JP2006079437A - Information processor and method of determining its connector life - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor and method of determining its connector life, capable of appropriately determining a life based on mechanical durability of a connector for a media card reader/writer. <P>SOLUTION: The number of times of inserting/ejecting a media card into/from connectors 11, 12 and 13 of a media card reader/writer 10 is counted correspondingly for the respective connectors 11, 12 and 13 by a controller 20. The counted number is recorded as log information in a nonvolatile memory 21, and respective lives of the connectors 11, 12 and 13 are determined, based on the log information recorded in the nonvolatile memory 21. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that reads information from a storage medium inserted into a connector of a storage medium reader / writer and processes the read information in an information processing unit, and a connector life determination method thereof, and more particularly to a storage medium reader / writer. The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that counts the number of times a storage medium is inserted into and removed from a connector, and determines the life of a connector of a storage medium reader / writer based on the counted value, and a connector life determination method.

  Recently, various print service apparatuses that provide a print service for images captured by a digital camera have been proposed. This print service apparatus stores images captured by a digital camera on various media cards and stores the images. By inserting the media card into the connector (sliding connector) of the media card reader / writer, the printing service can be received.

  Conventional techniques for smoothly operating in this type of printing service apparatus include a “photo printing vending machine” disclosed in Patent Document 1 and a “digital print order receiving machine” disclosed in Patent Document 2. Are known.

  The “photo printing vending machine” disclosed in Patent Document 1 is configured to notify the management center of consumables and failure conditions using a communication line. In addition to being able to replenish, it is possible to quickly respond to a failure.

In addition, the “digital print order acceptance machine” disclosed in Patent Document 2 informs the time of replacement of media for transferring image data.
JP 2001-160173 A JP 2003-256176 A

  By the way, in an information processing apparatus such as a print service apparatus configured to receive a print service by inserting a media card into the connector of the media card reader / writer, the life of the connector of the media card reader / writer is long. It is a problem.

  That is, the media card reader / writer connector has a predetermined life due to its mechanical durability, and when the media card reader / writer connector reaches its life due to insertion / removal of the media card, normal data reading from the media card is not possible. In addition to being unable to do so, in some cases there is a risk of destroying the media card data itself.

  Therefore, it is essential to accurately determine and replace the lifetime based on the mechanical durability of the connector of the media card reader / writer in order to smoothly operate an information processing apparatus such as this type of print service apparatus.

  However, in the conventional techniques disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 and the like, the lifetime based on the mechanical durability of the connector of the media card reader / writer is not considered at all. There is a problem that the information processing apparatus of this kind cannot be operated smoothly.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of appropriately determining the life based on the mechanical durability of the connector of the storage medium reader / writer and a connector life determining method thereof.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is an information processing apparatus that reads information from a storage medium inserted into a connector of a storage medium reader / writer and processes the read information in an information processing section. Log information stored in the log information storage means, comprising: counting means for counting the number of times the storage medium is inserted into and removed from the connector of the medium reader / writer; and log information storage means for storing the count value of the counting means as log information The life of the connector is determined based on the above.

  In the present invention, the “storage medium” means a disk-type storage medium using a magnetic medium such as various media cards, floppy (registered trademark), MD (MiniDisc), or a portable storage such as a USB flash memory. Includes media.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the log information storage means stores the log information using a storage area of a storage device built in the information processing section. .

  According to a third aspect of the invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the log information storage means stores the log information using a nonvolatile memory built in the information processing section.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the log information storage means stores the log information using a non-volatile memory built in the storage medium reader / writer.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the storage medium reader / writer includes a plurality of connectors into which different types of storage media are inserted, and the counting means includes a storage medium for each connector. The number of insertions / removals is counted corresponding to each connector, and the log information storage means stores the log information using a nonvolatile memory provided in each connector of the storage medium reader / writer.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, the count value indicated by the log information stored in the log information storage means and a count value corresponding to a preset lifetime of the connector And a notifying means for notifying the life of the connector based on the comparison result of the comparing means.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect of the present invention, the notification means performs a notification regarding the life of the connector by a notification prompting the use of another media card.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect of the present invention, the notification means performs notification regarding the life of the connector by notification for prompting backup of data in the storage medium.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect of the present invention, the notification means performs a notification regarding the life of the connector by a notification urging use of a storage medium reader / writer of another device.

