JP2572741B2 - Control system testing method - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a test method for a so-called multi-CPU system having a plurality of control devices in one control system.

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a copying machine or the like is provided with a plurality of control devices (hereinafter referred to as CPUs) using a microcomputer,
The PU controls a specific control target assigned to each, and the CPUs may be configured to operate as a whole control system in association with each other. In a mechanical device controlled by this type of multi-CPU system, control is usually performed by the entire multi-CPU system, so that when a failure occurs in the control system, it is difficult to specify a failed part. Also, in this multi-CPU system, since each functional block is formed as a unit, it is necessary to perform testing and adjustment in the event of a failure with each unit alone or with a plurality of units connected. It had the disadvantage of being complicated.

Purpose The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a multi-CPU system in the event of a failure.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a test method for a multi-CPU system in which a failure location can be narrowed down and specified, such as which CPU is related to a failure and which communication line is related to.

Outline A given CPU in a multi-CPU system has an operation mode related to the entire system and an independent operation mode independent of other CPUs in the system. Mode for each CPU
, Which are executed independently of each other to determine which CPU has a failure and check for a system failure.

Example Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described.

In the following description, the CPU means not the so-called central processing unit but an information processing device functioning as a microcomputer.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a copying machine controlled by a multi-CPU system. A photosensitive drum 1 is supported at a substantially central portion of the copying machine 100 so as to be rotatable in a counterclockwise direction. Around the photosensitive drum 1, a main eraser lamp 2, a sub-charging charger 3, a sub-erasing lamp 4, and a main charging charger 5 are provided. , A developing device 6, a transfer charger 7, a separation charger 8, and a cleaning device 9 are sequentially arranged. The photoreceptor drum 1 has a photoreceptor layer provided on its surface. The photoreceptor is sensitized and charged by passing through the eraser lamps 2 and 4 and the chargers 3 and 5, and the image exposure is performed by the scanning optical system 10. As a result, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface.

The optical system 10 is arranged below the original glass 16 so as to be able to scan an original image. The optical system 10 includes a light source 17, movable mirrors 11, 12, and 13, a lens 14, and a mirror 15. The light source 17
And the movable mirror 11 has a peripheral speed _V of the photosensitive drum 1 (1 ×,
Moves to the left at a speed of v / m (where m is the copy magnification) with respect to the fixed magnification, and drives the movable mirrors 12 and 13 to move to the left at a speed of v / 2m. Is done.

The copy paper is fed into the apparatus by an automatic paper feed mechanism 20 or a manual paper feed mechanism 30 provided on the left side of the main body of the copier 100 in the drawing, and is formed on the photosensitive drum 1 after being temporarily stopped by a timing roller 21. The toner image is transferred to the transfer section in synchronization with the image to be transferred, is transferred by the transfer charger 7, is separated from the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 by the separation charger 8, and is sent to the fixing device 23 by the transport belt 22. The image is fixed and transported to the sorter 24.

After the transfer, the photosensitive drum 1 is cleaned of toner and charges remaining on its surface by a cleaning device 9, an eraser lamp 2, and the like, and is prepared for the next copying process.

A document feeder (ADF) 2 is located on the top of the copier.
A document (not shown) is conveyed from the tray 203 to a predetermined position on the platen glass 16 and stopped in conjunction with the above-described operation of the copying machine. The sheet is discharged to the paper tray 204.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the configuration of the optical scanning system 10. As shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 301 denotes a scanning system including an illumination system. The scanning system 301 can be reciprocated by a DC motor M3, that is, can move in the direction of arrow A and return in the reverse direction.

Reference numeral 302 denotes an encoder, which is arranged on the rotation axis of the DC motor M3 and generates a pulse proportional to the number of rotations. The position of the scanning system 301 is determined by the number of pulses, and the speed of the scanning system 301 at that position is determined by the pulse interval. Can be detected. 303 is a home position switch, which detects whether the scanning system 301 is at the home position, that is, the scanning start position, and issues an ON signal when the scanning system 301 is at the home position;
Otherwise, it issues an off signal. Reference numeral 304 denotes a brake switch, which detects a reference position for control described below for the scanning system 301 and a braking start position at the time of test scanning, and issues an ON signal when the scanning system 301 reaches a predetermined position. The rest is off.

