JP2010010825A - Image-forming device, state management system of image-forming device, and state discrimination method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transmit each of a plurality of mutually different kinds of pieces of state information, with frequency which is suitable for each of the kinds, from an image-forming device to a management device, such as a state discriminating device. <P>SOLUTION: A copying machine 101 is communicably connected to the managing device 104 for managing state information indicating the state of a copying machine via a communications network. When a state information acquisition section 111 acquires the state information of each developing device, a transmission timing decision section 114 determines whether a condition that the rotational speed of each developing device is to exceed each threshold is satisfied, at a timing, when the rotational speed exceeds the threshold, a state information transmitting section 113 transmits the state information of the developing device to the management device via the communications network. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention manages a status information indicating a status of an image forming apparatus, and a communication network for a management apparatus that determines whether the status of the image forming apparatus is abnormal based on the status information as necessary. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that is communicably connected via a network, a state management system thereof, and a state determination method.

As this type of status management system, for example, a system in which various status information output from an image forming apparatus is received by a management device (state determination device) via a communication network is known.
For example, in Patent Document 1, failure occurrence information of each image forming apparatus and status information at that time are collected in a server (management apparatus) on a communication network, and a cause common to a specific failure in statistical processing by the server A state management system for discovering is disclosed.
Further, for example, Patent Document 2 discloses a state in which sensor information (status information) on an image forming apparatus is once aggregated in a server (management apparatus) and a cause of failure is identified by using abundant computer resources of the server. A management system is disclosed.
Also, for example, in Patent Document 3, when a plurality of image forming apparatuses and a host machine (management apparatus) are connected to each other via the Internet and the host machine receives an abnormal state notification from the image forming apparatus, Is instructed to notify periodic operation information (status information) at a communication interval α shorter than the initial communication interval β until a predetermined date and time is reached, and to a copier that is not in an abnormal state. Discloses a state management system that instructs to periodically notify operation information at a communication interval γ longer than the initial communication interval β until a predetermined date and time is reached.
Further, for example, in Patent Document 4, a plurality of image forming apparatuses and a management apparatus (management apparatus) are connected to each other via a network, and the operation state of the image forming apparatus is appropriate based on the output of sensor means. It is determined whether it is in a state or an improper state. In the proper state, in each improper state, in a second transmission period predetermined for each second period shorter than the first period, A state management system that transmits management information (state information) indicating contents to a management apparatus is disclosed.

JP-A-5-164800 JP 11-65874 A JP-A-2005-242564 JP-A-3-27062

  In the status information of the image forming apparatus, there are mixed types of status information whose contents frequently change and types of status information which do not change so much. For example, in a developing device in an electrophotographic color image forming apparatus, in general, a black developing device is driven regardless of whether the output image is monochrome or color, while other color developing devices are driven when the output image is color. However, it is not driven in the case of monochrome. Therefore, under use conditions where the output frequency of monochrome images is high, the status information related to driving of the black developing device changes frequently, but the status information related to driving of the developing devices of other colors does not change much. For the type of status information whose contents change frequently, increase the collection frequency to improve the processing accuracy of various processes using the status information, or check the abnormal status if the processing is an abnormality determination process. It is desirable to reduce the number of cases to escape. On the other hand, for the type of status information whose contents do not change much, even if the collection frequency is increased, the processing accuracy of various processes using the status information is increased, and the number of cases where an abnormal state is overlooked is reduced. I cannot expect much effect. Therefore, it is preferable to reduce the collection frequency of the state information whose contents do not change so much in consideration of the load of the communication network, the image forming apparatus, and the management apparatus.

  Further, when the abnormality determination process is performed by the management apparatus, there are various types of abnormal states that can be determined, and the occurrence probabilities of various abnormal states vary from high to low. In determining an abnormal state with a high probability of occurrence, in order to reduce the number of cases where an abnormal state is missed, it is preferable to collect state information of a type for determining the abnormal state at a high frequency. On the other hand, regarding the determination of abnormal states with a low probability of occurrence, there are few cases in which abnormal states are overlooked from the beginning, so the abnormal states are determined in consideration of the load on the communication network, image forming device, and management device (state determination device). It is preferable to reduce the collection frequency of the type of status information.

  However, the conventional status management system transmits a plurality of status information of different types from the image forming apparatus to the management apparatus at the same frequency. Therefore, in the conventional state management system, it is not possible to change the state information collection frequency according to the types of state information having different degrees of change or the types of abnormal states having different failure probabilities.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and the object of the present invention is to manage each of a plurality of different types of status information from the image forming apparatus to the status discriminating apparatus at a frequency suitable for the type. To provide an image forming apparatus that enables transmission to an apparatus, a state management system thereof, and a state determination method.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a plurality of types of image forming apparatuses that are communicably connected via a communication network to a management apparatus that manages state information indicating the state of the image forming apparatus. A plurality of types of status information acquisition means for acquiring the status information, and the plurality of types of status information acquired by the status information acquisition means according to a predetermined determination condition so as to be transmitted to the management device at different timings. A transmission timing determining means for determining the transmission timing of each of the status information, and a plurality of types of status information acquired by the status information acquiring means at each transmission timing determined by the transmission timing determining means via the communication network. It has a status information transmission means for transmitting to the management device.
The invention of claim 2 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising drive time related information acquisition means for acquiring drive time related information for grasping drive times of a plurality of internal devices in the image forming apparatus. The status information acquisition unit acquires status information about the plurality of internal devices, and the transmission timing determination unit determines that each value of the drive time related information acquired by the drive time related information acquisition unit is The transmission timing of the state information of the internal device corresponding to the driving time related information changed beyond the threshold is determined based on the timing changed beyond the predetermined threshold.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect, each of the plurality of internal devices includes a plurality of rotating bodies that can rotate independently of each other, and obtains the driving time related information. The means is characterized in that the rotational drive information of the plurality of rotating bodies is acquired as drive time related information in the corresponding internal device.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the state information transmitting unit includes the state information for at least one of the plurality of types of state information. Is transmitted together with other information to be transmitted to the management device that is not included in the plurality of types of status information.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the operation accepting unit that accepts an operation and the condition change operation accepted by the operation accepting unit And a condition changing means for changing a predetermined determination condition.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, a condition change information receiving means for receiving condition change information via a communication network, and the condition change information reception. And a condition changing means for changing the predetermined determination condition according to the condition change information received by the means.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus of the sixth aspect, a usage status information acquisition unit for acquiring usage status information of the image forming apparatus, and environmental information of the image forming apparatus are acquired. An environment information acquisition unit; and an information transmission unit that transmits the usage status information and the environment information to the management apparatus via a communication network at a predetermined timing. The condition change information reception unit includes the information transmission unit. The condition change information for each of the plurality of types of state information determined based on the probability of occurrence of a plurality of types of failure calculated from the usage status information and environment information transmitted by the user is received via the communication network. It is characterized by.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a state management system in which an image forming apparatus and a management apparatus are communicably connected to each other via a communication network, and the image forming apparatus includes a plurality of types of states of the image forming apparatus. Status information acquisition means for acquiring a plurality of types of status information respectively indicating transmission status, transmission timing determination means for determining the transmission timing of each of the plurality of types of status information acquired by the status information acquisition means according to a predetermined determination condition, A plurality of types of status information acquired by the status information acquisition means, each having a transmission timing determined by the transmission timing determination means, and a status information transmission means for transmitting to the management device via the communication network, The management apparatus receives a plurality of types of status information transmitted by the status information transmission unit of the image forming apparatus via a communication network. And status information receiving unit, is characterized in that it has a status information storage means for storing a plurality of types of state information the state information received by the receiving means.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the status management system according to the eighth aspect, the image forming apparatus includes a usage status information acquisition unit for acquiring usage status information of the image forming apparatus, and an environment of the image forming apparatus. Environment information acquisition means for acquiring information, information transmission means for transmitting the usage status information and the environment information to the management apparatus via a communication network at a predetermined timing, and condition change information via the communication network Condition change information receiving means for receiving, and condition change means for changing the predetermined determination condition in accordance with the condition change information received by the condition change information receiving means, wherein the management apparatus is information on the image forming apparatus Information receiving means for receiving usage status information and environment information transmitted by the transmitting means via a communication network, and status information stored in the status information storage means Based on the determination means for determining whether or not the state of the image forming apparatus is abnormal, and when determining that the determination means is abnormal, the occurrence probability of the type of failure corresponding to the abnormal state, Failure occurrence probability calculating means that is calculated based on usage status information and environmental information received by the information receiving means, and corresponding to the type of failure based on the occurrence probability of the type of failure calculated by the failure occurrence probability calculating means Determining means for determining the transmission timing of the type of status information to be transmitted, and condition change information for setting the transmission timing of the type of status information to the transmission timing determined by the determination means via the communication network And a condition change information transmitting means for transmitting to.
Further, the invention according to claim 10 is the state management system according to claim 9, wherein the determination means has a type corresponding to the type of failure as the occurrence probability of the type of failure calculated by the failure occurrence probability calculation means increases. The transmission timing of the type of state information is determined so that the transmission frequency of the state information is increased.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication network for the state determination device that determines whether or not the state of the image forming apparatus is abnormal based on the state information used to determine the state of the image forming apparatus. A state determination method for an image forming apparatus that is communicably connected via a state information transmitting step of transmitting a plurality of types of state information in the image forming apparatus to the state determination apparatus via a communication network; and Based on the information transmission step of transmitting usage status information and environmental information in the image forming apparatus to the state determination device via a communication network at a predetermined timing, and a plurality of types of state information transmitted in the state information transmission step A determination step of determining whether or not the state of the image forming apparatus is abnormal by the state determination device; and A failure occurrence probability calculating step for calculating the occurrence probability of the type of failure corresponding to the abnormal state based on the usage status information and the environment information transmitted in the information transmitting step, and the type calculated in the failure occurrence probability calculating step A transmission timing determination step for determining the transmission timing of the type of state information corresponding to the type of failure based on the occurrence probability of the failure, and in the state information transmission step, the plurality of types of state information are Each transmission timing determined in the transmission timing determination step is transmitted to the state determination device via a communication network.

  In the present invention, the transmission timings of the plurality of types of status information acquired by the status information acquisition means can be set to different timings between the types of status information according to a predetermined determination condition. Therefore, by appropriately setting the predetermined determination condition, each type of status information can be transmitted from the image forming apparatus to a management apparatus such as a status determination apparatus at a frequency suitable for the type.

  According to the present invention, each of a plurality of types of status information different from each other can be transmitted from the image forming apparatus to a management device such as a status determination device at a frequency suitable for the type. It is possible to obtain an excellent effect that it is possible.

[Embodiment 1]
Hereinafter, the present invention is a failure prediction as a state determination system comprising an electrophotographic copying machine as an image forming apparatus and a management device and a terminal device managed and operated by a provider (manufacturer) of the copying machine. An embodiment applied to the system (hereinafter, this embodiment is referred to as “Embodiment 1”) will be described.
The failure prediction system according to the present embodiment analyzes state information periodically transmitted from a plurality of copying machines by a state information analysis unit as a determination unit of a management device, and when a failure is predicted, a terminal device in a service center It is a system that sends maintenance information to the system. The terminal device may be a device carried by a service person or a stationary device installed at a service base.
In this embodiment, a failure prediction system for predicting a failure of a copying machine will be described as an example. However, the same applies to other systems such as a failure diagnosis system as long as the system analyzes state information. is there.

First, the overall configuration of the failure prediction system according to the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the entire failure prediction system according to the present embodiment.
Each of the plurality of copying machines 101 is installed in a use place such as a user's office, and is installed in a management center via a communication network including a data communication apparatus 102 and a communication line 103, respectively. Connected to the management device 104. The management apparatus 104 is also connected to a terminal apparatus 106 provided at each service center (service base) via a communication line 105. The communication lines 103 and 105 can be configured by a line network such as a LAN, WAN, or telephone line, and the Internet can also be used.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the management apparatus according to the present embodiment.
In FIG. 2, since the management device 104 is a computer, the management device 104 includes a display 104a, a keyboard 104b, a program reading device (specifically, FDD) 104c, an arithmetic processing device 104d, and the like. The arithmetic processing unit 104d includes a CPU 104e capable of executing various commands, an information storage unit (RAM 104f, ROM 104g), a DISK (which means a fixed disk here) 104h, which is a large-capacity storage device, and a network. A network interface card (NIC) 104i that communicates with other devices, and an I / O controller (equipped with a USB, SCSI port, etc.) 104j for exchanging information with peripheral devices. The DISK 104h in the figure stores each program for predicting a failure. The information storage unit may be configured by a hard disk, a flash memory, or the like in addition to the RAM 104f and the ROM 104g. Since various status information collected via the network is recorded for many copying machines 101 including past histories, the amount of data becomes enormous. Since it is necessary to configure so that each program can commonly access the status information data of each copier 101, the data is preferably managed and configured as a database independent of the program. In the present embodiment, the database and the part for executing the program are configured by a single management device 104, but the database may be separated and configured separately from the management device 104 as a database server.

Next, a configuration example and operation of the copying machine will be described.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the main part of the copying machine.
The present copying machine includes a control unit 1 as a control unit that controls the entire copying machine, and the control unit 1 includes a CPU 1a as a calculation unit and an information storage unit. The information storage unit is composed of RAM, ROM, HDD (Hard Disk Drive), etc. for storing data, and in this embodiment, for example, system OS, copy, facsimile, various control programs necessary for the printer process, printer PDL, etc. (Page Description Language) This is composed of a processing system, a ROM 1b that stores initial setting values of the system, a RAM 1c for work memory, and the like. The operation display unit 3 includes a display unit configured by a liquid crystal display or the like for displaying character information or the like, or an operation unit as an operation reception unit that receives input information from an operator through a numeric keypad or the like and sends the input information to the control unit 1. Has been. The operation unit includes a touch panel, buttons, switches and the like operated by a user or the like. Although not shown, when the copying machine has a facsimile function, it also has a line control unit (modular jack, NCU, that is, Network Control Unit).

