurrence state in the market near the failure diagnosis time without frequently updating the diagnosis model. Based on the diagnosis confirmation result, it is possible to realize a mechanism that allows the operator to make a diagnosis according to the diagnosis target device and to perform a failure treatment more suitable for the failure occurrence situation in the market using an electronic computer.

  According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, together with the failure cause candidate extracted by the failure diagnosis, related information useful for performing a treatment for the failure cause candidate (failure cause) can be presented. With reference to the related information, a mechanism that allows the operator to make an appropriate determination on the action for the failure cause candidate and to perform a more appropriate failure action can be realized using an electronic computer.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<< Configuration Example of Image Forming Apparatus >>
1 and 1A are diagrams illustrating a configuration example of an image forming apparatus equipped with an embodiment of a failure diagnosis apparatus. Here, FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram focusing on the failure diagnosis function of the image forming apparatus 1. FIG. 1A shows a mechanism part (hardware configuration) focusing on a functional part for transferring an image onto a printing paper, which is an example of a transported object and a recording medium, and a functional part for reading an image of an original in the image forming apparatus 1. ).

  The image forming apparatus 1 includes, for example, an image reading unit (scanner unit) that reads an image of a document, and inputs from a personal computer or the like, a copying apparatus function that prints an image corresponding to the document image based on image data read by the image reading unit. A multi-function machine having a printer function for printing out based on the printed data (data representing an image) and a facsimile transmission / reception function capable of printing out a facsimile image, and is configured as a digital printing apparatus. .

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a failure diagnosis device 3 that diagnoses a failure of the image forming apparatus 1 as a functional unit related to a failure diagnosis function, a sheet passing time, a drive current, and an apparatus. A sensor unit 4 that automatically acquires state information (operation state signal) inside the apparatus when the apparatus is operating, which is necessary for diagnosing the apparatus such as internal temperature and humidity, as observation data, and for fault diagnosis A failure diagnosis input unit 5 for inputting necessary information is provided. The image forming apparatus 1 has various functions via an image forming unit 6 that forms and outputs an image, an image reading unit 7 that reads an original image, and a communication network 306 (network) as functional units that perform basic functions. A communication unit 8 for exchanging information is provided. The failure diagnosis apparatus 3 may be configured to perform processing in cooperation with a management apparatus (for example, a host computer) provided in the management center 301 as necessary.

  The image forming unit 6 outputs an image read by the image reading unit 7 or an image instructed to print from various information devices via the communication unit 8 on a predetermined printing paper. Note that the communication unit 8 is also used by the communication unit 8 to acquire the latest diagnostic model from the management device provided in the management center 301 via the communication unit 8.

  The failure diagnosis device 3 is a diagnosis information generation unit 3A that generates information necessary for performing device failure diagnosis based on each acquired information, and a failure that performs failure diagnosis based on information obtained from the diagnosis information generation unit 3A. It has a diagnosis unit 3B.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a failure diagnosis apparatus 3, and is roughly divided into an image forming unit having a function of forming (printing out) an image on printing paper based on input image data. 6, a paper feeding / conveying mechanism unit 50 for feeding printing paper to a printing unit (print engine) of the image forming unit 6, a paper discharging / conveying mechanism unit 70 for discharging printing paper after image formation to the outside of the apparatus, and a document And an image reading unit 7 for reading the image. The image forming unit 6, the paper feed conveyance mechanism unit 50, and the paper discharge conveyance mechanism unit 70 are collectively referred to as an image output unit. Each unit includes a roll member that moves printing paper, which is an example of a transported body, in a predetermined direction by a rotational force.

<Image forming unit>
The image forming unit 6 uses the captured image data (for example, red R, green G, and blue B color spaces) for output processing on the image forming unit 6 side (for example, yellow Y, magenta M, cyan C, black). K), image density correction (contrast), sharpness correction, and other image processing, and image processing unit 31 based on image data input from image processing unit 31. For example, a function of forming a visible image on a printing paper such as plain paper or thermal paper using a conventional image forming process such as an electrophotographic type, a thermal type, a thermal transfer type, an ink jet type or the like, that is, a print output A part.

  In the following description, it is assumed that the functional unit that performs print output includes a raster output scan (ROS) -based print engine for operating the image forming apparatus 1 as a digital printing system.

  In this case, for example, a photosensitive drum roll 32 is disposed at the center of the image forming unit 6, and a developing device including a primary charger 33, a developing roll 34 a and a developing clutch 34 b is disposed around the photosensitive drum roll 32. 34, or a transfer roll 35, a cleaner roll 36, a lamp 37, and the like are disposed. A colorant cartridge 38 for supplying a colorant (for example, toner) to the developing unit 34 is disposed in the vicinity of the developing unit 34. The transfer roll 35 is arranged to face the photosensitive drum roll 32 and has a pair structure so as to sandwich and convey the sheet therebetween.

  Further, the image forming unit 6 includes a writing scanning optical system (hereinafter referred to as a laser scanner) 39 for recording a latent image on the photosensitive drum roll 32 based on the image forming data. The laser scanner 39 modulates the laser beam L based on image data input from a host computer (not shown) or the like, and outputs the laser beam L output from the laser 39a on the photosensitive drum roll 32. It has an optical system such as a polygon mirror (rotating polygonal mirror) 39b and a reflecting mirror 39c for scanning.

  The paper feeding / conveying mechanism unit 50 includes a paper feeding tray 51 for conveying printing paper to the image forming unit 6, and a plurality of rolls, paper timing sensors, and the like that constitute a conveying path 52 of the paper feeding system. There are two types of rolls of the sheet feeding / conveying mechanism 50, one is a single structure and the other is a pair structure in which two sheets are opposed to each other and sandwich and convey a sheet therebetween.

  For example, on the conveyance path 52, as a sensor member for collecting paper passage time information in the image forming apparatus 1, in the vicinity of the sheet feed roll pair 55 between the sheet feed roll pair 55 and the first conveyance roll pair 56. A first sensor 65 (pre-feed sensor) has a second sensor 66 (feedout sensor) in the vicinity of the first transport roll pair 56 between the paper feed roll pair 55 and the first transport roll pair 56, and a second transport roll. A third sensor 67 (pre-registration sensor) is provided in the vicinity of the second conveyance roll pair 57 between the pair 57 and the third conveyance roll pair 58, and a stop claw between the second conveyance roll pair 57 and the third conveyance roll pair 58. In the vicinity of 62, a fourth sensor 68 (registate sensor) is provided.

  A nudger solenoid 61 for operating the pickup roll 54 is provided in the vicinity of the pickup roll 54. The pickup roll 54, the paper feed roll pair 55, and the nudger solenoid 61 constitute a feed unit 53.

  Further, on the upstream side (left side in the figure) on the conveyance path 52 near the third conveyance roll pair 58, a stop claw (registate) 62 for temporarily stopping the printing paper conveyed on the conveyance path 52, and A regigate solenoid 63 for operating the stop claw 62 is provided.

  Further, the drive mechanism of the image forming apparatus 1 uses gears, shafts, bearings, belts, rolls, etc. so that the power of the motor is transmitted in several directions so that it can be utilized as effectively as possible by one motor. It is configured. The drive mechanism unit is configured to operate in the image forming apparatus 1 with a drive motor (in this example, motors 96 to 99 excluding the main motor 95) serving as a base (master, power source) of the drive mechanism as an operation unit. ing. Solenoids and clutches are examples of drive members that operate when supplied with power, but they function as a switching mechanism for other members to which the drive force of the drive motor is transmitted, so the relationship of the slave to the drive motor In this respect, it is an example of a power transmission member as well as a gear, a shaft, a bearing, a belt, and the like.

  In addition, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a sensor unit 4 that automatically acquires, as observation data, an operation state signal when an apparatus necessary for diagnosing the apparatus is operating, and based on the acquired observation data. A functional unit (fault diagnosis device 3) for performing fault diagnosis is provided. The observation data acquired by the sensor unit 4 includes, for example, drive current when operating components (motor, solenoid, clutch, etc.) in the device, vibration and differential sound during operation of the device, and specific parts (or surroundings). ), The temperature or humidity in the entire apparatus, the light amount change of the lamp 37 in the vicinity of the photosensitive drum roll 32, the timing time when the paper passes, and the like.

  For example, on the conveyance path 52, as a sensor member for collecting paper passage time information in the image forming apparatus 1, in the vicinity of the sheet feed roll pair 55 between the sheet feed roll pair 55 and the first conveyance roll pair 56. A first sensor (feedout sensor) 65 is provided in the vicinity of the first conveyance roll pair 56 between the paper feed roll pair 55 and the first conveyance roll pair 56, and a second sensor (feedout sensor) is provided in the second conveyance roll pair. A third sensor (pre-registration sensor) 67 is provided in the vicinity of the second conveyance roll pair 57 between the second conveyance roll pair 57 and the third conveyance roll pair 58, and a stop claw 62 between the second conveyance roll pair 57 and the third conveyance roll pair 58. A fourth sensor (registate sensor) 68 is provided in the vicinity.

  The pair of paper feed rolls 55 serves to prevent double feed (two or more paper feeds) in addition to guiding the paper to the first sensor 65, the second sensor 66, and the first transport roll pair 56. Also takes on the role of The first transport roll pair 56 and the second transport roll pair 57 serve to guide the paper to the photosensitive drum roll 32.

  By monitoring the sheet conveyance time by the first sensor 65, for example, it is determined whether or not there is a conveyance abnormality such as occurrence of a jam related to sheet feeding caused by the feed unit 53. Further, by monitoring the sheet conveyance time by the second sensor 66, it is determined whether or not there is a conveyance abnormality such as the occurrence of a jam related to the sheet pull-in caused by the first conveyance roll pair 56, for example. Further, by monitoring the sheet conveyance time by the third sensor 67, for example, it is determined whether or not there is a conveyance abnormality such as occurrence of a jam related to sheet feeding caused by the second conveyance roll pair 57. Further, by monitoring the sheet conveyance time by the fourth sensor 68, it is determined whether or not there is a conveyance abnormality such as occurrence of a jam related to sheet pull-in caused by the third conveyance roll pair 58, for example.

  The regigate solenoid 63 is used to temporarily stop the sheet with the stop claw 62 after a predetermined time has elapsed after the second sensor 66 is turned on. The purpose is to synchronize the timing for aligning the writing position in the sheet and the position of the image on the photosensitive drum roll 32.

  The paper discharge conveyance mechanism unit 70 is a paper discharge tray 71 (external tray) for receiving the printed paper image formed on the print paper by the image forming unit 6 outside the apparatus, and a conveyance path 72 of the paper discharge system. Are composed of a plurality of rolls and sensors. As the rolls of the paper delivery / conveying mechanism unit 70, a roll having a pair structure is used in which two of them are arranged facing each other and the paper is sandwiched and conveyed between them. For example, as a roll member on the conveyance path 72, a fixing roll pair 74 (fuser, fixing device) and a discharge roll pair 76 (exit roll) are sequentially arranged from the transfer roll 35 side of the image forming unit 6 toward the paper discharge tray 71. ). In the present embodiment, the fixing roll pair 74 is shown incorporated in the discharge conveyance mechanism unit 70 side, but may be considered incorporated in the image forming unit 6 side.

  Further, a fifth sensor 78 (fixer discharge sensor) is provided between the fixing roll pair 74 and the discharge roll pair 76 as a sensor member for collecting paper passage time information in the image forming apparatus 1 on the conveyance path 72. However, a sixth sensor 79 (discharge sensor) is provided between the discharge roll pair 76 and the discharge tray 71, respectively.

  By monitoring the sheet conveyance time with the fifth sensor 78, it is determined whether there is a conveyance abnormality such as the occurrence of a jam related to the sheet pull-in caused by the fixing roll pair 74, for example. Further, by monitoring the sheet conveyance time by the sixth sensor 79, it is determined whether or not there is a conveyance abnormality such as the occurrence of a jam related to sheet feeding caused by the discharge roll pair 76, for example. Further, by cooperating the fourth sensor 68 and the fifth sensor 67 to monitor the sheet conveyance time, for example, a conveyance abnormality such as the occurrence of a jam related to the drawing of the sheet or the feeding of the sheet due to the photosensitive drum roll 32 is performed. Determine the presence or absence.

