JP2013097752A - Maintenance support system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress the occurrence of a situation in which a useless maintenance work is repeated.SOLUTION: The maintenance support system for supporting a maintenance work by providing information helpful for the maintenance of a copying machine to a serviceman calculates abnormality prediction determination data (F value) to be stored in data storage means on the basis of a signal to be acquired from the copying machine, determines whether or not the maintenance work has been valid on the basis of the abnormality prediction determination data in a period Ts between the immediately previous execution of the maintenance work and a predetermined maintenance validity determination period, and when determining that the maintenance work is not valid, notifies a serviceman of maintenance failure information showing the result.

Description

  The present invention relates to a maintenance support system that supports maintenance work by providing information useful for maintenance of a maintenance object such as an image forming apparatus to a maintenance worker.

  Conventionally, abnormalities that occur in various devices on the market can be recovered easily by simple maintenance work, and it is difficult to find the cause and it is difficult to be a specialized service person (maintenance worker). Broadly divided into those that cannot be dealt with. In the case of the former abnormality, it is possible to have the user perform maintenance work by issuing a maintenance request message such as “Please replace XX” when the device detects the abnormality of the part. . On the other hand, in the case of the latter abnormality, it can be dealt with only by a service person. For example, in an image forming apparatus that forms an image by electrophotography, an abnormal image such as a black streak may occur when the charged potential of the photosensitive member becomes unstable. When this kind of abnormal image occurs, it is extremely difficult for the user to specify, so it is common to ask a serviceman to repair.

  However, even a serviceman may find it difficult to accurately identify the root cause that causes an abnormal image. For example, the black streaks described above are caused by a secondary cause that the charged potential of the photoconductor becomes unstable, but there are a plurality of primary causes that cause the secondary cause. . Specifically, there are a decrease in chargeability due to deterioration of the photosensitive member, a defective charging device, a defective photosensitive member cleaning device, and the like. Among these primary causes, at least one of them is involved, and a secondary cause that the charged potential of the photoreceptor becomes unstable occurs. If it is a service person, it can be easily specified that black stripes are generated due to the secondary cause of destabilization of the charged potential of the photosensitive member. However, as for the primary cause causing the secondary cause, it is often difficult to clearly identify which one of the photosensitive member, the charging device, and the photosensitive member cleaning device is involved. Absent. In such a case, the service person has to identify the part that is the primary cause by performing trial and error, such as replacing the photosensitive member with the most conspicuous scratches with a test and performing test printing. I do not get.

  Even if forced to try and error, it is sufficient if the primary cause can be identified immediately, but there are cases where trial and error must be repeated over a long period of time. For example, a black streak occurs only when the user performs a large amount of printing, and a noticeable black streak does not appear when a service person performs several tens of test prints at the site. In such a case, it is unavoidable whether or not the cause of the abnormality has been resolved, and the maintenance work must be rounded up.

  On the other hand, there has conventionally been known a failure prediction method in which various signals are periodically acquired from an image forming apparatus and used for prediction of failure (abnormality). For example, in Patent Document 1, various signals indicating the photosensitive member charging potential, toner density, image density, and the like are periodically sampled from the image forming apparatus and subjected to multivariate analysis. A failure prediction method for determining whether or not a failure symptom state is generated is disclosed. According to such a failure prediction method, it is possible to notify that a failure may occur soon before a failure actually occurs. By using the failure prediction method, a service person who receives a notification from a user who has received this notification, or a service person who has received the notification directly, will eliminate the cause of the failure before the actual failure occurs. Work can be done. As a result, the downtime of the image forming apparatus due to the failure does not occur, and the convenience for the user is improved.

  When performing maintenance work according to the result of such failure prediction (abnormality prediction), the service person usually replaces parts corresponding to the abnormality prediction result in accordance with the maintenance work procedure described in the maintenance manual or the like. Carry out maintenance work. However, since it may be difficult to accurately identify the cause of the abnormality related to the abnormality prediction, the parts replaced according to the predetermined maintenance procedure are considered as the primary cause of the abnormality related to the abnormality prediction. It may be different from the parts. In this case, it is not possible to determine whether the replaced part is different from the part that is the primary cause of the abnormality related to the abnormality prediction during the maintenance work. The maintenance work will be rounded up.

  When the maintenance work is rounded up without knowing whether or not the cause of the abnormality has been resolved, an abnormality that should have been addressed by the maintenance work may occur thereafter. In this case, the service person who has received notification of the abnormality again performs maintenance work for the abnormality. However, if the service person who performs the current maintenance work does not grasp the previous maintenance work, the same maintenance work as the previous maintenance work may be performed. In this case, useless maintenance work is repeated, which is disadvantageous for both service personnel and users.

