JP2003256290A - Processor, and method for inheriting stored information in the processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hardly ill-usable system for inheriting information to an exchange unit in a processor in which the same information is saved while being overlapped in a plurality of units and redundancy is secured. <P>SOLUTION: A nonvolatile memory 12 of respective units A-C saves common information 100 to be inherited and history information 150 presenting the exchange histories of the respective units A-C. When turning on the power source of a copy machine 10, the common information 100 that the units A-C have is examined and when there is non-coincidence in the information, the presence of unit exchange is judged to stop the operation of the copy machine 10. In such a case, when a worker inputs information specifying the exchanged unit and the non-exchanged unit from a maintenance device 20, the copy machine 10 copies the common information 100 from the latter unit to the former unit. When it is judged from the history information 150 presenting which unit is exchanged and when it is exchanged or the like that the same unit is exchanged more than prescribed frequency, the copy of the common information 100 is inhibited. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a processing device including a plurality of units, storing predetermined storage information for each unit, and performing a normal operation only when all of the storage information match. In particular, the present invention relates to control when writing stored information to the replaced unit when the unit is replaced.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Control of a copying machine includes control of individual functions such as control of image reading, control of image processing, control of printing, control of user interface system, etc., and main control for controlling cooperation of these individual functions. . In recent copying machines, each of the individual function controls and the main control are constructed by separate control units, and these units are combined to form one control system. This makes it possible to easily implement a wide variety of equipment and expand functions, and minimize the replacement of the control system when a problem occurs.

Each of these units is provided with a processor for performing information processing and a storage device such as a semiconductor memory. By communicating a predetermined control program with the processor while communicating with other units, each unit has its own function. It realizes the function. These units are often provided with a storage device such as a non-volatile memory capable of storing and holding so that important information can be held for a predetermined period even when power supply is cut off.

In a copying machine, there is known a method of realizing a plurality of models of different grades by switching functions such as copying speed by software for devices having the same hardware configuration. In this case, in order to make the software versatile, the identification information indicating the grade of the copying machine is stored in a predetermined storage device in the copying machine, and the program of the main control of the copying machine reads the grade identification information and identifies it. Grade control is also implemented by performing control according to information.

Further, in the copying machine, the charge amount, the number of used sheets information, and the like are stored in a predetermined storage device, and the stored value is updated according to the copying process.

[0006] Since the grade identification information and the information relating to billing are very important in the operation of the copying machine, in recent copying machines, it is possible to duplicately store the information in the storage devices of the plurality of units described above. , In case of failure, we ensure that important information is not lost.

In the case of a device that stores the same information in each unit as described above, it is necessary to make the unit inherit the information when the unit is replaced due to a failure or the like.

As a method of inheriting information, a method in which a worker in charge of maintenance of a copying machine connects a predetermined maintenance device to the copying machine and writes the information to the unit exchanged from the maintenance device is conventional. Are known.

Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-222430 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-293369, when the model type information stored in each unit becomes inconsistent due to the unit exchange, the unit is exchanged with the exchanged unit. An information inheritance method is disclosed in which a unit that has not been exchanged is discriminated and the stored information of a unit that has been determined to have not been exchanged is copied to a unit that has been determined to have been exchanged.

Among these, in the device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-222430, the stored information of the plurality of units is inspected when the power of the device is turned on, and the stored information of the most unit among them is held by the device. It is determined that the stored information is correct and automatically copied to the unit that stores other information.

Further, in the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-293369, the unit is classified into a main unit having a program for controlling the grade of the apparatus and a plurality of other sub-units, and the apparatus has a power source. When they are thrown in, the stored information of each unit is compared, and if the stored information of only one subunit is different from the others, it is determined that the subunit has been replaced and the stored information of the main unit is Copying to that subunit. Further, in this conventional device, when the stored information of the main unit does not match the majority of the stored information of the subunits, it is determined that the main unit has been improperly exchanged, and the copying of the aforementioned stored information is prohibited. is doing.

[0012]

In the case of a system in which an operator directly inputs the information to be written in the exchanged unit from the maintenance device, it requires a lot of information to be stored, which is very troublesome and error-prone. In addition, if such important information can be directly input, there is a risk of misuse.

