JP2006146694A - Design support program and design support method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the following problem of a conveyance mechanism for conveying a sheet-like conveyance body: it takes a very long time to specify cause of a defect of conveyance mechanism control software. <P>SOLUTION: A position of a virtual paper sheet conveyed by a virtual roller is calculated (S43), it is decided whether or not a virtual flapper branching a conveyance direction of the virtual paper sheet is present in a position from the front end to the rear end of the virtual paper sheet on the basis of the calculated position of the virtual paper sheet (S48), it is decided whether the virtual flapper operates or not (S49), and alarm display is performed on a display when deciding that the virtual flapper is present in the position from the front end to the rear end of the virtual paper sheet and deciding that the virtual flapper operates (S50). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a design support program and a design support method for supporting mechanism control design. More specifically, the present invention relates to a software design support program and a design support method for controlling a transport mechanism for transporting a sheet-shaped transport body.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sheet-like conveyance body such as paper (hereinafter simply referred to as paper) is conveyed in all fields. For example, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, paper is transported by a transport mechanism such as a roller or a guide.

  When transporting paper, in many cases it is rare to transport the paper in only one direction at a constant speed. For example, the position of the transport body is detected by a sensor and stopped at a predetermined position, or the roller is rotated in reverse. In most cases, the conveying direction is reversed. Therefore, when transporting paper, software for controlling the paper transport mechanism is indispensable.

  In addition, for example, recent image forming apparatuses are demanded to have high functions and high production. Accordingly, software for controlling the image forming apparatus has become complicated, and the number of steps for identifying and correcting the cause has increased due to the discovery of defects. Yes.

  Thus, with the recent improvement in computer performance, there are increasing opportunities to use simulation technology for transport mechanism design. For example, a system for calculating the behavior of paper by simulation and finding a latent defect in the transport mechanism has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

In addition, while mechanism simulation plays an active role in every situation, software verification for controlling the mechanism has also been proposed. For example, a design support method has been proposed in which an external event such as switching on / off or opening / closing of a cover is generated from an input device such as a keyboard to printer control software (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP-A-9-81600 JP-A-5-143260

  For example, consider the design of paper conveyance control in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.

  In this system, after the paper P is first transported in the direction of arrow 1 and transported in the direction of arrow 2, when the rear end of the paper P exceeds the branch point B, the specification is reversed in the directions of arrow 3 and arrow 4. To do. In this case, if the reversal of the paper P to the arrow 3 is fast, it will flow back to the path AB side, resulting in a paper jam. Conversely, if the timing is delayed, productivity decreases.

  A branch mechanism called a flapper is provided at the branch point B so that the paper P does not flow backward to the path AB. The flapper is connected to a solenoid for switching the conveyance direction. When the solenoid is turned off, the flapper faces the path AB, and when the solenoid is turned on, the flapper faces the path BD. For high productivity, after the trailing edge of the paper P passes through the branch point B, it is necessary to switch the direction at a position close to the branch point B.

  Here, it is assumed that the switching operation occurs after the paper P reaches the flapper after the flapper direction switching at the point B is delayed. In this case, sagging, tilting, and the like occur at the leading edge of the paper P, and this causes, for example, deviation or bending at the leading edge of the image when an image is formed on the paper P after being conveyed in the D direction. Further, when the flapper switching operation occurs before the trailing edge of the paper P passes through the branch point B, the paper P is often surfaced in the form of wrinkles or the like of the paper P without being jammed. Because of these problems, it is not preferable to perform the flapper switching operation while the paper P is passing over the flapper.

  When a phenomenon that does not cause a problem such as a clear paper jam actually occurs, it is very difficult to specify that the cause is the operation timing of the flapper. In the conventional transport control software verification while moving the actual control target, when such an unexpected phenomenon occurs, the state is first visually checked, and the control timing of the entire surrounding module where the phenomenon has occurred is verified. We took steps to identify the cause and analogize the cause. In particular, in the image forming apparatus, the reversing control is the most technically difficult part because it requires the highest timing accuracy among the paper transport controls.