  Each sensor 65, 66, 67, 68, 78, 79 (hereinafter also referred to as a paper timing sensor 69), which is a sensor member for collecting paper passage time information, is a paper passage time for collecting paper conveyance passage time information. It is a paper detection member (paper timing sensor) that constitutes the detection unit, and is installed to detect whether or not a printing paper, which is an example of a transported body, is being transported at a predetermined timing. The detection signal obtained by each paper timing sensor 69 is input to a measuring unit that measures the conveyance timing and conveyance time (paper passage time) of the printing paper.

  Each paper timing sensor 69 constituting the paper detection member may have various shapes and characteristics depending on the installation location. Basically, a device composed of a pair of light emitting elements (for example, light emitting diodes) and light receiving elements (for example, photodiodes or phototransistors) is used. A photo interrupter in which both the light emitting element and the light receiving element are integrated may be used. Each paper timing sensor 69 may be either a transmission type (also called a blocking type) or a reflection type. In the configuration of the present embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, a reflection type photo interrupter is used for all the paper timing sensors 69. In the case of the reflection type, the light receiving element is in a state of inputting light from the light emitting element when the paper is not normally conveyed, that is, in the on state, and the light of the light emitting element is in the state of passing through the paper timing sensor 69. It is cut off, that is, turned off.

  The failure diagnosis device 3 provided in the image forming apparatus 1 determines the failure probability of the parts based on the collected transit time information. Then, the failure diagnosis unit determines the failure probability of the parts based on the passing time information collected using these paper timing sensors 69 and performs failure diagnosis. For example, there are observable nodes (passage time and standard deviation nodes) as result nodes in the state of the pickup roll 54 (nudger roll) and the paper feed roll pair 55 (feed roll). The failure probability is determined by observing the average time and standard deviation of the sheet passing through the sensor, and when the value is larger than the reference, the failure probability is high.

  Generally, the paper timing sensor 69 detects the passage of the leading edge of the paper and detects whether or not it is within a predetermined timing range. If the printing paper passage timing is out of the predetermined timing range, that is, the printing paper When the time for passing each sensor from the start of conveyance is out of the predetermined time range, the image forming apparatus 1 determines that the jam (JAM) state cannot be normally printed, and stops the subsequent sheet conveyance process. Then, it is determined that a failure has occurred in the sheet conveyance process, and the sheet conveyance is stopped at that position at that time.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 1 includes driving members such as a motor and a solenoid that operate by receiving power supply, and constituent members such as a power transmission member that transmits the driving force of the driving member to other members. A drive mechanism vibration detection unit 80 that detects vibration of the mechanism unit is provided. As an example, the drive mechanism vibration detection unit 80 includes a vibration sensor 82 that detects vibration in the apparatus using an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration and an acoustic sensor that detects sound generated from a machine. In this example, a vibration sensor 82 is fixed to a main body chassis (not shown) immediately below the photosensitive drum roll 32. The position where the vibration sensor 82 is attached is not particularly limited. Any position that efficiently detects the acceleration and operating sound of the drive mechanism within the image forming apparatus 1 may be used, and the position is not limited to just below the photosensitive drum roll 32.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a functional element that acquires environmental information related to the operation of the drive mechanism unit included in the apparatus. As an example, first, the image forming apparatus 1 includes an operating temperature detection unit 84 that detects the temperature inside the apparatus. In the present embodiment, the operating temperature detector 84 measures an infrared ray radiated from an electronic sensor or an object composed of, for example, a platinum resistance temperature detector, a thermistor, a thermocouple, and the like. A non-contact temperature sensor 85 such as a thermopile for measuring the temperature is provided, and the temperature sensor 85 is used to detect the temperature at a desired position in the apparatus. As an example, the temperature sensor 85 may be arranged to detect the temperature in the vicinity of the fixing roll pair 74.

  There are cases where the temperature rises due to a failure and heat is generated and the temperature inside the apparatus is abnormally high, and the temperature inside the apparatus rises because the ambient temperature where the apparatus is placed is high. The former sets, for example, that the temperature control related to the fixing roll pair 74 has failed, the circuit has failed and the heat is abnormally generated, or the failure probability of each related component has a large dependency. . In the latter case, even if it is used within the specifications of the image forming apparatus, if it is left in such a situation for a long time, the deterioration of the roll accelerates, the coefficient of friction between the roll and the paper changes, and the time change during paper conveyance It leads to. Also in this case, the setting is made so that the failure probability of the related parts is increased.

  In addition, the image forming apparatus 1 includes an operating humidity detection unit 86 that detects humidity in the apparatus as another example of a functional element that acquires environmental information related to the operation of the drive mechanism unit included in the apparatus. In the present embodiment, the operating humidity detection unit 86 includes a humidity sensor 87, and the humidity sensor 87 is used to detect the humidity at a desired position in the apparatus. As an example, a humidity sensor 87 may be disposed so as to detect the humidity in the vicinity of the paper in the vicinity of the paper feed tray 51. This is because the paper is greatly affected by humidity. As the humidity sensor, for example, various sensors such as an electronic sensor that mainly uses a change in electrical properties due to adsorption / desorption of moisture in the atmosphere may be used. For example, a wet and dry bulb type, a hair type, a crystal vibration type, a polymer type sensor, a metal oxide sensor or the like may be used. In particular, a polymer or a metal oxide is a small sensor having good compatibility with a circuit, and is preferable for application of this embodiment.

  Humidity has been found to affect the roll and paper and the coefficient of friction between the paper. The higher the humidity, the greater the coefficient of friction between the sheets, making it difficult to convey, increasing the probability of misfeed (conveyance failure), and jamming at the feed unit 53. Further, since the coefficient of friction between the paper and the roll varies even during the conveyance, the paper conveyance time changes and the probability of occurrence of a jam increases.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a consumable material detection unit that is a functional element that detects the state of the consumable material used by the apparatus. In the present embodiment, as an example of the consumable material detection unit, first, a reflected light detection light sensor or a transmitted light detection light sensor is provided, and the thickness of the printing paper (pyeong A paper information collecting unit 88 that detects paper information such as a paper type and a paper type is provided in the vicinity of the paper feed tray 51 and at a predetermined position on the conveyance path 52. If the paper is thicker (or thinner) than a specified value (for example, 50 to 100 g / m ^ 2; "^" indicates a power) or coated paper, the possibility of jamming increases, so paper information is detected. Used to calculate the failure probability. As another example of the consumable material detection unit, the colorant cartridge 38 disposed in the vicinity of the developing device 34 is provided with a colorant remaining amount detection unit 89 that detects the remaining amount of toner (colorant). Yes. Since the monitoring mechanism of the remaining amount of the colorant is known to those skilled in the art, illustration and detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

  The example of the observation data used for the determination of the failure diagnosis has been described above, but the data shown here is only an example and is not limited to the above. For example, a mechanism for monitoring the applied voltage supplied to the primary charger 33 is provided in order to monitor the state of the engine unit centered on the photosensitive drum roll 32. Since this monitoring mechanism is known to those skilled in the art, illustration and detailed description thereof are omitted here.

<Image reading unit>
The image reading unit 7 optically reads an image drawn on a sheet-like document to be read, and includes a platen cover 706. The image reading unit 7 has a platen glass 712 (original platen) slightly larger than the A3 size on which an original to be read is placed, and an optical system including a light receiving unit 742 for reading the original at a lower portion thereof. Or an image processing unit 760 on the image reading unit side. In the present embodiment, as the light receiving unit 742, a contact type sensor (CIS: Contact Image Sensor) provided on the substrate 744 is used, and the line sensor is moved in the sub-scanning direction under the platen glass 712. I'm taking it.

  The light receiving unit 742 sends the captured image signal of each spectral component obtained by capturing the original image with the line sensor to a read signal processing unit (not shown) provided on the substrate 744 in the same manner as the light receiving unit 742. The read signal processing unit performs desired analog signal processing on the captured image signal obtained by this reading, and then, for example, converts the digital image data of each color component of red (R), green (G), and blue (B). The converted digital image data of red, green, and blue is sent to the image processing unit 760.

<Overview of the operation of the image output unit>
In the image forming apparatus 1 configured as described above, when an image output unit is operated to form an image on a print sheet which is an example of a transported body, the sheet is transported from the sheet feed tray 51 by the sheet feed transport mechanism unit 50. The printing paper is fed out and conveyed to a predetermined position of the image forming unit 6 to form an image on the printing paper.

  For example, first, as the printing process starts, the nudger solenoid 61 operates to depress the pickup roll 54. At substantially the same time, the motors 96 to 99 for rotating the various rolls (pairs) in the image forming apparatus 1 start rotating. The pickup roll 54 pushed down by the nudger solenoid 61 comes into contact with the uppermost printing paper installed in the paper feed tray 51, is separated from the plurality of printing papers in the paper feed tray 51, and feeds one printing paper. Guide to paper roll pair 55. Then, only one sheet is fed through the sheet feed roll pair 55. The printing paper fed from the paper feed roll pair 55 is transported between the photosensitive drum roll 32 and the transfer roll 35 of the image forming unit 6 through the transport roll pairs 56, 57, and 58.

  In the image forming unit 6, first, the photosensitive drum roll 32 is charged to a predetermined potential by the primary charger 33. Next, a laser 39a as a light source for forming a latent image is driven by image generation data from a host computer (not shown) to convert the image data into an optical signal, and the converted laser light L is converted into a polygon. Irradiate toward the mirror 39b. The laser light L further scans the photosensitive drum roll 32 charged by the primary charger 33 via an optical system such as a reflection mirror 39c, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum roll 32. To do.

  The electrostatic latent image is converted into a toner image (developed) by a developing device 34 to which toner of a predetermined color (for example, black; black) is supplied. While passing between the drum roll 32 and the transfer roll 35, the image is transferred onto the printing paper by the transfer roll 35. The toner remaining on the photosensitive drum roll 32 after the transfer process is cleaned by the cleaner roll 36. The developing roller 34a is provided with a developing clutch 34b, and the developing timing is adjusted using the developing clutch 34b. Next, the latent image on the photosensitive drum roll 32 is erased by removing the charge of the photosensitive drum roll 32 by the lamp 37 (static elimination device), and the process proceeds to the next step for image recording.

  On the other hand, the printing paper on which the toner image is transferred is heated and pressurized by the fixing roll pair 74, and the toner image is fixed on the printing paper. Finally, the printing paper that has exited the fixing roll pair 74 is discharged to a discharge tray 71 outside the apparatus by a discharge roll pair 76.

  Note that the configuration of the image forming unit 6 is not limited to that described above, and may be, for example, an intermediate transfer IBT (Intermediate Belt Transfer) system including one or two intermediate transfer belts. Further, in the figure, the image forming unit 6 for single color printing is shown, but it may be configured as a color image forming unit 6. In this case, as the configuration of the engine unit, for example, a similar image forming process is repeated for each output color of K, Y, M, and C to form a color image, for example, a single engine (photoreceptor unit). A multi-pass type (cycle type / rotary type) configuration in which each color image is sequentially formed and transferred onto an intermediate transfer member one color at a time to form a color image, or a plurality of colors corresponding to each output color The engines are arranged in-line in the order of, for example, K → Y → M → C, and K, Y, M, and C images are processed in parallel (simultaneously) with four engines. Either may be used.

<Fault diagnosis device>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the failure diagnosis apparatus 3. The failure diagnosis device 3 is configured to perform failure diagnosis based on observation data acquired by the sensor unit 4. For example, the diagnosis information generation unit 3A of the failure diagnosis apparatus 3 includes an operation state information acquisition unit 140 that acquires observation data acquired by the sensor unit 4 and various other information necessary for failure diagnosis, and a state of the failure that has occurred. A failure information acquisition unit 152 that acquires failure information obtained by user input according to the instructions on the screen presented by the failure diagnosis input unit 5, and an additional operation that acquires failure information in different operating conditions depending on the user operation An information acquisition unit 154 and a diagnostic information collection unit 160 (feature amount extraction unit) are provided.