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a copying machine which is an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system according to the present embodiment.
The image forming system 6 as an image forming unit of the copying machine includes a printer unit 100 which is a copying machine body, a paper feeding unit 200, a scanner unit 300, and a document conveying unit 400. The scanner unit 300 is mounted on the printer unit 100, and a document transport unit 400 including an automatic document transport device (ADF) is mounted on the scanner unit 300. Further, the control unit 1 described above for controlling the operation of each apparatus in the copying machine is also provided.

  The scanner unit 300 reads the image information of the document placed on the contact glass 32 by the reading sensor 36 and sends the read image information to the control unit. Based on the image information received from the scanner unit 300, the control unit controls a laser, an LED, and the like (not shown) disposed in the exposure device 21 of the printer unit 100 to face the photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C. Then, the laser writing light L is irradiated. By this irradiation, electrostatic latent images are formed on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C, and the latent images are developed into toner images through a predetermined development process.

  In addition to the exposure device 21, the printer unit 100 includes a primary transfer device 62, a secondary transfer device 22, a fixing device 25, a paper discharge device, a toner supply device (not shown), a toner supply device, and the like. The development process will be described in detail later.

  The paper feeding unit 200 separates the fed paper cassettes 44 provided in multiple stages in the paper bank 43, the paper feeding rollers 42 for feeding transfer paper as a recording medium from the paper feeding cassettes, and the fed transfer paper P to the paper feeding path 46. A separation roller 45, a conveyance roller 47 that conveys the transfer paper P to the paper feed path 48 of the printer unit 100, and the like are provided. In the apparatus of the present embodiment, manual paper feeding is also possible in addition to the paper feeding unit, and the manual feed tray 51 for manual feeding and the transfer paper P on the manual tray are directed toward the manual paper feed path 53. A separation roller 52 for separating the sheets one by one is also provided on the side of the apparatus. The registration roller 49 discharges only one sheet of transfer paper P placed on the paper feed cassette 44 or the manual feed tray 51, and is positioned between the intermediate transfer belt 10 as the intermediate transfer member and the secondary transfer device 22. To the secondary transfer nip.

In the above configuration, when copying a color image, the document is set on the document table 30 of the document conveying unit 400 or the document conveying unit 400 is opened and the document is set on the contact glass 32 of the scanner unit 300. The document feeder 400 is closed and the document is pressed. When a start switch (not shown) is pressed, the original is conveyed onto the contact glass 32 when the original is set on the original conveying unit 400, and immediately after the original is set on the other contact glass 32, the scanner unit 300 is driven to travel on the first traveling body 33 and the second traveling body 34. Then, the first traveling body 33 emits light from the light source and further reflects the reflected light from the document surface toward the second traveling body 34, and is reflected by the mirror of the second traveling body 34 and passes through the imaging lens 35. It puts in the reading sensor 36 and reads image information. When image information is received from the scanner unit, a laser image as described above or a development process described later is performed to form a toner image on the photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C, and according to the image information. One of the four registration rollers is operated to feed the transfer paper P having a different size.
Along with this, one of the support rollers 14, 15, 16 is rotated by a drive motor (not shown), the other two support rollers are driven to rotate, and the intermediate transfer belt 10 is rotated and conveyed. At the same time, the photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C are rotated by the individual image forming units 18 to form black, yellow, magenta, and cyan single-color images on the photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C, respectively. Form. Then, along with the conveyance of the intermediate transfer belt 10, the monochrome images are sequentially transferred to form a composite color image on the intermediate transfer belt 10.

  On the other hand, one of the paper feed rollers 42 of the paper feed unit 200 is selectively rotated, the transfer paper P is fed out from one of the paper feed cassettes 44, separated one by one by the separation roller 45, and put into the paper feed path 46. The transfer roller P is guided to the paper feed path 48 in the printer unit 100 by the conveyance roller 47, and the transfer paper P is abutted against the registration roller 49 and stopped. Alternatively, the sheet feeding roller 50 is rotated to feed the transfer paper P on the manual feed tray 51, separated one by one by the separation roller 52, put into the manual sheet feed path 53, and abutted against the registration roller 49 and stopped. Then, the registration roller 49 is rotated in synchronization with the composite color image on the intermediate transfer belt 10, and the transfer paper P is sent to the secondary transfer nip portion where the intermediate transfer belt and the secondary transfer roller 23 are in contact with each other. The color image is secondarily transferred by the influence of the transfer electric field formed in the nip, the contact pressure, and the like, and the color image is recorded on the transfer paper P.

  After the image transfer, the transfer paper P is fed to the fixing device 25 by the transport belt 24 of the secondary transfer device, and after fixing the toner image by applying pressure and heat by the pressure roller 27 by the fixing device 25, it is discharged. The paper is discharged onto a paper discharge tray 57 by a roller 56.

Next, details of the printer unit 100 in the copier of the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a main part of the printer unit 100. The printer unit 100 is provided side by side with an intermediate transfer belt 10 instructed by three support rollers 14, 15, and 16 as an intermediate transfer belt so as to face the intermediate transfer belt, and has black, yellow, magenta, and cyan on the surface. Four photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C as latent image carriers each carrying one of the color toner images, and a developing unit 61Bk as developing means for forming a toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum. , 61Y, 61M, 61C. Further, photosensitive member cleaning devices 63Bk, 63Y, 63M, and 63C are provided for removing toner remaining after primary transfer from the surface of the photosensitive drum. The four photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C, the developing units 61Bk, 61Y, 61M, and 61C, and the four image forming units 18Bk, 18Y, 18M, and the photosensitive member cleaning devices 63Bk, 63Y, 63M, and 63C, The tandem image forming apparatus 20 is configured by 18C. Further, a belt cleaning device 17 for removing residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 10 after the toner image is transferred onto the transfer paper is provided on the left side of the support roller 15.

The cleaning device 17 is provided with two fur brushes 90 and 91 as cleaning members. The fur brushes 90 and 91 are φ20 mm, acrylic carbon, 6.25 D / F, 100,000 / inch ² , 1 × 10 ⁷ Ω, and contact the intermediate transfer belt 10 to rotate in the counter direction. Provide to do. Then, biases having different polarities are applied to the fur brushes 90 and 91 from a power source (not shown). The fur brushes 90 and 91 are respectively provided with metal rollers 92 and 93 so as to be rotatable in the forward or reverse direction with respect to the fur brush.

In this embodiment, a (−) voltage is applied from the power source 94 to the metal roller 92 on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt 10, and a (+) voltage is applied from the power source 95 to the metal roller 93 on the downstream side. The tips of the blades 96 and 97 are pressed against the metal rollers 92 and 93, respectively. Then, along with the rotation of the intermediate transfer belt 10 in the direction of the arrow, the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 10 is cleaned by applying a bias (−), for example, using the fur brush 90 on the upstream side. If -700V is applied to the metal roller 92, the fur brush 90 becomes -400V, and the (+) toner on the intermediate transfer belt 10 can be transferred to the fur brush 90 side. The toner transferred to the fur brush side is further transferred from the fur brush 90 to the metal roller 92 due to a potential difference and scraped off by the blade 96.
As described above, the toner on the intermediate transfer belt 10 is removed by the fur brush 90, but a lot of toner still remains on the intermediate transfer belt 10. Those toners are charged (−) by a (−) bias applied to the fur brush 90. This is considered to be charged by charge injection or discharge. Next, by using the fur brush 91 on the downstream side to apply a (+) bias and perform cleaning, the toner can be removed. The removed toner is transferred from the fur brush 91 to the metal roller 93 due to a potential difference and scraped off by the blade 97. The toner scraped off by the blades 96 and 97 is collected in a tank (not shown). These toners may be returned to the developing device 61 using a toner recycling device described later.

  Most of the toner is removed from the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 10 after being cleaned by the fur brush 91, but a little toner is still left. The toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 10 is charged to (+) by the (+) bias applied to the fur brush 91 as described above. The toner charged to (+) is transferred to the photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C by the transfer electric field applied at the primary transfer position, and can be collected by the photosensitive member cleaning device 63.

  A secondary transfer device 22 is provided on the opposite side of the intermediate transfer belt 10 from the tandem image forming device 20. In the present embodiment, the secondary transfer device 22 is configured such that a secondary transfer belt 24 is stretched between two rollers 23 and pressed against the third support roller 16 via the intermediate transfer belt 10. Then, a secondary transfer nip portion is formed, and the color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 10 is secondarily transferred onto the transfer paper. The intermediate transfer belt 10 after the secondary transfer is removed from the residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 10 after image transfer by the belt cleaning device 17, and is prepared for re-image formation by the tandem image forming device 20. The secondary transfer device 22 described above is also provided with a transfer paper P transport function for transporting the transfer paper P after image transfer to the fixing device 25. Of course, a transfer roller or a non-contact charger may be arranged as the secondary transfer device 22, and in such a case, it is difficult to provide this transfer paper P conveyance function together.

In general, the registration roller 49 is often used while being grounded, but it is also possible to apply a bias for removing the paper dust of the transfer paper P. For example, a bias is applied using a conductive rubber roller. A conductive NBR rubber having a diameter of 18 mm and a thickness of 1 mm is used. The electric resistance is about 10 × 10 ⁹ Ω · cm as the volume resistance of the rubber material, and the applied voltage is about −800 V on the toner transfer side (front side). Further, a voltage of about +200 V is applied to the back side of the paper.

  In general, in the intermediate transfer method, it is difficult for paper dust to move to the photosensitive drum, so that it is not necessary to consider paper dust transfer and may be grounded. Further, although a DC bias is applied as the applied voltage, this may be an AC voltage having a DC offset component in order to charge the transfer paper P more uniformly. The paper surface after passing through the registration roller 49 to which a bias is applied in this way is slightly charged on the negative side. Therefore, in the transfer from the intermediate transfer belt 10 to the transfer paper P, the transfer conditions may change and the transfer conditions may be changed as compared with the case where no voltage is applied to the registration roller 49.

  In this embodiment, the transfer paper P is transferred under the secondary transfer device 22 and the fixing device 25 so as to invert the transfer paper P so as to record images on both sides of the transfer paper P in parallel with the tandem image forming device 20 described above. A paper reversing device 28 (see FIG. 4) is provided. As a result, after the image is fixed on one side of the transfer paper, the path of the transfer paper is switched to the transfer paper reversing device side with the switching claw, and the toner image is transferred again at the maintenance transfer nip after being reversed, and then onto the paper discharge tray. The paper may be discharged.

Next, the tandem image forming apparatus 20 will be described.
FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged view of the tandem image forming apparatus 20. Since the four image forming units 18Bk, 18Y, 18M, and 18C have the same configuration, the details of the configuration of one unit will be described with the four color symbols Bk, Y, M, and C omitted. As shown in FIG. 13, this image forming unit includes a charging device 60 as a charging device, a developing device 61, a primary transfer device 62 as a primary transfer device, and a photosensitive drum around the photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C. A body cleaning device 63, a charge removal device 64 and the like are provided. In the illustrated example, the photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C have a drum shape in which a photosensitive organic photosensitive material is applied to a base tube such as aluminum to form a photosensitive layer. There may be.

  Although not shown, at least the photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C are provided, and a process cartridge is formed by all or a part of the parts constituting the image forming unit 18, and is collectively applied to the printer unit 100. It may be detachable to improve maintenance. In addition, among the parts constituting the image forming unit 18, the charging device 60 is formed in a roller shape in the illustrated example, and contacts the photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C to apply a voltage to the photosensitive drum. 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C are charged. Of course, charging can also be performed with a non-contact scorotron charger.

The developing device 61 may use a one-component developer, but in the illustrated example, a two-component developer composed of a magnetic carrier and a non-magnetic toner is used. The agitation unit 66 conveys the two-component developer while stirring and supplies and adheres the two-component developer to the developing sleeve 65, and the toner of the two-component developer attached to the developing sleeve 65 is transferred to the photosensitive drum. 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C are provided, and the stirring unit 66 is positioned lower than the developing unit 67.
The stirring unit 66 is provided with two parallel screws 68, and the two screws 68 are partitioned by a partition plate 69 except for both ends. Further, a toner density sensor 71 is provided in the developing case 70.
The developing portion 67 is provided with a developing sleeve 65 facing the photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C through the opening of the developing case 70, and a magnet 72 is fixedly provided in the developing sleeve 65. Further, a doctor blade 73 is provided with the tip approaching the developing sleeve 65. In the illustrated example, the distance at the closest portion between the doctor blade 73 and the developing sleeve 65 is set to 500 μm.

  The developing sleeve 65 has a non-magnetic rotatable sleeve shape, and a plurality of magnets 72 are disposed therein. Since the magnet 72 is fixed, a magnetic force can be applied when the developer passes through a predetermined place. In the illustrated example, the developing sleeve 65 has a diameter of φ18 mm, and the surface is subjected to sandblasting or a process of forming a plurality of grooves having a depth of 1 to several mm, and the surface roughness (Rz) falls within the range of 10 to 30 μm. It is formed as follows.