Further, in the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-222430, the correct stored information is determined by a majority decision, so that when a plurality of units are exchanged at the same time, the stored information of all units becomes the original stored information. May be rewritten to something different.

In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-293369, the stored information cannot be copied from the subunit to the main unit. Therefore, when the main unit is replaced due to a failure or the like, the stored information of the subunit is sucked out to the maintenance device. It was necessary to take measures such as writing this in a new main unit. Therefore, even in this method, since the main unit is configured to accept the writing of the stored information from the maintenance device, there is a risk of misuse.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a method for inheriting stored information to a replaced unit that is less likely to be misused and is less likely to be overwritten with wrong stored information. The purpose is to do.

[0016]

According to the present invention, there is provided a plurality of units each having a storage unit, and predetermined common storage information is stored in the storage unit of each unit. In the processing unit, the storage unit stores each unit. Control means for limiting the operation of the processing device when a mismatch is detected in the stored common storage information, and when the operation of the processing device is limited by the control means, the operator replaces one of the plurality of units And a discriminating means for discriminating between the exchanged one and the non-exchanged one among the plurality of units based on the input. Information for copying the common storage information stored in the storage unit of each unit determined not to be exchanged to the storage unit of each unit determined to be exchanged Copying means is provided, and writing of the common storage information to the storage section of each unit is limited so that it can be performed only by copying from the storage section of the other unit by the information copying section. To do.

Further, according to the present invention, in a processing device comprising a plurality of units each having a storage unit and storing predetermined common storage information in the storage unit of each unit, the common storage information stored in the storage unit of each unit is Control means for limiting the operation of the processing device when a mismatch is detected, and when the operation of the processing device is limited by the control means, based on a predetermined determination condition, for each of the plurality of units, The discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the unit has been exchanged, and the storage portion of the unit discriminated as the unit exchanged by the discriminating means are stored in the storage portion of the unit discriminated not to be exchanged. Writing means for writing the common storage information having the same content as the common storage information, history recording means for recording the history of the writing process by the writing means, and the history recording Checking the history of the writing process recorded by the means, and prohibiting the writing of the common storage information to the storage unit of the unit by the writing means when the history satisfies a predetermined prohibition condition. Equipped with.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the history of the writing process includes, for each writing process, information indicating a time point at which the writing process is performed and a unit which is a target of the writing process. Information indicating that the prohibition condition is that the history of the writing process indicates that writing for the same unit is performed more than a predetermined frequency. Characterize.

In another preferred aspect, the history of the writing process includes information indicating a unit which is a target of the writing process for each writing process, and the prohibition condition is the writing process. The process history indicates that writing to the same unit has been performed more than a predetermined number of times.

In a further preferred aspect, the history recording means records a writing history in the storage section of each unit.

[0021] In another preferred aspect, the writing unit is a storage unit of a unit determined not to be replaced with respect to a storage unit of each unit determined to be replaced by the determination unit. The common storage information stored in the unit is copied, and the writing of the common storage information to the storage unit of each unit is limited so that the writing can be performed only from the storage unit of another unit. It is characterized by

In a further preferred aspect, the history recording means records the history of the writing process in a storage device provided separately from each unit.

In another preferred aspect, the common storage information stored in the storage unit of each unit includes grade identification information corresponding to a functional class of the processing apparatus.

[0024] In still another preferred aspect, the common storage information stored in the storage unit of each unit includes billing basic information serving as a basis for billing calculation for use of the processing device.

Further, according to the present invention, in a processing device having a plurality of units each having a storage unit and storing predetermined common storage information in the storage unit of each unit, inheritance of the common storage information when the unit is replaced. A method of controlling processing, wherein the operation of the processing device is restricted when a mismatch is detected in the common storage information stored in the storage units of the respective units, and the operation is performed when the operation of the processing device is restricted. An input of information identifying the exchanged one and the non-exchanged one from the plurality of units, and based on this input, the exchanged one and the one not exchanged among the plurality of units. The common storage information stored in the storage unit of the unit determined to be not exchanged is stored in the storage unit of each unit determined to be exchanged. Was over, the writing of the said common storage information in the storage unit of each unit, characterized in that to limit as can only copy from the storage unit of the other of said units.