  The operation state information acquisition unit 140 monitors the usage status of the image forming apparatus 1 and the component state information acquisition unit 142 that acquires component information indicating the operation state of each component acquired from the sensor unit 4 as observation data information. The history information acquisition management unit 143 manages the monitoring result of the usage status of the image forming apparatus 1 as history information by registering and holding the monitoring result in a nonvolatile storage medium.

  Furthermore, the operation state information acquisition unit 140 determines ambient environment conditions that affect the state of components such as temperature and humidity based on information detected by the operation temperature detection unit 84 and the operation humidity detection unit 86 constituting the sensor unit 4. Based on the information detected by the environmental information acquisition unit 144 acquired as environmental information and the consumable material detection unit (the paper information collection unit 88, the colorant remaining amount detection unit 89, etc.), It has a consumable material information acquisition unit 145 that acquires information on consumable materials used by the apparatus such as the color type, type, and remaining amount of the colorant, and a specification information acquisition unit 146 that acquires specification information of the image forming apparatus 1.

  The diagnostic information collecting unit 160 is based on the operation state signal indicating the operation state while the drive member of the transport system acquired by the component state information acquisition unit 142 is operating for a predetermined period, and the feature amount of the operation state signal Ask for. Further, the diagnostic information collection unit 160 acquires not only the component state information acquisition unit 142 but also information from the history information acquisition management unit 143, the environment information acquisition unit 144, the consumable material information acquisition unit 145, or the specification information acquisition unit 146. Then, the feature amount of the acquired information is also obtained. The diagnostic information collection unit 160 has a function of an operation state signal receiving unit that receives an operation state signal from the component state information acquisition unit 142 and other information from the history information acquisition management unit 143.

  The failure diagnosis unit 3B of the failure diagnosis apparatus 3 includes a reference feature amount storage unit 230 that stores a reference feature amount serving as a determination index at the time of failure diagnosis in a predetermined storage medium (preferably a nonvolatile semiconductor memory). Failure probability inference unit 260 that calculates the probability of failure based on information obtained from the acquisition unit (operation state information acquisition unit 140, failure information acquisition unit 152, additional operation information acquisition unit 154), or failure determination result or inspection A notification unit 270 for notifying the customer of the contents is provided inside. The failure probability inference unit 260 includes a failure determination unit 262 that performs failure candidate extraction, failure determination, and failure prediction, and an inference engine 264 that infers failure probabilities used in failure determination and failure prediction of the failure determination unit 262.

  Further, the failure diagnosis unit 3B has a failure cause determination unit 360 that determines the cause of failure based on the diagnosis result (particularly the failure cause candidate) of the failure probability inference unit 260 and the latest failure information in the market, as a configuration unique to the present embodiment. A related information acquisition and presentation unit 380 is provided. The related information acquisition / presentation unit 380 is related information related to the cause of failure (particularly the cause of failure) for each failure cause candidate extracted as a diagnosis result by the failure probability inference unit 260, and is useful when performing a measure for the failure. It has both functions of a related information acquisition unit that acquires related information and a related information presentation unit that presents (corresponds to) the related information acquired by the related information acquisition unit together with the failure cause candidate.

  The relevant information may be any information that is useful when performing failure treatment based on the failure cause candidate extracted as the diagnosis result. For example, the failure occurrence change rate of the failure cause candidate near the failure diagnosis time point, the diagnosis target device The market introduction time or the degree of difficulty in dealing with the cause of failure is good. Of course, it is not limited to any one of these, and any combination thereof may be used. The more related information that is presented, the more the judgment index for performing the failure treatment increases. Note that it is not essential that both the failure cause determination unit 360 and the related information acquisition and presentation unit 380 are provided, and a configuration including only one of them may be used. The functional units constituting the failure cause determination unit 360 and the related information acquisition / presentation unit 380 will be described in detail later.

  In addition to the storage medium, the reference feature amount storage unit 230 includes a write control unit for writing the reference feature amount to the storage medium, and a reading for reading the stored reference feature amount from the storage medium. A control unit is provided. The storage medium has a function of a history storage unit that holds history information of various operation state signals acquired by the diagnostic information collection unit 160 in the image forming apparatus 1.

  As the reference feature amount, for example, a mechanism member (including a drive member such as a motor or a solenoid) constituting the drive mechanism unit or an electric member (drive signal generation unit 150 or drive circuit) that drives the mechanism member operates normally. In the normal state, the feature amount (for example, information for specifying the distribution state) acquired by the diagnostic information collection unit 160 is used. Alternatively, instead of the feature amount obtained by the diagnostic information collection unit 160, an operating current or a rated value of vibration of the stepping motor or the like in the image forming apparatus 1 may be used. In addition, when a failure is detected, a feature amount (for example, a distribution state is specified) acquired by the diagnostic information collection unit 160 when each component member fails as a reference feature amount for determining the failure location or failure state. Information). The reference feature amount relating to the failure state stored in the storage medium is used as a diagnosis model of the image forming apparatus 1. For example, each member of the apparatus is forcibly set to the failure state and detected by the diagnosis information collecting unit 160. For example, information acquired based on maintenance information collected in the management center 301 or the like may be used.

  Note that each unit (diagnosis information generation unit 3A and failure diagnosis unit 3B) constituting the failure diagnosis apparatus 3 is not limited to a form in which they are mounted on one image forming apparatus 1, but a part of functional units constituting them or The configuration (so-called system configuration) may be adopted in which the entirety is mounted on an apparatus different from the image forming apparatus 1. For example, the diagnostic information collection unit 160 is removed from the failure diagnosis device 3 on the image forming apparatus 1 side, a diagnostic information acquisition unit is arranged on the management center 301 side, and information acquired by the sensor unit 4 is used as diagnostic information on the management center 301 side. The diagnostic model may be prepared by sending it to the collection unit 160 and specifying the feature amount on the management center 301 side. In this case, it is based on generating a common diagnostic model not only from the device but also from a plurality of pieces of information of the same type of device, and if necessary, the common diagnostic model is further based on information unique to the device. It may be modified and used as a diagnostic model for the device.

  The failure determination unit 262 compares the diagnosis model (including the reference feature amount acquired by the own device) stored in the storage medium with the actual feature amount that is the feature amount obtained by the diagnosis information collection unit 160 at the time of failure diagnosis. As a result, a diagnosis process relating to the failure such as whether or not a failure has occurred in the block to be diagnosed and the possibility of a failure occurring in the future is performed.

  For example, the failure probability reasoning unit 260 is connected to a management center 301 (also referred to as a data center) that collects failure information about each image forming apparatus 1 and updates a diagnostic model, and is stored in a database DB disposed in the management center 301. Failure information and diagnostic models are registered, and failure diagnosis is performed by receiving selection and provision of a diagnostic model suitable for the image forming apparatus 1 to be diagnosed from various diagnostic models registered in the database DB.

  For example, the failure probability reasoning unit 260 uses the image quality using the state information of the components constituting the image forming apparatus 1, the history information of the apparatus, the surrounding environment information where the apparatus is installed, and the follow-up test result information obtained by user operation. The inference engine 264 infers the failure probability of the location that causes the defect, and the failure determination unit 262 extracts failure location candidates based on the failure probability calculated by the inference engine 264.

  The failure determination unit 262 has a function of a failure candidate extraction unit that narrows down failure candidates using the inference engine 264. The failure determination unit 262 narrows down failure candidates, failure determination results (the presence or absence of failure, failure location, failure content), failure The notification unit 270 is notified of the prediction result (presence / absence of possibility of failure, failure location, failure content), inspection content, acquired operation state signal, and the like.

  Here, when the automatic determination process is performed, if the number of failure point candidates cannot be narrowed down to one, the inference engine waits for the input of the additional test result information obtained under different operating conditions obtained by the user operation. The failure probability is recalculated in H.264, and a more appropriate failure location is extracted based on the failure probability acquired under each operation condition.

  The notifying unit 270, for example, a customer (operator or owner of the image forming apparatus 1), a customer engineer who performs maintenance (maintenance, maintenance, management) of the image forming apparatus 1 based on the failure determination result received from the failure determining unit 262. Or a customer engineer such as the management center 301 that manages the image forming apparatus 1 or a customer.

  For example, when directly informing the customer, the image forming apparatus 1 is informed of an alarm such as a display panel or a speaker. The customer sees or listens to it and informs the service center of the failure location and the content of the failure. In addition, when directly informing the customer engineer who maintains the image forming apparatus 1, a failure occurs using a public telephone line, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a mobile phone, or a mobile terminal such as a PHS (Personal Handy-phone System). Contact us. Further, the failure location and failure content data may be sent to a terminal owned by the customer engineer.

  Further, when notifying the management center 301 or the like that manages the image forming apparatus 1, a public telephone line or a portable terminal may be used as in the case of directly informing a customer engineer. Moreover, you may make it contact using the internet. In these cases as well, failure location and failure content data may be sent to the terminal of the management center 301.

  By the way, as described above, the failure diagnosis device 3 is normally used before a failure occurs as its diagnosis architecture when performing failure diagnosis that automatically identifies a failure portion of a mechanical system (paper transport system) or an image defect system. Time data is acquired, and observation data (collectively referred to as actual data) such as the operating device status and environmental conditions is acquired, and the failure probability calculated by the inference engine using these information Diagnose with reference to also. The failure diagnosis referred to in this embodiment means not only the determination of the presence / absence of a failure but also a prediction diagnosis for predicting the occurrence of a future failure.

  Functional parts related to failure diagnosis, such as the inference engine, failure probability reasoning unit 260 that performs failure diagnosis, failure cause determination unit 360, and related information acquisition / presentation unit 380 are limited to the configuration built in the main body of image forming apparatus 1. Instead, it may be provided on the server side, for example, the management center 301 (also referred to as a data center) connected to the image forming apparatus 1 via a network. In this case, normal data and actual data are sent to the management center 301 via the network, and the management center 301 performs fault diagnosis, confirmation processing, and related information presentation.

  For example, the management center 301 is notified to the management center 301 of the contents of the inspection of the failure diagnosis performed by the failure probability inference unit 260 and the operation state signal used without specifying the failure location and the failure content on the image forming apparatus 1 side. On the management center 301 side, failure candidates may be narrowed down or a failure location or failure content may be specified. Alternatively, only the inference engine may be placed in the management center 301 and the failure probability may be calculated in the management center 301. Alternatively, the failure probability reasoning unit 260 may be disposed on the image forming apparatus 1 side, and the failure cause determination unit 360 and the related information acquisition / presentation unit 380 may be disposed on the management center 301 side.

  With respect to the diagnosis result, for example, a form that a customer engineer (CE; Customers Engineer) confirms at the management center 301 may be adopted. In the form of diagnosis at the management center 301, the diagnosis result and failure cause determination by the failure probability inference unit 260 may be adopted. A configuration in which a customer engineer or customer (customer / user) confirms on the image forming apparatus 1 side by sending the confirmation result by the section 360 and the related information presented by the related information acquisition and presentation section 380 to the image forming apparatus 1. May be taken.

  Here, in this embodiment, a Bayesian network is used as an inference engine for calculating a failure probability. Fault diagnosis using a Bayesian network is an optimization approach that estimates the distribution using a graph structure (called a Bayesian network or a causal network) by probabilistically capturing the dependency between nodes (variables).

<Fault diagnosis device: computer configuration>
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating another configuration example of the failure diagnosis apparatus 3. Here, a more realistic hardware configuration is shown that is constructed from a microprocessor or the like that executes software for fault diagnosis using an electronic computer such as a personal computer.

  A program suitable for realizing failure diagnosis processing to which a Bayesian network method described later is applied by software using an electronic computer (computer) or a computer-readable storage medium storing the program is extracted as an invention.

  Needless to say, the failure diagnosis device 3 and the failure probability inference unit 260 are configured by a combination of dedicated hardware that functions as each function unit shown in FIG. By adopting a mechanism for executing processing by software, the processing procedure and the like can be easily changed without changing hardware.

  When a computer performs a fault diagnosis function using a series of Bayesian network processing by software, as in the case of general information processing using an electronic computer, a magnetic disk (including a flexible disk FD), an optical disk (Including CD-ROM (compact disc-read only memory), DVD (digital versatile disc)), magneto-optical disc (including MD (mini disc)), semiconductor media, package media (portable storage media) ) Or a program constituting the software is installed in the electronic computer via a wired or wireless communication network. The software is not limited to being provided as a collective program file, but may be provided as an individual program module according to the hardware configuration of a system configured by a computer. For example, it may be provided as add-in software incorporated in existing copying apparatus control software or printer control software (printer driver).