  Further, the invention according to claim 10 is the invention according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the notification means corresponds to the count value indicated by the log information stored in the log information storage means for notification of the life of the connector. It is characterized by being performed step by step.

  The invention according to claim 11 is the media for the connector of the storage medium reader / writer in a predetermined period based on the count value indicated by the log information stored in the log information storage means in any one of the inventions of claims 1 to 10. The apparatus further comprises calculation means for calculating an average card insertion / removal time, and connector replacement time estimation means for estimating the connector replacement time based on the average insertion / removal time calculated by the calculation means.

  The invention of claim 12 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 11, the connector replacement time estimated by the connector replacement time estimation means is stored as log information in the log information storage means.

  The invention according to claim 13 is the connector life determination method for an information processing apparatus in which information is read from a storage medium inserted into a connector of a storage medium reader / writer, and processing of the read information is performed by an information processing unit. The number of storage medium insertions / removals with respect to the connector of the medium reader / writer is counted by the counting means, the count value of the counting means is stored in the log information storage means as log information, and based on the log information stored in the log information storage means It is characterized by determining the life of the connector.

  According to the present invention, the number of times the storage medium is inserted into and removed from the connector of the storage medium reader / writer is counted, the count value is stored as log information, and the life of the connector is determined based on the stored log information. The life of the storage medium reader / writer based on the mechanical durability of the connector can be determined appropriately and quickly, and the information processing apparatus using the storage medium reader / writer can be smoothly operated. Play.

  Embodiments of an information processing apparatus and a connector life determination method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  In the embodiments shown below, when the present invention is applied to a print service apparatus that inputs and prints out an image captured by a digital camera, using an information processing apparatus and its connector life determination method according to the present invention, using a media card Will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the print service apparatus according to this embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, a print service apparatus according to this embodiment is installed in, for example, a convenience store, and provides a print service for images taken by a digital camera based on a media card inserted by a user.

  1 includes a media card reader / writer 10 that reads image data from a media card inserted by a user, and a personal computer that performs print processing based on the image data read from the media card reader / writer 10. In the printing process by the control unit 20 and the control unit 20, a display 30 with a touch panel that displays various information to the user and performs selection input from the user, and a print that prints a desired image based on the control of the control unit 20 Unit 40 and a money depositing and dispensing machine 50 for performing billing processing for printing processing by the printing unit 40.

  Here, the media card reader / writer 10 has a plurality of connectors (connector 1, connector 2, connector 3) 11, 12, 13 in order to correspond to various media cards of the digital camera.

  The connectors 11, 12, and 13 provided in the media card reader / writer 10 have a predetermined life due to their mechanical durability. When the connector 11, 12, 13 of the media card reader / writer 10 reaches the end of its life due to the insertion / removal of the media card with respect to the connectors 11, 12, 13, not only normal data cannot be read from the media card, but also Depending on the situation, there is a risk of destroying the data itself of the media card.

  Here, the lifetime of the connectors 11, 12, 13 of the media card reader / writer 10 depends on the number of insertions / removals of the media card with respect to the connectors 11, 12, 13.

  Therefore, in the print service apparatus 100 of this embodiment, the control unit 20 counts the number of insertions / removals of the media card with respect to the connectors 11, 12, and 13 of the media card reader / writer 10. By being recorded as log information in 21, the lifetime of the connectors 11, 12, 13 of the media card reader / writer 10 can be appropriately determined.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of log information recorded in the nonvolatile memory 21 of the control unit 20.

  The log information shown in FIG. 2 records the count value of the number of insertions / removals of the media card with respect to the connectors 11, 12, 13 of the media card reader / writer 10 corresponding to each connector 11, 12, 13, and In addition, the number of replacements corresponding to the lifetime of each connector 11, 12, 13 is stored corresponding to each connector 11, 12, 13.

  The number of replacements corresponding to the lifetime of each connector 11, 12, 13 is determined in advance according to the characteristics of each connector 11, 12, 13, the environment in which this printing service apparatus 100 is installed, and the like. 12 and 13 are stored in advance.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing relating to connector life determination in the print service apparatus.

