JP2002211090A - Software system for detecting temperature abnormality of fixing unit in imaging apparatus, recording medium, and imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To constitute a software for detecting temperature abnormality of a fixing unit in an imaging apparatus of software components. SOLUTION: The software system performing a processing for detecting temperature abnormality of the fixing unit in an imaging apparatus comprises independent software components for (1) obtaining the temperature data of the fixing unit, (2) obtaining the lighting time information at the time of setting up the heater of the fixing unit, and (3) detecting temperature abnormality of the fixing unit in the imaging apparatus by comparing the acquired lighting time information and fixing temperature with a temperature (index temperature) set at the lighting time of the heater.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a software system for detecting an abnormal temperature of a fixing device in an image forming apparatus, a recording medium, and an image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, cost reduction of electronic equipment has been imposed on designers as an urgent task from the design stage, and software used therein is no exception. In recent years, software has grown in size and requirements have become increasingly complex. On the other hand, the development cycle of products incorporating such software tends to be shortened.
Under such circumstances, it is indispensable to improve software development efficiency, and as a part of the improvement measures, a technology has been disclosed that makes software parts and reuses standardized software. (See JP-A-5-108319 and JP-A-9-204301).

[0003]

However, these prior arts relate to general software components, such as specific software such as software for detecting an abnormal temperature of a fixing device used in an image forming apparatus. It was not intended for use and the conventional technology could not be diverted to software for detecting abnormal temperatures. On the other hand, when the software for detecting the temperature abnormality is created, the software from the start of the temperature abnormality detection to the abnormality detection and the transmission of the error information is created as one continuous software. It could not be reused, and software productivity was not efficient.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a first object of the present invention is to provide a fixing device for an image forming apparatus which enables software to be reused by combining independent software components. A second object is to provide a software system for detecting a temperature abnormality of a computer, and a computer-readable recording medium storing a software program for detecting a temperature abnormality of a fixing device of the image forming apparatus. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus equipped with software.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a software system for performing a process of detecting a temperature abnormality (error) of a fixing device in an image forming apparatus.
Independent multiple cooperating operations: 1. a first software component for performing a process for obtaining a fixing temperature of the fixing unit; 2. a second software component for obtaining lighting time information when the heater of the fixing unit is started; A third software component for detecting a temperature abnormality of the fixing device in the image forming apparatus from a comparison between the acquired lighting time information and fixing temperature of the heater and a set temperature (index temperature) in the lighting time of the heater. A software system comprising:

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the software system according to the first aspect, a software component for controlling a timer is provided, and the third software component is configured to determine a predetermined abnormality set by the timer. Software for repeatedly determining the abnormal temperature within a time period, resetting a timer when the determination is not abnormal, and performing a process of determining the abnormality when the abnormality determination is continued within the time period. System.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the software system according to the first aspect, the software component of the third abnormality detecting unit receives a detection start instruction from a system controller and sends a temperature instruction to the first software component. A data acquisition instruction is issued, and a temperature data acquired by the processing operation of the first software component and an instruction to acquire lighting time information at the time of starting the heater are issued to the second software component. This is a software system for executing a process of determining a temperature abnormality at the time of startup based on lighting time information at the time of startup of the heater obtained by the processing operation of the component.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a software system for performing a process of detecting an abnormal temperature of a fixing device in an image forming apparatus. 1. a first software component for performing a process for obtaining a fixing temperature of the fixing unit; 2. a second software component for obtaining lighting time information when the heater of the fixing unit is started; Fourth software that performs a process of acquiring the fixing temperature of the fixing device for each cycle and a process of comparing the fixing temperatures acquired before and after the cycle and determining that the temperature is abnormal when the temperature difference is equal to or less than a predetermined value. A software system comprising components.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium recording a software system program according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus including the temperature abnormality detection software for a fixing device in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus in which the present invention is implemented and a connection relationship with another device.
In the figure, the image forming apparatus 100 is connected to a personal computer 300 directly or through a network 400. The image forming apparatus 100 controls the ROM 1 and RA under the control of the CPU 10.
M2, NVRAM 3, operation panel 4 and panel controller 4 ', print engine 5 and engine controller 5', storage device 6 and disk driver 6 'are connected. ROM
1 stores program codes, fonts and other static data, the RAM 2 temporarily stores input / output data, and the NVRAM 3 stores nonvolatile data. The operation panel 4 and the panel control unit 4 'provide an interface with the user, and the print engine 5 and the engine control unit 5' execute printing on transfer paper as an output unit of image data. The storage device 6 and the disk driver 6 ′ store a large amount of data such as image data and perform control for that. Further, the communication control unit 7 is connected to a network 400 such as Ethernet (registered trademark) and enables connection with an external personal computer 300. The modem 8
Enables communication with external devices by connecting to a public line. Further, the host I / F 9 enables communication with the external personal computer 200 using an interface such as Centronics or RS-232C.