  In the case where the failure diagnosis apparatus 3 is incorporated in the image forming apparatus 1 having a copying function, the electronic computer shown in FIG. 3 includes, for example, a processing program for a copying application, a printer application, a facsimile (FAX) application, or other applications. For example, software similar to that in a conventional image forming apparatus (multifunction machine) is incorporated. A control program for transmitting and receiving data to and from the outside via the network 9 is also incorporated.

  For example, the computer system 900 constituting the failure diagnosis apparatus 3 includes a controller unit 901, a predetermined storage medium such as a hard disk device, a flexible disk (FD) drive, a CD-ROM (Compact Disk ROM) drive, a semiconductor memory controller, or the like. And a recording / reading control unit 902 for reading and recording data from.

  The controller unit 901 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 912, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 913 which is a read-only storage unit, and a RAM (Random Access) which can be written and read at any time and is an example of a volatile storage unit. Memory) 915 and RAM (described as NVRAM) 916 which is an example of a nonvolatile storage unit. The NVRAM 916 stores failure probability information of each part weighted by, for example, usage time, frequency, number of copies / prints, and the like.

  The “volatile storage unit” means a storage unit in a form in which the stored contents are lost when the power of the failure diagnosis apparatus 3 is turned off. On the other hand, the “non-volatile storage unit” means a storage unit in a form that keeps stored contents even when the main power supply of the failure diagnosis apparatus 3 is turned off. Any memory device can be used as long as it can keep the stored contents, and the semiconductor memory device itself is not limited to a nonvolatile memory device, but by providing a backup power source, the volatile memory device is made to be “nonvolatile”. It may be configured. Further, the present invention is not limited to a semiconductor memory element, and may be configured using a medium such as a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

  The computer system 900 also includes an instruction input unit 903 having a keyboard, a mouse, and the like as a function unit that forms a customer interface, and a display output unit 904 that presents predetermined information such as a guidance screen and a processing result during operation to the customer. , And an interface unit (IF unit) 909 that performs an interface function with each functional unit.

  When the failure diagnosis apparatus 3 is incorporated and integrated in the image forming apparatus 1 having a copying function, an image reading unit (scanner unit) 905 that reads an image to be processed and an image processing unit 962 that generates print output data. An image forming unit 906 including a print engine 964 that outputs the processed image to a predetermined output medium (for example, printing paper) is also provided.

  Examples of the interface unit 909 include a system bus 991 that is a transfer path of processing data (including image data) and control data, a scanner IF unit 995 that functions as an interface with the image reading unit 905, an image forming unit 906, and the like. It has a printer IF unit 996 that functions as an interface with other printers, and a communication IF unit 999 that mediates transfer of communication data with the network 9 such as the Internet.

  The display device 904 includes, for example, a display control unit 942 and a display unit 944 made up of a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) or LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). For example, the display control unit 942 displays guidance information, the entire image captured by the image reading unit 905, and the like on the display unit 944. It is also used as a display device for notifying customers of failure determination results and inspection details. By using the display unit 944 having the touch panel 932 on the display surface, the instruction input unit 903 for inputting predetermined information with a fingertip, a pen, or the like may be configured.

  Instead of performing all processing of each functional part of the failure diagnosis apparatus 3 by software, a processing circuit 908 that performs part of these functional parts by dedicated hardware may be provided. Although the mechanism performed by software can flexibly cope with parallel processing and continuous processing, the processing time becomes longer as the processing becomes complicated, so that a reduction in processing speed becomes a problem. On the other hand, an accelerator system that achieves high speed is constructed by performing the processing using a hardware processing circuit. In the accelerator system, even if the processing is complicated, a reduction in processing speed is prevented, and high throughput can be obtained.

  In the case of the failure diagnosis apparatus 3 of the present embodiment applied to the image forming apparatus 1, the processing circuit 908 includes observation data information such as paper passage time, drive current, vibration, operation sound, or light quantity, temperature, This corresponds to the data acquisition function unit 908a of the sensor system for acquiring environmental information such as humidity. Although not shown, it goes without saying that some or all of the functional units constituting the failure cause determination unit 360 and the related information acquisition / presentation unit 380 may have a hardware configuration.

<Failure diagnosis processing: Image defect diagnosis model>
FIG. 4 is a Bayesian network model diagram illustrating a configuration example of a Bayesian network used in the failure diagnosis in the failure probability inference unit 260. Here, FIG. 4 is a more specific configuration example of the Bayesian network, and shows a configuration example of the Bayesian network in the case of performing a failure diagnosis that identifies a failure location of the image quality defect system.

  As the failure diagnosis method of the present embodiment, each of the diagnosis target devices acquires an operation state signal indicating an operation state while operating under different operation conditions, and each of the acquired operation state signals is used as a device. The cause of the failure is modeled and analyzed, and the failure diagnosis is performed for each component member constituting the diagnosis target device. "Modeling and analyzing causes that cause device failures" means analyzing causes of failures such as the location of failure and details of failures by modeling the causes that cause device failures using probability. Means. Any modeling method may be used as long as it uses a probability. For example, an actual measurement value indicating the state of the device acquired from the device, or a feature amount extracted from the actual measurement value (collectively, both variables) There is a technique to model the dependency relationship between the two. A specific example is a Bayesian network model.

  A Bayesian network is a directed acyclic graph that represents a causal relationship between variables. When a parent is given, a conditional probability distribution is associated with the variable. Bayesian networks model problem areas using probability theory. Each node (variable) has a set of mutually exclusive states. In each node, a probability (conditional probability table) that a result is generated from a cause is set in advance. A major feature of Bayesian networks is that it is possible to infer probabilities from information that can be directly observed (or obtained), such as the presence or absence of a failure, and to calculate the probability of failure (whether it is a failure) or not. It is in.

  In FIG. 4, nodes indicated by hatching are nodes that can be directly observed. By calculating the probability of a node shown without hatching, the state of the component (possibility of failure) can be determined. For example, Bayes' theorem is used for the probability calculation of each node. However, in a network configuration in which there are many nodes and a loop is formed, the calculation is practically impossible due to the enormous amount of calculation. Therefore, various efficient calculation algorithms for accurately updating the probability in the Bayesian network have been devised, and calculation software is also sold by several manufacturers. For example, “http://staff.aist.go.jp/y.motomura/bn2002/presen/motomura-tut.files/frame.htm; online” may be referred to.

  When performing a failure diagnosis that identifies a failure location of an image quality defect system, as shown in FIG. 4, the Bayesian network is centered on a failure cause node ND0 representing a cause that causes an image defect, and a component state node ND1 and a history node ND2. The environment node ND3, the observation state node ND4, the user operation node ND5, and the defect type node ND6 are connected based on the causal relationship. In addition, as the node, for example, a consumable material information node or a specification information node may be applied.

  Each node is connected so as to have a relationship of “cause” → “result”. For example, the relationship between the failure cause node ND0 and the observation state node ND4 is based on the “cause” and the “observation state (low concentration, streaks / bands, etc.)” appears. On the other hand, the relationship between the history node ND2 and the failure cause node ND0 is such that the “cause” (component deterioration, etc.) occurs based on the “state based on history information (number of copies, long operation years, etc.)”. .

  The component state node ND1 is a node representing a component state, and the probability of this part is calculated to determine whether or not a failure has occurred. In each node, a probability table summarizing probability data representing the strength of the causal relationship is placed in advance. As the initial value of the probability data, past data or MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) of parts can be used. If the value is too small, a relative value between components that makes the magnitude relationship of the failure probability clear may be used.

  The history node ND2 represents the usage status of the image forming apparatus 1, and in this embodiment, history information on the number of feeds is used. The number of feeds is information indicating how much paper has been fed by the feed unit after the image forming apparatus 1 is installed at a predetermined position or after component replacement. It directly affects the wear of the bearing and affects the state of the component.

  The environment node ND3 represents the surrounding environment information in which the image forming apparatus is installed. Specifically, the environment node ND3 is an ambient environment condition that affects the state of the component, and in this embodiment, the temperature and humidity. The temperature and humidity affect the coefficient of friction between the feed roll and the paper, and the coefficient of friction between the paper and the sheet conveyance time, which affects image defects.

  The observation state node ND4 is a collection of information nodes used for determination of failure diagnosis (diagnosis of image quality defect in this example), such as component observation information node, output image related observation data node, or image transfer system observation data node. It is a thing. Here, the component observation information node is sheet conveyance time information, drive current information, vibration information, or the like in this embodiment. The observation data node related to the output image is information such as the shape, size, density, contour, orientation, position, periodicity, and generation area of the defect. The observation data node of the image transfer system is information such as component temperature, applied voltage, patch density, or remaining amount of colorant (for example, toner).

  The user operation node ND5 is information that causes the image forming apparatus 1 to perform the same processing while changing the operating condition, and includes information about the operating condition after the change. The defect type node ND6 is information indicating the type of defect, and includes information such as lines, dots, white spots, and density unevenness. First, after determining the type of defect that has occurred and confirming the state of this node, information on other nodes (ND1 to ND6) is appropriately input to make a diagnosis, and the cause of failure is estimated.

  The consumable material information node is information on consumable materials used by the apparatus, such as paper thickness, paper type, colorant color type, colorant type, or remaining amount. For example, the friction between the roll and the paper and the friction between the papers differ depending on the paper type and the paper thickness, and the influence of the ambient temperature and humidity also differs. Similarly, if an appropriate colorant is not used, image formation is affected. In other words, the consumable specification affects the failure diagnosis.

  The specification information node is information such as a destination and special parts. For example, devices suitable for cold regions and coastal areas use members suitable for cold regions and coasts. When performing a failure diagnosis of a device that uses a part according to the destination, even if the failure rate calculated for that part is the same, it is determined without considering the original part specifications. I cannot make accurate judgments. That is, the product specification and the component specification based on the product specification affect the failure diagnosis.

<Specific examples of failure diagnosis methods>
FIG. 5 illustrates a specific example of the operation of the failure diagnosis apparatus 3 configured as described above, and represents a diagnosis model configured by a Bayesian network provided with a conditional probability table at each node. Specifically, this is an example of a Bayesian network when the content of a failure that has occurred (contents of a defect or a defect) is “line / band” in the configuration example of the image defect failure diagnosis. Incidentally, "line" is a thin line noise with black and other colors. “Band” is a band-like noise that is thicker than “lines” with black and other colors.

  As shown in the figure, the nodes are connected so as to have a relationship of “cause” → “result”. In each node, a corresponding probability value (probability data) is set in advance from the conditional probability table. For example, a probability value is prepared for each node by preparing a conditional probability table that summarizes various conditions when a failure occurs and the probability that a failure will occur under that condition. Set in the form of reading the probability value of. The probability value itself may be an empirical value or may be measured data. In the sense of guessing the part with the highest possibility of failure, the magnitude relationship is more important than the absolute value itself.

  Double circled nodes such as platen scratches, board α failures (α is X, A, B), offset, heat roll scratches, drum dirt, drum scratches are broken (in this example, line / band defects) The node represents the cause of the failure that caused the failure, and the treatment content for each failure cause is defined in advance. Nodes representing features of image defects with halftone hatching, such as “line width information”, “periodic information”, and “occurrence location information”, are feature quantities obtained by the failure information acquisition unit 152 of the failure diagnosis apparatus 3. A state is determined based on this.

  For example, the relationship between “drum flaws” and “line width information” is such that “line width information” such as the occurrence of thin lines based on “drum flaws” appears. On the other hand, the relationship between the “feed number history information” and “fuser” is that the possibility of line / band generation due to deterioration of the “fuser” based on the state based on the “number of feeds” (number of feeds or more) Holds.

  The initial value of the probability value of each node is determined based on, for example, past data (experience values or actually measured data). Thereafter, based on statistical data of market troubles such as part replacement frequency and defect occurrence frequency, at regular intervals (at a predetermined periodic update timing), or on the market, the image forming apparatus 1 (limited to the own apparatus) The probability value of each node is updated at a temporary update timing corresponding to the entity of the same type of device. Details of the update method will be described later.