  In the process shown in FIG. 3, first, a media print selection screen is displayed on the display 30 with a touch panel, and the user selects a media card to be used for media printing (step 301).

  Then, when the user inserts the media card selected on the media print selection screen into the corresponding connector among the connectors 11, 12, and 13 of the media card reader / writer 10 (step 302), it corresponds to this connector. The current count value and the number of exchanges thereof are read from the nonvolatile memory 21 of the control unit 20, and it is checked whether the current count value has reached the number of exchanges (step 303).

  If the current count value has not reached the number of exchanges (NO in step 303), the image selected by the user on the display 30 with the touch panel is printed (step 304).

  Then, the count value recorded in the non-volatile memory 21 is incremented by “1” (step 305), the user is instructed to remove the media card inserted into the connector (step 306), and this process is terminated. .

  If it is determined in step 303 that the current count value has reached the number of replacements (YES in step 303), in this case, since this connector has reached the end of its life, the replacement of this connector is notified. (Step 307), an instruction is given to remove the media card inserted into the connector without performing the printing process (Step 306), and this process is terminated.

  In addition, although notification of replacement | exchange of a connector can be performed by the display of the display 30 with a touch panel, for example, you may perform it by a synthetic voice etc. without using the display 30 with a touch panel.

  Further, the notification of the replacement of the connector may be configured to notify the apparatus manager or maintenance person via a communication line using e-mail, facsimile, or the like.

  In the above process, the details of the print process and the charging process using the money depositing and dispensing machine 50 are omitted because they do not constitute the gist of the present invention.

  According to such a configuration, it is possible to determine whether or not the connectors 11, 12, and 13 of the media card reader / writer 10 have reached the end of their life each time the media card is inserted into the connectors 11, 12, and 13. When the connector into which the card has been inserted has reached the end of its life, this can be notified to prevent unexpected damage to the user.

  In this embodiment, the media card reader / writer 10 is configured to record the count value of the number of insertion / extraction of the media card with respect to the connectors 11, 12, 13 as log information in the nonvolatile memory 21 of the control unit 20. Therefore, a service person (maintenance staff) of the print service apparatus 100 simply reads out the log information recorded in the nonvolatile memory 21 of the control unit 20 during maintenance of the print service apparatus 100, and each connector of the media card reader / writer 10 is read. 11, 12, 13 can be known, so that the corresponding connector can be replaced before the mechanical life of each connector 11, 12, 13 is reached. It is possible to prevent the apparatus from being down due to the reaching of the service life.

  In the above-described embodiment, the media card reader / writer 10 is configured to indirectly detect and count the insertion / removal of the media card with respect to the connectors 11, 12, and 13 due to normal print processing. The card reader / writer 10 may be configured to detect and count the insertion / removal of the media card directly based on the output of a sensor or the like provided in the connectors 11, 12, and 13.

  In the above embodiment, the media card reader / writer 10 is configured to record the count value of the number of insertions / removals of the media card with respect to the connectors 11, 12, and 13 in the nonvolatile memory 21 of the control unit 20. You may comprise so that it may record using predetermined storage areas, such as a built-in hard disk.

  Further, the count value of the number of insertion / extraction of the media card with respect to the connectors 11, 12, 13 of the media card reader / writer 10 may be recorded on the media card reader / writer 10 side instead of the control unit 20.

  4 and 5 show a configuration example of the media card reader / writer 10 when the count value of the number of insertions / removals of the media card with respect to the connectors 11, 12, 13 of the media card reader / writer 10 is recorded on the media card reader / writer 10 side. It is a block diagram.

  In FIG. 4, the media card reader / writer 10 includes a plurality of connectors 11, 12, 13, a program memory 14 in which a program for controlling the operation of the media card reader / writer 10 is stored, and a program stored in the program memory 14. 1, the media controller 15 for controlling the process of reading data from the media card inserted into each connector 11, 12, 13, the nonvolatile memory 16, and the media card reader / writer 10 are connected to the control unit 30 shown in FIG. A serial bus (USB) controller 17 for connection is provided.

  In the above configuration, the log information shown in FIG. 2 is recorded in the nonvolatile memory 16 in the media card reader / writer 10.