  The magnet 72 has, for example, five magnetic poles N1, S1, N2, S2, and S3 in the rotation direction of the developing sleeve 65 from the position of the doctor blade 73. The developer forms a magnetic brush by the magnet 72 and is carried on the developing sleeve 65. The developing sleeve 65 is disposed in a region on the S1 side of the magnet 72 that forms a developer magnetic brush so as to face the photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C.

With the above configuration, the two-component developer is conveyed and circulated while being stirred by the two screws 68 and supplied to the developing sleeve 65. The developer supplied to the developing sleeve 65 is pumped and held by the magnet 72 to form a magnetic brush on the developing sleeve 65. The magnetic brush is trimmed to an appropriate amount by the doctor blade 73 as the developing sleeve 65 rotates. The developer that has been cut off is returned to the stirring unit 66.
Of the developer carried on the developing sleeve 65, the toner is transferred to the photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C by the developing bias voltage applied to the developing sleeve 65, and the photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, The electrostatic latent image on 40C is visualized. After the visualization, the developer remaining on the developing sleeve 65 leaves the developing sleeve 65 and returns to the stirring unit 66 where there is no magnetic force of the magnet 72. When the toner concentration in the stirring unit 66 becomes light by this repetition, it is detected by the toner concentration sensor 71 and the stirring unit 66 is replenished with toner.

  In the apparatus of the present embodiment, the setting of each unit is such that the linear speed of the photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C is 200 mm / s, the linear speed of the developing sleeve 65 is 240 mm / s, and the photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, The developing process is performed with the diameter of 40M and 40C being 50 mm and the diameter of the developing sleeve 65 being 18 mm. The charge amount of the toner on the developing sleeve 65 is preferably in the range of −10 to −30 μC / g. The development gap GP, which is the gap between the photosensitive drums 40Bk, 40Y, 40M, and 40C and the development sleeve 65, can be set in the range of 0.8 mm to 0.4 mm as in the conventional case, and the development efficiency is improved by reducing the value. Can be achieved. Further, the thickness of the photoreceptor 40 is set to 30 μm, the beam spot diameter of the optical system is set to 50 × 60 μm, and the light quantity is set to 0.47 mW. Further, the developing process is performed with the charging (pre-exposure) potential VO of the photosensitive drum 40 being −700 V, the post-exposure potential VL being −120 V, and the developing bias voltage being −470 V, ie, the developing potential 350 V.

  The primary transfer device 62 is constituted by a roller-shaped primary transfer roller 62 and is provided by being pressed against the photosensitive drum 40 with the intermediate transfer belt 10 interposed therebetween. A conductive roller 74 is provided between the primary transfer rollers 62 in contact with the base layer 11 side of the intermediate transfer belt 10. The conductive roller 74 prevents the bias applied by each primary transfer roller 62 during transfer from flowing into the adjacent image forming units 18 via the intermediate resistance base layer 11.

The photoconductor cleaning device 63 uses, for example, a cleaning blade 75 made of polyurethane rubber, and the front end thereof is pressed against the photoconductor drum 40. Furthermore, in order to improve the cleaning property, in the present embodiment, a contact conductive fur brush 76 whose outer periphery is in contact with the photosensitive drum 40 is provided to be rotatable in the arrow direction. Further, a metal electric field roller 77 for applying a bias to the fur brush 76 is rotatably provided in the direction of the arrow, and the tip of the scraper 78 is pressed against the electric field roller 77. Further, a collection screw 79 for collecting the removed toner is also provided.
Residual toner on the photosensitive drum 40 is removed with the fur brush 76 that rotates in the counter direction with respect to the photosensitive drum 40 by the photosensitive member cleaning device 63 configured as described above. The toner adhering to the fur brush 76 is removed by the electric field roller 77 to which a bias that rotates in contact with the fur brush 76 in the counter direction is applied. The toner adhering to the electric field roller 77 is cleaned by the scraper 78. The toner collected by the photoconductor cleaning device 63 is brought to one side of the photoconductor cleaning device 63 by the collection screw 79 and returned to the developing device 61 by the toner recycling device 80 for reuse.
The static eliminator 64 uses a static elimination lamp, and irradiates light to initialize the surface potential of the photosensitive drum 40.

  The image forming process in the tandem image forming apparatus 20 configured as described above is performed as follows. As the photosensitive drum 40 rotates, the surface of the photosensitive drum 40 is first uniformly charged by the charging device 60, and the writing light L is irradiated to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 40. Thereafter, development is performed by attaching toner to the electrostatic latent image by the developing device 61 to form a toner image, and the toner image is primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 10 by the primary transfer roller 62. Residual toner is removed from the surface of the photoconductive drum 40 after the image transfer by the photoconductive cleaning device 63, and the charge is removed by the static eliminating device 64 to prepare for image formation again. On the other hand, the residual toner removed from the surface of the photosensitive drum is used again for development by a toner recycling device described later. Here, the order of colors for forming an image is not limited to the above, but varies depending on the aim and characteristics of the image forming apparatus.

Next, the type of information to be acquired and the acquisition method for predicting the occurrence of an abnormality in the color copying machine having the above configuration will be specifically described.
Various status information acquired by the information acquisition means of the copying machine can be roughly classified into the following, for example.
(A) Sensing information (b) Control parameter information (c) Input information (d) Image reading data

(A) Sensing information The sensing information includes information related to driving, various characteristics of recording media, developer characteristics, photoreceptor characteristics, various process conditions of electrophotography, environmental conditions, various characteristics of recorded materials, etc. Conceivable. The outline of the sensing information is as follows.

(A-1) Driving information / Rotation speed of the photosensitive drum is detected by an encoder, the current value of the driving motor is read, and the temperature of the driving motor is read.
Similarly, the drive state of a cylindrical or belt-like rotating part such as a fixing roller, a paper transport roller, or a drive roller is detected.
-Detect sound generated by driving with a microphone installed inside or outside the device.

(A-2) Paper transport status ・ Uses a transmission or reflection type optical sensor or contact type sensor to detect the position of the leading and trailing edges of the transported paper and detect that a paper jam has occurred. The deviation of the passage timing of the leading and trailing edges of the paper and the fluctuation in the direction perpendicular to the feeding direction are read.
Similarly, the paper moving speed is obtained based on the detection timing between a plurality of sensors.
The slip between the paper supply roller and the paper during paper supply is obtained by comparing the measured value of the rotation speed of the roller with the amount of movement of the paper.

(A-3) Various characteristics of recording media such as paper This information greatly affects the image quality and stability of sheet conveyance. There are the following methods for acquiring information on this paper type.
-The thickness of the paper should be equal to the amount of movement of the member pushed up when the paper is sandwiched between two rollers and the relative positional displacement of the rollers is detected by an optical sensor or the paper enters. Find by detecting.
-The surface roughness of the paper is such that a guide or the like is brought into contact with the surface of the paper before transfer, and vibrations or sliding noises caused by the contact are detected.
-For the gloss of paper, a light beam with a specified opening angle is incident at a specified incident angle, and a light beam with a specified opening angle reflected in the specular reflection direction is measured by a sensor.
The paper rigidity is obtained by detecting the amount of deformation (curvature) of the pressed paper.
The judgment as to whether or not the paper is recycled is made by irradiating the paper with ultraviolet rays and detecting its transmittance.
The determination as to whether the paper is a backing paper is performed by irradiating light from a linear light source such as an LED array and detecting the light reflected from the transfer surface with a solid-state image sensor such as a CCD.
Whether or not the sheet is for OHP is determined by irradiating the paper with light and detecting regular reflection light having a different angle from the transmitted light.
-The amount of water contained in the paper is determined by measuring the Kyushu of infrared or microwave light.
-The amount of curl is detected by an optical sensor, contact sensor, etc.
-The electrical resistance of the paper is measured directly by contacting a pair of electrodes (such as paper feed rollers) with the recording paper, or by measuring the surface potential of the photoconductor or intermediate transfer body after paper transfer, and recording from that value. Estimate the resistance of the paper.

(A-4) Developer characteristics The characteristics of the developer (toner carrier) in the apparatus affect the basic function of the electrophotographic process. Therefore, it becomes an important factor for the operation and output of the system. Obtaining developer information is extremely important. Examples of the developer characteristics include the following items.
-For toner, list charge amount and distribution, fluidity / cohesion / bulk density, electrical resistance, amount of external additive, consumption or remaining amount, fluidity, toner concentration (mixing ratio of toner and carrier) Can do.
-As for carriers, magnetic properties, coat film thickness, spent amount, etc. can be mentioned.

It is usually difficult to detect such items alone in the image forming apparatus. Therefore, it is detected as a comprehensive characteristic of the developer. The overall characteristics of this developer can be measured, for example, as follows.
A test latent image is formed on the photoconductor, developed under predetermined development conditions, and the reflection density (light reflectance) of the formed toner image is measured.
A pair of electrodes is provided in the developing device, and the relationship between applied voltage and current is measured (resistance, dielectric constant, etc.).
-Install a coil in the developing device and measure the voltage-current characteristics (inductance).
-A level sensor is provided in the developing device to detect the developer capacity. The level sensor includes an optical type and a capacitance type.

(A-5) Photoreceptor characteristics Like the developer characteristics, the photoreceptor characteristics are closely related to the function of the electrophotographic process. Information on the photoconductor characteristics includes photoconductor film thickness, surface characteristics (friction coefficient, unevenness), surface potential (before and after each process), surface energy, scattered light, temperature, color, surface position (flare), linear velocity Potential decay rate, resistance / capacitance, surface moisture content, and the like. Among these, the following information can be detected in the image forming apparatus.
・ Detect the current flowing from the charging member to the photoconductor, and simultaneously compare the change in capacitance with the change in film thickness with the voltage-current characteristics with respect to the voltage applied to the charging member and the preset dielectric thickness of the photoconductor. Thus, the film thickness is obtained.
・ Surface potential and temperature can be obtained by a conventionally known sensor.
-The linear velocity is detected by an encoder attached to the rotating shaft of the photoconductor.
-Scattered light from the surface of the photoreceptor is detected by an optical sensor.

(A-6) Electrophotographic process state As is well known, electrophotographic toner image formation is performed by uniformly charging the photoreceptor, forming a latent image (image exposure) using laser light, etc., and charged toner (colored particles). Development by transfer, transfer of toner image onto transfer material (in the case of color, overlay on the recording medium that is the intermediate transfer body or final transfer material, or over development on the photoreceptor during development), toner on the recording medium This is done in the order of image fixing. Various information at each of these stages greatly affects the output of images and other systems. Obtaining these is important in evaluating the stability of the system. Specific examples of the information acquisition of the electrophotographic process state include the following.
The charging potential and the exposure portion potential are detected by a conventionally known surface potential sensor.
The gap between the charging member and the photosensitive member in non-contact charging is detected by measuring the amount of light that has passed through the gap.
・ Electromagnetic waves from electrification are captured by a broadband antenna.
・ Sound generated by charging ・ Exposure intensity ・ Exposure light wavelength

Further, as a method for acquiring various states of the toner image, the following can be mentioned.
The pile height (the height of the toner image) is obtained by measuring the depth from the vertical direction with a displacement sensor and the light shielding length from the horizontal direction with a linear sensor of parallel light.
The toner charge amount is measured by a potential sensor that measures the potential of the electrostatic latent image on the solid part and the potential when the latent image is developed, and the ratio to the adhesion amount converted from the reflection density sensor at the same location. Ask for.
The dot fluctuation or dust is detected by detecting the dot pattern image with an infrared light area sensor on the photosensitive member and with an area sensor having a wavelength corresponding to each color on the intermediate transfer member, and performing appropriate processing.
The offset amount (after fixing) is obtained by reading the corresponding locations on the recording paper and the fixing roller with optical sensors and comparing them.
An optical sensor is installed after the transfer process (on the PD and on the belt), and the transfer remaining amount is determined based on the amount of reflected light from the transfer residual pattern after the transfer of the specific pattern.
-Detect color unevenness during overlay with a full-color sensor that detects the recording paper after fixing.

(A-7) The characteristics, image density, and color of the formed toner image are optically detected (either reflected light or transmitted light may be used. The projection wavelength is selected depending on the color). In order to obtain density and single color information, it may be on a photoconductor or an intermediate transfer body, but it is necessary on paper to measure a color combination such as color unevenness.
For gradation, the reflection density of the toner image formed on the photosensitive member or the toner image transferred to the transfer member is detected by an optical sensor for each gradation level.
Sharpness is obtained by reading an image in which a line repetition pattern is developed or transferred using a monocular sensor having a small spot diameter or a high-resolution line sensor.
The graininess (roughness) is obtained by reading a halftone image and calculating a noise component by the same method as the sharpness detection.
The registration skew is obtained from the difference between the registration roller ON timing and the detection timing of both sensors by providing optical sensors at both ends in the main scanning direction after registration.
Color misregistration is detected by a monocular small-diameter spot sensor or high-resolution line sensor at the edge portion of the superimposed image on the intermediate transfer member or recording paper.
Banding (density unevenness in the feed direction) measures density unevenness in the sub-scanning direction with a small-diameter spot sensor or high-resolution line sensor on the recording paper, and measures the signal amount of a specific frequency.
Glossiness (unevenness) is provided so that a recording paper on which a uniform image is formed is detected by a regular reflection optical sensor.
・ Fog is a method of reading the image background with an optical sensor that detects a relatively wide area on the photoconductor, intermediate transfer member, or recording paper, or image information for each area of the background with a high-resolution area sensor. And the number of toner particles contained in the image is counted.