  In the image defect failure diagnosis procedure, for example, based on the image defect detection and its feature amount, the device internal state information, history information, surrounding environment information, etc. are automatically collected to perform failure diagnosis. . In this case, for example, it is effective in distinguishing whether the cause of the failure at the occurrence of the black / band is “scratches on the photosensitive drum roll 32” or “deterioration of the fixing roller pair (fuser) 74”. is there. It is also effective when identifying the cause of black line failure based on the location where the black / band occurs.

  For example, the occurrence of a line / band is caused not only on the image output unit side, such as “scratches on the photosensitive drum roll 32” or “deterioration of the fixing roller 45”, but also on the image reading unit side such as scratches on the platen glass. In some cases, it may be difficult to isolate the cause of failure by automatic diagnosis alone.

  In such a case, for example, after receiving the results of processing by changing the output conditions such as changing the orientation of the document or the orientation of the printing paper, obtaining additional information by customer operation, recalculating the probability of occurrence of failure, By determining the location dependency (that is, block dependency) of the line / band generation, the failure occurrence location is identified as whether it is on the image reading unit side or the image output unit side.

  Of course, as described above, the mechanical system is not limited to the drive mechanism unit system, the image reading unit side / the image output unit side, and the image processing (pure electricity) system or the mechanical system may be determined. Good.

  In addition, for example, by outputting the test patterns built into each board in order and obtaining information as to which board black pattern was generated as additional information by customer operation, narrowing down the location of failure occurrence May be performed.

  As described above, according to the failure diagnosis processing of the failure diagnosis apparatus 3 described in the present embodiment, when a defect is detected in an image formed under a predetermined operation condition, the operation state under the operation condition is detected. The failure probability is calculated by the Bayesian network based on the component status, machine history, environmental information, etc., and the failure location candidates are extracted based on the calculated failure probability, but the failure location candidates can be narrowed down to one. When there was not, the result information by user operation was further added, the failure probability was recalculated, and failure candidates were narrowed down from the result.

  It has a means to automatically collect component (member) information using sensors, etc., in the process of identifying the fault location that caused the image abnormality. From the collected information and the information Based on the extracted feature quantity (information related to distribution in the previous example), the device automatically determines the failure cause part by using the Bayesian network and identifies the cause of the failure. Preliminary knowledge and experience are not required for diagnosis, and accurate, homogeneous, and rapid failure diagnosis is performed that does not depend on the ability of the person performing maintenance. It is a user-friendly mechanism that does not vary as in the case of user input, does not require user input action, and does not give stress to the user.

  Even if it is difficult to identify the cause of a failure only by automatic diagnosis, even a less experienced serviceman can perform a more accurate diagnosis with simple operation by inputting additional information by user operation and recalculating the probability of failure occurrence Like that.

  In addition to component (member) information, internal state information such as device temperature and humidity, history information, and surrounding environment information are also automatically collected, and a Bayesian network is created based on the features. By using this, the failure probability of the part is determined, and the failed part is specified, so that more accurate failure diagnosis is performed.

  For example, the speed of diagnosis may be increased by incorporating a program for automatically collecting various data necessary for troubleshooting (here, failure diagnosis) as an automatic troubleshooting mechanism. In this way, since it is not necessary to interactively collect data from the customer, a simple diagnostic system that does not bother the customer is realized. In addition, by notifying the customer of the inspection result, it is preferable to notify the customer promptly and to reduce downtime.

  As described above, the failure diagnosis apparatus 3 according to the present embodiment is accurate without requiring prior knowledge, experience, or maintenance of various members, various failure states, or the possibility of failure. Realize homogeneous, quick fault diagnosis.

<Failure diagnosis system: comparative example>
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a comparative example of the failure diagnosis system. This failure diagnosis system 850 performs a market quality information database 852 that stores failure information relating to the failure contents of each image forming apparatus 1 generated in the market, and various processes (diagnostic model generation / update process, diagnosis process, etc.) associated with the failure diagnosis. A diagnostic server 854 to be performed and a plurality of image forming apparatuses 1 are connected via a communication network 856.

  The diagnostic server 854 includes a diagnostic model generation / update unit 860 that generates and updates a diagnostic model used for fault diagnosis, and a diagnostic model storage unit 862 that stores the diagnostic model generated and updated by the diagnostic model generation / update unit 860. , A diagnosis information acquisition unit 864 that acquires information (diagnosis information) necessary for diagnosis of the device from the diagnosis target device, and a failure probability inference unit 866 that performs failure diagnosis based on the diagnosis information acquired by the diagnosis information acquisition unit 864 ( A failure diagnosis unit) and a communication unit 868 for receiving information necessary for updating from the market quality information database 852, or for communicating with the image forming apparatus 1 to receive diagnosis information and transmitting a diagnosis result.

  As an update process, the diagnostic model generation / update unit 860 acquires the number of failure occurrences from the market quality information database 852 at regular intervals and updates the initial probability of the failure cause node of the diagnostic model. The failure probability inference unit 866 performs diagnosis by inferring the probability that is the main cause of the failure that has occurred based on the diagnosis information acquired by the diagnosis information acquisition unit 864, and extracts failure cause candidates.

  The diagnosis server 854 acquires failure diagnosis information from the diagnosis target device, selects a diagnosis model corresponding to the contents of the failure from the diagnosis model storage unit 862 based on the failure diagnosis information, and performs a failure based on the selected diagnosis model. Diagnosis is performed to extract failure cause candidates, and the extracted failure cause candidates are directly notified to the image forming apparatus 1 side as failure causes.

<Fault diagnosis system: first embodiment>
7 and 7A are diagrams illustrating a first embodiment of a failure diagnosis system 300 in which a management center 301 is connected to a plurality of image forming apparatuses 1 via a communication line. As described above, it is free to arrange functional parts related to failure diagnosis such as the failure probability inference unit 260 or failure cause determination unit 360 on the image forming apparatus 1 side or on the server side (for example, the management center 301) side. . Here, a configuration example of the management center 301 in the case of a system in which functional portions related to failure diagnosis are arranged on the server side is shown. The first embodiment is characterized in that a failure cause determination server unit 301B is provided in comparison with the comparative example shown in FIG.

  In the illustrated fault diagnosis system 300, a plurality of image forming apparatuses 1 (A, B) configured to process observation data of the sensor unit 4 by software processing using a memory such as a CPU 912, a RAM 915, or an NVRAM 916. ,... (Excluding Z) are connected to the management center 301 via a communication network 306 such as the Internet. In addition to the image forming apparatus 1 and the management center 301, the communication network 306 includes a personal computer PC used for notifying the management center 301 of failure occurrence information regarding the image forming apparatus 1 </ b> Z not connected to the communication network 306. Connection is possible.

  As shown in FIG. 3, each image forming apparatus 1 (A, B,..., Z) includes observation data information such as paper passage time, drive current, vibration, operation sound, or light quantity, temperature, humidity, and the like. The data acquisition function unit 908a of the sensor unit 4 for acquiring the environmental information is provided. In the case of the image forming apparatus 1 (excluding A, B,...: Z) connected to the communication network 306, the measurement data can be notified to the outside via the communication IF 999. The management center 301 is provided with a host computer, and can perform communication processing with the image forming apparatus 1 (excluding A, B,...: Z) via the communication network 306.

  A plurality of image forming apparatuses 1 (excluding A, B,...: Z) connected to the communication network 306 are managed by, for example, a service engineer SE (Service Engineer) inputting failure occurrence information through an operation panel or the like. It is configured to transmit failure information to the center 301. For the input of failure occurrence information from the operation panel, for example, a menu is hierarchically displayed and selected. Further, regarding the image forming apparatus 1Z not connected to the communication network 306, the failure occurrence information may be printed out by the image forming apparatus 1Z and input to an OCR (Optical Character Reader) at the service base.

  In this example, the management center 301 performs failure diagnosis, and the host computer is characterized by failure diagnosis except for the data acquisition function unit 908a constituting the failure diagnosis device 3 on the image forming apparatus 1 side. Application program for realizing data processing function parts such as quantity acquisition function part, failure determination function part and inference engine function part, and function part for updating diagnosis model (corresponding to diagnosis condition control unit 350) by software processing Is installed.

  In this case, basically, for example, the feature quantity acquisition function part as the data reception function part is the diagnosis information collection part 160. Examples of the data processing function part include a failure determination unit 262, an inference engine 264, a notification unit 270, and the like. With this configuration, the failure diagnosis system 300 is a system in which a failure probability inference unit 260 including a failure determination unit 262 and an inference engine 264 is provided in the management center 301 outside the apparatus using a communication line such as the Internet. Thus, the host computer of the management center 301 is configured to perform failure diagnosis on the image forming apparatus 1. In the management center 301, the host computer automatically determines the failure probability of the component by using the Bayesian network based on the measurement data and the feature amount extracted from the measurement data, and identifies the failed component.

  Hereinafter, parts related to the failure cause determination processing function provided in the management center 301 of the present embodiment will be described in detail. Incidentally, the “failure cause determination processing function” of the present embodiment is provided in the failure cause determination unit 360 that determines the cause of failure based on the diagnosis result (particularly the failure cause candidate) of the failure probability inference unit 260 and the latest failure information in the market. It is a function.

  Incidentally, when preparing a diagnostic model on the management center 301 side, the management center 301 constructs a diagnostic model based on information of a plurality of image forming apparatuses 1. In order to adopt this mechanism, the management center 301 generates a diagnosis model using failure information (also referred to as market quality information) regarding the failure content of each device stored in the market quality information database 302a, and updates it appropriately. Then, a failure occurring in the diagnosis target device is diagnosed based on a diagnosis model constituted by a causal network having a conditional probability table at each node constituting the causal network. The market quality information database 302a is an example of a failure information storage unit that stores failure information regarding the failure content of each device.

  As the “failure information”, for example, for each trouble response case in the market, the content of the failure, the worker who performed the measure for the failure, the machine No. , Treatment target parts, treatment content (treatment code), time required for work (work time), and other work content information are recorded.

  The management center 301 includes a diagnosis server unit 301 </ b> A that performs failure diagnosis processing and a failure cause determination server unit 301 </ b> B having the functions of the failure cause determination unit 360. In the figure, one management center 301 is shown as a configuration example including a diagnosis server unit 301A and a failure cause determination server unit 301B, but each may be arranged in an independent management center.

  The diagnostic server unit 301A includes a functional unit similar to the diagnostic server 854 of the comparative example illustrated in FIG. For example, in the first configuration example shown in FIG. 7, in order to manage the generation / update of a diagnostic model, the diagnostic server unit 301A includes a database unit 302 and a diagnostic model generation / update unit 310 (diagnosis) that generates / updates a diagnostic model. Corresponding to the model generation / update unit 860). Further, the diagnostic server unit 301A includes a diagnostic information acquisition unit 320 (corresponding to the diagnostic information acquisition unit 864) that acquires information (diagnosis information) necessary for diagnosis of the device from the diagnosis target device, and quality information ( A market quality information collection unit 322 that collects trouble content of trouble (hereinafter referred to as market quality information) for each failure part, a communication unit 324 that transmits and receives various types of information (corresponding to the communication unit 868), and a diagnostic information acquisition unit 320 Includes a failure probability inference unit 330 (corresponding to the failure probability inference unit 866) that performs failure diagnosis based on the acquired diagnosis information.

  The database unit 302 uses the market quality information database 302a (corresponding to the market quality information database 852) that stores the market quality information (failure information) collected by the market quality information collection unit 322 together with the model state information, and is used for failure diagnosis. It has a diagnostic model database 302b (corresponding to the diagnostic model storage unit 862) that stores diagnostic models. The diagnostic model database 302b is an example of a diagnostic condition storage unit that stores a diagnostic condition for each usage status of each device.

  The failure information in the market quality information database 302a is configured in a list format, for example, including date and time, machine number, service area code, area area code, customer code, failure location information code, failure phenomenon information code, and treatment information code. ing. The failure phenomenon corresponding to the failure phenomenon code is set for each failure diagnosis model. The market quality information database 302a is not limited to the form in which the market quality information collection unit 322 collects failure information from each image forming apparatus 1. For example, the market quality information collection unit 322 stores the above contents from the visit history information of the service engineer. It may be extracted and stored.