  The media card reader / writer 10 ′ shown in FIG. 5 is provided with nonvolatile memories 111, 121, 131 in the connectors (connector modules) 11, 12, 13 in place of the nonvolatile memory 16 shown in FIG. Log information related to the connectors 11, 12, and 13 is recorded in the nonvolatile memories 111, 121, and 131 provided in the connectors 11, 12, and 13, respectively.

  The other configuration of the media card reader / writer 10 'shown in FIG. 5 is the same as that of the media card reader / writer 10 shown in FIG.

  According to such a configuration, the log information is stored on the media card reader / writer 10 side, so that the log information is not lost even if a crash or the like occurs on the control unit 20 side constituted by a personal computer. , 12 and 13 can be reliably managed.

  Further, according to the configuration shown in FIG. 5, log information is recorded and managed in each connector 11, 12, and 13, so that the connector unit can be easily replaced and the maintenance cost of the apparatus can be reduced. Can also be planned.

  In the above embodiment, the media card reader / writer 10 determines whether or not the connectors 11, 12, and 13 of the media card have reached the end of their life every time the media card is inserted into the connectors 11, 12, and 13. However, the life of the connectors 11, 12, and 13 of the media card reader / writer 10 may be notified in stages as the life of the connectors 11, 12, and 13 approaches.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing of another embodiment relating to connector life determination in the print service apparatus.

  The apparatus configuration and log information in this embodiment can adopt the same configuration as that shown in FIGS.

  In FIG. 6, in this embodiment, notification regarding the life of the connectors 11, 12, 13 of the media card reader / writer 10 is made in a stepwise manner as the life of the connectors 11, 12, 13 approaches. .

Here, this step-by-step notification is
1) Announcement that it is better to use another media card that uses other connectors because the connector is approaching the end of its life, and 2) Safety because the connector is nearing the end of its life 3) Notification that it is better to use data after backing up the data on the media card 3) Notification that it is better to use the nearest other printing service device because the life of the connector is approaching Is called.

  In this embodiment, the notification is performed by “display of recommended use of other media”, “display of recommended backup of media”, and “display of recommended use of other terminals” on the display 30 with the touch panel.

  That is, in FIG. 6, first, a media print selection screen is displayed on the display 30 with a touch panel, and the user selects a media card to be used for media printing (step 601).

  When the user inserts the media card selected on the media print selection screen into the corresponding connector among the connectors 11, 12, and 13 of the media card reader / writer 10 (step 602), the nonvolatile memory 21 stores the media card. The recorded current count value corresponding to this connector and the number of exchanges thereof are read out, and it is checked whether or not the current count value has reached (number of exchanges−1000) (step 603).

  If the current count value has reached (number of exchanges−1000) (YES in step 603), “recommend use of other media” is displayed (step 604), and the process proceeds to step 605.

  If it is determined in step 603 that the current count value has not reached (number of exchanges−1000) (NO in step 603), the process directly proceeds to step 605.

  In step 605, it is checked whether or not the current count value has reached (number of exchanges−500).

  If the current count value has reached (number of replacements−500) (YES in step 605), “media backup recommendation display” is performed (step 606), and the process proceeds to step 607.

  If it is determined in step 605 that the current count value has not reached (number of exchanges−500) (NO in step 605), the process directly proceeds to step 607.

  In step 607, it is checked whether or not the current count value has reached (number of exchanges−100).

  Here, if the current count value has reached (number of exchanges−100) (YES in step 607), “display of recommended use of other terminal” is performed (step 608), and the process proceeds to step 609.

  If it is determined in step 607 that the current count value has not reached (number of exchanges−100) (NO in step 607), the process directly proceeds to step 609.

  In step 609, it is checked whether the current count value has reached the number of exchanges. If the current count value has not reached the number of exchanges (NO in step 609), the image selected by the user on the display 30 with the touch panel is printed (step 610).

  Then, the count value recorded in the non-volatile memory 21 is incremented by “1” (step 612), the user is instructed to remove the media card inserted into the connector (step 613), and this process is terminated. .

  If it is determined in step 609 that the current count value has reached the number of replacements (YES in step 609), in this case, since this connector has reached the end of its life, the replacement of this connector is notified. (Step 614), an instruction is given to remove the media card inserted into the connector without performing the printing process (Step 613), and this process is terminated.