(A-8) The physical characteristics, image flow, and fading of the printed matter of the image forming apparatus are detected on the photosensitive member, the intermediate transfer member, or the recording paper by the area sensor, and the acquired image information is displayed. Judge by image processing.
・ Chile is obtained by taking an image on recording paper with a high-resolution line sensor or area sensor and calculating the amount of toner scattered around the pattern area.
The trailing edge blank and the solid cross blank are detected by a high resolution line sensor on the photosensitive member, the intermediate transfer member, or the recording paper.
・ Curls, undulations, and folds are detected by a displacement sensor. In order to detect a fold, it is effective to install a sensor near the both ends of the recording paper.
-For the dirt and scratches on the edge surface, the area sensor is used to capture and analyze the edge surface when paper discharge has accumulated to some extent by the area sensor installed vertically on the paper discharge tray.

(A-9) For detecting environmental conditions and temperature, a thermocouple system that extracts the thermoelectromotive force generated at the contact point between dissimilar metals or between metal and semiconductor as a signal, the resistivity of metal or semiconductor changes with temperature Resistivity change element using this, pyroelectric element that generates a potential on the surface due to bias in the arrangement of charges in the crystal due to the rise in temperature in certain crystals, and magnetic characteristics depending on temperature A thermomagnetic effect element or the like that detects a change in temperature can be employed.
・ For humidity detection, there are optical measurement methods that measure the light absorption of H ₂ O or OH groups, humidity sensors that measure changes in the electrical resistance of materials due to the adsorption of water vapor, etc. Detection is performed by measuring a change in electric resistance of the oxide semiconductor accompanying gas adsorption.
Although there are optical measurement methods and the like for detection of airflow (direction, flow velocity, gas type), an air bridge type flow sensor that can be made smaller in consideration of mounting on a system is particularly useful.
・ Pressure-sensitive materials are used to detect atmospheric pressure and pressure, and mechanical displacement of the membrane is measured. A similar method is used for vibration detection.

(B) Control Parameter Information Since the operation of the image forming apparatus is determined by the control unit, it is effective to directly use the input / output parameters of the control unit.

(B-1) Image Forming Parameters Direct parameters output by the control unit through image processing for image formation include the following examples.
・ Setting values of process conditions by the control unit, such as charging potential, development bias value, fixing temperature setting value, etc. ・ Similarly, setting values of various image processing parameters such as halftone processing and color correction. Various parameters to be set, such as paper transport timing, execution time of preparation mode before image formation, etc.

(B-2) User operation history / frequency of various operations selected by the user, such as the number of colors, number of sheets, and image quality instructions / frequency of the paper size selected by the user

(B-3) Power consumption / Total power consumption or its distribution, change amount (differentiation), cumulative value (integration) for the whole period or specific period unit (1 day, 1 week, 1 month, etc.)

(B-4) Consumables consumption information-Total amount or specific period unit (1 day, 1 week, 1 month, etc.) toner, photoconductor, paper usage or distribution, change (differentiation), cumulative value ( Integration)

(B-5) Failure occurrence information ・ Frequency or distribution of failure occurrence (by type), change amount (differentiation), cumulative value (integration) of whole period or specific period unit (1 day, 1 week, 1 month, etc.)

(C) Input image information The following information can be acquired from image information sent directly as data from the host computer or image information obtained after image processing is performed by reading a document image from a scanner.
The cumulative number of colored pixels is obtained by counting image data for each GRB signal for each pixel.
The original image can be separated into characters, halftone dots, photographs, and backgrounds by the method described in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2621879, and the ratio of the character part, halftone part, etc. can be obtained. Similarly, the ratio of color characters can be obtained.
The toner consumption distribution in the main scanning direction can be obtained by counting the cumulative value of the colored pixels for each area divided in the main scanning direction.
The image size is obtained from the distribution of colored pixels in the image size signal or image data generated by the control unit.
-Character type (size, font) is obtained from character attribute data.

Next, a specific method for acquiring each status information in the copying machine will be described.
(1) Temperature data The copying machine includes a temperature sensor that acquires temperature information using a variable resistance element that is simple in principle and structure and that can be miniaturized.
(2) Humidity data Humidity sensors that can be made compact are useful. The basic principle is that when water vapor is adsorbed on moisture-sensitive ceramics, the ionic conduction is increased by the adsorbed water and the electrical resistance of the ceramics is reduced. The material of the moisture-sensitive ceramics is a porous material, and generally alumina-based, apatite-based, ZrO ₂ -MgO-based, etc. are used.
(3) Vibration data The vibration sensor is basically the same as a sensor that measures atmospheric pressure and pressure, and a silicon-based sensor that can be miniaturized is particularly useful in consideration of mounting in a system. It is possible to measure the movement of a vibrator fabricated on a thin silicon diaphragm by measuring the change in capacitance between the opposing electrodes provided facing the vibrator, or by using the piezoresistance effect of the Si diaphragm itself. it can.
(4) Toner density (for 4 colors) data The toner density is detected for each color and converted into data. A conventionally known toner density sensor can be used. For example, the toner concentration can be detected by a sensing system that measures changes in the magnetic permeability of the developer in the developing device as described in JP-A-6-289717.
(5) Photoconductor uniform charging potential (for four colors) data The uniform charging potential is detected for each color photoconductor 40K, 40Y, 40M, and 40C. A known surface potential sensor that detects the surface potential of an object can be used.
(6) Data after exposure of photosensitive member (4 colors) data The surface potential of the photosensitive members 40K, 40Y, 40M, and 40C after optical writing is detected in the same manner as in the above (5).
(7) Colored area ratio (for four colors) data From the input image information, a colored area ratio is obtained for each color from the ratio of the cumulative value of pixels to be colored and the cumulative value of all pixels, and this is used.
(8) Development toner amount (for four colors) data The toner adhesion amount per unit area in each color toner image developed on the photoreceptors 40K, 40Y, 40M, and 40C is based on the light reflectance by the reflective photosensor. Ask. The reflection type photosensor irradiates an object with LED light and detects the reflected light with a light receiving element. Since a correlation is established between the toner adhesion amount and the light reflectance, the toner adhesion amount can be obtained based on the light reflectance.
(9) Inclination of paper leading edge position A pair of optical sensors that detect transfer paper at both ends in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction is provided somewhere in the paper feed path from the paper feed roller of the paper feed unit 200 to the secondary transfer nip. Install and detect both ends near the leading edge of the transfer paper being conveyed. For both light sensors, the time to pass is measured with reference to the time when the drive signal of the paper feed roller is transmitted, and the inclination of the transfer paper with respect to the feed direction is obtained based on the time deviation.
(10) Paper discharge timing data The transfer paper after passing through the discharge roller pair 56 is detected by an optical sensor. In this case as well, the measurement is performed with reference to the time when the paper feed roller drive signal is transmitted.
(11) Photoconductor total current (for four colors) data Current flowing out from the photoconductors 40K, 40Y, 40M, and 40C to the ground is detected. Such a current can be detected by providing a current measuring means between the substrate of the photoreceptor and the ground terminal.
(12) Photoconductor driving power (for four colors)
Driving power (current × voltage) consumed by the driving source (motor) of the photosensitive member during driving is detected by an ammeter, a voltmeter, or the like.

Next, the state information analysis unit of the management apparatus 104 will be described.
The status information analysis unit is divided into two processes. One is a feature extraction process, and the other is a discrimination process.
The purpose of the feature quantity extraction process is to extract temporal feature quantities from the state information in order to make maximum use of information obtained from the state information. The feature amount of the state information includes, for example, overall density unevenness or density shift of image data, defect shape, size, density, contour state, orientation, position, periodicity, generation region, and the like. Immediately before a failure, the state information often increases or decreases abruptly or moves discontinuously. In order to obtain such information, it is necessary to extract temporal changes not only from the state information at a certain point, but also from the past several times of state information. For example, the temporal feature amount includes an approximate differential value, a deviation from a regression curve, and the like. The approximate differential value is obtained by dividing the difference between the latest value and the previous value by the operation time or the number of printing operations. The difference from the regression curve may be the difference between the value expected from the regression curve and the actual value, or the square root thereof. In this way, the temporal identification is added to the state information and input to the next discrimination process, thereby improving the discrimination system.

  The discrimination process is a process for discriminating whether the feature quantity obtained in the feature quantity extraction process is in a normal state or an abnormal state. A discriminator created by machine learning can be used for the discrimination process. Here, machine learning is an algorithm that mechanically rules the difference between normal and abnormal based on state information and feature quantities (referred to as “learning data”) that have been classified into normal and abnormal in advance. Specifically, there are Boosting, neural network, support vector machine, and the like. “Rules” generated from these algorithms are called “discriminators”. When arbitrary state information is input to the discriminator, a determination result of whether the input state information is normal or abnormal is output based on the rule. Most machine learning creates binary discriminators, so when using such discriminators for failure prediction, a discriminator that discriminates status information into binary values of `` abnormal state '' and `` normal state ''. Create it. To do so, prepare learning data that sets the status information in the failure state and the state in which the signal is abnormal immediately before the failure as “abnormal state” and the state information in the normal operation state as “normal state”. And input to the above algorithm.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of the failure prediction system.
Each copying machine 101 includes a status information acquisition unit 111 as a status information acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of types of status information, a status information storage unit 112 as a status information storage unit that stores various status information, and a status information storage unit. 112 as status information transmission means for transmitting the status information and communication information (such as its own copying machine ID and maintenance information transmission destination IP address) in 112 to the management apparatus 104 through the data communication apparatus 102 and the communication line 103. Information transmission unit 113, transmission timing determination unit 114 as a transmission timing determination unit that determines the transmission timing of each of a plurality of types of state information transmitted from state information transmission unit 113 according to predetermined determination conditions, and transmission timing As an operation accepting means for accepting a condition changing operation for changing the determination condition for And an operation accepting unit 115.

  The management apparatus 104 has a status information receiving unit 141 as a receiving means for receiving status information and communication information transmitted from each copying machine 101, and a received information storage for sequentially storing status information received for each corresponding copying machine ID. A reception information storage unit 142 as a means, a state information analysis unit 143 as a determination unit, and a determination result transmission unit 144 as a notification processing unit are provided. As pre-processing, the state information receiving unit 141 checks whether there is a missing value in the received various state information (state information set), and deletes the state information set if a missing value is found. Alternatively, the value at the time of deficiency may be obtained from the regression curve calculated from the past data of the item having the deficient value and used instead. Whenever the status information receiving unit 141 receives the status information, the status information analyzing unit 143 analyzes the status information as described above including the storage information of the copier stored in the received information storage unit 142. Do. As a result of the analysis, when it is determined that the failure is close, maintenance information (including determination result information) necessary for maintenance such as the copying machine ID and the predicted failure content is included in the determination result transmission unit 144. Send from. At this time, the discrimination result transmission unit 144 transmits maintenance information to the IP address included in the communication information together with the copying machine ID. Usually, this transmission destination is the terminal device 106 of the service center that manages the copying machine.

  The terminal device 106 is composed of a minicomputer or a personal computer. The terminal device 106 includes a determination result receiving unit 161 as a determination result receiving unit that receives maintenance information including the determination result information transmitted from the management device 104, and a determination result information storage unit that stores the received maintenance information. A reception information storage unit 162 and a display unit 163 serving as a display unit for notifying a service person of a visit destination or a state of the target copying machine 101 are provided.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the determination result is notified by the terminal device 106 of the service center will be described. However, the notification may be made by another device, for example, the target copier 101. In this case, the IP address of the communication information may be set in advance for the target copying machine. Further, the determination result may be notified on the display device of the management device 104, and the operator may contact the service person or the like by other contact means such as a telephone.

Next, processing contents in the state information analysis unit 143 of the management apparatus 104 will be specifically described.
In the present embodiment, the Mahalanobis distance by the MTS method adopting the multivariate analysis method based on the data group in the normal state (normal group data group) and the various state information transmitted from each copying machine 101. And whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the copying machine 101 is determined. In order to obtain the Mahalanobis distance, it is necessary to construct a normal group data group that is a collection of a plurality of types of group data acquired from the copying machine 101 in a normal state. About this construction, it may be constructed by various state information acquired from a standard machine (normal state) having the same specifications as this copying machine, or by various state information acquired from the copying machine 101 immediately after completion or at the initial operation. May be built.

  When a normal group data group is constructed based on various status information acquired during initial operation, after the copier 101 is shipped from the factory, the main power of the copier 101 is first turned on at the user's place of use. Then, the following processing is performed. That is, first, the CPU 1a in the control unit 1 of the copying machine 101 executes a predetermined normal group data group construction processing program, and stores that time in the RAM 1b as a period measurement start timing. In the RAM 1b, a period elapsed determination parameter necessary for determining that a certain period has elapsed from the period measurement start timing is stored prior to factory shipment. Examples of the period elapsed determination parameter include an elapsed time threshold, an elapsed days threshold, an elapsed months threshold, a print number threshold, and an operation time threshold. The normal group data group construction process is executed from the above-described period measurement start timing until a certain period (specified period) determined based on these period elapsed determination parameters elapses. Various state information in the normal state is accumulated within this specified period. In the normal set data group construction process performed during the specified period, set data that is a combination of various status information that can be acquired by the status information acquisition unit 111 is acquired during a print job, and the RAM 1b is used as a part of the normal set data group. Is remembered. When the specified period elapses from the above-described period measurement start timing, the normal group data group construction process is terminated. Thereafter, the accumulated normal group data group is transmitted to the management apparatus 104 via the communication line together with its own copying machine ID.