  On the other hand, in the second configuration example shown in FIG. 7A, the market quality information database 302a and the market quality information collection unit 322 of the first configuration example are removed from the management center 301 (diagnostic server unit 301A), and a dedicated server device ( A market quality management server 301D) is provided and connected to the communication network 306, and a market quality information database 302a and a market quality information collection unit 322 are provided in the market quality management server 301D.

  The diagnostic model generation / update unit 310 is configured for each failure phenomenon based on the market quality information collected by the market quality information collection unit 322 and accumulated in the market quality information database 302a in cooperation with the diagnostic information collection unit 160 on the image forming apparatus 1 side. In addition, a failure occurrence frequency calculation unit 312 that calculates the occurrence frequency of the modeled failure cause for each failure part for each predetermined period, and the number of failure occurrences is obtained from the market quality information database 302a for each fixed period to obtain a diagnosis model A probability update unit 319 that updates the initial probability of the failure cause node is provided as a diagnostic model update unit. Incidentally, the update of the diagnostic model is realized by updating the conditional probability table. The failure occurrence frequency calculation unit 312 registers a diagnosis model as a diagnosis condition for diagnosing the cause of failure of the component in the diagnosis model database 302b based on the calculated failure cause occurrence frequency.

  As a result of the failure diagnosis, the failure probability inference unit 330 extracts failure cause candidates that are higher in failure probability than a predetermined threshold value and notifies the failure cause determination server unit 301B.

  The failure cause determination server unit 301B (corresponding to the failure cause determination unit 360 in FIG. 1) according to the first embodiment is configured according to the failure state of the image forming apparatus 1 itself after market introduction or the failure occurrence state of the same type device. The diagnosis server unit 301A (the failure probability inference unit 330) has a feature in that a diagnosis result (particularly information on failure cause candidates) is determined.

  In order to realize this, the failure cause determination server unit 301B of the first embodiment has the failure information (particularly the failure) of the same type device (preferably the device in the same usage status) as the diagnosis target device stored in the market quality information database 302a. Failure occurrence change state specifying unit 362 for specifying a change state in the vicinity of the failure diagnosis point of failure occurrence of a failure cause candidate acquired from the diagnosis server unit 301A using the failure occurrence information in the vicinity of the diagnosis point) (extracted by failure diagnosis) A failure cause determination unit 364 that determines the cause of failure based on the change state of the failure occurrence specified by the failure occurrence change state specifying unit 362, and a failure cause determined based on the determination result of the failure cause determination unit 364. A treatment information presentation unit 366 that presents treatment information and a communication unit 368 that transmits and receives various types of information are provided.

  The failure occurrence change state specifying unit 362 pays attention to the failure cause candidate acquired from the diagnosis server unit 301A, for example, the number of failure occurrences or parts replacement of the same type device (preferably a device in the same usage status) as the diagnosis target device. The number of cases is acquired, the rate of change is calculated, and the calculation result is obtained as a failure occurrence change state of the failure cause candidate.

  The treatment information presentation unit 366 includes a storage unit (not shown) that stores a lookup table in which treatment information for each failure cause is defined for each failure cause. For example, for “failure cause α”, the action content for the failure cause is defined as “cleaning of part α1”, “replacement of part α2”, or “repair of part α3”. In this case, the treatment information presentation unit 366 identifies the treatment information for the cause of the failure by matching the “failure cause α” determined by the failure cause determination unit 364 with the lookup table.

  The communication unit 368 acquires information necessary for specifying the failure occurrence change state from the market quality information database 302a, acquires a failure cause candidate from the diagnosis server unit 301A, or transmits a confirmed diagnosis result to the image forming apparatus 1. To do.

  In the first embodiment, regardless of whether failure diagnosis processing (including failure cause determination processing) is performed on the image forming apparatus 1 side or the management center 301 side, failure cause determination processing is performed with the diagnosis target device. By reflecting the latest failure information in the market for devices of the same type of device and determining the cause of failure, it is possible to perform more appropriate diagnosis that reflects the latest failure information in the market without frequently updating the diagnostic model To do. The diagnosis result (particularly the result of specifying the failure cause candidate) of the diagnosis server unit 301A (the failure probability inference unit 330: corresponding to the failure probability inference unit 260 in FIG. 1) is not determined as the cause of failure. By reflecting the rate of change in failure status such as the most recent failure occurrence number and the number of parts replacement in the diagnosis result (extraction result of failure cause candidate) of the diagnosis server unit 301A, a diagnosis result that matches the failure occurrence status in the market can be obtained. Obtaining it will make a more appropriate diagnosis.

<Example of Operation: First Embodiment>
FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining failure cause candidate identification processing and failure cause determination processing in the failure diagnosis system 300 of the first embodiment.

  First, in the diagnostic model generation / update unit 310, the probability update unit 319 generates a diagnostic model individually so as to correspond to the content of the defect and stores it in the diagnostic model database 302b (S100, S102). Here, “corresponding to the defect content” corresponds to the failure content to be diagnosed with the same model as the diagnosis target device, for each diagnosis model for each model and failure content stored in the diagnosis model database 302b. Means that.

  In the present embodiment, a diagnostic model is generated and prepared for each model and for each failure content (contents of defects and defects) regardless of the elapsed period after market introduction. For example, the line / band model for diagnosing the “line / band” failure shown in FIG. 5, the white-out model for diagnosing the “white-out” failure, or the “black point” failure diagnosis For each model, a diagnostic model that is set by calculating the initial probability of each failure cause node such as a black color point model for each failure is prepared, and the initial probability is updated as appropriate.

  For example, the probability update unit 319 periodically acquires the number of failures from the market quality information database 302a (S100), and updates the initial probability of the diagnostic model group stored in the diagnostic model database 302b (S102). By doing so, in the diagnostic model database 302b, diagnostic models whose initial probabilities are calculated for each fixed period of the diagnostic model used for diagnosing a certain failure are stored. The diagnostic model prepared in this way is shared by a plurality of image forming apparatuses 1.

  For example, when calculating the initial probability of each failure cause node for the line / band model, the number of failures occurring in the most recent predetermined period (for example, three months) longer than that is calculated for each month. And the initial probability of each failure cause node of the line / band model is calculated, reflected in the diagnostic model, and stored in the diagnostic model database 302b. Similarly, for other defect and failure diagnostic models such as “white spots” and “black dots”, the initial probability is calculated on the basis of the number of failures in the last three months every month. Update the diagnostic model.

  Next, when performing failure diagnosis on a certain image forming apparatus 1, in the diagnosis server unit 301 </ b> A, first, the diagnosis information acquisition unit 320 acquires failure diagnosis information from the diagnosis target device via the communication unit 324 (S <b> 110). ).

  Next, the failure probability reasoning unit 330 selects a diagnosis model corresponding to the failure content from the diagnosis model database 302b based on the failure diagnosis information acquired by the diagnosis information acquisition unit 320 (S112). Then, failure diagnosis is performed based on the selected diagnosis model to extract failure cause candidates, and the extracted failure cause candidates are notified to the failure cause determination server unit 301B via the communication unit 324 (S114).

  For example, the extraction condition is determined in such a way that, as a result of inference, the failure cause probability is within the top three and the probability value difference is within 15% with respect to the top candidate. Things are extracted as failure cause candidates. The extraction condition is not fixed, and the setting may be changed according to the result of the diagnosis result.

  Next, in the failure cause determination server unit 301B, the latest failure information (for example, the number of failure occurrences and the number of parts replacements) for each failure cause candidate received via the communication unit 368 is obtained from the market quality information database 302a. The failure rate change status specifying unit 362 calculates the rate of change of the latest failure occurrence status, and passes the calculation result to the failure cause determination unit 364 (S120). For example, the failure occurrence change state specifying unit 362 calculates the change rate of the number of failure occurrences during the five weekdays of the most recent week.

  The failure cause determination unit 364 determines the final cause of failure according to the failure occurrence change status of the failure cause candidate specified by the failure occurrence change status specification unit 362 (S122). The failure cause determination unit 364 transmits the determined failure cause to the diagnosis target device via the communication unit 368 (S126). The treatment information presenting unit 366 identifies the treatment information for the failure cause by comparing the confirmed result of the failure cause determination unit 364 with a lookup table in which the treatment information for the failure cause is defined, and diagnoses it via the communication unit 368. The data is transmitted to the target device (S128).

  In this way, the failure cause determination server unit 301B transmits the determined failure cause to the model to be diagnosed, and prompts a measure for the failure cause. As a result, the diagnosis result is confirmed by the operator (general user, service person, etc.) on the diagnosis target apparatus side, and appropriate measures for the cause of the failure can be performed.

<Details of failure cause determination processing>
9 and 10 are diagrams illustrating details of the failure cause determination process in the failure cause determination server unit 301B. Here, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the transition of the number of failure occurrences during the five days on weekdays in the most recent week for the three types of failure cause candidates. FIG. 10 is a diagram (1) illustrating an example of the number of failure occurrences for each failure cause (failure cause candidate) stored in the market quality information database 302a, and examples of FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 (1). It is a graph (2) which shows the change rate of the number of failure occurrences based on this.

  In the diagnosis server unit 301A, if the above-described diagnosis model is updated at the change of the month and the diagnosis implementation date is October 9 (10/9), the diagnosis model update process is from July to September. Based on the number of failure occurrences, diagnosis is performed using this updated model. The failure occurrence change state specifying unit 362 uses, for example, October 5 (10/5) to October 9 (10/9) as an occurrence number change rate calculation target period in the latest one week for each of the failure cause candidates. The rate of change in the number of failure occurrences on weekdays for 5 days is the number of failure occurrences from October 5 (10/5) to October 9 (10/9) and the diagnosis model update process from July to September. It is calculated using the average value of the number of failure occurrences over the three months.

  As shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 (1), there are three types of failure cause candidates acquired from the diagnosis server unit 301A: “failure cause candidate a”, “failure cause candidate b”, and “failure cause candidate c”. Assume that the parts to be treated for the respective failure cause candidates are “part a”, “part b”, and “part c”. Note that “failure cause candidate β” (β is a, b, c) corresponds to a node representing a double circled cause of failure in FIG. 4, for example, platen scratch, board α failure (α is X , A, B), offset, heat roll scratches, drum dirt, drum scratches, and the like.

  First of all, the failure occurrence change state specifying unit 362 performs three months from October to September and October 5 (10/10) of the failure cause candidate a, the failure cause candidate b, and the failure cause candidate c from the market quality information database 302a. 5) to October 9 (10/9), the number of failure occurrences is acquired. It is assumed that the average values of the number of failure occurrences of failure cause candidate a, failure cause candidate b, and failure cause candidate c for three months are 10, 100, and 70, respectively. The failure occurrence change state specifying unit 362 calculates the rate of change in the number of failure occurrences by dividing the difference from the previous day number by the average failure occurrence number. The rate of change calculated in this way is shown in FIG.

<Failure cause determination procedure>
FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure for determining the cause of failure in the failure cause determination server unit 301B.

  In the failure cause determination server unit 301B, first, the failure occurrence change state specifying unit 362 acquires failure cause candidates (not limited to one) from the diagnosis server unit 301A via the communication unit 368 (S150).

  The failure occurrence change status specifying unit 362 pays attention to each failure cause candidate and calculates the rate of change in the latest failure occurrence status of the same type device (preferably a device in the same usage status) as the diagnosis target device (S154). . For example, information on the number of failure occurrences or the number of parts replacements on the five weekdays of the most recent week is acquired from the market quality information database 302a, and the rate of change is calculated according to the procedure of FIGS. The failure occurrence change state specifying unit 362 passes the calculated change rate to the failure cause determination unit 364 as the failure occurrence change state of each failure cause candidate.

  The failure cause determination unit 364 compares the failure occurrence change state (the most recent change rate of the number of failure occurrences and the number of parts replacements) of each failure cause candidate passed from the failure occurrence change state specifying unit 362 with a predetermined threshold value. (S160). Then, if there is a failure cause candidate including a change rate larger than the threshold, the failure cause candidate is extracted (S160-YES), and if it is one, it is determined as the failure cause (S162-NO). , S164), when a plurality of extractions are made (S162-YES), a failure cause candidate including the maximum rate of change is determined as a failure cause (S166).