Further, according to the present invention, in a processing device having a plurality of units each having a storage unit and storing predetermined common storage information in the storage unit of each unit, inheritance of the common storage information when the unit is replaced. A method of controlling processing, which restricts the operation of the processing device when a mismatch is detected in the common storage information stored in the storage unit of each unit, and when the operation of the processing device is restricted, a predetermined operation is performed. For each of the plurality of units, it is determined whether or not the unit has been replaced based on the determination condition of 1. and it is determined that the storage unit of the unit determined to be the replaced unit has not been replaced. The common storage information having the same content as the common storage information stored in the storage unit of the unit is written by a predetermined writing unit, and a history of the writing process by the writing unit is recorded and recorded. The history of the writing process performed is checked, and if the history satisfies a predetermined prohibition condition, the writing of the common storage information to the storage unit of the unit by the writing unit is prohibited. .

[0027]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a copying machine to which the information inheritance system according to the present invention is applied. In this example, three units A, B, and C having a non-volatile memory 12 are mounted inside the copying machine 10. The number of units is three, which is merely an example, and the method of the present embodiment can be applied to a general apparatus including a plurality of units.

The units A to C are, for example, control boards each having a nonvolatile memory 12 mounted on a printed circuit board. Each of the units A to C can mount a processor, a ROM, a RAM, and the like in addition to the non-volatile memory 12, and execute a control program unique to the board while communicating with other units. Each of these units A to C is, for example,
A control board for controlling individual function modules such as an image reading unit and an image output unit of the copying machine, or a main control board for integrally controlling the individual function modules to realize a predetermined copying machine operation. Each of these units A to C
Can communicate with each other via a bus or a serial communication interface.

The non-volatile memory (for example, EEPROM) 12 of each of the units A to C stores common information 100 which should be inherited even when the unit is replaced, in addition to the information necessary only for controlling the own unit. . The common information 100 stores the same contents in all the units A to C. The common information 100 includes a device identification number 102 uniquely assigned to the copying machine 10, billing information 104 that is the basis for calculating the current billing amount, grade identification information 106 that represents the grade (model) of the copying machine 10, and the like. Is included. Billing information 104
May be, for example, the charge amount itself or the number of printouts. The billing information 104 stored in each of the units A to C is stored in the copying machine 10 every time a printout is made.
It is updated by the billing record processing program executed by any unit. On the other hand, the device identification number 102 and the grade identification information 106 are set when the unit is manufactured or when the unit is incorporated into the copying machine 10 as a replacement part, and are not changed during normal operation of the copying machine 10. . The control program, which influences the copying speed and other functions of the copying machine 10, has its grade identification information 1 when it is started.
06 is acquired, and each unit of the copying machine 10 is controlled so as to realize the function of the grade indicated by this information.

The storage means for storing the common information 100 is not limited to the illustrated non-volatile memory 12, but may be a battery-backed SRAM (Static RA).
It is possible to use any device that can retain memory for some time even when the power of the copying machine 10 is turned off, such as M) or a hard disk device.

The maintenance device 20 is a portable computer possessed by a maintenance worker of a company providing the copying machine 10, and communicates with the unit that executes the main control program of the copying machine 10 and other units to communicate with the copying machine 10. Is provided with a program for checking and displaying the state of, and setting various information to the copying machine 10. The maintenance device 20 is connected to a communication port provided in the copying machine 10.

With reference to FIG. 2, the processing operation of the copying machine 10 when the power is turned on will be described. The processing operation described below is realized by executing a control program included in any one of the units A to C, or by linking control programs included in a plurality of units.

When the copying machine 10 is powered on, the control program inspects the common information 100 in the non-volatile memory 12 of each of the units A to C (S10), and all the items of the common information 100 are checked. Determines whether all the units A to C match (S12). If the result of this determination is that all match, it means that the unit has not been replaced, so the control program waits for an input from the user and switches to the normal mode in which it processes the input. Enter (S22).

On the other hand, when any one of the units A to C is replaced with a new unit, the information content of the common information 100 becomes inconsistent between the units. If any one of the items of the common information 100 does not match between the units, the control program shifts to the protection mode in which the operation of the copying machine in the normal mode is prohibited (S14).
In this protection mode, although a predetermined service providing operation such as an input of a print instruction from the user and a print operation corresponding to the input is prohibited, a maintenance operation is received from the maintenance device 20 or the like. Here, in the maintenance device 20 and / or the interface section of the copying machine 10 that communicates with the maintenance apparatus 20, a person other than a legitimate maintenance worker or a device other than the legitimate maintenance apparatus 20 is provided via the interface section. A predetermined security mechanism such as password protection is provided so that the inside of the copying machine 10 cannot be accessed.