  In this embodiment, the abnormality determination process of each copying machine 101 is performed on the management apparatus 104 side. However, when the abnormality determination process is performed individually on each copying machine 101, the accumulated normal group data group is managed by the management apparatus. There is no need to send to 104.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure for determining an index value calculation method (calculation formula) used in the state information analysis unit 143 of the management apparatus 104.
First, k sets of information (status information) that are considered to be related to the state of the copying machine 101 are acquired while operating the copying machine 101 (S1). Information acquisition is as described above.
Table 1 below shows the data structure of the acquired information. K data is obtained under the first condition (for example, the first day or the first vehicle). Let them be y ₁₁ , y ₁₂ ,..., Y _1k . Similarly, data obtained under the following conditions (such as the second day or the second vehicle) are y ₂₁ , y ₂₂ ,..., Y _2k , etc., and n sets of data are obtained.

In the normal group data group construction process, first, the state information acquisition unit 111 acquires k types of information (y ₁₁ , y ₁₂ ,..., Y _1k ) constituting the first group data. And it is memorize | stored in RAM etc. of the management apparatus 104 as data of the 1st line in a data table. Next, k types of information (y ₂₁ , y ₂₂ ,..., Y _2k ) constituting the second set are respectively acquired by the state information acquisition unit 111, and the second row data in the data table is as follows: It is stored in the RAM or the like of the management apparatus 104. Thereafter, the third and subsequent sets of data are sequentially acquired along with the print job and stored as data in the data table. Then, the n-th set data is acquired immediately before the lapse of the specified period, and the data up to the n-th row in the data table is stored in the RAM or the like of the management apparatus 104.

When the specified period elapses, an average value (y _j ) and a standard deviation (σ _j ) are respectively obtained for k types of state information (for example, y _ij ) constituting each set of data (S2), and each of n + 1, The data of the (n + 2) th row is stored in the RAM or the like of the management device 104.
When the above-mentioned specified period has elapsed and the acquisition data table construction process is completed, an inverse matrix construction process is performed immediately thereafter. In this inverse matrix construction process, an information normalization step (S2), a correlation coefficient calculation step (S3), and an inverse matrix conversion step (S4) described below are performed.

In the information normalization step (S2) in the inverse matrix construction process, a normalized data table as shown in Table 2 below is constructed based on the acquired data table shown in Table 1 above.

Data normalization is a process for converting the absolute value information into variable information for various state information, and normalization data for various information is calculated based on the relational expression shown in the following equation (1). . Note that i in the relational expression shown in Equation 1 below is a code indicating that it is one of n sets of group data. Further, j is a code indicating that it is any one of k types of information.

When the information normalization step is finished, a correlation coefficient calculation step is performed (S3). In this correlation coefficient calculation step, in the n sets of normalized data groups, out of k types of normalized data, all combinations in which two different types can be established are calculated on the basis of the following formula 2. The relation number r _pq (= r _qp ) is calculated.

Once the correlation coefficient r _pq (= r _qp ) has been calculated for all combinations, then k × k, where 1 is the diagonal element and r is the correlation coefficient r _pq. Correlation coefficient matrices R are constructed. The contents of this correlation coefficient matrix R are as shown in the following equation 3.

When such a correlation coefficient calculation process is completed, a matrix conversion process is then performed. By this matrix conversion step, the correlation coefficient matrix R expressed by the above equation 3 is converted into an inverse matrix A (R ⁻¹ ) expressed by the following equation 4 (S4).

  The copying machine performs the normal data group construction process for constructing the acquired data table that is the normal data group shown in Table 1 above, and then performs the information normalization as described above prior to performing the abnormality determination process. An inverse matrix A as a normal set data group is constructed by a series of processes including a conversion process, a correlation coefficient calculation process, and a matrix conversion process. Then, the inverse matrix A is stored in the RAM or the like of the management apparatus 104.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of abnormality determination processing performed by the state information analysis unit 143 of the management device 104.
After constructing the inverse matrix A as described above, the status information analysis unit 143 of the management apparatus 104 thereafter performs an abnormality determination process at a predetermined timing based on various status information transmitted from the copier 101. . In this abnormality determination process, an inverse matrix A is used for the set data consisting of all or part of k types (for example, about 40 types) of status information acquired by the status information acquisition unit 111 of the copying machine 101 for each print job. The Mahalanobis distance (hereinafter referred to as “Mahalanobis distance”) D in the multi-dimensional space is calculated. Specifically, first, k types of data x ₁ , x ₂ ,..., X _k are acquired (S11). The data types correspond to y ₁₁ , y _{12 ,.} Next, the data of the acquired information is normalized using the formula shown in the following formula (S12). Here, the normalized data X _1, X _2, · · ·, and X _k. Next, the index value D ² is calculated by the calculation formula shown in the following equation 6 determined using the element a _kk of the inverse matrix A that has already been obtained. In addition, “Σ” in the formula shown in the following formula 6 represents the sum total regarding the subscripts p and q.

  The state information analysis unit 143 of the management device 104 compares the Mahalanobis distance D thus determined with a preset abnormality threshold value. When the Mahalanobis distance D is greater than the abnormality threshold, it is determined that the acquired set data is abnormal data that is greatly deviated from the normal distribution, and maintenance information necessary for maintenance is transmitted from the determination result transmission unit 144. To do.

In this embodiment, the example in which the inverse matrix A that functions as the normal group data group is stored in the RAM or the like of the management apparatus 104 has been described. However, instead of the inverse matrix A, the following normal group data group May be stored. That is, the acquired data table constructed by the normal group data group construction process, the normalized data table obtained in the middle of the inverse matrix construction process, the correlation coefficient matrix R, and the like. When any of these normal group data groups is stored instead of the inverse matrix A, the inverse matrix A may be constructed based on the data prior to the determination of abnormality.
In addition, an example in which a normal group data group is constructed at the time of initial operation has been described. It may be memorized.

By the way, according to the MTS method, various types of abnormalities can be discovered over a wide range by determining abnormalities with respect to the acquisition result of the combination data composed of all or part of various state information by the MTS method. Can do. Moreover, since it is not necessary to monitor the presence or absence of each abnormality, it is possible to avoid complication of control due to such monitoring. However, when such an abnormality is determined, it is difficult to specify what type of abnormality is detected when the abnormality is detected.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, the types of abnormalities are classified into several categories, and for each category, set data necessary for determining individual abnormalities within the categories is acquired. Then, the Mahalanobis distance D is obtained on the basis of the acquisition result and the inverse matrix A which is a normal group data group corresponding thereto.

Table 3 below shows a table showing an example of the relationship between the category of the type of abnormality in the copying machine 101 and the set information necessary for determining the abnormality in the category.

In Table 3 above, three categories of abnormalities are respectively determined based on the acquired data of 12 items and 33 types (5 items + 7 items × 4 colors) from (1) temperature to (12) photoconductor driving power described above. An example of determination is shown.
As shown in Table 3 above, a paper jam abnormality can be determined based on the set data including the following seven items and 13 types of information. That is, (1) Temperature, (2) Humidity, (3) Vibration, (7) Colored area ratio × 4 colors, (8) Development toner amount × 4 colors, (9) Inclination of paper tip position, and ( 10) It is a paper discharge timing. Hereinafter, this group data is referred to as paper jam group data.
Further, the abnormality of the photoreceptor deterioration system can be determined based on the set data including the following seven items and 22 types of information. (1) Temperature, (2) Humidity, (5) Photoconductor uniform charging potential x 4 colors, (6) Photoconductor exposure potential x 4 colors, (7) Colored area ratio x 4 colors, (11) Photoconductor total current × 4 colors and (12) Photoconductor drive power × 4 colors. Hereinafter, this group data is referred to as photosensitive system group data.
Further, abnormality in the image density fluctuation system can be determined based on the following 7 items 22 types of set data. (1) Temperature, (2) Humidity, (4) Toner density x 4 colors, (5) Photoconductor uniform charging potential x 4 colors, (6) Photoconductor exposure potential x 4 colors, ( 7) Color area ratio × 4 colors, and (8) Development toner amount × 4 colors. Hereinafter, this set data is referred to as concentration system set data.

  As is apparent from Table 3 above, the paper jamming system, the photosensitive system, and the density system group data have different combinations of types of status information. This is because different categories have different combinations of state information useful for determining individual abnormalities within the category. Therefore, if at least two or more sets of data having different types of combinations are constructed, and the Mahalanobis distance D is obtained for each, it is possible to narrow down and specify the types of abnormalities that have occurred. In the example of Table 3 above, by obtaining the Mahalanobis distance D for each of the paper jamming system, the photosensitive system, and the density system group data, it is possible to narrow down the type of abnormality to one of the three categories.

  In order to obtain the Mahalanobis distance D, an inverse matrix A having the same combination is required in addition to the set data periodically obtained from the copying machine to be examined. For example, in the case of Table 3 above, an inverse matrix A composed of 12 items and 33 types (5 items + 7 items × 4 colors) of information is commonly used for each of the paper jamming system, the photosensitive system, and the density system group data. If this happens, the abnormality cannot be accurately determined. In the case of paper jam group data, it is necessary to obtain the Mahalanobis distance D using an inverse matrix A composed of the same seven items and 13 types of information. Therefore, prior to determination, it is necessary to prepare an inverse matrix A for obtaining the Mahalanobis distance D for each category.

  There are roughly two methods for preparing the inverse matrix A for each system (paper jam system, photosensitive system, density system). The first method is a method in which a dedicated inverse matrix A (or a normal group data group replacing the same) is stored in the RAM or the like of the management apparatus 104 for each system. The second method is a method of storing only the inverse matrix A for all kinds of group data including at least all kinds of information included in the group data of each system. In the case of this method, an individual inverse matrix A for each system is constructed based on a combination of arbitrary normal values selected from the inverse matrix A consisting of a set of all kinds of data sets. For example, in the case of Table 3 above, only the inverse matrix A consisting of a set of all kind data (12 items, 33 types) is stored. The inverse matrix A composed of a set of paper jam group data is constructed by selecting 13 items and 13 types of information from all kinds of data. In this method, the amount of information stored and stored in the data storage means can be reduced as compared with the first method. Therefore, in this embodiment, a dedicated inverse matrix A is constructed for each system by the second method.

  When the inverse matrix A for each system is constructed in this way, in addition to the Mahalanobis distance D for each system, the Mahalanobis distance D including all systems can also be obtained. Then, by obtaining the latter Mahalanobis distance D, it is possible to determine abnormality of other systems in addition to abnormality of each system. For example, in the example of Table 3 above, by determining the Mahalanobis distance D for all types of data, in addition to the paper jam system, the photoreceptor deterioration system, and the image density fluctuation system, other categories of abnormalities can also be determined. it can.

Table 4 shown below shows an example of the relationship between each category and the Mahalanobis distance D. In this table, D ₀ indicates the Mahalanobis distance for all types of set data (12 items, 33 types) in Table 3 above. D ₁ indicates the Mahalanobis distance for the paper jam group data (7 items, 13 types). D ₂ represents the Mahalanobis distance D for the photosensitive system group data (7 items, 22 types). D ₃ indicates the Mahalanobis distance for the concentration group data (7 items, 22 types).

As shown in Table 4 above, the fact that the Mahalanobis distances D ₁ , D ₂ , D ₃ corresponding to each category are all less than the abnormality threshold (10) means that the copier 101 has no abnormality at all. Not exclusively. Even if they are less than the abnormal threshold, the Mahalanobis distance D ₀ for all sets of information may be greater than or equal to the abnormal threshold. In such a case, it is considered that anomalies of other categories not corresponding to any of the paper jamming system, the photoreceptor deterioration system, and the image density fluctuation system have occurred. On the other hand, just because _one of the Mahalanobis distances D ₁ , D ₂ , and D ₃ is less than the abnormal threshold (10), the Mahalanobis distance D ₀ for all types of data is not necessarily greater than or equal to the abnormal threshold. Absent. Even if it cannot be said that the copying machine as a whole is abnormal, there may be a case where a minor abnormality occurs if attention is paid to each category. In such a case, one of the Mahalanobis distances D ₁ , D ₂ , D ₃ for each category is greater than or equal to the abnormal threshold value, while the Mahalanobis distance D ₀ for all types of data is considered to be less than the abnormal threshold value. It is done. In this way, in addition to the Mahalanobis distances D ₁ , D ₂ , and D ₃ for each category, the Mahalanobis distance D ₀ for all types of data is also obtained, so that the degree of abnormality in each category (whether minor) or not. Can also be determined. Therefore, the abnormality may be determined based on a plurality of Mahalanobis distances D ₁ , D ₂ , D ₃ individually corresponding to each set data and the Mahalanobis distance D ₀ for all kinds of set data.

In addition, although the example which all set the abnormal threshold value of the square of each Mahalanobis distance to 10 was demonstrated, it is desirable to change an abnormal threshold value according to actual abnormality, respectively. Further, when obtaining the Mahalanobis distance D ₀ of the overall abnormality, 33 (33 types) is substituted for k in the relational expression shown in the above equation 5. Further, when obtaining the Mahalanobis distance of an abnormal paper jam, 13 (13 types) is substituted for k. Further, when obtaining the abnormal Mahalanobis distance of the photoreceptor deterioration system or the image density fluctuation system, 22 (22 types) is substituted for k.