  In addition, even if a service person who has received notification of the same abnormality as the abnormality that should have been dealt with by the previous maintenance work is aware of the previous maintenance work, there is no difference between the previous maintenance work and the abnormality that occurred this time. It may be difficult to determine relevance. Therefore, the serviceman determines that there is no relevance between the previous maintenance work and the abnormality that has occurred this time, and performs the same maintenance work as the previous maintenance work, and as a result, there is a possibility of repeating unnecessary maintenance work.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a maintenance support system capable of suppressing the occurrence of a situation in which useless maintenance work is repeated.

  To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a maintenance support system for supporting maintenance work by providing information useful for maintenance of a maintenance object to a maintenance worker, and a data storage means for storing data; Based on a signal acquired from the maintenance object, it is characteristic value data stored in the data storage means, and it is determined whether or not the maintenance work is effective when the maintenance work is performed on the maintenance object Characteristic value acquisition means for acquiring narrowed useful characteristic value data, which is useful characteristic data, and maintenance work data indicating that the maintenance work has been performed on the maintenance object. Storage processing execution means for executing data processing to be stored in the data storage means in association with execution time data indicating the time when the work was performed, and the narrowed useful characteristics after the maintenance work is performed Based on the data, if the maintenance result determining means for determining whether or not the maintenance work is effective, and the maintenance result determination means that the maintenance work is not effective, the maintenance work is not effective. And a notification process executing means for executing a notification process for notifying the maintenance operator of the maintenance result determination information.

  In the present invention, since the maintenance result determination information that the previous maintenance work based on the determination result of the maintenance result determination means was not effective is notified to the maintenance worker, for the maintenance worker who has received this notification, Maintenance work having contents different from the previous maintenance work can be performed. Therefore, when the previous maintenance work is not effective, it is possible to suppress the same unnecessary maintenance work as the previous maintenance work from being repeatedly performed.

  As mentioned above, according to this invention, the outstanding effect that generation | occurrence | production of the situation where useless maintenance work is repeated can be suppressed is acquired.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an example of a copier that is a maintenance support target by a maintenance support system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is an enlarged configuration diagram illustrating a printer unit of the copier. FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged view showing a part of a tandem part in the printer unit. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of the copier. FIG. It is a connection diagram which shows the connection state of the various apparatuses in the maintenance support system. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the abnormality prediction process in the maintenance support system. It is a graph which shows an example of transition of F value when the last maintenance work is inappropriate. It is a graph which shows transition of a charging potential when a normal state continues. It is a graph which shows transition of a charging potential when an abnormal prediction alarm is alert | reported and appropriate maintenance work is performed immediately. It is a graph which shows transition of a charge potential in an example when maintenance work was performed immediately after an abnormality prediction alarm was notified, but the maintenance work was inappropriate. It is a graph which shows transition of the charge potential in other examples when maintenance work was performed immediately after an abnormality prediction alarm was notified, but the maintenance work was improper.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a maintenance support system including an electrophotographic copying machine (hereinafter simply referred to as a copying machine) that is an image forming apparatus and a maintenance support device that supports maintenance of the copying machine will be described. .
First, a basic configuration of an example of a copier of the maintenance support system according to the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an example of a copier that is a maintenance target in the maintenance support system according to the present embodiment.
The copier includes an image forming unit including a printer unit 100 and 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.

  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 a control unit (not shown). Based on the image information received from the scanner unit 300, the control unit controls lasers, LEDs, and the like (not shown) disposed in the exposure device 21 of the printer unit 100, and four drum-shaped photoconductors 40K, 40Y, and 40M. , 40C is irradiated with laser writing light L. By this irradiation, electrostatic latent images are formed on the surfaces of the photoconductors 40K, 40Y, 40M, and 40C, and the latent images are developed into toner images via a predetermined development process. Note that the subscripts K, Y, M, and C added after the reference numerals indicate specifications for black, yellow, magenta, and cyan.

  In addition to the exposure device 21, the printer unit 100 includes primary transfer rollers 62K, Y, M, and C, 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. Yes.

  The paper feeding unit 200 includes an automatic paper feeding unit disposed below the printer unit 100 and a manual feeding unit disposed on a side surface of the printer unit 100. The automatic paper feed unit separates the two paper feed cassettes 44 arranged in multiple stages in the paper bank 43, the paper feed roller 42 that feeds transfer paper as a recording medium from the paper feed cassette, and the fed transfer paper. A separation roller 45 and the like are sent to the paper feed path 46. Further, it also includes a transport roller 47 that transports the transfer paper to the paper feed path 48 of the printer unit 100. On the other hand, the manual feed section includes a manual feed tray 51 and a separation roller 52 that separates transfer sheets on the manual feed tray 51 one by one toward the manual feed path 53.