When the maintenance device 20 is connected to the copying machine 10 in such a situation and the security check confirms that the access is valid, the control program of the copying machine 10 sends a predetermined message (for example, a common message between the units). The content (indicating that the information 100 does not match or the unit has been replaced) is sent to the maintenance device 20 and displayed. At this time, the copying machine 10 sends information indicating the types of the units A to C provided in the copying machine 10 to the maintenance device 20.

Maintenance device 20 receiving this
Displays a selection screen 200 as illustrated in FIG. 3, for example. A GUI (Graphical User Interface) button 202 corresponding to each replaceable unit of the copying machine 10 is displayed on the selection screen 200. Information such as the name of the corresponding unit is displayed on these buttons 202 so that the operator can know which unit corresponds to each unit. When the worker selects the button 202 of the unit replaced in this work on the selection screen 200 and presses the send button 204, the information representing the selected unit is sent to the copying machine 10 (S16). A plurality of buttons 202 can be selected, and when a plurality of buttons 202 are selected at the same time and transmission button 204 is pressed, information indicating each selected unit is transmitted to copying machine 10.

Upon receiving this information, the control program of the copying machine 10 determines that one or more units indicated by the information are the units that have been replaced this time, and determines that each of the other units has not been replaced this time. Then, the control program arbitrarily selects one from the units determined not to be replaced this time, reads the common information 100 stored in the non-volatile memory 12 of the unit, and determines that this is replaced this time. Overwrite copy to the common information 100 of the nonvolatile memory 12 of the unit (S
18). Then, when this copying operation is completed, the control program confirms whether or not all the common information 100 held by all the units A to C in the copying machine 10 are in agreement, and if they are in agreement, step S14 The operation of the copying machine 10 which is prohibited in step S20 is permitted (S20). As a result, the copying machine 10 operates in the normal mode (S
22).

As described above, according to the configuration of this embodiment, instead of automatically determining the replaced unit, the operator specifies the information indicating the replaced unit. For example, when a large number of units are replaced, the automatic determination may result in a false determination (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-222).
No. 430), there is a possibility that the copy of the common information 100 may be canceled (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-293369) because it cannot be determined, but in the case of the method of the present embodiment, the unit that was not replaced was replaced. The common information 100 can be copied to the unit.

Further, in the present embodiment, since all units are treated equally, even if a unit in which a control program that influences functions such as copying speed is installed is replaced, the common information 100 is transmitted from other units. Can be copied.

Therefore, the correct common information 100 of the copying machine 10 is written in the replaced new unit, or the old common information 100 of the new unit is rewritten to the correct common information 100 of the copying machine 10. ,
It is not necessary for the maintenance device 20 to provide the common information 100 to the copying machine 10. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide an interface between the maintenance device 20 and the copying machine 10 for transmitting / receiving the common information 100 between them. By not providing such an interface, the grade identification information 106 from the copying machine 10 can be taken out,
Charge information 10 from the maintenance device 20 to the copying machine 10
It is possible to prevent fraudulent acts such as rewriting 4 or grade identification information 106.

In the above description, the unit (group) exchanged was designated by the worker in step S16, but the information input by the worker is not limited to this, and the unit was not exchanged. Any information may be used as long as the information can be discriminated from the units, and for example, all the units that have not been replaced may be designated.

In the processing procedure of the above embodiment,
Before copying the common information 100 in step S18,
It is also preferable to have a configuration in which a worker inputs the device identification number 102 of the copying machine 10 from the maintenance device 20. In this configuration, the control program of the copying machine 10 stores the device identification number 10 stored in the non-volatile memory 100 of the unit determined not to be exchanged with the input value.
2 and compare them, and only if they match, step S
Allow copying of common information 100 at 18. Accordingly, a person who does not know the device identification number 102 cannot copy the common information 100 even if he / she obtains the maintenance device 20.