  In the copying machine 101 which is a device to be inspected, maintenance of the above-described image forming units 18Bk, 18Y, 18M, and 18C of each color and the fixing device 25 is performed prior to determining abnormality of each system as described above. Determine whether it is necessary. Specifically, the above-described control unit 1 counts the number of operations for each image forming unit 18Bk, 18Y, 18M, and 18C, where the amount of operation corresponding to one transfer sheet is one. The fixing device 25 also counts the number of operations for which the amount of operation corresponding to one transfer sheet is one. In other words, the control unit 1 functions as a state information acquisition unit that acquires operation count information (state information) from the image forming units 18Bk, 18Y, 18M, and 18C of the respective colors that are devices mounted on the copying machine and the fixing device 25. is doing. For each of the image forming units 18Bk, 18Y, 18M, and 18C for each color and the fixing device 25, for example, a maintenance cycle threshold that is a predetermined maintenance threshold such as 20,000 times, and an operation frequency count value that is operation frequency information Compare At this time, if the operation count value exceeds the maintenance cycle threshold value, it is determined that maintenance inspection is required for the image forming units 18Bk, 18Y, 18M, 18C and the fixing device 25 (maintenance request determination step). . And the control part 1 which is a maintenance request determination means makes a user alert | report a maintenance request message which shows that about the apparatus determined to require maintenance by alerting means, such as a liquid crystal display and a lamp which are not shown in figure.

  In this copying machine, a device whose number of operations exceeds the maintenance cycle threshold value is regarded as having reached the end of its life and is replaced with a new one. The maintenance cycle threshold is data indicating the standard number of operations. This is determined as follows, for example. That is, it is assumed that a characteristic curve of the failure occurrence rate as shown in FIG. 10 is obtained for a certain device. Specifically, although there is a quality difference between parts for each product, a failure occurs in all products when the cumulative number of operations reaches C2 from the start of use (time 0). C1 in the figure is a time point that arrives at an earlier timing than C2, and at this point, 10% of all products have a failure. For example, the number of operations C1 at which the failure occurrence rate becomes 10% is determined as the maintenance cycle threshold.

  Devices that are determined to require maintenance will need to be replaced. Since this replacement is basically performed by a service person, the user who has confirmed the above-described maintenance request message contacts the maintenance / inspection service organization and requests replacement of the device. However, if the control unit 1 determines that there is a maintenance request for the image forming units 18Bk, 18Y, 18M, and 18C of each color and the fixing device 25 in the above-described maintenance request determination step, the control unit 1 immediately notifies the management device 104 to that effect. Notice. Thereby, the state information analysis unit 143 of the management apparatus 104 determines the presence / absence of each of a plurality of types of abnormality by the MTS method. In the abnormality determination step, when any abnormality occurs, maintenance information indicating the occurrence and the type of abnormality is sent to the terminal device 106, and an abnormality occurrence message or the like is notified to a serviceman or the like.

  In this embodiment, not only is it necessary to replace a device that has reached the end of its life, but if there is an abnormality at some point at that time, the serviceman also indicates that the abnormality has occurred. Etc. will be notified. In addition to the end of the life of a certain device, the service person who has received such notification can also grasp that a certain kind of abnormality has occurred. In this way, the service person can perform maintenance and inspection at the same time as the abnormal part other than the device, in addition to replacing the device that has been determined to require maintenance (the device that has reached the end of its life), thereby improving the efficiency of the maintenance work. Can do.

Note that the user may be notified of the determination result that the maintenance is necessary and the determination result that there is an abnormality.
In this embodiment, the case where the abnormality determination process is performed by the management apparatus 104 has been described. However, the abnormality determination process may be performed in the image forming apparatus or an apparatus directly connected thereto. In this case, the communication cost for data update can be eliminated and the running cost can be suppressed. In particular, since various types of data used in the MTS method tend to increase the data capacity and extend the communication time, performing abnormality determination processing in the management device 104 is effective in reducing running costs.
Further, the abnormality determination process may be performed both in the image forming apparatus or in the apparatus directly connected thereto and the management apparatus 104. Alternatively, the necessity of maintenance may be determined on one side and the presence or absence of abnormality may be determined on the other side. In this case, if the latter determination is performed by the abnormality determination device of the maintenance / inspection service organization, the determination accuracy of the presence or absence of abnormality can be improved, and if it is performed by the user abnormality determination device, the communication cost can be reduced. it can.

  In this embodiment, each copying machine 101 samples various state information necessary for the MST method, such as sensing data, and stores it in the state information storage unit 112 each time an image forming operation is performed on one sheet of transfer paper. Then, as will be described later, each type of status information is transmitted to the management apparatus 104 at a transmission timing suitable for each type determined by the transmission timing determination unit 114. Further, the copying machine 101 constantly monitors a failure at a specific location such as a fixing heater failure or a power supply circuit failure. When the failure is detected, the operation of the entire copying machine is stopped urgently and EM (Emergency Maintenance) is performed. The signal is transmitted to the management apparatus 104 through a communication line. As a failure monitoring method, an output value of a sensor that can acquire information related to the occurrence of the failure may be monitored and detected based on the output. For example, in the case of the fixing device 25, a current value to the heater is detected by a current meter as a sensor from a heater power source that supplies power to the heater. And even if the heater power supply has turned on the current supply contact to the heater, if the ammeter does not detect the current, it may be determined that the heater or the heater power supply has failed. In addition, the surface temperature of the heating belt is detected by a well-known surface temperature sensor, and if the surface temperature does not rise to a predetermined temperature even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the power to the heater is turned on, it is determined that the heater has failed. Just do it. In the case of a charging device that uniformly charges the photosensitive member, the uniform charging potential of the photosensitive member becomes a predetermined value even though the power supply by the charging power source that supplies power to the charging device is turned on. If not reached, it may be determined that the charging device has failed. In the case of various drive transmission systems, the rotation of a rotating body such as a gear is detected by an encoder, and the rotation of the rotating body is detected by an encoder even though the power supply to a drive source such as a motor is turned on. If no is detected, it may be determined as a failure. Further, when an overcurrent flows to the drive source, it may be determined that the drive transmission system has failed. Further, in the case of various electric circuit boards, a test signal is input from the outside, and a response signal based on the input of the signal may be checked to see whether it normally returns from the electric circuit board.

  In the management apparatus 104, various status information sent from each copying machine 101 through a communication line is received by the status information receiving unit 141 and stored in a received information storage unit 142 configured with a hard disk or the like. Then, the state information analysis unit 143 of the management device 104 determines the presence / absence of a plurality of types of abnormalities (abnormalities in a plurality of systems) at regular timing such as every two hours. At this time, out of a large amount of set data (a set of data including various types of acquired data) stored in the reception information storage unit 142, only those that have not yet been processed by the MTS method are selected, and the Mahalanobis distance is selected for each. Ask for. As long as no EM request signal is sent from the copying machine, it is only necessary to periodically determine whether or not there is an abnormality.

  However, when the EM request signal sent from the copying machine is received, the presence / absence of an abnormality is determined by a process different from normal. Specifically, as described above, the management device 104 stores a plurality of inverse matrices A individually corresponding to various types of abnormalities, but each inverse matrix A is used for abnormality determination. Two types are stored for immediately before abnormality determination. Unless an EM request signal is sent from the copying machine, the presence / absence of each type of abnormality is determined using an inverse matrix for abnormality determination. On the other hand, when an EM request signal sent from the copying machine is received, the presence / absence of various abnormalities is determined using an inverse matrix for determining immediately before abnormalities.

The inverse matrix for abnormality determination is constructed as follows.
That is, it is constructed based on various status information acquired from a standard machine that has the same specifications as the copying machine 101 to be tested and is known to be in a normal state. More specifically, sampling of various data used for constructing the inverse matrix is continued from the start of the test run of the standard machine until the first failure occurs. Then, at the time when the failure occurs, only the data sampled at a time far behind the predetermined first period from that time is extracted, and based on them, an inverse matrix for abnormality determination is constructed. For example, an inverse matrix for determining an abnormality is constructed based only on state information sampled at a time that is farther than 30 days (first period) from the time when the failure occurred (a time that is 31 days or more). The standard machine at the time of the failure is not normal, but the standard machine at a time far beyond the predetermined first period is not so abnormal, so it can be considered normal. is there. The inverse matrix for abnormality determination constructed based on the state information sampled at such time is used in the general determination process described later. Of course, the inverse matrix for abnormality determination is built for each system. Further, the failure indicates an abnormality that has progressed to such an extent that it can be visually recognized or relatively easily recognized, and the apparatus must be stopped until it is restored.

The inverse matrix for determining immediately before abnormality is constructed as follows.
That is, when a failure occurs, only the data sampled from the standard machine is extracted at a time far behind the predetermined second period (first period <second period) from that point, and abnormalities are detected based on them. Construct an inverse matrix for the previous decision. For example, an inverse matrix for determining immediately before abnormality is constructed based only on data sampled at a time that is farther than 40 days (second period) from the time when the failure occurs (time that is 41 days or more). Since the second period is longer than the first period, the inverse matrix for determination just before abnormality constructed in this way is sampled from a standard machine in which the abnormality is not progressing more than the inverse matrix for abnormality determination It is. Therefore, the normality is greater than the inverse matrix for abnormality determination. In the reference raising determination process described later using the inverse matrix for determining immediately before abnormality, the determination criterion is stricter than the general determination process performed using the inverse matrix for determining abnormality. Of course, a dedicated inverse matrix for determining immediately before abnormality is also constructed for each system.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a control flow of the abnormality determination step in the present embodiment.
In this abnormality determination step, first, general determination processing using an inverse matrix for abnormality determination is performed (S21). If any abnormality is detected in the general determination process (Yes in S22), abnormality elimination countermeasure information for the abnormality system is specified from various state information in the reception information storage unit 142, and the management apparatus 104 (S23). As a result, the operator of the management apparatus 104 tells which parts should be replaced to eliminate the abnormality, and which parts should be cleaned to eliminate the abnormality, so that appropriate action should be taken when the abnormality occurs. be able to. Further, the abnormality elimination countermeasure information is transmitted from the determination result transmission unit 144 to the terminal device 106 as maintenance information. The abnormality elimination countermeasure information is, for example, information such as “This copier requires replacement of part A” or information such as “A photoreceptor deterioration system abnormality has occurred”. In the present embodiment, abnormality elimination countermeasure information corresponding to each system is stored in advance in the RAM or the like of the management apparatus 104, and when an abnormality is detected, the information corresponding to the system of the abnormality is identified from among them. Are displayed on the display unit, and transmitted from the determination result transmission unit 144 to the terminal device 106 as maintenance information.

  Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the general determination process has been completed for all the abnormalities (S24). If the general determination process has not been completed (No in S24), the control loops to S21 described above. By such a flow of S21 to S24, the presence / absence of the abnormality of all the systems is determined, and when an abnormality is detected, the abnormality elimination countermeasure information corresponding to the abnormality is displayed on the display unit each time. Instead of displaying the abnormality elimination countermeasure information, it may be printed out.

  If it is determined in S24 that the presence / absence of abnormality has been determined for all the systems (Yes in S24), it is then determined whether an EM request signal has been received (S25). It is determined that a failure has occurred in the subject copying machine 101. In this case (Yes in S25), the reference raising determination process is performed for the abnormality that is not detected in the general determination process among all types of abnormalities (S26). In this reference raising determination process, as described above, since the determination standard is made stricter, an abnormality that is determined to be present at the present time in the normal determination standard, but is determined to be present in the near future at the present time. It will be determined that there is. If it is determined that there is any abnormality in the reference raising determination process (Yes in S27), after the abnormality elimination countermeasure information for the abnormality is specified and displayed on the operation display unit (S28), all unresolved information is displayed. It is determined whether or not the reference raising determination process has been performed for the detection abnormality (S29). If it is determined that all have been completed (Yes in S29), the series of control flows is completed.

  In this embodiment, when a failure occurs in the copying machine 101 to be tested, it is determined that there is no abnormality at a point different from the failure point at present, but it is determined that there is an abnormality in the near future. If there is an error, it can be determined that there is an abnormality at the present time. As a result, when repairing a faulty part, the serviceman can perform maintenance and inspection at a part where an abnormality will occur in the near future, thereby improving the efficiency of the maintenance work. In addition, although the method of switching the inverse matrix used for calculation of Mahalanobis distance D was demonstrated as a method of making the criteria of abnormality more severe, the following method may be used. That is, the threshold value to be compared with the square of the Mahalanobis distance D is switched from the first threshold value to a second threshold value smaller than that.

Next, processing for determining the timing for transmitting status information from each copying machine 101 to the management apparatus 104, which is a feature of the present invention, for each type of status information will be described.
In this embodiment, the black developing device 61Bk is driven regardless of whether the output image is monochrome or color, but the other color developing devices 61Y, 61M, and 61C are driven when the output image is color, but are monochrome. In the case of, it is not driven. Therefore, for example, when the user uses an extremely large number of monochrome images with respect to the color image, status information regarding driving of the developing device 61Bk for black (driving time information of the developing sleeve 65). Etc.) change frequently, but the status information relating to the driving of the developing devices 61Y, 61M, 61C of other colors does not change much.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, regarding the status information of each developing device 61Bk, 61Y, 61M, 61C, every time the count value of the number of rotations of the developing sleeve as the rotating body in each developing device exceeds a predetermined threshold value. At this time, the setting is made to transmit to the management apparatus 104. Thus, the status information of the black developing device 61Bk, which has a longer driving time or the number of times of driving than the developing devices 61Y, 61M, 61C of the other colors, is compared with the status information of the developing devices 61Y, 61M, 61C of the other colors. It is transmitted at a high frequency and collected and analyzed by the management device 104.