  A registration roller pair 49 is disposed near the end of the paper feed path 48 of the printer unit 100. The registration roller pair 49 is formed between the intermediate transfer belt 10 serving as an intermediate transfer body and the secondary transfer device 22 at a predetermined timing after receiving the transfer paper sent from the paper feed cassette 44 or the manual feed tray 51. To the secondary transfer nip.

  The operator sets a document on the document table 30 of the document transport unit 400 when making a color image copy. Alternatively, after the document conveying unit 400 is opened and a document is set on the contact glass 32 of the scanner unit 300, the document conveying unit 400 is closed and the document is pressed. Then, a start switch (not shown) is pressed. Then, when an original is set on the original conveying unit 400, after the original is conveyed onto the contact glass 32, immediately after the original is set on the contact glass 32, the scanner unit 300 is driven. Start. Then, the first traveling body 33 and the second traveling body 34 travel, and the light emitted from the light source of the first traveling body 33 is reflected by the document surface and then travels toward the second traveling body 34. Further, after being reflected by the mirror of the second traveling body 34, it reaches the reading sensor 36 via the imaging lens 35 and is read as image information.

  When the image information is read in this way, the printer unit 100 rotates the other two support rollers while rotating one of the support rollers 14, 15, and 16 with a drive motor (not shown). Then, the intermediate transfer belt 10 stretched around these rollers is moved endlessly. Further, laser writing as described above and a development process described later are performed. Then, while rotating the photoconductors 40K, 40Y, 40M, and 40C, black, yellow, magenta, and cyan monochrome images are formed on them. These toners are sequentially superposed and electrostatically transferred at the primary transfer nips for K, Y, M, and C where the photoreceptors 40K, 40Y, 40M, and 40C and the intermediate transfer belt 10 come into contact with each other, and the four-color superposed toners. Become a statue. Toner images are formed on the photoreceptors 40K, 40Y, 40M, and 40C.

  On the other hand, the paper feed unit 200 operates any one of the three paper feed rollers to feed the transfer paper having a size corresponding to the image information, and feeds the transfer paper to the paper feed path of the printer unit 100. Lead to 48. After the transfer paper that has entered the paper feed path 48 is sandwiched between the registration roller pair 49 and temporarily stopped, the intermediate transfer belt 10 and the secondary transfer roller 23 of the secondary transfer device 22 come into contact with each other at the appropriate timing. To the secondary transfer nip, which is a part. Then, in the secondary transfer nip, the four-color superimposed toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 10 and the transfer paper are brought into close contact in synchronization. Then, the four-color superimposed toner image is secondarily transferred onto the transfer paper due to the influence of the transfer electric field formed at the nip, the nip pressure, etc., and becomes a full color image combined with the white color of the paper.

  The transfer paper that has passed through the secondary transfer nip is fed into the fixing device 25 by the endless movement of the transport belt 24 of the secondary transfer device 22. Then, after the full color image is fixed by the action of the pressure applied by the pressure roller 27 of the fixing device 25 and the heating by the heating belt, the paper discharge tray 57 provided on the side surface of the printer unit 100 via the discharge roller 56. Discharged to the top.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged configuration diagram illustrating the printer unit 100.
The printer unit 100 includes a belt unit, four process units 18K, 18Y, 18M, and 18C that form toner images of respective colors, a secondary transfer device 22, a belt cleaning device 17, a fixing device 25, and the like.

  The belt unit moves the intermediate transfer belt 10 stretched around a plurality of rollers endlessly while contacting the photoreceptors 40K, 40Y, 40M, and 40C. In the primary transfer nips for K, Y, M, and C where the photoreceptors 40K, 40Y, 40M, and 40C contact the intermediate transfer belt 10, the intermediate transfer belt 10 is moved by the primary transfer rollers 62K, Y, M, and C. Is pressed from the back side toward the photoconductors 40K, 40Y, 40M, and 40C. A primary transfer bias is applied to the primary transfer rollers 62K, Y, M, and C by a power source (not shown). As a result, a primary transfer electric field for electrostatically moving the toner images on the photoreceptors 40K, 40Y, 40M, and 40C toward the intermediate transfer belt 10 is formed in the primary transfer nips for K, Y, M, and C. Has been. Between each primary transfer roller 62K, Y, M, and C, a conductive roller 74 that is in contact with the back surface of the intermediate transfer belt 10 is disposed. In these conductive rollers 74, the primary transfer bias applied to the primary transfer rollers 62K, Y, M, and C is applied to adjacent process units via the intermediate resistance base layer 11 on the back side of the intermediate transfer belt 10. It prevents the flow.