The image data formed by the personal computer 200 or 300 is sent to the disk driver 6 ′ via the modem 8 and the host I / F 9 or via the network 400 and the communication control unit 7.
Is stored in the storage device 6 under the control of. The print instruction input from the operation panel 4 is transmitted from the panel control unit 4 ′ to the CPU.
Sent to 10. The CPU 10 selects a specified character font from the ROM 1 in accordance with the contents of the print instruction, calls a part of the stored image data into the RAM 2, outputs it to the scan print engine 5 via the engine control unit 5 ', and performs printing.

A description will be given of software incorporated in the image forming apparatus 100 for performing the above-described print output. Figure 2
Is a structural diagram of software to which the present invention is applied;
Application layer 500, kernel layer 600, driver layer 70
0, consisting of a hardware layer 800. Application layer 50
Reference numeral 0 denotes a layer for forming an application such as a copy, a facsimile, a printer, and the like. Operations Manager 51
Is software for controlling the operation panel 4 and, for example, displays a button, notifies a button operation, and notifies an alert. The document manager 52
Software that handles documents according to function types such as copy, fax, and printer.
It is the main software. Service Manager 5
Reference numeral 3 denotes software commonly required for document handling, and manages and executes various services. The device manager 54 includes a scanner, a plotter,
This software determines the operation of physical devices such as an image bus, and executes and manages these devices. An abnormal temperature detection program according to an embodiment of the present invention described later relates to the internal structure of the device manager.
The database manager 55 maintains data such as fonts, fixed forms, fax reception histories, device usage histories, and billing data. The kernel layer 600 is software that performs basic control usually incorporated as a kernel of the OS, and provides services to the application layer by abstracting each device, and the application layer performs a system call to the kernel layer. It works by. The driver layer 700 is a functional block that executes control for driving various hardware, that is, a memory management driver that executes control of the ROM 1, a process management driver that executes control of the RAM 2, and controls the NVRAM 3 and the storage device 6. A file management driver to be executed; a network driver to execute control of a network interface; The hardware layer is a set of controllable resources existing in the image forming apparatus.

Here, the software configuration of the device manager will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a software configuration of the device manager 54 to which the present invention is applied.
The device manager 54 controls the plotter engine control unit 5
4a, plotter paper transport controller 54b, scanner controller 5
4c, document transport control unit 54d, memory unit control unit 5
4d. The plotter engine control unit 54a controls the image forming of the plotter and the device of the fixing unit. The plotter paper transport controller 54b controls devices related to paper transport of the plotter, and the scanner controller 54c controls devices related to scanner reading control. The document transport control unit 54d controls devices related to document transport control, and the memory unit control unit 54e controls a memory unit of a storage device (hard disk).

When the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is driven and controlled by the software shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in particular, a fixing device (not shown) of the print engine 5 is used.
An example in which the temperature obtained from the temperature sensor is controlled to 180 ° C. will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing how the temperature obtained from the sensor of the fixing device is controlled to 180 ° C. When the heater is turned on for a certain time, the heater temperature starts to rise and reaches 180 ° C. When the temperature reaches 180 ° C., the heater is turned off, but the temperature rises slightly,
The temperature drops to 80 ° C., and when the temperature goes below 180 ° C., the heater is turned on again, and the temperature starts to rise. The temperature is controlled so as to finally reach 180 ° C. while repeating such a process.

