JP2004170342A - Recorder with fault diagnosis function for recording section - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recorder by which a fault diagnosis for a recording section is automatically carried out without requiring any operator work, and which immediately informs of it to the outside when a fault occur. <P>SOLUTION: The recorder which records waveforms corresponding to a signal to be measured on a recording paper by using a recording head or a recording pen, is provided with an abnormal motion detecting means which can individually detect various abnormal motions of the recording section relating to recording processes, and an informing means which informs the externals as the fault of the recording section when the abnormal motion is detected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a recorder such as a chart recorder, and more particularly to a recorder for performing failure diagnosis of a recording unit.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a recorder for recording a signal to be measured on a recording paper (chart), a dot-type wire dot recorder (for example, see Patent Document 1), and a recorder with a multi-point and multi-color dot-point system (for example, see Patent Reference 2) and a pen-type recorder (for example, see Patent Reference 3) are well known.
[0003]
Recording by these recorders is generally performed on recording paper on a platen using a hitting pin (wire) or a pen (for example, see Patent Document 4).
[0004]
By the way, in this type of recorder, an abnormality such as a paper jam of the recording unit may occur. Usually, such an abnormality is found based on confirmation of the operation of the recording unit by a visual operation of the operator.
[0005]
As an example, there is one in which an operation check of a recording unit is started by a visual operation of an operator when a diagnostic command is given from the outside, and an abnormality of the recording unit is found based on the result (for example, Patent Document 1). 5).
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-8-99439 (page 2, FIG. 8)
[0007]
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-2000-88615 (pages 2, 3; FIG. 1)
[0008]
[Patent Document 3]
JP-A-11-325974 (pages 2, 3; FIG. 1)
[0009]
[Patent Document 4]
JP-A-10-17312 (pages 2 and 3; FIGS. 1 and 2)
[0010]
[Patent Document 5]
JP-A-4-351920 (pages 2 and 3)
[0011]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, such a recorder has the following problems.
(1) As is the case with the operation check described in Patent Document 5, such an abnormality detection of the recording unit based on the visual work of the operator has a problem that there is no means for notifying immediately when an abnormality occurs. Was. Measurement data from the occurrence of the abnormality to the time when the visual work is performed is naturally lost.
[0012]
(2) Further, there is a problem that the operator needs to be there for the visual inspection, and the visual inspection itself is a troublesome operation.
[0013]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, and to automatically perform a failure diagnosis of a recording unit without requiring an operator's operation, and immediately notify the outside when a failure occurs. Is to provide.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a recorder capable of easily ascertaining the abnormal state of the recording section even from a remote place by communication such as LAN.
[0014]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve such an object, the invention of claim 1
In a recorder that records a waveform corresponding to a signal under measurement on recording paper with a recording head or a recording pen,
It is characterized by comprising an operation abnormality detecting means capable of individually detecting various operation abnormalities of the recording section relating to the recording, and a notifying means for notifying the failure as a failure of the recording section to the outside when the operation abnormality is detected. And
According to such a configuration, the failure diagnosis of the recording unit is automatically performed, and when there is an abnormality, the abnormality is immediately notified to the outside. For this reason, the visual operation of the operator as in the related art is unnecessary, and the abnormality is immediately notified, so that the measurement data can be prevented from disappearing after the occurrence of the abnormality until the visual operation is performed.
[0015]
In this case, the operation abnormality detecting means includes a recording paper feed operation, a carriage operation, an ink ribbon feed operation, a wire dot operation for recording a dot, and a pen model in the case of a dot model. Is provided with a mechanism capable of individually detecting an abnormality in the operation of the recording pen. On the other hand, the notifying means has a mechanism for notifying the abnormality to the outside when at least one operation abnormality is detected by the operation abnormality detecting means. To have.
As a result, the operation abnormality of each unit of the recording unit is individually detected, and if any operation abnormality occurs, it is notified to the outside.
[0016]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a mark or a hole attached to a recording sheet at a predetermined interval is read using an optical mechanism, and the recording sheet is fed depending on whether the mark or the hole is detected at a predetermined time interval. Can be determined.
[0017]
Further, the operation abnormality of the carriage can be easily detected by a mechanism that determines that the carriage operation is normal if the carriage crosses the home position and that the operation is abnormal if the carriage does not cross the home position.
[0018]
In addition, the abnormal operation of the ribbon feeding may be determined by puncturing holes of a specific color in the multicolor ink ribbon at predetermined intervals along the feeding direction. It is easily detected whether or not holes and no holes in the ink ribbon are detected alternately.