FIG. 3 shows an operation unit of the above-described copying machine. This operation unit
An input key 70 for selecting a copy mode, such as a copy magnification selection key 95 to 98, 100 to 103, a copy paper selection key 92, and a numeric keypad 80 to 89, and the selected mode and the current state, such as the number of copies, are displayed. It has a display section 72 and a print key 71 for starting a copying operation.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration of a control system of a copying machine, and a first microcomputer (hereinafter, referred to as a microcomputer) for controlling a copying operation.
401 is a communication line SCAN, RETURN, REQ, CK, D
It is connected to a second microcomputer (hereinafter, referred to as a slave CPU) 402 that controls the optical system 10 via the ATA.
Also connected to the master CPU 401 are a key matrix 403 composed of the above-mentioned key contacts on the operation unit 70, a 4-digit 7-segment LED constituting the display unit 72, and an LED group constituting the indicator lamps 95a to 103a. The main motor M1, the developing motor M2, the timing roller clutch CL1, the automatic paper feed clutch CL2, the manual paper feed clutch CL3, and the drive switching transistors (not shown) of the charging charger H _V1 and the transfer charger H _V2 are provided. Connected.

The slave CPU 402 includes a readable and writable random access memory for storing data for braking control of the scanning system 301, a read-only memory, an 8-bit internal counter, an input / output port, and the like. Slave CP
The master CPU 401 is connected to U402 via the above-described communication lines SCAN, RETURN, REQ, CK, and DATA, and the communication lines MODE0, MO
A motor control circuit 404 that controls the scanning system driving motor M3 via DE1, MAG0, and MAG1 is connected, and further, a pulse encoder 302 mounted on the motor M3, a home position switch 303 that determines a home position of the scanning system 301, and A brake switch 304 for determining a scanning braking position is connected.
The slave CPU 402 is further connected to a test switch 405 provided on a circuit board so that only a service person or the like can operate. The test switch 405 is operated when a test is performed by operating the slave CPU 402 independently. The test switch 405 may be provided on the operation unit 70.

A mechanism for setting the copy magnification using the numeric keys 80 to 89 and controlling the scanning speed of the optical system 10 based on the set data is described in detail in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-208758. Since there is no direct relationship in the present invention, it is only shown in FIG. 4 that these keys and displays are associated with the master CPU 401, and detailed description is omitted. I do.

Slave CPU 4 from master CPU 401 via communication line SCAN
02, a scan request signal SCAN is transmitted to the scanning system 301.
When the scanning of is completed, the communication line RETURN
A scan end signal RETURN is transmitted to the master CPU 401 via the. Further, transmission of serial data is performed between the master CPU 401 and the slave CPU 402 via the communication line DATA, and a clock signal for synchronizing the communication data for each bit is communicated via the communication line CK to the master CPU 401. From slave CP
Sent to U402. The communication line REQ is used to start communication, that is, to indicate the position of a bit of communication data.

FIG. 5 shows a timing chart of the communication lines REQ, CK, and DATA, FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a transmission process, and FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a reception process. In the transmission process, first, REQ is set to "0" to urge the other party to prepare for reception. Basically, every time one bit of data is set, CK is changed from “1” → “0” → “1”. At this time, on the receiving side, the data is changed at the rising edge of the signal from “0” to “1”. Take in. However, the transmitting side needs a delay time by the program timer so that the receiving side can determine the rising edge of the signal. When transmission of all data is completed, RE
Q is set to “1”. On the receiving side, when the REQ becomes "1", the receiving process ends. On the receiving side, after receiving all the data, the data is checked, for example, a parity check, and if normal, the flag DFLAG is set to "1". The flag is not set if there is an error in the data or if no reception was performed.

The motor control circuit 404 outputs “0”,
According to the signal from the slave CPU 402 indicating the constant speed forward mode, the reverse mode, and the brake operation mode respectively by the combination of “1”, and further by the combination of “0” and “1” of the communication lines MAG0 and MAG1, four stages The energization of the DC motor M3 is controlled according to a signal from the slave CPU 402 indicating the magnification of.

Fig. 8 shows the master CP that controls the process of the entire copying machine.
It is a flowchart which shows the process procedure in U401.