However, it does not always operate in such a normal state, and an abnormal state occurs. In the present embodiment, a case where the temperature does not reach the predetermined temperature even after the predetermined time elapses after the heater is turned on, and a case where the predetermined temperature does not rise within the predetermined time are regarded as an abnormal state and the notification or the alert is made.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a temperature condition in an abnormal state. The horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents temperature. After the heater is turned on, an error detection temperature (index temperature), for example, 60 ° C. is set before the target temperature, and the time during which the heater continues to be turned on is measured. The case where the temperature does not reach 60 ° C. is regarded as an abnormal state where the temperature does not rise.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a temperature condition in another abnormal state, in which the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents temperature. After a lapse of a predetermined time after the heater is turned on, an abnormality detection time, for example, 5 seconds is provided, and a predetermined temperature change in the temperature around this time, for example, a case where a temperature change of 3 ° C. or more is not detected,
Abnormal state with unstable temperature.

In this embodiment, such an abnormal state is notified as error occurrence information by software. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a software configuration according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, each rectangular frame is an independent software component (module) integrating data and operation. These components are designed as object-oriented software. The system controller 541 is a component for causing the CPU 10 to function as a unit for transmitting a message for starting detection of the temperature state of the fixing device, and the abnormality detection component 542 is a component for causing the CPU 10 to receive an error detection cycle by receiving the message. For each time, a message for acquiring the temperature of the fixing device is transmitted to acquire the temperature,
The obtained temperature is compared with the index temperature, a determination is made as to whether or not the error condition is met, and if it does not match, a means for transmitting error information, a component for functioning as a heater component, Reference numeral 543 denotes a component for functioning as a means for transmitting a heater temperature by receiving a message for obtaining a heater temperature of the fixing device, and a temperature sensor component 544 receives a message for obtaining, for example, a surface temperature of the fixing device. The timer component 546, a component for functioning as a means for transmitting the temperature of the fixing device, is a component for functioning as a means for starting and stopping the error detection cycle time, and a detection component for an absolute value.
547 is a component that functions as a means for storing an error detection temperature and an error determination time, and a detection component 548 with a relative value is a component that functions as a means for storing an error detection variable time and an error detection variable temperature. By executing the processes in cooperation with each other, the abnormality detection process is performed as one piece of software.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the cooperative operation of each component for detecting an abnormality in which the temperature does not rise according to one embodiment of the present invention. This operation will be described with reference to FIG. 8. When the system controller 541 transmits a message for starting abnormality detection by switching on the image forming apparatus 100 (S1), the abnormality detection component 542 receives the message and sends an error to the timer component 545. A timer start message in which the detection cycle time is set is sent (S2), and then a message for acquiring the fixing temperature is sent to the temperature sensor component 544 (S3), and the heater state is supplied to the heater component 543 (the heater continues to be turned on at startup). Is sent (S4) to acquire the fixing temperature and the heater state. Next, based on the acquired fixing temperature and heater state, it is determined whether the fixing temperature has reached the set index temperature (for example, 60 ° C.) during the temperature abnormality (error) determination time (for example, 20 seconds), that is, the error range ( (S5). Since it is within the error range in the initial state, it moves into the error range, and when it moves, it starts the error confirmation timer (timer time: 20 seconds) (S6). When a timeout message notifying that the error detection cycle time has come is received from the timer part 545 (S7), the abnormality detection part 542 sends a timer start message in which the error detection cycle time is set to the timer part 545 (S8). Next, a message for acquiring the fixing temperature is sent to the temperature sensor component 544 (S9), and a message for acquiring the heater state is sent to the heater component 543 (S10) to acquire the fixing temperature and the heater state. Next, it is determined whether or not the fixing temperature is within an error range from the acquired fixing temperature and heater state (S11). At this time, since the state is within the error range, if the determination result is within the error range, the state is kept as it is, and if it is outside the error range, the state is moved to outside the error range, and the error detection confirmation timer is reset. When the state remains in the error range in the determination for each cycle time, and a time-out notifying that the error determination time (20 seconds have elapsed) has come (S12), the error has been determined and the state is shifted to error occurrence. Then, an error occurrence message is sent to the system controller 541, and the process ends (S13).