The device identification number 102 is the common information 1
However, unlike the billing information 104 and the grade identification information 106, there is almost no benefit to the tamperer if he / she tampered with it. Therefore, even if the apparatus identification number 102 can be written from the maintenance apparatus 20 to the copying machine 10, there is almost no problem.

Further, when the input of information for identifying the unit replaced in step S16 is accepted and the unit replaced this time is discriminated from the unit not replaced, the unit group judged not to be replaced is selected. It is also preferable to compare the common information 100 with each other and confirm that they match. And if these do not match,
By prompting the worker to re-input, assuming that there is an error in the input in step S16, erroneous input can be reduced.

[Second Embodiment] Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, the history of unit replacement is stored in the copying machine 10, and it is determined from this replacement history whether or not an unauthorized replacement for the purpose of copying the common information 100 has been performed. According to this judgment, the copying machine 10 is controlled so as to prevent illegal exchange.

That is, in the case of the method of copying the common information 100 between the units, for example, if there is one high-grade (high-function) copying machine, the units of the low-grade machine are sequentially mounted on the high-grade machine. By copying the common information 100, there is a possibility that the unit of the low grade machine can be changed to a unit equivalent to the unit of the high grade machine. The above-mentioned JP-A-10-222430 and JP-A-2000-29.
The device of No. 3369 copies grade identification information and the like between units, but consideration for such abuse was not sufficient. That is, not only the former but also the latter also adopts the method of determining the correct one by the majority method when the grade identification information of each unit does not match when copying the grade identification information. When only one unit in a high-grade machine is replaced with a low-grade one, copying of grade identification information cannot be suppressed at all. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, by using the replacement history, it is determined whether or not there is a replacement work that has a high possibility of being illegally replaced, and if it is determined that such a replacement work has occurred, the common information between the units is set. Prohibiting 100 copies reduces such abuse. The configuration and processing contents of this embodiment will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 4, in this embodiment, the nonvolatile memory 12 of each of the units A to C of the copying machine 10 is
In addition to the common information 100 described above, a series of history information 150 indicating the history of replacement of the units A to C is stored.
Each piece of history information 150 indicates the content of replacement of one unit, and identification information (for example, unit name) 152 indicating the replaced unit, and replacement time indicating the time at which the replacement was performed. 154, and information items such as billing information 156 at the time when the exchange is performed. In the non-volatile memory 12 of each of the units A to C, the number of pieces of history information 15 or more necessary for the determination processing of the forbidden condition described later is set.
If the capacity for storing 0 is secured and the history information 150 is recorded up to the capacity, the old history information 150
The new history information 150 is overwritten in order.

For example, when the unit A is replaced, the name of the unit A, the replacement time, and the charging information at that time are as follows:
It is written in the nonvolatile memory 12 of all the units A to C on the copying machine 10. Therefore, all units A ~
C basically stores the same series of history information 150. For the replaced unit, the replacement history of its own unit or another unit that occurred after the replacement may be recorded, or a series of history information 150 in another unit may be copied at the time of the replacement. Then, all the units on the copying machine 10 have the same history information 150.
You may have a group.

The processing operation when the power of the copying machine 10 is turned on will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, steps having the same processing contents as the steps of the procedure shown in FIG.
The same reference numerals are given and detailed description is omitted.

In this copying machine 10, as in the first embodiment (see FIG. 2), each unit A to C is turned on when the power is turned on.
The common information 100 stored in the memory is inspected (S10), and as a result, it is determined whether any unit has been replaced (S12). If not, the copying machine 10 is operated in the normal mode (S22). ). When it is determined in step S12 that the unit has been exchanged due to the mismatch of the common information 100 (judgment result is N), the normal operation of the copying machine 10 is prohibited and the mode is changed to a mode for accepting only maintenance (S14). Information for identifying the unit that has been exchanged and the unit that has not been exchanged is input from 20 (S16).

After that, in the present embodiment, the series of history information 150 stored in the unit is examined (S30), and it is determined whether or not the history indicates that there is a high possibility of unauthorized exchange. This determination is made based on whether or not the series of history information 150 satisfies the prohibition condition that is incorporated in the control program of the copying machine 10 in advance (S32). here,
Since the history information 150 group exists in each of the units A to C, one of them (for example, may be defined in advance)
You can get it from. In this case, the history information 150 stored in the non-volatile memory 12 of the unit may be acquired in order from the newest one as many as necessary for the determination of the illegal exchange determination condition. It should be noted that the unit that has just been replaced may not have the required number of history information 150, and in that case, a series of history information 150 may be read from another unit.