  In the conventional technique such as Patent Document 1, although the cause of the malfunction that is latent in the mechanism can be identified, the software that actually controls the transport mechanism is not used for the verification work, so the cause of the malfunction that is latent in the software is identified. I couldn't. Further, in the technique of the conventional patent document 2, even if a malfunction that is latent in software can be found by brute force work, it is necessary to specify the cause in accordance with the conventional method, which is inefficient.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a design support method that solves the above-described problems and can efficiently verify the transport mechanism control software.

  In order to achieve the above object, a design support program according to the present invention is a computer-readable design support program that enables verification of processing operations of software that controls a transport mechanism. Whether there is a virtual branching mechanism that branches the transport direction of the virtual paper between the leading edge and the trailing edge of the virtual paper based on the calculation procedure for calculating the position and the virtual paper position calculated in the calculating procedure A first determination procedure for determining whether or not the virtual branch mechanism has operated, and the virtual branch between the leading edge and the trailing edge of the virtual paper in the first determination procedure. When it is determined that the mechanism exists and the virtual branch mechanism is operated in the second determination procedure, a warning is displayed on the display unit attached to the computer. A warning display procedure for, the characterized in that for causing the computer to execute.

  In addition, the design support method according to the present invention is a design support method that makes it possible to verify the processing operation of software that controls the transport mechanism using a computer, and that calculates the position of virtual paper transported by the virtual transport mechanism. First, it is determined whether there is a virtual branching mechanism that branches the transport direction of the virtual paper between the leading edge and the trailing edge of the virtual paper based on the procedure and the position of the virtual paper calculated in the calculation procedure. A determination procedure, a second determination procedure for determining whether or not the virtual branch mechanism has operated, and a determination that the virtual branch mechanism exists between the leading edge and the trailing edge of the virtual paper in the first determination procedure. And a warning display procedure for displaying a warning on a display unit attached to the computer when it is determined in the second determination procedure that the virtual branch mechanism has been operated. And butterflies.

  According to the present invention, when there is a malfunction in the mechanism control, the cause can be specified before the abnormality occurs, and the transport mechanism software can be verified efficiently.

  Hereinafter, a design support apparatus according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

  First, Example 1 will be described. In this embodiment, in the paper transport simulation, a warning is displayed when a virtual flapper switching timing error occurs during transport of virtual paper. Here, the expression “virtual” is used to indicate virtual paper and a flapper on the simulation.

  FIG. 1 shows a design support apparatus according to the present invention. The design support apparatus of the present embodiment is a paper transport simulator that can execute a paper transport simulation of the image forming apparatus on the operating system 3 of the personal computer. Also, it supports the control timing design of firmware software that controls the actual image forming apparatus, and enables verification of the processing operation of the firmware software.

  The design support apparatus according to this embodiment includes a software simulation unit 1, a mechanism simulation unit 2, an input monitoring unit 4, and a display control unit 5. Each is stored in the HDD in the personal computer and executed on the CPU in the personal computer. When executed, it is executed after being expanded on the RAM of the personal computer.

  The software simulation unit 1 virtually executes firmware software related to paper conveyance control on a personal computer (hereinafter, PC).

  The input monitoring unit 4 monitors inputs from a keyboard device or a mouse as a man-machine interface, and instructs the software simulation unit 1 to start executing the software simulation.

  The mechanism simulation unit 2 receives the execution result from the software simulation 1 and calculates in which part of the paper transport mechanism the virtual paper is present from the roller speed determined by the control by the firmware. The calculation result is passed to the software simulation unit 1 or the display control unit 5.

  FIG. 2 is a display example of the paper conveyance simulation screen W1 displayed on the display attached to the PC by the display control unit 5. On the paper transport simulation screen W1, the virtual paper transport path is represented by a dotted line, the virtual roller is represented by a circle, the virtual sensor is represented by a triangle, and the virtual paper is represented by a solid line P.

  FIG. 3 is an internal block diagram of the software simulation unit 1 and the mechanism simulation unit 2 of the design support apparatus of this embodiment.

  The software simulation unit 1 includes a firmware software unit 11, an input I / F unit 12, and an output I / F unit 13. The firmware software unit 11 is software that actually performs paper conveyance control of the image forming apparatus. The input I / F unit 12 is a part for inputting information from the mechanism simulation unit 2 to the firmware software unit 11 instead of the information from the actual image forming apparatus, and the output I / F unit 13 is generated by the firmware software unit 11 The information is output to the mechanism simulation unit 2 instead of being output to the actual image forming apparatus.