When the power is turned on, first, initialization is performed in steps. The initial setting is a process of setting the variable items of the copying machine operation such as setting the display of the number of copies 72 to “1” and setting the copy magnification to be equal to a standard state, and a process of setting the RAM or the CPU in the CPU. This means processing to clear registers and the like. In the step, an internal timer for setting the processing time in the master CPU to be constant regardless of the processing contents is set. In the step, input / output processing of signals to / from the CPU is performed. For example, the number of copies and copy magnification
If the processing is performed in step 70, the corresponding data is set in the CPU, and during the control of the copying operation, the input / output of the paper passing sensor and the direct input / output such as the charger output are performed. In the step, the status of the copying machine is displayed. In the steps, the copy operation is started when the print key 71 is turned on.

In the step, the copy flag is checked, and if the copy flag is "1" and the copy operation is being performed, the copy processing after the step is performed. In the step, processes such as sheet feeding, exposure, and development are sequentially processed according to an actual copying operation. In particular, in the exposure control, the slave CPU 402
Is also output. In the step, the scanning end signal RETURN from the slave CPU 402 is checked.
Subtract and check the number of display in step, number display is "0"
When the copying of the set number is completed, the copy flag is reset in step and the displayed number is returned to the set number in step to prepare for the next copy. In the step,
A process for transmitting data necessary for optical scanning control such as a scanning length calculated from the currently set copy magnification and paper size to the slave CPU 402 is performed. The details of this transmission processing are shown in FIG. 6 described above. In the step, the end of the internal timer set so that the processing time of the program of the master CPU 401 is constant irrespective of the content of the processing is determined. To control the copying operation.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the slave CPU 402 for performing scanning control of the optical scanning system 301.

First, when the power is turned on, initial settings inside the CPU are performed in steps. In the step, the master CPU 401
A check of the communication line is performed, and if there is a transmission from the master CPU 401, data reception processing is performed. This received data consists of the copy magnification and the scanning distance.

In the step, the state of the test switch 405 for performing the test by operating the slave CPU 402 independently is checked. When the test switch 405 is off, the scan request signal SC from the master CPU
Check for the presence of AN. If the signal SCAN is "0", the process returns to the step again. If the signal SCAN is “1” in the step, the copy magnification specified by the data received from the master CPU 401 is output to the motor control circuit 404. As a result, the scanning speed becomes a value v / m corresponding to the copy magnification. In the step, a scan timer is set similarly.

On the other hand, if the test switch 405 is on in the step, the independent operation of the slave CPU 402 is set after the step. First, in step, the presence or absence of received data is checked. If the master CPU is normal and the communication line is normal and there is received data, the operation specified by the received data is set in the same manner as when a scan request is issued. on the other hand,
If there is no received data due to an error in the master CPU or the communication line, the flag DFLAG is "0", so that the maximum scan of the same size is set as an operation in the standard mode in each step.

When the operation set is completed as described above, the motor control circuit 404 is set to the constant speed normal rotation mode in steps. Accordingly, the scanning system 301 starts scanning at a speed corresponding to the set magnification. Thereafter, the scan length is controlled from step to step. The scan length is controlled by counting the number of motor pulse edges from the encoder 302 mounted on the motor M3 by the number set in the scan timer in advance by the slave CPU 402. When the completion of the scanning of the set distance is confirmed in the step, the scanning end signal RETURN is set to "1" in the step, and this signal RETURN is sent to the master CPU. Next, return to the scanning start position is started. First, in a step, the motor control circuit 404 is set to the reverse rotation ON mode. This allows
The scanning system 301 starts returning at high speed. Thereafter, when the ON state of the brake switch 304 is detected in the step, the motor control circuit 404 is set to the brake mode in the step,
Start deceleration.

Thereafter, when the completion of the return of the scanning system 301 to the scanning start position is confirmed by turning on the home switch 303 in the step, the scanning end signal RETURN is set to “0” in the step, and the process returns to the step again.

As described above, by turning on the test switch 405, the slave CPU 402 is operated independently to perform the control operation of the scanning system.
Check for abnormalities in the connection with the motor control circuit 404 and the like.