It is conceivable that the prohibition condition used for the determination in step S32 is that the possibility of illegal replacement is high if, for example, the same unit is frequently replaced. Replacing a failed unit with a new unit will usually allow the new unit to operate normally for some time, and it is extremely rare for the same unit to be replaced frequently, and possible fraud. Can be judged to be high. In this case, for example, if the same unit is replaced a predetermined number of times or more within a predetermined period (for example, 24 hours), it is determined that the replacement of the same unit is frequent, or the like. Since each history information 150 includes the identification information 152 of the exchanged unit and the exchange time information 154, the exchange frequency for the same unit can be obtained.

Here, not only the series of history information 150 but also the current information can be considered to make the determination based on the latest information. That is, at the time of making the determination in step S32, it is known that the unit has been exchanged as a result of the determination in step S12, and the unit exchanged in step S16 is specified. The exchange time (that is, the current time) can be specified. By combining this with a series of history information 150,
It is possible to calculate the replacement frequency for the same unit, including the information of this replacement.

The frequency of replacement of the same unit can be determined not only by the above-described method of determining the number of replacements per unit time, but also by, for example, billing information (billing amount, cumulative number of printed sheets, etc.). That is, for example, as a prohibition condition, if the difference in the cumulative number of printed sheets between the previous replacement and the current replacement is within a predetermined number (for example, 100), it is determined that there is a high possibility of unauthorized replacement. Can be used. Since the history information 150 includes information such as the cumulative total number of printed sheets or the charge amount in the past, the determination process is possible.

Further, as a similar idea, it is possible to determine that there is a high possibility of unauthorized replacement when the cumulative number of replacements for the same unit exceeds a predetermined upper limit value.

The above are the judgment conditions focusing on the replacement of the same unit, but if the unit replacement frequency or the total number of replacements in the entire copying machine exceeds a predetermined threshold value, there is a possibility of fraud. Can be judged to be high.

Although the examples of the conditions for judging the possibility of fraud from the replacement history have been shown above, it goes without saying that not only these exemplified conditions but also more advanced judgment conditions based on, for example, the replaced unit or the replacement time. It is also possible to use.

When the prohibition condition is satisfied in the judgment of step S32 (that is, the possibility of illegal exchange is high), the control program prohibits copying or writing of the common information 100 to the unit (S34). , A predetermined error message is displayed on the display device of the copying machine 10 (S3).
6). The error message may be, for example, a content indicating that a problem occurs when the unit is replaced and it is necessary to contact a customer engineer (maintenance worker) of the copier manufacturer. By such control, if there is a high possibility of fraud, the common information 100 between the units will be 100.
Is not copied, it is possible to prevent or limit unauthorized copying of grade identification information and the like. Moreover, the abuse of the common information 100 is prevented. Further, in this case, the control program returns to the normal mode until the problem is solved (for example, the history information 150 of each unit is cleared) by the recovery tool or the recovery operation procedure managed by the manufacturer with high confidentiality. Since it is not permitted, unauthorized users cannot use this copier.

When the prohibition condition is not satisfied (that is, it is determined that the exchange is not illegal) in the determination of step S32, the control program of the copying machine 10 causes the maintenance device 20 to operate as in the first embodiment. In response to the instruction from, the common information 100 is copied from the unit that has not been replaced to the unit that has been replaced (S18). In this embodiment, after this copying, the control program
The history information 150 about the units exchanged this time is created and recorded in the nonvolatile memory 12 of each of the units A to C (S24). The unit represented by the history information 150 is the unit replaced this time, which is the unit to which the common information 100 is copied (written) in step S18 this time. Then, the control program permits the normal operation of the copying machine (S20), whereby the copying machine 10 operates in the normal mode (S22). When any of the units A to C is exchanged in this manner, the exchange history information 150 is recorded by the above processing procedure, and is used for later determination of illegal exchange (S32). Become.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the history of unit replacement is stored in each of the units A to C, and the possibility of unauthorized replacement is determined based on this history, and the possibility of unauthorized replacement is determined. Common information 100 when it is judged to be high
Since the copying of (particularly the grade identification information 106) is prohibited, it is possible to prevent or limit the abuse of the common information 100 by the illegal copying.