  If there is no failure cause candidate including a change rate larger than the threshold (S160-NO), the failure cause candidate having the maximum failure cause probability inferred by the diagnosis server unit 301A is determined as the failure cause (S168).

  The failure cause determination unit 364 transmits the failure cause determined in this way to the model to be diagnosed, and the treatment information presentation unit 366 prompts for a treatment for the failure cause.

  When the threshold is set to 100%, for example, in the example of FIGS. 9 and 10, as shown in FIG. 10A for five days from October 5 (10/5) to October 9 (10/9), Since part A is “10/7 → 10/8”, the rate of change is 160%, and no other cause of failure causes the rate of change to exceed 100%, so part A is determined to be the cause of failure. become.

  As described above, as the failure diagnosis processing of the first embodiment, the diagnosis result (extraction result of failure cause candidate) in the diagnosis server unit 301A is not determined as the cause of failure as it is, but the same type device as the image forming apparatus 1 to be diagnosed. The confirmation process that reflects the recent failure occurrence status of was also performed. This makes it possible to perform more appropriate diagnosis reflecting the latest failure information in the market without frequently updating the diagnosis model. Since the confirmation process reflecting the latest failure information in the market is performed, a more accurate diagnosis is performed. The diagnosis confirmation result reflecting the latest failure information in the market is presented, so that an operator (general user or serviceman) can determine a more appropriate and efficient treatment procedure. An operator can make a more appropriate failure treatment by making a judgment according to the failure occurrence situation in the market.

  For example, the image forming apparatus 1 to be diagnosed has various types such as those that have just been installed in the market and those that have been in the market for several months. It is conceivable that the degree of deterioration differs depending on the difference in the degree of wear) or the usage environment. In this way, even with the same model, although the degree of deterioration varies depending on the individual device, the mechanism described in Patent Document 1 determines the initial probability based on the failure occurrence frequency for the past several months for each fixed period. Since it is calculated and updated, the diagnosis model used at the time of diagnosis is only one type of the latest version, and the diagnosis using the model optimal for the actual state of the diagnosis target device cannot always be performed. For example, depending on the content of the failure, the failure occurrence frequency may increase within the last few days, and the diagnosis model does not necessarily reflect the latest failure information.

  As a countermeasure, it is conceivable to shorten the diagnostic model update period (update cycle). However, even if the update period of the diagnostic model is shortened, there is a considerable time lag with the latest failure occurrence status. If the update is frequently performed, the update load (for example, communication load with the server) also increases, which hinders system operation. There is a risk of coming.

  Also, Patent Documents 2 and 3 disclose a mechanism of a failure diagnosis system using a Bayesian network, but there is no description regarding updating of a diagnosis model, and it is in accordance with the latest failure occurrence situation in the market. Diagnosis is not always possible, and there is a possibility that the diagnosis accuracy may be reduced.

  On the other hand, in the mechanism of the first embodiment, the rate of change in the number of failure occurrences immediately between the diagnosis target device and the same type of device is not determined as the cause of failure in the diagnosis server unit 301A. The cause of the failure is determined by referring to the recent changes in the failure occurrence, such as reflecting the failure in the diagnosis result, so that the latest failure information in the market is reflected and the diagnosis target can be updated without frequently updating the diagnosis model. By performing diagnosis according to the apparatus, a diagnosis result of the cause of failure can be obtained with higher accuracy, and as a result, more appropriate failure treatment can be performed.

<Fault diagnosis system: second embodiment>
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a second embodiment (second configuration example) of a failure diagnosis system 300 in which a management center 301 is connected to a plurality of image forming apparatuses 1 via a communication line. Here, although it shows with the modification with respect to the 2nd structural example shown to FIG. 7A, the same deformation | transformation can be added also to the 1st structural example shown in FIG. The second embodiment is characterized in that it includes a related information presentation server unit 301C in comparison with the comparative example shown in FIG.

  The failure diagnosis system 300 of the second embodiment includes the same diagnosis server unit 301A as that of the first embodiment, and replaces the failure cause determination server unit 301B of the first embodiment with the function of the related information acquisition and presentation unit 380. The related information presentation server unit 301C is provided. In the figure, one management center 301 is shown as a configuration example including the diagnosis server unit 301A and the related information presentation server unit 301C, but each may be arranged in an independent management center. In addition, as described with reference to FIG. 2, it may be configured to include both the failure cause determination server unit 301 </ b> B (failure cause determination unit 360) and the related information presentation server unit 301 </ b> C (related information acquisition and presentation unit 380). .

  The related information presentation server unit 301C (corresponding to the related information acquisition and presentation unit 380 in FIG. 1) of the second embodiment is a diagnosis result (particularly information on failure cause candidates) by the diagnosis server unit 301A (the failure probability inference unit 330). In addition, it is more appropriate to provide relevant information for failure cause candidates, such as recent failure occurrence change status for each failure cause candidate, degree of difficulty in dealing with failure cause candidates, or market introduction time information of the diagnostic target device. The feature is that an operator (for example, a serviceman) can judge an efficient work procedure.

  For this realization, the related information presentation server unit 301C of the second embodiment uses failure information (especially a failure) of a device of the same type (preferably a device in the same usage status) as the diagnosis target device stored in the market quality information database 302a. Failure occurrence change status specifying unit 382 for specifying the change status in the vicinity of the failure diagnosis time of the failure occurrence of the failure cause candidate obtained from the diagnosis server unit 301A using the failure occurrence information in the vicinity of the diagnosis time) And a related information acquisition / presentation unit 386 that acquires and presents related information for the failure cause candidate for each failure cause candidate, and a communication unit 388 that transmits and receives various types of information.

  The related information acquisition / presentation unit 386 is related information related to the cause of failure (particularly, the cause of failure) for each failure cause candidate extracted as a diagnosis result by the diagnosis server unit 301A (failure probability inference unit 260). Both of the functions of a related information acquisition unit that acquires useful information when performing the operation and a related information presentation unit that presents (in association with) the related information acquired by the related information acquisition unit together with (corresponding to) the cause of failure are provided. Further, the related information acquisition / presentation unit 386 acquires the work time required for the action for the failure cause corresponding to the failure cause candidate based on each failure information in the vicinity of the failure diagnosis time of the same type device as the diagnosis target device to be the failure diagnosis target. And the function of the treatment difficulty level specification part which specifies the treatment difficulty level of a failure cause candidate based on this work time, and passes to a related information acquisition part is also provided. In the present embodiment, the related information acquisition / presentation unit 386 is shown as a configuration example that also includes the function of the treatment difficulty level specifying unit, but the related information acquisition / presentation unit 386 is removed from the related information acquisition / presentation unit 386 in the same manner as the failure occurrence change status specifying unit 382. You may make it an aspect.

  The failure occurrence change situation specifying unit 382 has the same function as the failure occurrence change situation specifying unit 362 of the first embodiment, and pays attention to the failure cause candidates acquired from the diagnosis server unit 301A. The number of failure occurrences or parts replacement cases of the same type of device (preferably devices in the same usage situation) is obtained, the rate of change is calculated, and this calculation result is obtained as the failure occurrence change status of the failure cause candidate .

  The related information acquisition / presentation unit 386 acquires the change state of the failure occurrence specified by the failure occurrence change state specification unit 382 as an example of the related information for the failure cause candidate. Further, the related information acquisition / presentation unit 386 acquires the market introduction time information of the diagnosis target device from the failure information stored in the market quality information database 302a as another example of the related information for the failure cause candidate. In addition, the related information acquisition and presentation unit 386 acquires information for specifying the degree of difficulty in dealing with the failure cause candidate from the failure information stored in the market quality information database 302a, and obtains other information related to the failure cause candidate. The treatment difficulty level as an example is specified.

  The communication unit 388 reads from the market quality information database 302a information necessary for specifying the failure occurrence change status and the degree of difficulty of treatment, information related to the failure cause candidate such as market introduction time information of the diagnosis target device, or the relevant information. Information necessary for identification is acquired, a failure cause candidate is acquired from the diagnosis server unit 301A, or related information related to the failure cause candidate is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 1.

  In the second embodiment, regardless of whether the failure diagnosis processing is performed on the image forming apparatus 1 side or the management center 301 side, not only failure diagnosis (specifically, identification of failure cause candidates) but also failure diagnosis results ( In addition to the failure cause candidate information), related information related to the failure diagnosis result is presented so that the operator can determine a more appropriate and efficient work procedure.

<Example of Operation: Second Embodiment>
FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining failure cause candidate identification processing and related information acquisition presentation processing in the failure diagnosis system 300 of the second embodiment. The step numbers are shown in the 200s, and the same processing steps as in the first embodiment are shown with the same numbers in the 10s and 1s. Since the process of the diagnostic server unit 301A is the same as that of the first embodiment, a description thereof will be omitted.

  The related information presentation server unit 301C acquires the latest failure information (for example, the number of failure occurrences and the number of parts replacement) from the market quality information database 302a for each failure cause candidate received via the communication unit 388, and The failure occurrence change rate is calculated by the failure occurrence change situation specifying unit 382, and the calculation result is passed to the related information acquisition and presentation unit 386 (S230). That is, the related information acquisition and presentation unit 386 acquires the change rate of the failure occurrence status specified by the failure occurrence change status specification unit 382 as an example of related information related to the failure cause candidate.

  Further, the related information acquisition / presentation unit 386 specifies information on the market introduction time of the diagnosis target device and information on the degree of difficulty in dealing with the failure cause candidate from the failure information stored in the market quality information database 302a (for example, (Procedure work time information) is acquired (S232). Furthermore, the related information acquisition / presentation unit 386 specifies (calculates) the treatment difficulty level based on the acquired “information for specifying the treatment difficulty level for the failure cause candidate” (S234).

  The related information acquisition / presentation unit 386 includes, for each failure cause candidate, the rate of change in the number of failure occurrences acquired from the failure occurrence change state specifying unit 382, the market introduction time information of the diagnosis target device acquired from the market quality information database 302a, and the self The degree of difficulty of treatment specified in (5) is transmitted to the diagnosis target device via the communication unit 388 together with (corresponding to) the failure cause candidate as related information for the failure cause candidate (S236).

  In this way, the related information presentation server unit 301C acquires related information related to the failure cause candidate specified by the diagnosis server unit 301A, transmits the related information to the model to be diagnosed, and prompts treatment for the failure cause candidate. As a result, the diagnosis result is confirmed by the operator on the diagnosis target apparatus side, and an appropriate treatment for the failure cause candidate can be performed.

<Details of related information acquisition processing>
FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the details of the related information acquisition and presentation processing in the related information presentation server unit 301C. Here, a description will be given of a method of identifying “degree of difficulty of treatment for failure cause candidates”, which is an example of related information.

  The market quality information database 302a stores failure information for each trouble handling case in the market. For example, a failure cause (corresponding to a failure cause candidate of the present embodiment), an operator who has performed a measure for the failure, machine No. The treatment target part, the treatment content (treatment code), the time required for the work (work time), and other work content information are recorded as a report. Here, there are three types of failure cause candidates acquired from the diagnosis server unit 301A: “failure cause candidate a”, “failure cause candidate b”, and “failure cause candidate c”. It is assumed that “cleaning of part a”, “replacement of part b”, and “repair of part c”. Note that “failure cause candidate β” (β is a, b, c) corresponds to the node representing the cause of the failure with double circles in FIG. 4. For example, a platen scratch, a board @ failure (α is X , A, B), offset, heat roll scratches, drum dirt, drum scratches, and the like.

  The related information acquisition and presentation unit 386 of the related information presentation server unit 301 </ b> C treats a failure cause corresponding to a failure cause candidate based on each piece of failure information in the vicinity of the failure diagnosis time of the same type device as the diagnosis target device that is the target of failure diagnosis. Information on the work time required for For example, the related information acquisition / presentation unit 386 matches each failure cause candidate with the failure information in the market quality information database 302a, and responds to the failure cause candidate from the report that matches the action content (action code) for each failure cause candidate. The information of the working time required for the treatment for the cause of failure to be acquired is acquired, and the average required time for each failure cause candidate and the content of the treatment is calculated from the total working time and the number of coincidence. Then, the calculated average required time for the treatment of the failure cause candidate is set as a treatment difficulty level which is another example of the related information related to the failure cause candidate.

