JP2011123790A - Method of storing information - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve such a problem that there is information which cannot be fully stored in an information storage device and may overflow and be impossible to be stored and that the information cannot be taken over in substrate replacement. <P>SOLUTION: Equipment is constituted to include a main nonvolatile memory and a nonvolatile memory for backup and include additionally an external interface for communications with the other external equipment and to store the overflowing information not stored in the nonvolatile memory for backup among the information of the main nonvolatile memory in the other equipment through the external interface. After replacing a member having the main nonvolatile memory, the other equipment having the overflowing information is retrieved through the external interface, and the found overflowing information together with the information of the nonvolatile memory for backup is written in the main first nonvolatile memory of the replaced member. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information storage method, and more particularly to information inheritance at the time of equipment failure.

  In embedded devices, parameters and history information necessary for device operation (hereinafter referred to as parameters and other information) are permanently stored inside the device, so when the board is replaced due to a failure, the parameters and other information are to be taken over. There is a request. On the other hand, Patent Document 1 has a configuration in which information such as device parameters is recorded in a non-volatile memory and is also backed up in an external storage device, and is returned from the backup data in the external storage device to the non-volatile memory when the device is replaced. It is disclosed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-019729

  If you want to back up all the parameters and other information you have, you need the same storage capacity of the external storage device. However, the capacity of the external storage device is naturally limited. Therefore, in the invention of Patent Document 1, the information overflowing from the backupable size among the information such as parameters cannot be taken over.

  The present invention saves information overflowing from the backup memory to other devices existing in the network, and when replacing a board, searches the network, finds a device holding its own information before the failure, and after the replacement The problem is solved by writing back to the board.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that reduces the possibility of image staining for separation and improves user convenience.

  A first information storage method according to the present invention includes a first nonvolatile memory that retains information related to the operation of the device, and a second nonvolatile memory that retains a copy of at least part of the information in the first nonvolatile memory. And the first nonvolatile memory and the second nonvolatile memory are devices configured to be physically separable; an external interface for communicating with other devices existing outside the device The overflow information not stored in the second nonvolatile memory among the information in the first nonvolatile memory is stored in another device via the external interface; After replacing the member having the memory mounted thereon, the other device holding the overflow information is searched via the external interface, and the detected overflow information and the first information are searched. Combined in the nonvolatile memory information is information storage method characterized by writing in said first nonvolatile memory. The second information storage method according to the present invention, in the first information storage method, when another device uses its function, it requests the device to store the overflow information, An information storage method for simultaneously storing time information, wherein when the overflow information is found in a plurality of devices, the time information is compared and the latest information is selected and used. .

  As described above, according to the information storage method corresponding to claim 1 of the present invention, even when all information to be stored cannot be stored in the second nonvolatile memory to be copied and held, the second nonvolatile memory is stored. By restoring the information stored in the memory together with the information stored in other devices, it is possible to reliably restore the information without increasing the cost. According to the information storage method corresponding to claim 2, even when a plurality of stored information is found in connection with many other devices, it is possible to select and restore the latest information without fail, Accurate restoration of information is possible even in an environment used in multiple devices.

1 is a block diagram of a printing apparatus according to the present invention. The figure explaining the internal structure of the host computer which concerns on this invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a print engine of the printing apparatus according to the present invention. The figure which described the information preserve | saved based on this invention corresponding to the preservation | save place. The figure explaining the mechanism which backs up the device information in preparation for board | substrate exchange which concerns on this invention, chasing the flow of information in time series.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printing apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, symbol 1 is a host computer that generates image data, symbol 11 is an external interface for communicating with other devices existing outside, symbol 12 is a main body EEPROM that holds information related to the operation of the device, Symbol 13 is a backup EEPROM for holding at least a part of information of the main body EEPROM 12, symbol 3 is an ink jet print engine, and symbol 14 is an operation panel for reading / writing information of the main body EEPROM. Each of these will be described in detail below.