In the above embodiment, the history information 150 is recorded in the non-volatile memory 12 of the units A to C, but instead, a dedicated storage device for recording the history information 150 is provided in the copying machine 10. May be. History information 150
The number of recording devices may be one, but considering a failure, it is preferable to provide a plurality of recording devices for redundancy.

Further, in the above embodiment, the common information 100
Although the history information 150 is recorded in all of the units A to C that store the information, it is also preferable to provide a difference between the unit that stores the common information 100 and the unit that stores the history information 150. By doing this, the common information 100
Since the history information 150 can be provided to a unit irrelevant to the control of the information copy due to the match / mismatch of, the contents of the fraud prevention control are hard to understand for a person who attempts fraud, and the fraud suppression effect can be expected. .

It is also preferable to limit the determination target in step S32 to some units. For example, the control is such that among the units A to C, the determination based on the prohibition condition is made only on the basis of the exchange history of A and B, and the exchange history is left on C and the processing such as the condition determination based on this is not performed. . According to this control, even if an unauthorized user continues to illegally replace the unit C whose operation is not restricted, it remains in the replacement history, so that the customer engineer or the like will confirm the history at a later date. This makes it possible to detect fraud.

Further, in the present embodiment, the fraud prevention control based on the exchange history is presented in combination with the inheritance control of the common information 100 by copying between units, but only the control based on the exchange history is also useful. It can be said that it is a simple control.
That is, the grade identification information 10 for the replaced unit
6, the inheritance of the common information 100 such as the billing information 104 and the billing information 104 may be performed even in a copying machine which is executed by a process such as writing to a unit by direct input from the maintenance device 20 as in the related art. By implementing the fraud prevention control (S30 to S36) based on the exchange history of the embodiment, it is possible to detect a case where there is a high possibility of illegal exchange and limit copying of the common information 100, so that illegal unit exchange can be prevented or limited. .

The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above. In the above, common information 1 stored in each unit A to C
Although the device identification number 102, the billing information 104, and the grade identification information 106 are illustrated as 00, information other than these can be used as the information items of the common information 100.

In the above embodiment, the information for specifying the replaced unit is input from the maintenance device 20, but the information may be input from the operation panel of the copying machine 10. In this case, the operation panel of the copying machine 10 displays the common information 10 such as its information.
It is only necessary to enable only the buttons and switches for accepting the input of the instruction necessary for copying 0, and the GUI screen, and invalidate the input of the normal operation such as the start of copying.

The unit is not limited to the control board and may be any unit that can be attached to and detached from the main body of the copying machine, and may be, for example, a process unit that executes an image forming process.

Although the copying machine has been described above as an example, the method of the above embodiment can be applied to a general apparatus having a plurality of units and having the same common information for each unit, other than the copying machine. Is.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a copying machine according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when power is turned on according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a replacement unit selection screen displayed on the maintenance device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a copying machine according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when power is turned on in the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 copy machine, 12 non-volatile memory, 20 maintenance device, 100 common information, 102 device identification information,
104 billing information, 106 grade information, 150 history information, 152 exchanged unit identification information, 154
Exchange time information, 156 Charge information at the time of exchange.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification Code FI Theme Coat (Reference) G06F 12/14 320 G03G 21/00 392 (72) Inventor Yuichi Murayama 2274 Hongo, Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture Fuji Xerox F-term in Ebina Co., Ltd. (reference) 2C061 AP04 HK19 HV21 HV60 2H027 DA44 DA45 EE08 EJ01 EJ06 EJ08 EK03 GA30 GB07 HB02 HB05 HB16 HB17 ZA08 5B017 AA06 BA09 CA12 5B018 GA04 HA04 KA22 NA06 RA11