  The mechanism simulation unit 2 includes a paper position calculation unit 21, a device simulation unit 22, an input I / F unit 23, an output I / F unit 24, a path management unit 24, and a paper position display unit 25.

  The input I / F unit 23 is a part that receives an output result from the output I / F unit 13 of the software simulation unit 1, and provides control information of various devices such as a virtual motor, a virtual clutch, and a virtual flapper related to paper conveyance control in a subsequent stage. To pass to.

  The device simulation unit 22 changes the state and connection relationship of the internal virtual motor, virtual clutch, virtual roller, and virtual flapper based on information from the previous input I / F 23. Further, based on the position information of the virtual paper by the paper position calculation unit 21 described later, information corresponding to ON or OFF of the internal virtual sensor is generated and passed to the output I / F unit 24.

  The paper position calculation unit 21 calculates the leading edge position and the trailing edge position of the virtual paper corresponding to the information generated by the device simulation unit 22 and the paper conveyance path information selected by the path management unit 26 described later. The result is transferred to the paper position display unit 25 and simultaneously returned to the device simulation unit 22 to be reflected in the sensor output information and the like.

  The paper position display unit 25 causes the display control unit 5 to display the paper information on the paper conveyance simulation screen W1 based on the leading edge position and the trailing edge position of the virtual paper calculated by the preceding paper position calculation unit 21. Instruct.

  The output I / F unit 24 gives information corresponding to the sensor output information generated by the previous device simulation unit 22 to the input I / F unit 12 of the software simulation unit 1.

  The path management unit 26 determines a virtual transport path in which the virtual paper P is currently transported based on the virtual flapper OFF / ON information of the device simulation unit 22 and passes the path information to the paper position calculation unit. This path information includes information on the position and state of virtual sensors, virtual rollers, virtual flappers, etc. existing in the virtual transport path.

  FIG. 4 is an example of various device arrangements relating to paper conveyance control. A dotted arrow indicates a driving relationship. In this arrangement, it is assumed that the firmware software unit 11 to be designed for is required to perform the following control, and the operation of the simulator will be described according to the flow. FIG. 5 shows an example of a flowchart to be executed by the firmware software unit 11 of this embodiment.

  When the virtual paper P reaches the predetermined position, the virtual motor M1 is turned on (S01), and the virtual clutch CL1 is turned on (S02). The virtual roller R1 starts to rotate, and the virtual paper P is conveyed on the virtual path AB.

  The system waits for the virtual sensor S1 to be turned on (S03). When the virtual sensor S1 is turned on, the virtual flapper FL1 is turned off and the transport path is switched in the ABC direction (S04). The virtual paper P is conveyed in the BC direction.

  Wait until the leading edge of the virtual paper P reaches 10 mm before the virtual roller R2 (S05), and start normal rotation of the virtual motor M2 (S06). The virtual paper P is further conveyed on the virtual path BC by the virtual roller R2.

  Wait until the rear end of the virtual paper P passes the branch point B and passes 5 mm (S07), stops the virtual motor M2, turns on the virtual flapper FL1 (S08), and switches the transport path to the CBD direction. The reverse rotation of the virtual motor M2 is started (S09). The virtual paper P is conveyed in the BD direction by the virtual roller R2.

  When the designer instructs the start of the paper conveyance simulation from the man-machine interface of the personal computer, the software simulation unit 1 and the mechanism simulation unit 2 are executed via the input monitoring unit 4. When the software simulation unit 1 is started, the firm software unit 11 sequentially executes software for performing paper conveyance control of the actual image forming apparatus according to the algorithm of FIG.

  When the rotation process of the virtual motor M1 is started by the firmware software unit 11, the simulation operation is executed in the mechanism simulation unit 2 as follows.

  First, an ID number for specifying the virtual motor M1, a rotation speed, and a command indicating the rotation direction are given to the input I / F unit 23 of the mechanism simulation unit 2 via the output I / F unit 12. The input I / F unit 23 interprets the command and passes it to the device simulation unit 22.