  Here, when acquiring information on the work time required for the treatment of the cause of failure corresponding to the failure cause candidate, `` acquire information on the work time based on each failure information near the time of failure diagnosis '' The treatment difficulty level is specified with reference to information on the working time reflecting the failure occurrence state.

  In this case, the related information acquisition and presentation unit 386 has acquired a work time information for the treatment from the failure from the market quality information database 302a, and has adopted a mechanism for specifying the treatment difficulty level based on the work time. Such a mechanism is not essential. For example, based on past failure information, the difficulty level of the treatment is defined in advance for each cause of failure (may be updated as appropriate), and the information (the difficulty level of treatment) is registered in the market quality information database 302a. Thus, the related information acquisition / presentation unit 386 may acquire the treatment difficulty level directly (without calculating). However, in this case, as compared with the mechanism of the present embodiment, there is a difficulty that the treatment difficulty level does not reflect the latest failure occurrence state.

  The related information acquisition and presentation unit 386 of the related information presentation server unit 301C matches each failure cause candidate with the failure information in the market quality information database 302a, and works from a report that matches the treatment content (treatment code) for each failure cause candidate. Each time is acquired, and an average required time for each failure cause candidate and the content of the treatment is calculated from the total work time and the number of coincidence. Then, the calculated average required time for the treatment of the failure cause candidate is set as a treatment difficulty level which is another example of the related information related to the failure cause candidate.

<Related information acquisition and presentation processing procedure>
FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a related information acquisition and presentation processing procedure in which the related information presentation server unit 301 </ b> C acquires related information related to the failure cause candidate and presents the related information to the diagnosis target device.

  In the related information presentation server unit 301C, first, the failure occurrence change state specifying unit 382 acquires failure cause candidates (not limited to one) from the diagnostic server unit 301A via the communication unit 388 (S250). Next, the related information acquisition and presentation unit 386 acquires market introduction time information of the diagnosis target device from the market quality information database 302a (S252).

  Next, the failure occurrence change state identifying unit 382 pays attention to each failure cause candidate, and calculates the change rate of the latest failure occurrence state of the same kind of device as the diagnosis target device (preferably a device in the same use state). (S254). For example, information on the number of failure occurrences or the number of parts replacements on the five weekdays of the most recent week is acquired from the market quality information database 302a, and the rate of change is calculated according to the procedure of FIGS. The failure occurrence change state specifying unit 362 passes the calculated change rate to the failure cause determination unit 364 as the failure occurrence change state of each failure cause candidate.

  Next, the related information acquisition and presentation unit 386 calculates the average work time of the treatment content for each failure cause candidate according to the procedure shown in FIG. 14, and uses the calculated average work time as the treatment difficulty level of each failure cause candidate. (S256).

  The related information acquisition and presentation unit 386 includes the rate of change in the number of failure occurrences acquired from the failure occurrence change state specifying unit 382, the market introduction time information of the diagnosis target device acquired from the market quality information database 302a, and the treatment difficulty level identified by itself ( The average work time for the treatment content) is transmitted to the diagnosis target device via the communication unit 388 as related information for the failure cause candidate (S260).

  As described above, as a failure diagnosis process of the second embodiment, a diagnosis result (extraction result of a failure cause candidate) in the diagnosis server unit 301A is received, and a recent failure occurrence state of the same type device as the image forming apparatus 1 to be diagnosed is also obtained. While referring to the failure cause candidate, present related information related to the failure cause candidate (for example, the occurrence change rate of the failure cause candidate (failure occurrence change status), the time when the device is introduced to the market, the difficulty of dealing with the failure cause, etc.) I made it. As a result, an operator (general user or serviceman) can determine a more appropriate and efficient treatment procedure without frequently updating the diagnostic model. By presenting not only the failure cause candidate but also the latest related information related to the failure cause candidate, the worker can make a more appropriate failure treatment by making a judgment according to the failure occurrence situation in the market. It becomes like this.

  For example, Patent Documents 1 to 3 disclose a mechanism of a failure diagnosis system using a Bayesian network, but any of them can only present failure cause candidates. There is no means to provide the latest failure occurrence status in the market (failure occurrence change status for each failure cause candidate) or information specific to the device to be diagnosed (for example, when the device is introduced to the market, how difficult it is to deal with the failure cause, etc.) There is a possibility that it is difficult for an operator such as a service person to perform a more appropriate treatment on the diagnosis target apparatus.

  On the other hand, in the mechanism of the second embodiment, together with the failure cause candidate, the related information related to the failure cause candidate such as the failure occurrence change rate of the failure cause candidate, the time of introduction of the device to the market, the degree of difficulty in dealing with the failure cause ( (Related information useful when taking action against a failure) is presented, so that the operator makes an appropriate judgment on the action for the failure cause candidate by referring to the related information, and performs an appropriate failure treatment. become.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. Various changes or improvements can be added to the above-described embodiment without departing from the gist of the invention, and embodiments to which such changes or improvements are added are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  Further, the above embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims (claims), and all combinations of features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution means of the invention. Absent. The embodiments described above include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements. Even if some constituent requirements are deleted from all the constituent requirements shown in the embodiment, as long as an effect is obtained, a configuration from which these some constituent requirements are deleted can be extracted as an invention.

  For example, in the above embodiment, in the case where the fault diagnosis apparatus is applied to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer function, a facsimile function, or a combination machine having a combination of these functions, particularly when an image defect occurs. Although described in the application example to the failure diagnosis for specifying the failure location, the application range is not limited to such a case. For example, the mechanism of the above-described embodiment may be applied to a mechanism for performing a failure diagnosis that identifies a failure portion of a paper transport system defective system using a Bayesian network when a mechanical system (paper transport system) failure occurs. .

  In the above-described embodiment, the failure diagnosis apparatus is applied to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer function, a facsimile function, or a multifunction machine having a combination of these functions. However, the failure diagnosis apparatus is applied. The apparatus is not limited to the image forming apparatus, and may be applied to other arbitrary devices such as home appliances and automobiles.

3 is a functional block diagram focusing on a failure diagnosis function of the image forming apparatus. FIG. It is a figure showing an example of composition of an image forming device carrying one embodiment of a failure diagnosis device. It is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a failure diagnosis device. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a hardware configuration in the case of implement | achieving a failure diagnosis apparatus like software using an electronic computer. It is a Bayesian network model figure which shows the structural example of the Bayesian network utilized at the time of a failure diagnosis in a failure diagnostic part. A specific example of the operation of the failure diagnosis apparatus will be described, and represents a diagnosis model composed of a Bayesian network in which each node has a conditional probability table. It is a figure which shows the comparative example of a failure diagnosis system. It is a figure which shows 1st Embodiment (1st structural example) of a failure diagnosis system. It is a figure which shows 1st Embodiment (2nd structural example) of a failure diagnosis system. It is a flowchart explaining the failure cause candidate specific process and failure cause determination process of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure explaining the detail of the failure cause determination process in a failure cause determination server part, Comprising: It is a figure which shows an example of transition of the number of failure occurrences of the latest one week (five days on weekdays) of three types of failure cause candidates. It is a figure explaining the detail of the failure cause determination process in a failure cause determination server part, Comprising: The figure (1) which shows an example of the number of failure occurrence for every day of a failure cause, and the example of FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 (1) It is a graph (2) which shows the change rate of the number of failure occurrences based on this. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence which fixes a failure cause in a failure cause determination server part. It is a figure which shows 2nd Embodiment (2nd structural example) of a failure diagnosis system. It is a flowchart explaining the failure cause candidate specific process and related information acquisition presentation process in the failure diagnosis system of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure explaining the detail of the related information acquisition process in a related information presentation server part. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the related information acquisition presentation process procedure in a related information presentation server part.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus, 10 ... Information acquisition part, 140 ... Operation | movement state information acquisition part, 142 ... Component state information acquisition part, 143 ... History information acquisition management part, 144 ... Environmental information acquisition part, 145 ... Consumable material information acquisition part 146 ... specification information acquisition unit, 152 ... failure information acquisition unit, 154 ... additional operation information acquisition unit, 160 ... diagnostic information collection unit, 230 ... reference feature quantity storage unit, 260 ... failure probability inference unit, 262 ... failure determination unit 264 ... inference engine, 270 ... notification unit, 3 ... failure diagnosis device, 300 ... failure diagnosis system, 301 ... management center, 301A ... diagnosis server unit, 301B ... failure cause determination server unit, 301C ... related information presentation server unit, 301D ... Market quality management server 302 ... Database unit 302a ... Market quality information database 302b ... Diagnostic model database 306 ... Communication 310 ... diagnostic model generation / update unit, 312 ... failure occurrence frequency calculation unit, 319 ... probability update unit, 320 ... diagnostic information acquisition unit, 322 ... market quality information collection unit, 324 ... communication unit, 360 ... failure cause determination unit , 362 ... Failure occurrence change status identification unit, 364 ... Failure cause determination unit, 366 ... Treatment information presentation unit, 368 ... Communication unit, 380 ... Related information acquisition presentation unit, 382 ... Failure occurrence change status identification unit, 386 ... Related information Acquisition presentation unit, 388 ... communication unit, 3A ... diagnostic information generation unit, 3B ... failure diagnosis unit, 4 ... sensor unit, 5 ... failure diagnosis input unit, 50 ... feed conveyance mechanism unit, 6 ... image forming unit, 69 ... Paper timing sensor, 7... Image reading unit, 70... Paper discharge conveyance mechanism unit, 8 .. communication unit, 80.

Claims (8)

A failure occurrence change status identifying unit for identifying a failure occurrence change status of a failure cause candidate extracted by the failure diagnosis based on each failure information in the vicinity of the failure diagnosis time of the same type of device as a diagnosis target device to be a failure diagnosis;
A failure diagnosis apparatus comprising: a failure cause determining unit that determines a cause of failure based on a change state of failure occurrence specified by the failure occurrence change state specifying unit. The failure diagnosis apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a treatment information presentation unit that presents treatment information for the failure cause determined by the failure cause determination unit. Related information related to the failure cause candidate extracted by the failure diagnosis, and related information acquisition unit for acquiring, for each failure cause candidate, related information useful when performing a treatment for the failure,
A failure diagnosis apparatus comprising: a related information presentation unit that presents related information acquired by the related information acquisition unit together with the failure cause candidate. The related information presenting unit presents, as the related information, any one of a failure occurrence change status of a failure cause candidate in the vicinity of a failure diagnosis time point, a market introduction timing of the diagnosis target device, and a difficulty level of treatment for the failure cause candidate. The failure diagnosis apparatus according to claim 3. A failure occurrence change situation specifying unit that identifies a failure occurrence change situation of the failure cause candidate and passes it to the related information acquisition unit based on each piece of failure information in the vicinity of the failure diagnosis time of the same type of device as the diagnosis target device to be a failure diagnosis target The fault diagnosis apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the fault diagnosis apparatus is provided. Based on each piece of failure information in the vicinity of the failure diagnosis time point of the same type of device as the diagnosis target device that is the target of failure diagnosis, obtain the work time required for the action for the failure cause corresponding to the failure cause candidate, and based on this work time The failure diagnosis apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a treatment difficulty level identifying unit that identifies a difficulty level of treatment of a failure cause candidate and passes it to the related information acquisition unit. A program for performing fault diagnosis using an electronic computer, the electronic computer,
A failure occurrence change situation identification procedure for identifying a failure occurrence change situation of a failure cause candidate extracted by the failure diagnosis based on each failure information in the vicinity of the failure diagnosis time of the same type of device as a diagnosis target device to be a failure diagnosis;
A failure cause determination procedure for determining a cause of a failure based on a change state of a failure occurrence specified by the failure occurrence change state specifying procedure is executed. A program for presenting relevant information useful in taking measures against a failure using an electronic computer, the electronic computer,
A related information acquisition procedure for acquiring, for each of the failure cause candidates, the related information related to the failure cause candidate extracted by the failure diagnosis;
And a related information presentation procedure for presenting the related information acquired in the related information acquisition procedure together with the failure cause candidate.

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