According to the present embodiment, since the frequency of collecting the status information of the black developing device 61Bk whose contents frequently change is increased, the failure prediction accuracy of the black developing device 61Bk is increased, or an abnormal state is overlooked. The number of cases can be reduced. On the other hand, regarding the status information of the developing devices 61Y, 61M, and 61C of other colors whose contents do not change so much, even if the collection frequency is increased, the failure prediction accuracy is increased or the number of cases in which an abnormal state is missed is reduced. I can not expect much of the effect. If the transmission frequency of the status information is high, it causes a result of increasing the communication load (traffic etc.) of the communication network and the processing load of the copying machine 101 and the management apparatus 104. Therefore, such status information is collected more frequently than necessary. It is better to avoid that.
Further, the black developing device 61Bk having a large driving time or number of times of driving has a higher probability of failure than the developing devices 61Y, 61M, 61C of other colors. In the present embodiment, since the collection frequency can be increased only for the status information of the black developing device 61Bk having a high probability of occurrence of a failure in this way, the effect can be achieved while suppressing an increase in the communication load of the communication network. In addition, it is possible to obtain a beneficial effect such as an increase in failure prediction accuracy.

  In this embodiment, every time the condition that the count value of the developing sleeve rotation speed of each developing device 61Bk, 61Y, 61M, 61C exceeds a predetermined threshold is satisfied, the status information of the developing device is transmitted. In the present embodiment, this threshold value can be changed as required by the user. Specifically, when the user performs a threshold change instruction operation on the operation panel, this is received by the operation reception unit 115, whereby each threshold used in the transmission timing determination unit 114 is determined according to the contents of the threshold change instruction operation. Be changed. Therefore, for example, if the threshold value corresponding to the black developing device 61Bk is set to a value smaller than the status information of the other color developing devices 61Y, 61M, 61C, the status information about the black developing device 61Bk It is possible to collect and analyze finer than the color developing devices 61Y, 61M, and 61C. Therefore, for example, when the user knows that the black developing device 61Bk is likely to break down based on past experience or the like, the user can reduce the threshold corresponding to the black developing device 61Bk to reduce the black developing device 61Bk. The failure prediction accuracy for 61Bk can be increased.

  In this embodiment, the case where the threshold value is changed based on the operation content of the user has been described. However, the condition change information is transmitted from the management apparatus 104 to the copier 101 via the communication network, The received copying machine 101 may change the threshold based on the condition change information.

[Modification 1]
Next, a modified example of the first embodiment (hereinafter referred to as “modified example 1”) will be described.
In the first modification, a plurality of copying machines located in various areas respectively owned by a plurality of users are used as devices to be examined. The basic configuration of these copying machines is the above embodiment. Since this is the same as the copying machine according to No. 1, description thereof is omitted. In addition, the description overlapping with that of the first embodiment is also omitted.

FIG. 12 is a schematic configuration diagram of the entire failure prediction system according to the first modification.
In the first modification, the management apparatus 104 is connected to 16 copiers, ie, copier A to copier P, to be tested via a communication line. As a result, the management device 104 installed in the maintenance / inspection service organization is connected to the 16 copiers A to P located at remote locations via communication lines.
Further, the regions 1 to 5 shown in the figure each indicate a geographically narrow area such as a 3 km area. Of the 16 copiers A to P, three of the copier A, copier B and copier C are installed in the area 1 and have a close positional relationship from a geographical point of view. is there. The two copying machines, D and E, are installed in an area called area 2 and are in a close positional relationship with each other. Further, the three copying machines F, G, and H are installed in an area called region 3 and are in a close positional relationship with each other. In addition, the two copying machines I and J are installed in an area called area 4 and are in a close positional relationship with each other. Further, the copying machine K, the copying machine L, the copying machine M, the copying machine N, the copying machine O, and the copying machine P are installed in an area called area 5, and are in a short-distance positional relationship with each other.

Each of the 16 copying machines A to P monitors various sensing data and the like each time a printing operation is performed, and stores them as data in a data storage means such as a hard disk. Then, as will be described later, each type of status information is transmitted to the management apparatus 104 at a transmission timing suitable for each type determined by the transmission timing determination unit 114. At this time, the data of the copying machine ID assigned to each copying machine in order to distinguish each copying machine is also transmitted together with various status information.
Further, each of the 16 copiers A to P constantly monitors for a failure at a specific location such as a fixing heater failure or a power supply circuit failure. When the failure is detected, the operation of the entire copier is stopped urgently. At the same time, an EM request signal is transmitted to the management apparatus 104 through a communication line.

When the management apparatus 104 receives various status information sent from any of the 16 copiers A to P, the management apparatus 104 identifies from which copier it is sent based on the above-mentioned copier ID. As well as identifying the region from which it was sent. Specifically, the RAM or the like of the management apparatus 104 stores a data table for associating the respective copying machine IDs and the area information with each other, and from which area the data is sent based on this data table. Identify what has happened. The received information is stored in association with each copying machine ID in the reception information storage unit 142.
The management apparatus 104 stores the set data, which is various status information transmitted from each copying machine in this way, and analyzes the status information every time a predetermined timing such as every two hours elapses. The unit 143 performs an abnormality determination process.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a control flow of the abnormality determination step in the first modification.
Also in the abnormality determination process of the first modification, first, the general determination process using the above-described abnormality determination inverse matrix is performed for each of the 16 copying machines A to P (S31). If an abnormality is detected in any of the copying machines A to P (Yes in S32), an abnormality detection message indicating that an abnormality has been detected in the copying machine is displayed on the display unit of the management apparatus 104. After that (S33), another copier installed in the same area as the copier is identified (S34). Thus, for example, when an abnormality is detected in the copying machine K, five copying machines L, copying machine M, copying machine N, copying machine O, copying machine P installed in the same area 5 are detected. Identified. Then, for each of the identified copying machines, a reference raising determination process using the above-described inverse matrix for determining immediately before abnormality, that is, making the determination criterion stricter is performed (S35). As a result, among the copying machines in which no abnormality is detected according to the normal determination criteria, the following confirmation is performed for those installed in the same area as the copying machine in which the abnormality is detected in the general determination process. In other words, although it is determined that there is no abnormality at the present time, it is confirmation whether or not it is determined that there is an abnormality in the near future. In this reference pull-up determination process, if an abnormality is detected in any of the copying machines previously identified in S34 (Yes in S36), an immediately before abnormality detection message is displayed on the display unit of the management apparatus 104. (S37). Further, the detection message immediately before the abnormality is transmitted from the determination result transmission unit 144 to the terminal device 106 as maintenance information.

  Through this abnormality determination process, the presence or absence of normal abnormality is pre-determined for all the copying machines A to P, and each time a normal abnormality is detected, it is installed in the same area as the copier in which the normal abnormality is detected. The presence or absence immediately before the abnormality of the other copiers made is determined later. The detection message may be printed out instead of being displayed.

  In the first modification, when the serviceman performs maintenance and inspection of the copying machine in which the failure is detected, the copying machine is another copying machine installed in the same area as the copying machine and has an abnormality in the near future. It becomes possible to perform maintenance inspection of the detected copying machine, and to improve the efficiency of the maintenance work.

[Modification 2]
Next, another modified example of the first embodiment (hereinafter, this modified example is referred to as “modified example 2”) will be described.
In addition, the description which overlaps with the said Embodiment 1 and the said modification 1 is abbreviate | omitted similarly.

  In the second modification, the presence or absence of each of a plurality of types of abnormalities is determined by the MTS method as in the first embodiment and the first modification described above. For each abnormality, there are a case where a general determination process using an inverse matrix for abnormality determination is performed and a case where a reference raising determination process using an inverse matrix for determination immediately before abnormality is performed. In the second modification, as in the first embodiment and the first modification described above, the maintenance request determination for each color image forming unit 18Bk, 18Y, 18M, 18C and the fixing device 25 is performed based on the number of operations. To do. In the second modification, the abnormality determination is performed only by the general determination process until any type of abnormality is detected by the general determination process or until a maintenance request for any device is detected. When an abnormality or a maintenance request is detected, the abnormality determination method is switched from the general determination process to the reference raising determination process.

  By adopting such a configuration, when any abnormality is detected in the general determination process or when a maintenance request for any device is detected in the maintenance request determination, it is determined that there is no, but close An abnormality determined to be present in the future can be determined to be present at that time. This allows the serviceman to perform maintenance inspections on locations corresponding to the abnormality determined to be present in the general determination process, or to perform maintenance inspections on equipment determined to be in need of maintenance. At the same time, it is possible to perform a maintenance check at a location corresponding to an abnormality determined to be present in the near future. Therefore, it is possible to improve the efficiency of maintenance work by service personnel.

In addition, the example in which the determination of the presence / absence of abnormality is switched from the general determination process to the reference raising determination process when an abnormality or a maintenance request is detected has been described. However, the maintenance request determination is changed from the general determination process to the reference raising determination process. You may make it switch to. In this case, a maintenance cycle threshold value of the same level as in the first embodiment is used in the general determination process, while a lower maintenance cycle threshold value is used in the reference pulling determination process. Let In addition, only when an abnormality is detected in the general determination process, the determination of whether there is an abnormality may be switched to the reference increase determination process, or only when a maintenance request is detected, the determination of whether there is an abnormality is increased. You may make it switch to determination processing.
Further, the maintenance cycle threshold may be made stricter only when a maintenance request is detected in the determination of the presence or absence of a maintenance request using a normal maintenance cycle threshold. Furthermore, the maintenance cycle threshold may be made stricter only when an abnormality is detected in the general determination process.
In addition, as a method of making the abnormality determination criterion more strict, a method of switching the threshold value to be compared with the square of the Mahalanobis distance D from the first threshold value to a second threshold value smaller than that may be adopted.

[Modification 3]
Next, still another modified example of the first embodiment (hereinafter, this modified example is referred to as “modified example 3”) will be described.
In addition, the description which overlaps with the said Embodiment 1 and the said modification 1 and 2 is also abbreviate | omitted similarly.

  In the third modification, in addition to the set data that is various state information from each copying machine at a predetermined timing, the operation count value is also sent to the management apparatus 104. Basically, the management apparatus 104 uses the color image forming units 18Bk, 18Y, 18M, and 18C for each copying machine based on the operation count value sent from each copying machine through a communication line. Only the maintenance request determination process of the device 25 is performed. However, when a maintenance request is detected by any of the apparatuses (image forming units 18Bk, 18Y, 18M, 18C and fixing device 25) in any of the copying machines, the copying machine is installed in the same area as the copying machine. All other copiers are specified in the same manner as in the first modification. Then, abnormality determination processing is performed for all the specified copying machines.

  By adopting such a configuration, when a maintenance request is detected by any device (image forming units 18Bk, 18Y, 18M, 18C and fixing device 25) of any copying machine, the maintenance request is detected. It is determined whether or not an abnormality is detected for a copier that is desired and is installed in the same area as the copier that detected the maintenance request. This allows the service person to perform maintenance and inspection of the copier equipped with the apparatus for which the maintenance request is detected, and also to maintain a copier located in the vicinity of the copier and where an abnormality is detected. By performing the inspection, it becomes possible to improve the efficiency of the maintenance work.

[Embodiment 2]
Next, another embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a failure prediction system as in the case of the first embodiment (hereinafter, this embodiment is referred to as “second embodiment”) will be described.
This embodiment shows an example in which the timing for transmitting status information from the copying machine 101 to the management apparatus 104 is set from the management apparatus side. In the present embodiment, the duplicate description of the first embodiment will be omitted for each copying machine and management device that constitute the failure prediction system. In addition, although the content of each modification 1-3 about the said Embodiment 1 is applicable also to this embodiment, the description is also abbreviate | omitted.

FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram of the failure prediction system in the present embodiment.
FIG. 15 shows data from the usage status of the user (hereinafter referred to as “user usage status”) and the environment information of the copying machine 101 to the setting of the status information transmission interval from each copying machine 101 in this embodiment. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 15, each time a user makes some input to the copying machine 101, information on the user usage status is accumulated in the information storage unit (ROM 1b, RAM 1c) in the control unit 1 of the copying machine. . Further, the environmental information of the copying machine is periodically accumulated in the information storage unit. Since environmental information changes during the day, it is preferable to accumulate it at intervals of 2 to 4 hours. Thus, the collected user usage status information and environment information are transmitted to the management device 104 at a preset time and stored in the database of the management device 104. When a sufficient amount of information is accumulated in the management apparatus 104, a unit that is likely to fail out of various apparatuses, parts, units, etc. (hereinafter simply referred to as “units”) provided in the copying machine is determined from the information. Perform the prediction process. This prediction process may use a discriminant function created by statistical pattern recognition. That is, a determination rule is created using teacher usage data and usage information and environmental information of a user who has caused a failure, and it is determined whether or not the collected user usage information and environmental information are similar. It is. Many such algorithms have been proposed. In this embodiment, for example, a decision tree algorithm may be used. The discriminant function created by the decision tree algorithm is, for example, “When the output of a monochrome image is 5 times or more compared to a color image, the number of outputs per day is 500 or more, and the humidity is 30% or less, It is possible to determine a failure that is likely to occur based on the classification of each information, such as “black cleaning failure occurs”.

  From such a determination result, the status signal transmission interval of each unit in each copying machine 101 is determined. Specifically, if it is determined that the usage status information and the environment information have a pattern that causes a specific failure, the unit corresponding to the failure and the setting value of the status information transmission interval (more than the current setting value). A short transmission interval) is transmitted from the management apparatus 104 to the target copying machine 101. The set value set here is ½ of the initial value in this embodiment. By setting in this way, the status information of the unit determined to be prone to failure is collected and analyzed twice as often as the status information of the other units. As a result, for units determined to be prone to failure, the possibility of overlooking changes in state information is reduced, and changes in state information can be captured more quickly.