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a state transition of a component that detects an abnormality based on such an absolute value. When an instruction to start detection is received from the system controller (the black circle in Fig. 9), the component that detects the abnormality is out of the error range in the initial stage, starts the detection cycle timer, and acquires the temperature sensor (fixing temperature) and the heater status. Then, an error judgment is made, but immediately transitions to within the error range, the detection cycle timer is started, and the temperature sensor (fixing temperature),
Obtain the heater status and make an error determination. As a result of the determination, if "temperature goes out of the error range", the state exits from this state, stops the error determination timer, and transitions from the state within the error range to the state outside the error range.
Then, the determination in this state is performed again. If the determination result is within the error range and the determination result is within the error range, the determination is repeated in this state. If the error determination timer continues to be within the error range until the error determination timer times out, the error is determined and the error determination notification is sent to the system controller (FIG. The state transits to the state notified to the lower left ● of 9).

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the cooperative operation of each component for detecting a temperature instability abnormality according to another embodiment of the present invention. This operation will be described with reference to FIG.
When the image forming apparatus 100 is turned on, a detection start message is transmitted from the system controller 541 (S
21) When the abnormality detection component 542 receives this, a timer start message in which an error detection cycle time (for example, 5 seconds) is set is sent to the timer component 545 (S22).
Next, a message for acquiring the fixing temperature is sent to the temperature sensor component 544 (S23), and a message for acquiring the heater state (time during which the heater is lit at startup) is sent to the heater component 543 (S24). Obtain the temperature and the heater status. The temperature previously obtained from the next obtained fixing temperature is compared with the temperature obtained this time, and it is determined whether the temperature is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature (for example, 3 ° C.), that is, whether the temperature is within an error range (error condition) ( S25). In the initial state, there is no previously acquired temperature, so a timeout message is received and the currently acquired temperature is stored. When the timeout message is received, the timer is started (S27), the state is shifted to the temperature detection state, a message for acquiring the fixing temperature is sent to the temperature sensor part 544 (S28), and the heater state (heater temperature) is sent to the heater part 543. ) Is sent (S2).
9) Acquire the fixing temperature and the heater status. Then, it is determined whether or not the comparison result between the previously acquired temperature and the currently acquired temperature from the acquired fixing temperature is equal to or lower than the set temperature, that is, whether the comparison result is within an error range (error condition) (S30). As a result, if the error is within the error range, the state shifts to an error occurrence state, an error occurrence message is sent to the system controller 541, and this processing ends (S3).
1). If the error is out of the error range, the currently acquired fixing temperature is stored, and the process proceeds to a time-out waiting state in which a timeout occurs. When the timeout occurs, the same operation as the previous operation is repeated.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state transition of a component whose abnormality is detected by a relative value. When an instruction to start detection is received from the system controller (black circles in FIG. 11), an initial stage is in a waiting state for elapse of time, the current fixing temperature is acquired, and the detection cycle timer is started. When the detection period timer times out, the state transits to the temperature detection state, acquires the current fixing temperature, compares the previous fixing temperature with the current fixing temperature, and if the error condition is not satisfied, transits to the time elapse wait state and repeats this state. If the error condition is satisfied, the state transits to the error occurrence state of notifying the system controller (bottom left in FIG. 11) of the error occurrence notification.

In still another embodiment of the present invention, the software (program) according to the embodiment of the present invention is stored in a computer-readable magnetic storage device for executing the software. Then, by downloading this program to an image forming apparatus or another computer, it is possible to easily execute the processing operation.