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A processing device comprising a plurality of units each having a storage unit, wherein predetermined common storage information is stored in the storage units of the respective units, and a mismatch is detected in the common storage information stored in the storage units of the respective units. Control means for restricting the operation of the processing device in the case of doing, and an operator who has not replaced the replaced one of the plurality of units when the operation of the processing device is restricted by the control means. And a discriminating unit for discriminating between the exchanged unit and the non-exchanged unit among the plurality of units based on the input, and discriminating the exchanged unit by the discrimination unit. Information copying means for copying the common storage information stored in the storage unit of the unit determined not to be exchanged to the storage unit of each unit; Wherein said common writing of stored information, the process is characterized in that to limit as can only copy from the storage unit of the other of said unit by the information copy unit apparatus to the storage unit of each unit. 2. A processing device comprising a plurality of units each having a storage unit, wherein predetermined common storage information is stored in the storage unit of each unit, and a mismatch is detected in the common storage information stored in the storage unit of each unit. And a control unit that limits the operation of the processing device, and, when the operation of the processing device is limited by the control unit, the unit of each of the plurality of units is determined based on a predetermined determination condition. A discriminating unit that discriminates whether or not the unit has been exchanged, and the common unit stored in the storage unit of the unit that has been discriminated not to have been exchanged with respect to the storage unit of the unit that has been discriminated as the unit that has been exchanged Writing means for writing the common storage information having the same content as the storage information; history recording means for recording the history of the writing process by the writing means; and the history recording means. And a prohibiting means for prohibiting the writing of the common storage information to the storage section of the unit by the writing means when the history of the written processing satisfies a predetermined prohibition condition. Processing equipment. 3. The processing device according to claim 2, wherein the history of the writing process includes, for each writing process, information indicating a time point at which the writing process is performed, and the writing process history. Information indicating a target unit, and the prohibition condition indicates that the writing process history indicates that writing to the same unit is performed more than a predetermined frequency. , A processing device. 4. The processing device according to claim 2, wherein the history of the writing process includes information indicating a unit that is a target of the writing process for each writing process, The processing condition is that the condition indicates from the history of the writing process that writing to the same unit has been performed a predetermined number of times. 5. The processing device according to claim 2, wherein the history recording unit records a writing history in the storage unit of each unit. 6. The processing device according to claim 2, wherein the writing unit determines that the storage unit of each unit determined to be replaced by the determination unit is not replaced. The common storage information stored in the storage unit of the unit is copied, and the common storage information is written in the storage unit of each unit only by the writing unit from the storage unit of the other unit. A processing device characterized by being restricted so that it cannot be performed. 7. The processing device according to claim 6, wherein the history recording unit records the history of the writing process in a storage device provided separately from each unit. Processing equipment. 8. The processing device according to claim 1, wherein the common storage information stored in the storage unit of each unit includes grade identification information corresponding to a functional class of the processing device. A processing device characterized by. 9. The processing device according to claim 1, wherein the common storage information stored in the storage unit of each unit is basic charging information that is a basis for calculation of charging for use of the processing device. A processing device comprising: 10. A plurality of units having a storage unit are provided,
A method for controlling inheritance processing of the common storage information when the unit is replaced in a processing device in which predetermined common storage information is stored in the storage unit of each unit The operation of the processing device is restricted when a mismatch is detected in the common storage information, and when the operation of the processing device is restricted, the operator
Accepting the input of information identifying the exchanged and the non-exchanged units of the plurality of units, based on this input to determine the exchanged and non-exchanged units of the plurality of units, The common storage information stored in the storage unit of the unit determined not to be exchanged is copied to the storage unit of each unit determined to be exchanged, and the common storage unit stores the common storage information in the storage unit of each unit. A method characterized in that writing of stored information is limited so that it can be performed only by copying from a storage unit of another unit. 11. A plurality of units having a storage unit are provided,
A method for controlling inheritance processing of the common storage information when the unit is replaced in a processing device in which predetermined common storage information is stored in the storage unit of each unit The operation of the processing device is restricted when a mismatch is detected in the stored common storage information, and when the operation of the processing device is restricted, the unit of each of the plurality of units is determined based on a predetermined determination condition. Whether or not the unit has been replaced, and the common storage information of the unit that has been determined to have been replaced has the same content as the common storage information stored in the storage unit of the unit that has been determined not to have been replaced. The stored information is written by a predetermined writing unit, a history of the writing process by the writing unit is recorded, the recorded history of the writing process is examined, and the history satisfies a predetermined prohibition condition. Method when, to prohibit the writing of the common memory information in the storage unit of the unit by the writing unit, characterized in that.