[0019]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the home position sensors for detecting the ink ribbon color selection reference position are attached to the 0% position and the 100% position of the movement range, and whether the carriage crosses the arrival side home position in one-way carriage travel. This makes it possible to easily detect an abnormality in the ink ribbon color selection swing operation.
[0020]
Further, a piezoelectric element is attached to the platen below the home position of the carriage, and the recording head is periodically moved to below the home position sensor of the carriage to operate the wire dot, thereby causing the piezoelectric element to move. By reading the output of (1), an abnormal operation of the wire dot can be easily detected.
[0021]
In the case of the pen model, an abnormal operation of the recording pen can be easily detected by detecting the output of the servo amplifier.
[0022]
Further, the notifying means has a communication function as claimed in claim 9, and when the operation abnormality is detected, the abnormality can be notified to the outside by e-mail or the like, and an abnormal state at a remote place can be notified. Monitoring becomes easy.
[0023]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a main part configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a recorder according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a multiplexer (MPX) for selectively selecting input signals of a plurality of channels. The output signal of the multiplexer 10 is applied to an A / D converter (A / D) 12 via an amplifier (AMP) 11. Output data of the A / D converter 12 is output to the bus 13.
[0024]
The multiplexer 10, the amplifier 11, and the A / D converter 12 are controlled by a central processing unit (CPU) 14 via a bus 13. The CPU 14 is connected with memories of a ROM 15 and a RAM 16. The ROM 15 stores an operation program, fixed data, and the like. The RAM 16 stores measurement data (output data of the A / D converter 12) and calculation data.
[0025]
A keyboard 18 is connected to the bus 13 via an interface (IF) 17, and a display unit 20 is connected via a display unit driving circuit (DDC) 19. Further, a scanning circuit (HSC) 21 for driving a recording head moving mechanism 22 for moving a recording head (not shown), and a recording head driving circuit (HDC) for driving a recording head driving mechanism 24 for causing the recording head to perform a hitting operation. 23) a paper feed mechanism driving circuit (PDC) 25 for driving a paper feed mechanism 26 for feeding paper (chart); and a communication mechanism 28 having a function of inputting and outputting commands and data via a communication line 29. Are connected to the bus 13, respectively.
[0026]
Further, an operation state detection mechanism 31 is connected to the bus 13 via a drive circuit 30. The operating state detecting mechanism 31 is composed of various detecting mechanisms for automatically detecting whether or not measurement data and the like are normally recorded on the chart.
The drive circuit 30 drives the operation state detection mechanism 31 based on the control signal of the CPU 14 and outputs the inspection information obtained by the operation state detection mechanism 31 onto the bus 13.
[0027]
Data processing in such a configuration will be described below. A measurement data storage area is allocated to a part of the memory 16 and the measurement data for each channel output from the A / D converter 12 is stored. The measurement data for each channel is switched and selected by the multiplexer 10 and is appropriately amplified by the amplifier 11 before being input to the A / D converter 12.
[0028]
The measurement data stored in the memory 16 is read by the CPU 14 and recorded on a recording sheet. At this time, the recording head moves to a position on the recording paper corresponding to the size of the measurement data, and performs a hitting operation. The movement and hitting operation of the recording head are controlled by the CPU 14.
[0029]
The recording paper is fed at a predetermined paper feed speed specified by the CPU 14. The paper feed speed is input from the keyboard 18 to the CPU 14. Note that various setting information other than the paper feed speed can be given to the CPU 14 from the keyboard 18.
On the display unit 20, various setting values such as a channel number, measurement data, and paper feed speed output from the CPU 14 are displayed.
[0030]
The above operation is a general operation of the dot recorder. The operation specific to the present invention will be described below. In the case of the dot model, failures of the recording unit include (a) recording paper feeding operation, (b) movement of the recording head (movement of the carriage), (c) driving of the recording head (feeding of the ink ribbon), (c) D) The malfunction of the operation of the wire dot in the recording head. In the case of the pen model, (e) a malfunction of the recording pen.
[0031]
Various detection mechanisms of the operation state detection mechanism 31 can check whether or not the above operations (a) to (e) are normal under the control of the CPU 14. If there is any abnormality, the CPU 14 notifies the occurrence of the abnormality to the outside by communication (for example, electronic mail) from the communication mechanism 28 based on the abnormality information. Alternatively, a warning can be issued to the outside (operator or the like) by a relay or the like (not shown).
Note that the portion including the operation state detection mechanism 31, the drive circuit 30, and the CPU 14 is referred to as operation abnormality detection means here.
[0032]
Next, a method for detecting each of the operation abnormalities (a) to (e) above will be described with an example.