  According to such a configuration, it is possible to notify the user before the mechanical life of each of the connectors 11, 12, and 13 is reached, thereby enabling risk avoidance to be effectively performed based on the user's judgment.

  In the above configuration, the count value of the number of insertion / removal of the media card with respect to the connectors 11, 12, 13 of the media card reader / writer 10 is recorded in the nonvolatile memory 21 of the control unit 20 as log information. The log information may be recorded using a predetermined storage area such as a built-in hard disk of the control unit 20.

  Further, the count value of the number of insertion / removal of the media card with respect to the connectors 11, 12, 13 of the media card reader / writer 10 is provided not on the control unit 20 but on the media card reader / writer 10 side, that is, on the media card reader / writer 10 shown in FIG. The data may be recorded in the nonvolatile memory 16 provided or the nonvolatile memories 111, 121, and 131 provided in the connectors 11, 12, and 13 shown in FIG.

  In this embodiment, in addition to the notification based on the count value of the number of insertions / removals of the media card with respect to the connectors 11, 12, 13 of the media card reader / writer 10, the life of each connector 11, 12, 13 is predicted. It is configured to be able to.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of log information employed in this embodiment. In this embodiment, in addition to the log information shown in FIG. 2, each connector 11 is used in units of a predetermined period at the start of use. , 12 and 13, the calculated value of the average number of insertion / removal of the media card and the expected replacement time of each connector 11, 12, 13 calculated using this average number of insertion / removal are recorded.

  The apparatus configuration in this embodiment can be the same as that shown in FIG. 1 and FIGS.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing relating to connector life determination of the print service apparatus in this embodiment.

  In the process shown in FIG. 8, first, a media print selection screen is displayed on the display 30 with the touch panel, and the user selects a media card to be used for media printing (step 801).

  Then, when the user inserts the media card selected on the media print selection screen into the corresponding connector among the connectors 11, 12, and 13 of the media card reader / writer 10 (step 802), it corresponds to this connector. The current count value and the number of exchanges thereof are read from the nonvolatile memory 21, and it is checked whether or not the current count value has reached the number of exchanges (step 803).

  If the current count value has not reached the number of exchanges (NO in step 803), the image selected by the user on the display 30 with the touch panel is printed (step 804).

  Then, the count value recorded in the nonvolatile memory 21 is incremented by “1” (step 805), and the user is instructed to remove the media card inserted into the connector (step 806).

  If it is determined in step 803 that the current count value has reached the number of replacements (YES in step 803), in this case, this connector has reached the end of its life, so that the replacement of this connector is notified. (Step 807), and instructs to remove the media card inserted into the connector without performing the printing process (Step 806).

  Next, it is examined whether or not an expected replacement time is to be calculated (step 808). The calculation of the expected replacement time may be performed at regular time intervals, or may be performed based on an instruction from a service person (maintenance staff).

  If it is determined that the expected replacement time is to be calculated (YES in step 808), a predetermined unit time is determined based on the count value of the number of insertion / removal of the media card with respect to each connector 11, 12, 13 in the past predetermined period. The average insertion / extraction number is calculated (step 809).

  Next, the expected replacement time of each connector 11, 12, 13 is calculated based on the calculated average number of insertions / removals (step 810). In the calculation of the expected replacement time, for example, the average number of insertions / removals calculated in step 809 is the average number of insertions / removals per day. If a day is required, the expected replacement time is calculated as 3 days later.

  The average number of insertions / removals calculated in step 809 and the expected replacement time calculated in step 810 are recorded as log information in the nonvolatile memory 21 (step 811), and this process ends.

  If it is determined in step 808 that the expected replacement time is not calculated (NO in step 808), the process is terminated as it is.

  According to such a configuration, the expected replacement time is recorded as log information. Therefore, a service person (maintenance staff) of the print service apparatus 100 views each log information in advance to each connector of the media card reader / writer 10. 11, 12, 13 It is possible to know the expected replacement time, thereby enabling efficient maintenance work.

  The log information shown in FIG. 7 is configured to be recorded as log information in the nonvolatile memory 21 of the control unit 20, but this log information is recorded using a predetermined storage area such as a built-in hard disk of the control unit 20. You may comprise.