  The device simulation unit 22 starts a calculation corresponding to the rotation of the virtual motor M1, searches for a virtual roller or a virtual clutch to which the virtual motor M1 is driving, an internal virtual roller corresponding to the rotation speed and the rotation direction, or the like. Pass to the virtual clutch. In this example, based on the ON / OFF information of the virtual clutch CL1, it is determined whether or not the information on the rotation speed and the rotation direction is to be passed to the virtual roller R1.

  On the other hand, the paper position calculation unit 21 calculates the positions of the leading edge and the trailing edge of the virtual paper P at a predetermined time interval t. First, the path information of the virtual path AB including the leading edge to the trailing edge of the virtual paper P is read from the path management unit 26.

  Based on the virtual roller ID in the virtual path and the position information included in the path information, the paper position calculation unit 21 is found on the most front side among the virtual rollers existing from the front end position of the virtual paper P to the rear end. The device simulation unit 22 is inquired about the speed v of the virtual roller R1. A distance S = v × t traveled by the virtual paper P between the obtained speed v and time interval t is obtained, and the position of the virtual paper P is updated. The updated position information is transferred to the paper position display unit 25 and sequentially displayed on the paper transport simulation screen W1.

  At the same time, the paper position calculation unit 21 obtains information indicating that the virtual sensor S1 existing from the front end position to the rear end of the virtual paper P is ON based on the sensor ID and the position information in the virtual path included in the path information. It passes to the simulation unit 22. Further, in a state where the rear end of the virtual paper P passes through the virtual sensor S1, the OFF information of the virtual sensor S1 is passed to the device simulation unit 22.

  The device simulation unit 22 holds the ON / OFF state of the virtual sensor S <b> 1 and outputs virtual sensor state information to the output I / F unit 24. The output I / F unit 24 converts the status information of the virtual sensor S1 into a command and outputs the command to the input I / F unit 12 of the software simulation unit 1.

  The firmware software unit 11 receives ON information of the virtual sensor S1 from the input I / F unit 12, and starts control of the virtual flapper FL1. Hereinafter, the command transmission to the mechanism simulation unit 2 is almost the same as that of the virtual motor M1. Upon receiving the control command of the virtual flapper FL1, the device simulation unit 22 in the mechanism simulation 2 executes a virtual flapper switching operation of the corresponding ID and passes the information to the path management unit 26.

  When the leading edge of the virtual paper P reaches the branch point B in the paper position calculation unit 21, the next virtual path is read from the path management unit 26. The path management unit 26 determines whether the traveling direction of the virtual paper P is the virtual path BC or the virtual path BD according to the switching state of the virtual flapper FL1, and changes the path information returned to the paper position calculation unit 21. .

  In the system described above, for example, due to a design error, the timing at which the firmware software unit 11 turns off the virtual flapper FL1 in S04 in FIG. 5 is delayed, and the switching control is executed in a state where the virtual paper P has reached the tip of the virtual flapper FL1. Think about the case.

  When such an operation is executed in an actual image forming apparatus, the virtual flapper FL1 is initially directed to the virtual path BD side, so the virtual paper P advances straight to the left without passing in the BC direction even after passing through the virtual sensor S1. . If the timing for switching FL1 is very late, the virtual paper P passes through the virtual path BC and stops in a paper jam state. However, if the virtual flapper FL1 is switched before the leading edge of the virtual paper P crosses the BD line, The path of the virtual paper P is switched to the BC side on the way, and it is expected that the virtual paper P is conveyed in the BC direction with its leading end bent or bent.

  In this case, the switching timing of S05 and S07 in the firmware software unit 10 is measured by the elapsed time from the change in the state of the virtual sensor S1 without the detection means by the virtual sensor, so the actual paper position for the deflection. An error occurs between

  FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the paper position calculation unit 21 for detecting this phenomenon. The paper position calculation unit 21 performs a calculation at a predetermined time interval t (S40). First, information on a device on a virtual path that exists from the leading edge to the trailing edge of the virtual paper P is acquired from the path management unit 26 (S41), and a virtual roller that transports the virtual paper P exists on the virtual path. In (S42), the paper conveyance speed v of the corresponding virtual roller is acquired from the path information. A distance S = v × t traveled by the virtual paper P is obtained from the paper transport speed v and the time interval t, and the position of the virtual paper P is calculated and updated (S43). If there is no virtual roller on the virtual path, the virtual paper does not move and the control is terminated.