(1) Regarding the recording paper feeding operation (a) The recording paper 41 is provided with marks 42 or holes 43 at regular intervals along the paper feeding direction as shown in FIG. 2 (a) or (b). The mark 42 or the hole 43 is read by, for example, an optical detection mechanism (not shown). Upon receiving the detection result of the optical detection mechanism, the CPU 14 determines that the mark (or hole) is detected at a time interval determined by the chart speed setting value, and that the mark is normal, otherwise the mark is abnormal.
[0033]
(2) Regarding the operation of the carriage described in (b) above, as shown in FIG. 3, the carriage / home position sensors 51 and 52 for detecting the recording reference position that are commonly used by the recorder are used to detect the 0% position of the carriage movement range and 100%. It is attached to two places of% position. If the carriage 53 crosses the home position on the arrival side in one (one-way) carriage travel, the CPU 14 receiving the output of the sensor determines that the carriage is operating normally. Other operations are determined to be abnormal.
[0034]
(3) Ink ribbon feeding operation of (c) (3-1) Ink ribbon feeding As shown in FIG. 4, holes 62 are provided at predetermined intervals in the end portion (for example, black portion) of the multicolor ink ribbon 61. Is opened, and when the carriage is at the home position, the ink ribbon 61 is fed to detect the end of the ink ribbon by an optical detection mechanism (a general well-known mechanism can be used, and its description and illustration are omitted). Inspect and detect holes or non-holes. The CPU 14 determines that the hole 62 and the non-hole portion are alternately detected, and that the normal state is detected.
[0035]
(3-2) Color Ribbon Swing of Ink Ribbon In a dot model using a multicolor ink ribbon, when selecting a dot color, the ink ribbon is swung in a direction orthogonal to the feed direction (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-88615). Reference). The normal / abnormal of the color selection swing operation is detected as follows.
[0036]
A home position sensor (not shown) for detecting the ink ribbon color selection reference position is attached at two positions of 0% position and 100% position, and it is determined whether the ink ribbon swings (runs) and crosses the home position on the arrival side. Detection is performed by a detection mechanism (a general well-known mechanism can be used, and its description and illustration are omitted). When it is detected that the home position has been crossed, the CPU 14 determines that the ink ribbon color selection swing is operating normally. If the home position is not crossed, it is determined that the operation of the color selection swing is abnormal.
[0037]
Alternatively, the home position sensor is attached to only one position on one side, and if it is detected that the ink ribbon is located within the home position at the start of color selection and is located outside the home position during color selection, it is normal. Otherwise, it is determined that the operation is abnormal.
[0038]
(4) Regarding the operation of the wire dot of (d), as shown in FIG. 5, a piezoelectric element 71 is attached to a platen (not shown) below the sensor 51 for the home position of the carriage, and the recording head is periodically arranged. The wire dot 53 is moved to a position below the home position sensor 51 of the carriage to operate a wire dot (not shown, but see, for example, JP-A-8-99439 described in Patent Document 1) in the carriage. . A voltage is generated in the piezoelectric element 71 by the hit point. The output voltage of the piezoelectric element 71 is read to determine whether the operation of the wire dot is normal or abnormal.
As a method of detecting an abnormal operation of the wire dot, a method of optically reading and determining a dot recording result may be adopted.
[0039]
(5) Operation of Recording Pen in Case of Pen Model (E) FIG. 6 shows a circuit example of a servo mechanism in the pen model. The measurement input signal is input to the servo amplifier 81 and amplified. The motor 82 for moving the recording pen is driven by the output of the servo amplifier 81. The pen position signal obtained in response to the driving of the motor 82 is input to the feedback element 83, and the output signal is applied to the other input terminal of the servo amplifier 81.
In this servo mechanism, the difference between the two inputs of the servo amplifier 81 acts so as to be zero, and the recording pen moves to a position corresponding to the magnitude of the measurement input signal.
[0040]
An operation abnormality can be determined from the output of the servo amplifier 81. Normally, in an equilibrium state, the output of the servo amplifier 81 is near zero. If it is not near 0, it is abnormal. The output of the servo amplifier 81 is detected by the operation state detection mechanism 31, and the CPU 14 determines whether the operation is normal or abnormal based on the detection result.
However, when the measurement input always fluctuates greatly, the output (absolute value) of the servo amplifier 81 becomes larger than zero. In this case, the determination is made based on the relationship between the measurement input signal and the output of the servo amplifier 81.
[0041]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but includes many more changes and modifications without departing from the essence thereof.