In this embodiment, the control of the optical system of the copying machine has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to other multi-CPU systems. For example, in the same copying machine, the first CP controlling the process
U controls the operation unit and options 2nd CPU and multi-CP
When configuring the U system, if an error occurs in the connection between the two CPUs, the first CPU operates in a standard mode that is not related to the settings of the operation unit, such as standard magnification, standard paper feed port, and standard exposure. If it has the mode, it can be confirmed that the first CPU side of the system is normal.

Conversely, in the case of the second CPU, the display, for example, the number of copies, weight display, etc., is changed by a signal from the first CPU, but if there is an abnormality in the first CPU, the copy is performed in the standard mode inside the second CPU. By generating a similar signal giving the predetermined operation timing, it is possible to check the display unit and options.

Options include, for example, ADF testing. Usually, the ADF uses the print key on the copier or the ADF.
Start document feed by the start switch of
It operates in synchronization with the copying operation of the copying machine body. However, when an abnormality occurs in the signal system for synchronization, it may be an abnormality in any of the control system of the copying machine, the control system of the ADF, the mechanical system of the ADF, and the like. At this time, by setting the ADF test function as a mode for feeding and discharging documents regardless of the signal from the copier, if there is an abnormality in the connection with the copier, Body side or AD
You can tell whether it is on the F side.

In addition, a sorter, paper feed unit (not shown), etc.
The same applies to a multi-CPU system controlled by U.

As another example that is not a copying machine, when a system is configured with another device through a communication line such as a printer, a terminal 501 of the printer 500 that normally receives data from another device 502 as shown in FIG. Output terminal 503 of the printer 500 itself
Can be connected, and the test can be performed as if data from another device 502 is being received.

Further, the CPU is not limited to a microcomputer, and various control devices can be used.

Effect As described above, in the present invention, the multi-CPU
In the system, the test operation can be performed independently for each CPU.
CPU can be easily found. In addition, there are a case where the CPU performs the test operation alone, a case where the CPU performs the test operation under specific operating conditions set in advance, and a case where the test operation is performed based on the test operation data that can be changed according to the state of the system. When the state of the system can be read, the operation is performed based on the test operation data, so that a wide range of tests can be performed.

More specifically, the input of the test start signal causes the
In the case where the two CPUs are to be independently tested, any test operation data is transmitted from the first CPU to the second CPU via a communication line. As a result, by checking under what operating conditions the device to be controlled by the second CPU is operating, it is possible to narrow down what is abnormal.

For example, when the control target device of the second CPU operates exactly in accordance with the test operation data transmitted from the first CPU via the communication line, the multi-CPU system is considered to be normal.

Next, when the control target device of the second CPU operates not according to the test operation data transmitted from the first CPU via the communication line but according to predetermined test operation data set in advance, basically, It is considered that the second CPU and the device to be controlled are normal, and the first CPU and the communication line are abnormal.

Furthermore, when the device to be controlled by the second CPU does not operate at all or performs a very abnormal operation, it is considered that the second CPU or the device to be controlled itself is abnormal.

As described above, according to the present invention, the operation data for independently testing the second CPU can be arbitrarily input from the operation unit or the like via the first CPU, and the input data is used as the second data.
When the CPU does not reach the second CPU, the second CPU is independently tested in accordance with the predetermined test operation data set in advance, so not only the abnormality of the second CPU but also the abnormality of the first CPU including the communication line is abnormal. Both can be specified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a copying machine to which the present invention is applied, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an optical scanning system of the copying machine, FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an operation unit of the copying machine, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control device of the copying machine, and FIG. Slave CPU
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a transmission process, FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a reception process, FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a processing procedure of a master CPU, FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a slave CPU, Tenth
FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. 401: Master CPU, 402: Slave CPU, 405: Test switch, SCAN, RETURN, REQ, CK, DATA: Communication line.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A test method for a control system comprising first and second control devices connected to each other by a communication line and operating in association with each other by exchanging data via the communication line, A test start signal for causing the second control device to perform a test operation is supplied to the second control device, and arbitrary test operation data supplied from the operation unit via the first control device is transmitted to the second control device via the communication line. When the test operation data is supplied to the second control device, the second control device responds to the test operation data in response to the test start signal. Operating the controlled object under the operating conditions set forth above, on the other hand, if the test operation data is not supplied to the second control device, the second control device responds to the test start signal. Test method for the control system characterized by operating the controlled object at a preset predetermined test operating conditions.