  When the user generates a print job at the host computer 1, print data is generated and transmitted to the printing apparatus.

  In the printing apparatus, the print setting information set by the operation panel 14 is stored in the main body EEPROM 12.

  When receiving the print data, the printing apparatus controls the inkjet print engine 3 according to the print setting information held in the main body EEPROM 12 to generate a printed matter.

  The backup EEPROM 13 is configured to be physically separable from the main body EEPROM 12. When the main body EEPROM 12 fails, the connection with the backup EEPROM 13 is disconnected, and after the failed part is replaced, it is connected again.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the host computer according to the present invention.

  In the figure, symbol 21 is a printer driver, symbol 22 is a backup utility, symbol 23 is a backup information storage, and symbol 24 is an external interface.

  The printer driver 21 generates a print job and transmits the print job to the printing apparatus via the external interface 24.

  The backup utility 22 stores the main body storage information of the printing apparatus received from the printing apparatus in the backup information storage 23.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the print engine of the printing apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, symbol 31 is a carriage, and symbol 32 is a carriage shaft for guiding the carriage. An ink jet head (not shown) is mounted on the carriage 31 and is driven to reciprocate by a carriage motor (not shown). Symbol 33 is a recording medium, and symbol 34 is a platen for holding the recording medium 34 in a plane. The recording medium 33 is held by an LF roller (not shown) and conveyed in a direction perpendicular to the carriage shaft 32. A symbol 35 is a head station for maintaining the state of the ink jet head, and a symbol 36 is a preliminary ejection station for performing preliminary ejection for maintaining the state of the head during printing. The head station 35 has a function of sucking and recovering the inkjet head, a function of wiping the head surface, a function of capping, and the like. During printing, the carriage 31 performs a preliminary ejection operation immediately above the head station 35, that is, at the position of the symbol 31R, and above the preliminary ejection station 36, that is, at the position of the symbol 31L. This is to remove the effect of drying on the ink exposed to the environment. Accordingly, the movement range of the carriage 31 during printing becomes wider than the width of the recording medium 33 due to the preliminary ejection operation, which is a cause of lowering the throughput.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing information stored according to the present invention in correspondence with storage locations. In the figure, reference numeral 41 denotes all main body storage information stored in the main body. Symbol 42 is backupable information that can be stored in the backup EEPROM. Symbol 43 is overflow information which cannot be stored in the backup EEPROM among the main body storage information. Symbol 44 is external backup information for backup to the outside including overflow information that could not be stored in the backup EEPROM.

  In the stored information, an IP address and a serial number of the device for specifying the printing device that is the owner of the information are stored.

  In addition, in order to specify the newest information, the external backup information stores a storage time in addition to the IP address and the serial number of the apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a mechanism for backing up device information in preparation for substrate replacement according to the present invention, following the flow of information in time series. In the figure, symbol 50 is one of host computers that generates a print job and transmits data to the printer.

  Symbol 501 is a printer driver installed in the host computer 50, symbol 502 is a backup utility, and symbol 503 is an HDD for storing data.

  The backup utility 502 stores the main body storage information received from the printer in the HDD 503.

  Further, when there is a transmission request for stored data from the printer, the stored information is transmitted to the printer.

  In addition, there are a host computer 2 represented by symbol 51 and a host computer 3 represented by symbol 52, which are similar to this configuration.

  Symbol 53 is a printer as a printing apparatus. A symbol 530 is a main body EEPROM included in the printer 53. Symbol 531 is main body storage information stored in the main body EEPROM 53.

  A symbol 532 is included in and connected to the printer 53, but is a detachable backup EEPROM. Symbol 533 is backup storage information stored in the backup EEPROM 532.

  Symbols S501 to S508 in the figure are sequence numbers representing how the components described in FIG. 5 are related in time series and constitute the present invention.

  First, the information storage phase will be described. The flow of information at this time is indicated by arrows indicated by solid lines in the figure.