For example, not only the failure of the recording unit but also the detection of the remaining amount of the recording paper can be performed, and when the remaining amount of the recording paper becomes low, it can be immediately notified to a remote place by e-mail or the like via the communication mechanism 28. In addition, as the remaining amount detection method, a mark or remaining amount information is printed on recording paper, and this is read, for example, by optical means, or the marks on the read recording paper are integrated, and the remaining amount is calculated based on the mark. Can be used.
[0042]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a failure diagnosis of a required portion of a recording unit is automatically performed without requiring an operator's operation, and the occurrence of a failure can be easily detected.
[0043]
Also, in the conventional recorder, there is a case where a long time gap occurs between the occurrence of the failure and the notice of the operator, and the measurement data during that time is also lost, but in the present invention, when a failure is detected, it is notified to the outside immediately. Therefore, such a time gap and the disappearance of the measurement data are extremely reduced.
In addition, since the remote location can be notified by e-mail or the like via the communication mechanism, it is possible to easily grasp whether the recording unit is normal or abnormal from the remote location.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a main part configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a recorder according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a detection method for detecting an abnormal operation of a recording unit.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of another detection method for detecting an operation abnormality of a recording unit.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of another detection method for detecting an abnormal operation of a recording unit.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of another detection method for detecting an abnormal operation of a recording unit.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of another detection method for detecting an operation abnormality of a recording unit.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Multiplexer 11 Amplifier 12 A / D converter 13 Bus 14 Central processing unit 15 ROM
16 RAM
17 Interface 18 Keyboard 19 Display drive circuit 20 Display unit 21 Scanning circuit 22 Print head moving mechanism 23 Print head drive circuit 24 Print head drive mechanism 25 Paper feed mechanism drive circuit 26 Paper feed mechanism 27 Interface 28 Communication mechanism 29 Communication line 30 Drive Circuit 31 Operating state detection mechanism

Claims (9)

In a recorder that records a waveform corresponding to a signal under measurement on recording paper with a recording head or a recording pen,
An operation abnormality detection unit that can individually detect various operation abnormalities of the recording unit related to recording,
A recorder with a failure diagnosis function for a recording unit, comprising: a notifying unit for notifying a failure of the recording unit to the outside when the abnormal operation is detected. The operation abnormality detecting means individually performs an operation abnormality on the recording paper feeding operation, the carriage operation, the ink ribbon feeding operation and the operation of the wire dot for recording the dot on the dot model, and the operation of the recording pen on the pen model. To detect
2. The recording unit according to claim 1, wherein the notifying unit is configured to notify the abnormality to the outside when at least one operation abnormality is detected by the operation abnormality detecting unit. Recorder. The operation abnormality detecting means reads a mark or a hole provided at a predetermined interval on the recording paper by using an optical mechanism, and records the mark or hole at a predetermined time interval during the recording paper feeding operation. 3. The recorder according to claim 2, wherein the recorder is configured to determine that the paper feeding operation is abnormal. The operation abnormality detection means attaches a carriage home position sensor for detecting a recording reference position to the 0% position and the 100% position of the carriage movement range, and the carriage moves once (one way) to determine the home position where the carriage reaches. 3. A recorder with a failure diagnosis function for a recording section according to claim 2, wherein the recorder is configured to determine that the carriage operation is normal if it crosses, and that it is abnormal if it does not cross. The operation abnormality detecting means is configured to form holes at predetermined intervals in a specific one color portion of the multi-color ink ribbon along a feeding direction, and to determine whether the holes of the ink ribbon and the holes are missing during the ink ribbon feeding operation. 3. A recorder with a failure diagnosis function for a recording section according to claim 2, wherein it is determined that the ink ribbon feeding operation is normal if it is detected alternately and abnormal if it is not detected alternately. The operation abnormality detecting means attaches a home position sensor for detecting the ink ribbon color selection reference position to the 0% position and the 100% position of the movement range, and the carriage moves when the carriage crosses the home position on the arrival side in one-way carriage travel. 3. The recorder according to claim 2, wherein the operation is determined to be normal, and if the operation is normal, it is determined to be abnormal. The operation abnormality detecting means attaches a piezoelectric element to the platen below the home position of the carriage, periodically moves the recording head to below the home position sensor of the carriage to operate the wire dot, and outputs the output of the piezoelectric element. 3. A recorder with a failure diagnosis function for a recording unit according to claim 2, wherein the recorder is configured to be able to detect an abnormal operation of the wire dot by reading the data. 3. The recording device according to claim 2, wherein the operation abnormality detecting means is configured to detect an operation abnormality of the recording pen by detecting an output of the servo amplifier. Total. 9. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notifying unit has a communication function, and is configured to notify the abnormality to the outside by e-mail when the operation abnormality is detected. Recorder with a failure diagnosis function for the part.

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