  The copying machine 101 that has received information about the unit corresponding to the failure and the setting value of the state information transmission interval (hereinafter referred to as “transmission timing determination information”) from the management apparatus 104 uses the transmission timing determination unit 114 to transmit the transmission timing determination information. Based on the above, the setting value of the status information transmission interval of the corresponding unit is determined and changed to the determined setting value. In addition, as the index of the transmission interval, for example, the operation time of the unit or the equivalent is adopted. For a unit having a counter for counting the number of rotations, the number of rotations may be used as an index.

  According to this embodiment, since the frequency of collecting status information of units that are likely to fail is doubled compared to the status information of units that are not so, the failure prediction accuracy can be achieved only for units that are determined to be prone to failure. While obtaining a beneficial effect such as an increase, it is possible to reduce the frequency of collecting the status information of units that have not been determined to be prone to failure, thereby suppressing an increase in the communication load of the communication network.

  In addition, during the initial period shortly after the copying machine 101 is delivered to the user and the operation is started, the usage status information and environmental information of the user are not sufficiently collected. , And are transmitted at an initial value transmission interval determined in advance. If previous usage status information and environmental information about the user are stored in the database of the management apparatus 104, the initial period may be set to a status information transmission interval determined based on the information. Good.

As described above, the copying machine 101 as the image forming apparatus according to the first and second embodiments described above can communicate with the management apparatus 104 that manages the state information indicating the state of the copying machine via the communication networks 102 and 103. The state information acquisition unit 111 as a state information acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of types of state information, and transmission of each of the plurality of types of state information acquired by the state information acquisition unit 111 according to a predetermined determination condition A transmission timing determination unit 114 serving as a transmission timing determination unit that determines timing and a plurality of types of state information acquired by the state information acquisition unit 111 are respectively transmitted to the communication networks 102 and 103 at transmission timings determined by the transmission timing determination unit 114. State information transmission unit 113 as state information transmission means for transmitting to the management apparatus 104 via The has. Thereby, the transmission timings of the plurality of types of status information acquired by the status information acquisition unit 111 can be set to different timings between the types of the status information according to predetermined determination conditions. Accordingly, by appropriately setting predetermined determination conditions, each type of status information can be transmitted from the copying machine 101 to the management apparatus 104 at a frequency suitable for the type.
In particular, in the first embodiment described above, the developing sleeve rotational speed information, which is driving time related information for grasping the driving time of each color developing device 61Bk, 61Y, 61M, 61C, which is an internal device in the copying machine 101, is obtained. The state information acquisition unit 111 acquires state information about the developing devices 61Bk, 61Y, 61M, and 61C of the respective colors, and the transmission timing determination unit 114 The developing device state information transmission timing corresponding to the developing sleeve rotational speed information that has changed beyond the threshold is determined based on the timing at which each value of the developing sleeve rotational speed information has changed beyond a predetermined threshold. Thereby, it is possible to collect data with no bias (equal intervals with respect to the driving time) for each of the developing devices 61Bk, 61Y, 61M, and 61C. In addition, as a result of accumulating state information indicating that the predetermined driving time has elapsed in the management device 104, a situation in which similar data that hardly changes in the same driving time does not accumulate will not occur.
In particular, in the first embodiment, the black developing device 61Bk and the other color developing devices 61Y, 61M, and 61C each have a developing sleeve 65 as a plurality of rotating bodies that can rotate independently of each other. The drive time related information acquisition means acquires the rotation speed information (rotation drive information) of these developing sleeves 65 as drive time related information in the corresponding developing device. Thereby, it is possible to easily and easily grasp the drive times of the black developing device 61Bk and the developing devices 61Y, 61M, and 61C of other colors.
In the first and second embodiments described above, the state information transmission unit 113 may also transmit other information to be transmitted to the management apparatus 104 when transmitting the state information. In this case, the processing load on the management apparatus 104 side can be reduced compared to the case where these pieces of information are transmitted separately.
In the first embodiment, the operation receiving unit 115 serving as an operation receiving unit that receives an operation and the condition changing unit that changes the threshold according to the content of the condition changing operation received by the operation receiving unit 115 are provided. . Thereby, since each threshold value for determining the transmission timing can be changed by the user who knows the usage status best, it is easy to obtain an optimal threshold value according to the usage status.
In the second embodiment, the copying machine 101 sets condition information transmission intervals according to the condition change information receiving means for receiving the transmission timing determination information as the condition change information via the communication network, and the received transmission timing determination information. And a condition changing means for changing the value. Thereby, the optimal transmission interval can be set from the side that manages and operates the management apparatus 104.
In particular, in the second embodiment, the copying machine 101 uses usage information acquisition means for acquiring its own usage status information and environmental information for acquiring its own environmental information (information such as temperature and humidity). An acquisition unit, and an information transmission unit that transmits usage status information and environment information to the management device 104 via a communication network at a predetermined timing. The management device 104 uses the usage status transmitted from the copier 101. Whether the state of the copying machine 101 is abnormal based on the information receiving means for receiving the information and the environment information via the communication network and the state information stored in the reception information storage unit 142 as the state information storage means. When the state information analysis unit 143 serving as a determination unit and the state information analysis unit 143 determine that there is an abnormality, the failure occurrence of the unit corresponding to the abnormal state A failure occurrence probability calculating means for calculating the probability based on the received usage status information and environment information; a determining means for determining the transmission timing of the state information of the unit based on the calculated failure occurrence probability of the unit; and the unit And condition change information transmitting means for transmitting transmission timing determination information for setting the transmission timing of the status information to the determined transmission timing to the copying machine 101 via the communication network. Therefore, status information can be transmitted at a high frequency for units such as developing devices that have a high probability of occurrence of failure based on usage status and environmental information, and status information can be transmitted at a low frequency for units that are not. it can.

In the above-described first and second embodiments, the case where the target device is an electrophotographic image forming apparatus has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Applicable to the device.
In the first and second embodiments, the case where the abnormality determination process of the copying machine 101 is performed by the management apparatus 104 connected to the copying machine 101 via a communication network has been described. You may make it perform in 101. In this case, when it is determined that the copying machine 101 is abnormal, the management apparatus 104 is notified of the fact via the communication network, or the fact is communicated to the maintenance company. During the abnormality determination process, the resources of the control unit 1 of the copying machine 101 are used. Therefore, it is preferable to set the abnormality determination process at midnight or early morning when the copying machine 101 is less used. However, status information is collected and accumulated periodically during the image output operation.

It is a schematic block diagram of the whole failure prediction system which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the management apparatus which comprises the system. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part of the copying machine which comprises the failure prediction system. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the entire copier. FIG. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of a printer unit of the copier. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of a tandem image forming apparatus of the printer unit. It is a functional block diagram of the failure prediction system. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure which determines the calculation method (calculation formula) of the index value used in the status information analysis part of the management apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the abnormality determination process performed in the status information analysis part of the management apparatus. It is a graph which shows the characteristic curve of a failure occurrence rate. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a control flow of an abnormality determination process in the first embodiment. It is a schematic block diagram of the whole failure prediction system which concerns on the modification 1. 10 is a flowchart showing a control flow of an abnormality determination step in Modification 1. It is a functional block diagram of the failure prediction system in Embodiment 2. FIG. 9 is a data flow diagram from setting of a user's usage status (hereinafter referred to as “user usage status”) and environmental information of a copying machine to setting a status information transmission interval from each copying machine in Embodiment 2.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control part 61Bk, 61Y, 61M, 61C Developing apparatus 100 Printer part 101 Copy machine 102 Data communication apparatus 103,105 Communication line 104 Management apparatus 106 Terminal apparatus 111 Status information acquisition part 112 Status information storage part 113 Status information transmission part 114 Transmission Timing determination unit 115 Operation reception unit 141 Status information reception unit 142 Reception information storage unit 143 Status information analysis unit 144 Discrimination result transmission unit 200 Paper feed unit 300 Scanner unit 400 Document conveyance unit

Claims (11)

In an image forming apparatus that is communicably connected via a communication network to a management apparatus that manages state information indicating the state of the image forming apparatus,
Status information acquisition means for acquiring a plurality of types of status information;
Transmission timing determination for determining the transmission timing of each of the plurality of types of status information so that the plurality of types of status information acquired by the status information acquisition means are transmitted to the management device at different timings according to a predetermined determination condition Means,
A status information transmitting unit configured to transmit a plurality of types of status information acquired by the status information acquiring unit to the management apparatus via the communication network at each transmission timing determined by the transmission timing determining unit. An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
Drive time related information acquisition means for acquiring drive time related information for grasping drive times of a plurality of internal devices in the image forming apparatus,
The status information acquisition means acquires status information about the plurality of internal devices,
The transmission timing determining means responds to the driving time related information changed beyond the threshold based on the timing when each value of the driving time related information acquired by the driving time related information acquiring means has changed beyond a predetermined threshold. An image forming apparatus characterized by determining a transmission timing of status information of an internal device. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2.
Each of the plurality of internal devices has a plurality of rotating bodies that can rotate independently of each other.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drive time related information acquisition unit acquires rotation drive information of the plurality of rotating bodies as drive time related information in a corresponding internal device. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The status information transmitting means also transmits other information to be transmitted to the management device that is not included in the multiple types of status information when transmitting the status information for at least one type of the multiple types of status information. An image forming apparatus that transmits the images together. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein:
An operation accepting means for accepting an operation;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a condition changing unit that changes the predetermined determination condition in accordance with a content of the condition changing operation received by the operation receiving unit. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein:
Condition change information receiving means for receiving condition change information via a communication network;
An image forming apparatus comprising: condition changing means for changing the predetermined determination condition in accordance with the condition change information received by the condition change information receiving means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6.
Usage status information acquisition means for acquiring usage status information of the image forming apparatus;
Environmental information acquisition means for acquiring environmental information of the image forming apparatus;
Information transmitting means for transmitting the usage status information and the environment information to the management apparatus via a communication network at a predetermined timing;
The condition change information receiving means receives condition change information for each of the plurality of types of state information determined based on the occurrence probability of the plurality of types of failures calculated from the usage status information and the environment information transmitted by the information transmitting means. An image forming apparatus that receives data via a communication network. A state management system in which an image forming apparatus and a management apparatus are communicably connected to each other via a communication network,
The image forming apparatus includes:
Status information acquisition means for acquiring a plurality of types of status information respectively indicating a plurality of types of statuses of the image forming apparatus;
Transmission timing determination for determining the transmission timing of each of the plurality of types of status information so that the plurality of types of status information acquired by the status information acquisition means are transmitted to the management device at different timings according to a predetermined determination condition Means,
A plurality of types of status information acquired by the status information acquisition means, each having a transmission timing determined by the transmission timing determination means, and a status information transmission means for transmitting to the management device via the communication network;
The management device
Status information receiving means for receiving a plurality of types of status information transmitted by the status information transmitting means of the image forming apparatus via a communication network;
A state management system comprising state information storage means for storing a plurality of types of state information received by the state information receiving means. The state management system of claim 8,
The image forming apparatus includes:
Usage status information acquisition means for acquiring usage status information of the image forming apparatus;
Environmental information acquisition means for acquiring environmental information of the image forming apparatus;
Information transmitting means for transmitting the usage status information and the environment information to the management apparatus via a communication network at a predetermined timing;
Condition change information receiving means for receiving condition change information via a communication network;
Condition changing means for changing the predetermined determination condition according to the condition change information received by the condition change information receiving means,
The management device
Information receiving means for receiving usage status information and environment information transmitted by the information transmitting means of the image forming apparatus via a communication network;
Determining means for determining whether or not the state of the image forming apparatus is abnormal based on the state information stored in the state information storage means;
When it is determined that the determination unit is abnormal, a failure occurrence probability calculation unit that calculates the occurrence probability of the type of failure corresponding to the abnormal state based on the usage status information and the environment information received by the information reception unit When,
Determining means for determining the transmission timing of the type of status information corresponding to the type of failure based on the type of failure occurrence probability calculated by the failure occurrence probability calculating unit;
Condition change information transmitting means for transmitting condition change information for setting the transmission timing of the type of status information to the transmission timing determined by the determination means to the image forming apparatus via a communication network, State management system. In the state management system of claim 9,
The determination means sends the timing information of the type of status information so that the higher the probability of occurrence of the type of fault calculated by the fault occurrence probability calculation means, the higher the frequency of transmission of the type of status information corresponding to the type of fault. A state management system characterized by determining An image that is communicably connected via a communication network to a state determination device that determines whether or not the state of the image forming device is abnormal based on state information used to determine the state of the image forming device A method for determining a state of a forming apparatus,
A status information transmission step of transmitting a plurality of types of status information in the image forming apparatus to the status determination apparatus via a communication network;
An information transmission step of transmitting usage status information and environmental information in the image forming apparatus to the state determination apparatus via a communication network at a predetermined timing;
A determination step of determining whether or not the state of the image forming apparatus is abnormal based on the plurality of types of state information transmitted in the state information transmission step;
Failure probability that calculates the occurrence probability of the type of failure corresponding to the abnormal state based on the usage status information and environmental information transmitted in the information transmission step when it is determined that the abnormality is detected in the determination step A calculation process;
A transmission timing determination step for determining the transmission timing of the type of status information corresponding to the type of failure based on the occurrence probability of the type of failure calculated in the failure occurrence probability calculation step;
In the state information transmission step, the plurality of types of state information are transmitted to the state determination device via the communication network at each transmission timing determined in the transmission timing determination step, respectively. .

Images