  When a print job is input from the host computer 50 to the printer 53 (step S501), the printer 53 performs printing based on the print job.

  The printer 53 updates the main body EEPROM 530 when printing a job.

  When the print job is finished, the information stored in the main body EEPROM is stored in the backup EEPROM 532 (step S502).

  At this time, since all the information 531 stored in the main body EEPROM cannot be stored in the backup EEPROM, only the information that can be stored is extracted and stored in the backup EEPROM 532 as the backup storage information 533.

  The printer 53 stores the information in the backup EEPROM 532, and then transmits the printer main body storage information to the backup utility 502 included in the host computer 50 that is the job transmission source (step S503).

  The host computer 50 adds the reception date and time to the backup data received by the backup utility 502 and stores it in the HDD 503.

  Next, the information restoration phase after board replacement will be described.

  Substrate replacement refers to replacement of a target electric substrate with another operable substrate when it becomes unusable due to damage or deterioration.

  At this time, the main body EEPROM 530, which is mounted on the damaged electric board and cannot be removed, is discarded together with the damaged board.

  Of course, the stored information is also discarded.

  The backup EEPROM EPROM 532 that can be removed when it is removed is once removed before the board is replaced, and is connected again after the replacement.

  Since this backup EEPROM is not exchanged, it retains the same information as before the board exchange.

  After the board is replaced, the information in the main body EEPROM 530 that has been discarded together with the board must be restored.

When the printer 53 boots for the first time with the replaced board, it automatically copies and restores the information held in the backup EEPROM 532 to the main body EEPROM 532 mounted on the replaced board. (Step S504)
However, in step S504, since the capacity of the backup EEPROM is small with respect to the total storage capacity, all necessary information cannot be restored. The overflow information is initialized with default values.

  Thereafter, the printer 53 makes an inquiry about the stored information by broadcast to the host computer on the network using the IP address and serial number as keys.

  In response to the inquiry, the backup utility (example 502) included in each host computer sends the corresponding information to the inquiry source printer if the corresponding information is stored on its own HDD (example 503) (step S505). ).

  If there are a plurality of responses, the printer 53 selects the information having the newest time information (step S506) and restores it to the main body EEPROM 530 (step S507).

1 Host computer 11 External interface 12 Main body EEPROM
13 Backup EEPROM
14 Operation Panel 21 Printer Driver 22 Backup Utility 23 Backup Information Storage 24 External Interface 3 Inkjet Print Engine 31 Carriage 32 Carriage Shaft 33 Recording Medium 34 Platen 35 Head Station 36 Pre-Discharge Station 37 Chassis 41 Main Unit Storage Information 42 Backup Available Information 43 Overflow Information 44 External backup information 50 Host computer 1
501 Printer driver 502 Backup utility 503 HDD
51 Host computer 2
52 Host computer 3
53 Printer 530 Main Body EEPROM
531 Main unit storage information 532 Backup EEPROM
533 Backup storage information

Claims (2)

  A first nonvolatile memory for holding information related to the operation of the device; and a second nonvolatile memory for copying and holding at least a part of the information of the first nonvolatile memory, the first nonvolatile memory and the The second nonvolatile memory is a device configured to be physically separable; and includes an external interface for communicating with other devices existing outside the device, and stores information of the first nonvolatile memory. Among the overflow information that is not stored in the second nonvolatile memory, in the device configured to save to other devices via the external interface, after replacing the member mounted with the first nonvolatile memory, The other device holding the overflow information is searched via the external interface, and the overflow information found and the information of the second nonvolatile memory are combined. Information storage method characterized by writing the serial first nonvolatile memory.   2. The information storage method according to claim 1, wherein when another device uses its own function, it requests the device to store overflow information, and at that time, the time information is stored simultaneously. A method for storing information, wherein when the overflow information is found in a plurality of devices, the time information is compared and the latest information is selected and used.

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