  Next, when the virtual sensor is newly turned on or off on the virtual path during the time t from the previous control to the current control (S44, S46), the device simulation unit 22 stores the virtual sensor. A status change is notified (S45, S47).

  Further, it is obtained from the path information whether there is a device (virtual flapper in this example) that changes the transport direction of the virtual paper on the virtual path, and based on the position of the virtual paper P calculated in S43, the virtual paper It is determined whether a virtual flapper exists between the front end and the rear end of P (S48).

  A virtual flapper exists in the virtual paper P transport path from the leading edge to the trailing edge of the virtual paper P, and state change control is performed from the firmware software 11 during the processing interval time t. When the state of the virtual flapper changes and the virtual flapper operates (S49), the paper position calculation unit 21 considers that the control error described above has occurred, and displays a warning as shown in FIG. 7 (S50). Then, the paper conveyance operation is stopped.

  The updated position information and warning information are transferred to the paper position display unit 25 and displayed on the paper transport simulation screen W1. Further, the change in the virtual sensor output accompanying the change in the paper position in S45 and S46 is passed to the output I / F unit 24. The output I / F unit 24 outputs the output change information to the input I / F unit 12 of the software simulation unit 1.

  As described above, in the design support method of the present embodiment, since it is possible to detect that the branch timing error of the virtual flapper FL1 has occurred and to notify the designer, it is possible to immediately identify the malfunction due to the error of S04. Can do.

  In debugging using an actual conveyance mechanism, the virtual paper P is forcibly pulled out from the virtual flapper FL1 by the virtual roller R2, and the paper does not become jammed but wrinkles on the paper, and the cause is unknown. The cause of such a failure can be easily identified.

  In this embodiment, an example of a virtual flapper is given as an example of a device that changes the transport direction of the virtual paper P. However, a device that affects the operation of the virtual paper by changing the state during paper transport on the device is limited to the virtual flapper. Absent. For example, in the virtual roller R1 of FIG. 4, it is assumed that the virtual clutch CL1 is operated while the virtual paper P is engaged with the virtual roller R1 during the paper transport operation, and the virtual roller R1 is stopped. At this time, since the virtual paper P slides slightly, a position error occurs in the process of calculating the position on the assumption of a constant speed as shown in FIG. Therefore, it is effective to alert the designer by giving a warning when the virtual clutch CL1 is turned on and off while the virtual paper P is engaged with the virtual roller R1.

  Unlike the virtual flapper, the virtual clutch CL1 may perform an on / off operation in a state where the virtual paper P is deliberately bitten, such as jamming or forced conveyance stop when the door is open. Therefore, when such a forced processing sequence is executed, more accurate error detection processing can be performed, for example, by not issuing a warning.

  In addition, there are devices that do not cause slight positional shifts or bends due to timing shifts, such as around the image formation, and devices that do not cause paper jams, such as a paper discharge unit. Therefore, by setting a device that issues a warning and a device that does not issue before the simulation starts, it is possible to perform a more detailed operation check operation.

  An example of the setting screen is shown in FIG. For each device, the “in-path operation warning” switch is set to On or Off. In the case of On setting, the change operation is performed between the leading edge and the trailing edge of the virtual paper according to the above embodiment. Control to issue a warning.

  The warning display is not limited to the form of the present embodiment. For example, the color or shape of the branch point B is changed, enlarged, or a marker is displayed on the paper conveyance simulation screen W1 in FIG. There are various ways to call attention to designers.

  In an actual apparatus, a solenoid or the like is used to drive the flapper. In this case, there is a delay of several tens to several hundreds msec from when the firmware software unit 11 issues an instruction for switching the flapper direction to when the solenoid actually operates and the switching of the flapper direction is completed.