  The log information is stored in the media card reader / writer 10 side, that is, in the nonvolatile memory 16 provided in the media card reader / writer 10 shown in FIG. 4 or in each connector 11, 12 shown in FIG. , 13 may be recorded in the non-volatile memories 111, 121, 131 provided respectively.

  In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a print service apparatus that inputs and prints out an image captured by a digital camera using a media card. However, the present invention is applied to the print service apparatus. Without being limited thereto, the present invention can be similarly applied to an information processing apparatus having a media card reader / writer equipped with a connector that requires predetermined life management.

  Similarly, in place of the media card, a disk-type storage medium using a magnetic medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) or MD (MiniDisc) or a portable storage medium such as a USB flash memory is used. Can be configured.

  The present invention can be applied to an information processing apparatus such as a print service apparatus having a media card reader / writer equipped with a connector that requires predetermined life management. According to the present invention, the number of insertion / extraction of the media card with respect to the connector of the media card reader / writer is counted, the counted value is stored as log information, and the lifetime of the connector is determined based on the stored log information. Therefore, the lifetime based on the mechanical durability of the connector of the media card reader / writer can be determined appropriately and quickly, and the maintenance work can be made more efficient.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a print service apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the log information recorded on the non-volatile memory of the control part shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating processing relating to connector life determination in the print service apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the media card reader / writer shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the other structural example of the media card reader / writer shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing of another embodiment relating to connector life determination in the print service apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows another example of the log information recorded on the non-volatile memory of the control part shown in FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing of still another embodiment relating to connector life determination in the print service apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Media card reader / writer 11, 12, 13 Connector 14 Program memory 15 Media controller 16 Non-volatile memory 17 USB controller 20 Control unit 21 Non-volatile memory 30 Display with touch panel 40 Print unit 50 Money depositing / dispensing machine 100 Print service device 111, 121 131 Nonvolatile memory

Claims (13)

In an information processing apparatus that reads information from a storage medium inserted into a connector of a storage medium reader / writer and performs processing of the read information in an information processing unit,
Counting means for counting the number of insertions / removals of the storage medium with respect to the connector of the storage medium reader / writer;
Log information storage means for storing the count value of the counting means as log information,
An information processing apparatus for determining the life of the connector based on log information stored in the log information storage means. The log information storage means
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the log information is stored using a storage area of a storage device built in the information processing unit. The log information storage means
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the log information is stored using a nonvolatile memory built in the information processing unit. The log information storage means
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the log information is stored using a nonvolatile memory built in the storage medium reader / writer. The storage medium reader / writer is
A plurality of connectors for inserting different types of storage media;
The counting means includes
Count the number of times each storage medium is inserted into and removed from each connector.
The log information storage means
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the log information is stored using a nonvolatile memory provided in each connector of the storage medium reader / writer. Comparison means for comparing a count value indicated by the log information stored in the log information storage means with a preset count value corresponding to the lifetime of the connector;
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: a notification unit configured to notify the life of the connector based on a comparison result of the comparison unit. The notification means includes
The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a notification regarding the life of the connector is provided by a notification prompting use of another storage medium. The notification means includes
The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a notification regarding the life of the connector is provided by a notification that prompts a backup of data in a storage medium. The notification means includes
The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a notification regarding the life of the connector is provided by a notification prompting the use of a storage medium reader / writer of another device. The notification means includes
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein notification regarding the life of the connector is performed in a stepwise manner corresponding to a count value indicated by log information stored in the log information storage unit. Calculating means for calculating an average number of insertions / removals of the media card with respect to the connector of the storage medium reader / writer in a predetermined period based on a count value indicated by log information stored in the log information storage means;
11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a connector replacement time estimation unit that estimates a replacement time of the connector based on the average number of insertions / removals calculated by the calculation unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the connector replacement time estimated by the connector replacement time estimation unit is stored as log information in the log information storage unit. In a connector life determination method for an information processing apparatus that reads information from a storage medium inserted into a connector of a storage medium reader / writer and performs processing of the read information in an information processing unit.
Counting the number of insertions and withdrawals of the storage medium with respect to the connector of the storage medium reader / writer with a counting means,
Storing the count value of the counting means in the log information storage means as log information;
A connector life determination method for an information processing apparatus, wherein the life of the connector is determined based on log information stored in the log information storage means.

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