According to the present embodiment, the software for detecting the temperature abnormality of the fixing device in the image forming apparatus includes the software for transmitting the temperature abnormality information of the independent fixing device, the software for detecting the heater state, and the fixing device. Temperature detection software, software that controls these software, is configured into combinations of each component, and these are combined to detect temperature abnormalities. Each component can be standardized and reused in software. Further, it is possible to realize software for detecting a temperature abnormality of the fixing device based on an absolute value or a relative value. Further, software for detecting an abnormal temperature of the fixing device can be distributed, and the software can be easily executed in an image forming apparatus or the like.

[0026]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the software for detecting the temperature abnormality of the fixing device of the image forming apparatus, the software for independently transmitting the temperature abnormality information of the fixing device, and the fixing device. The software is configured to separate and transmit the temperature-related data of the above, and the temperature abnormality is detected by combining them.The standardization and reuse of each component in the temperature abnormality detection software Can be. Therefore, it is possible to improve the productivity of software design and reduce costs. Effects corresponding to the fifth and sixth aspects: software for detecting a temperature abnormality of the heat source device can be distributed, and the software can be easily executed in an image forming apparatus or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied and a connection relationship with another device.

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of software to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of software to which the present invention is applied;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a mode of temperature control of the fixing device according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a temperature state in an abnormal state according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a temperature state in another abnormal state according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a software component according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a cooperative operation of software components according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state transition of a component that detects an abnormality based on an absolute value according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating cooperative operation of software components according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a state transition of a component that detects an abnormality based on a relative value according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

541 ・ ・ System controller, 542 ・ ・ Abnormality detection parts, 543 ・
・ Heating parts, 544 ・ ・ Temperature sensor parts, 545 ・ ・ Timer parts

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C061 AP01 HV01 HV08 HV22 HV32 2H033 AA42 BA30 CA06 CA07 CA20 CA27 CA34 CA48 5C062 AA02 AA05 AB22 AC55 AC58 AE00 AF00 BA00 5H223 AA13 BB02 CC01 EE06 FF01 FF08

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A software system for performing a process of detecting an abnormal temperature of a fixing device in an image forming apparatus, comprising: a plurality of independent software components operating in cooperation with each other; 1. 1. a first software component for performing a process for obtaining a fixing temperature of the fixing unit; 2. a second software component for obtaining lighting time information when the heater of the fixing unit is started up; A third software component for detecting a temperature abnormality of the fixing device in the image forming apparatus from a comparison between the acquired lighting time information and fixing temperature of the heater and a set temperature (index temperature) in the lighting time of the heater. . 2. The software system according to claim 1, further comprising a software component for controlling a timer, wherein the third software component repeatedly performs the operation within a predetermined abnormality confirmation time set by the timer. A software system for determining the abnormal temperature, resetting the timer if the determination is not abnormal, and determining the abnormality if the abnormality determination continues within the time period. 3. The software system according to claim 1, wherein the software component of the third abnormality detection unit receives a detection start instruction from a system controller, and issues a temperature data acquisition instruction to the first software component. Out of the temperature data acquired by the processing operation of the first software component, and instructs the second software component to acquire the lighting time information at the time of starting up the heater, by the processing operation of the second software component. A software system for executing a process of determining a temperature abnormality at the time of startup based on the acquired lighting time information at the time of startup of the heater. 4. A software system for performing a process of detecting an abnormal temperature of a fixing device in an image forming apparatus, the software system comprising a plurality of independent software components operating in cooperation with each other. 1. 1. a first software component for performing a process for obtaining a fixing temperature of the fixing unit; 2. a second software component for obtaining lighting time information when the heater of the fixing unit is started up; Fourth software that performs a process of acquiring the fixing temperature of the fixing device for each cycle and a process of comparing the fixing temperatures acquired before and after the cycle and determining that the temperature is abnormal when the temperature difference is equal to or less than a predetermined value. component. 5. A computer-readable recording medium in which a program of the software system according to claim 1 is recorded. 6. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising software for detecting a temperature abnormality of the fixing device in the image forming apparatus according to claim 1.