  Therefore, in the first embodiment, the warning is performed only when the virtual paper P exists on the virtual device. However, considering the delay, the flapper control stops the operation from several tens of milliseconds before the virtual paper P reaches. Is desirable. On the other hand, even if the control signal is input several tens of milliseconds before the virtual paper P comes out of the device position, the virtual paper P will actually operate after the virtual paper P comes out, so there is no need to warn and end abnormally. .

  FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of the paper position control in the second embodiment. After notifying on / off information of the virtual sensor, the virtual transport amount Δ when transported at the speed v of the virtual roller R1 from the current paper position for the operation delay time t0 of the virtual flapper is calculated by Δ = t0 * v, Information on whether or not there is a flapper at the correction position advanced Δ from the current paper position is acquired from the path information (S80, S81).

  When a new virtual flapper is detected at this correction position, if the virtual flapper is instructed to be turned on or off at this time, the virtual flapper is activated when the virtual paper P reaches the virtual flapper position. Therefore, a warning is issued. Further, when the virtual flapper disappears at the correction position, even if an instruction is given to the virtual flapper at that time, the virtual paper P starts to move after the virtual flapper position has passed, so no warning is issued.

  In this way, by performing the calculation in consideration of the delay, it is possible for the designer to implement a highly efficient operation that is more practical, and to confirm the operation.

  In the above description, the operation delay time t0 is set to a fixed value in advance. However, it is possible to make the behavior closer to the actual behavior by setting for each device. In FIG. 9, the delay time from the command reception to the actual state change is input in units of msec for each device. By executing the simulation after setting, each device has an independent operation delay time. It is possible to check the operation including the influence.

  In the above embodiment, when a device such as a virtual flapper in contact with the virtual paper P is operated, in addition to the warning display, the timing between the timing at which the operation of the virtual paper P is not affected and the timing at which the virtual paper P is actually operated It is also possible to calculate and display the time error. FIG. 10 shows an example of a warning display in the third embodiment.

FIG. 11 shows an example of timing error calculation. A point of time when the leading edge of the virtual paper P being conveyed in the AB direction reaches the leading edge position of the virtual flapper FL1 is represented by O. In order to perform switching at a timing at which the virtual paper P does not reach the virtual flapper, where X is the leading edge position of the virtual paper P when the virtual flapper direction actually changes and Y is the trailing edge position,
ΔT1 = (distance between OX / v) (v: speed of roller R1)
Shift the switching earlier than the current switching timing by the time represented by
ΔT2 = (distance between YO / v) + Δ
It is necessary to delay the current switching timing by the time represented by.

  FIG. 10 shows an example in which ΔT1 = 100 msec and ΔT2 = 1000 msec. This display allows the user to understand at a glance how much the timing should be shifted in order to perform a normal operation.

  In the above embodiment, when a device such as a virtual flapper that is in contact with the virtual paper P is operated, the maximum predicted displacement amount of the virtual paper P that can be considered by operating the device instead of abnormally terminating after the warning display Can be calculated and displayed on the warning screen, and the operation can be continued. By operating the virtual paper P by shifting it by the calculated shift amount ΔP, it is possible to confirm what kind of influence will occur on the control operation after this phenomenon occurs, or there is an image positional shift whose cause is unknown in an actual apparatus. When it occurs, it can provide an effective means for identifying the cause. FIG. 12 shows an example of warning display in the fourth embodiment.

  FIG. 13 is an example of the calculation of the maximum deviation prediction value. A state is considered in which the control value of the flapper virtual FL1 is changed from 1 to 0 while the virtual paper P being conveyed in the AB direction is applied to the virtual flapper FL1, and the virtual paper P is turned while being distorted. At this time, it is considered that the influence of the deviation of the leading edge position of the virtual paper P is greatest when the leading edge of the virtual paper P is caught by the virtual flapper and pushed back to the virtual flapper leading edge position after the movement. The shift amount ΔP at this time is obtained by ΔP = (Δt * v). Here, Δt is the time from when the leading edge of the virtual paper P reaches the inflection point X when the flapper control value is 0 until the virtual flapper finishes the operation, and v is the virtual roller R1 carrying the virtual paper P. Speed.

  In this example, when the device operation on the virtual paper path is detected in the paper position calculation unit 21, the maximum deviation amount predicted value ΔP is calculated and displayed together with a warning. Check that there is no influence from jamming in the later stage.

Diagram showing design support device Example of paper transport simulation screen display Internal block diagram of software simulation unit 1 and mechanism simulation unit 2 Examples of various device arrangements related to paper transport control for simulation An example of a flowchart of paper conveyance control in the firmware software unit 11 Calculation flowchart of the paper position calculation unit 21 Example of warning screen Flow chart of paper position control in the second embodiment Example of setting screen for each device An example of the warning display in Example 3 is shown. Example of timing deviation calculation An example of the warning display in Example 4 is shown. Example of calculation of predicted maximum deviation Example of simulation target in conventional example

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Software simulation part 2 Mechanism simulation part 3 Operating system part 4 Input monitoring part 5 Display control part 11 Firm software part 12 Input I / F part 13 Output I / F part 21 Paper position calculation part 22 Device simulation part 23 Input I / F Section 24 Output I / F section 25 Paper position display section 26 Path management section CL1 Virtual clutch FL1 Virtual flapper M1 Virtual motor M2 Virtual motor P Virtual paper R1 Virtual roller R2 Virtual roller W1 Paper conveyance simulation screen

Claims (7)

In a computer-readable design support program that enables verification of the processing operation of software that controls the transport mechanism,
A calculation procedure for calculating the position of the virtual paper transported by the virtual transport mechanism;
First determination procedure for determining whether there is a virtual branching mechanism that branches the transport direction of virtual paper between the leading edge and the trailing edge of the virtual paper based on the position of the virtual paper calculated in the calculation procedure When,
A second determination procedure for determining whether or not the virtual branch mechanism has operated;
If it is determined in the first determination procedure that the virtual branching mechanism exists between the leading edge and the trailing edge of the virtual paper, and if it is determined that the virtual branching mechanism has been operated in the second determination procedure, A warning display procedure for displaying a warning on a display attached to the computer;
A design support program for causing a computer to execute A delay time setting procedure for presetting a delay time from when the virtual drive mechanism that drives the virtual transport mechanism is requested to drive until the drive mechanism actually finishes driving;
A correction position calculation procedure for calculating a correction position that is a criterion for determining whether or not the virtual branch mechanism exists based on the delay time set in the delay time setting procedure;
The design support program according to claim 1, wherein the first determination procedure determines whether or not a virtual branch mechanism exists based on the correction position calculated in the correction position calculation procedure.   In the warning display procedure, it is determined that the virtual branch mechanism exists between the leading edge and the rear edge of the virtual paper in the first determination procedure, and the virtual branch mechanism is operated in the second determination procedure. The design support program according to claim 1, wherein when it is determined, the amount of deviation from the scheduled operation of the virtual paper caused by the operation is displayed.   The warning display procedure determines that the virtual branching mechanism exists between the leading edge and the trailing edge of the virtual paper in the first determination procedure, and the virtual branching mechanism operates in the second determination procedure. The design support program according to claim 1, wherein when it is determined, the amount of deviation from the normal value of the timing at which the drive mechanism is actually driven is displayed.   The design support program according to claim 1, further comprising a first warning display setting procedure for setting, for each virtual branch mechanism, whether or not to perform warning display in the warning display procedure.   A second warning display setting procedure for setting, for each virtual connection mechanism that connects the virtual transport mechanism and the virtual drive mechanism that drives the virtual transport mechanism, whether or not to perform warning display in the warning display procedure; The design support program according to claim 1. In a design support method that enables a computer to verify the processing operation of software that controls the transport mechanism,
A calculation procedure for calculating the position of the virtual paper transported by the virtual transport mechanism;
First determination procedure for determining whether there is a virtual branching mechanism that branches the transport direction of virtual paper between the leading edge and the trailing edge of the virtual paper based on the position of the virtual paper calculated in the calculation procedure When,
A second determination procedure for determining whether or not the virtual branch mechanism has operated;
If it is determined in the first determination procedure that the virtual branching mechanism exists between the leading edge and the trailing edge of the virtual paper, and if it is determined that the virtual branching mechanism has been operated in the second determination procedure, A warning display procedure for displaying a warning on a display attached to the computer;
A design support method characterized by comprising:

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