  The process units 18K, 18Y, 18M, and 18C support the photosensitive members 40K, 40Y, 40M, and 40C and several other devices as a single unit on a common support. Can be removed. Taking the black process unit 18K as an example, this has a developing unit 61K as developing means for developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive member 40K into a black toner image in addition to the photosensitive member 40K. ing. Further, it also has a photoreceptor cleaning device 63K that cleans transfer residual toner adhering to the surface of the photoreceptor 40K after passing through the primary transfer nip. Further, there are a static elimination device (not shown) that neutralizes the surface of the photoreceptor 40K after cleaning, a charging device (not shown) that uniformly charges the surface of the photoreceptor 40K after static elimination, and the like. The process units 18Y, 18M, and 18C for other colors have substantially the same configuration except that the color of the handled toner is different. This copying machine has a so-called tandem configuration in which these four process units 18K, 18Y, 18M, and 18C are arranged so as to face the intermediate transfer belt 10 along the endless movement direction.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view showing a part of the tandem unit 20 including four process units 18K, 18Y, 18M, and 18C.
The four process units 18K, 18Y, 18M, and 18C have substantially the same configuration except that the colors of the toners to be used are different from each other. Therefore, in FIG. The subscript is omitted. As shown in the figure, the process unit 18 includes a charging device 60 as a charging unit, a developing device 61, a primary transfer roller 62 as a primary transfer unit, a photoconductor cleaning device 63, a charge eliminating device around the photoconductor 40. A device 64 or the like is provided.

  As the photosensitive member 40, a drum-shaped member is used in which a photosensitive organic layer is applied to a base tube made of aluminum or the like to form a photosensitive layer. However, an endless belt may be used. In addition, as the charging device 60, a charging device to which a charging roller to which a charging bias is applied is rotated while being in contact with the photoreceptor 40 is used. A scorotron charger or the like that performs a non-contact charging process on the photoreceptor 40 may be used.

  The developing device 61 develops a latent image using a two-component developer containing a magnetic carrier and a nonmagnetic toner. An agitating unit 66 that conveys the two-component developer accommodated in the inside while agitating and supplies the developer to the developing sleeve 65, and the toner of the two-component developer attached to the developing sleeve 65 is the photoreceptors 40K, 40Y, and 40M. , 40C.

  The stirring unit 66 is provided at a position lower than the developing unit 67, and includes two screws 68 arranged in parallel to each other, a partition plate provided between the screws, and a toner provided on the bottom surface of the developing case 70. It has a density sensor 71 and the like.

  The developing unit 67 includes a developing sleeve 65 that faces the photosensitive member 40 through the opening of the developing case 70, a magnet roller 72 that is non-rotatably provided inside the developing sleeve 65, a doctor blade 73 that approaches the developing sleeve 65, and the like. ing. The distance at the closest portion between the doctor blade 73 and the developing sleeve 65 is set to about 500 [μm]. The developing sleeve 65 has a non-magnetic rotatable sleeve shape. In addition, the magnet roller 72 that is prevented from being rotated around the developing sleeve 65 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. ing. Each of these magnetic poles applies a magnetic force to the two-component developer on the sleeve at a predetermined position in the rotation direction. As a result, the two-component developer sent from the stirring unit 66 is attracted and carried on the surface of the developing sleeve 65, and a magnetic brush is formed along the magnetic field lines on the sleeve surface.

  The magnetic brush is regulated to an appropriate layer thickness when passing through the position facing the doctor blade 73 as the developing sleeve 65 rotates, and then conveyed to the developing area facing the photoreceptor 40. Then, due to the potential difference between the developing bias applied to the developing sleeve 65 and the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 40, it is transferred onto the electrostatic latent image and contributes to development. Further, as the developing sleeve 65 rotates, the developing sleeve 65 returns to the developing portion 67 again, and after being separated from the sleeve surface due to the influence of the repulsive magnetic field between the magnetic poles of the magnet roller 72, the developing sleeve 65 is returned to the stirring portion 66. In the stirring unit 66, an appropriate amount of toner is supplied to the two-component developer based on the detection result by the toner density sensor 71. The developing device 61 may employ a one-component developer that does not include a magnetic carrier, instead of the one that uses a two-component developer.

  As the photoconductor cleaning device 63, a system in which a cleaning blade 75 made of polyurethane rubber is pressed against the photoconductor 40 is used, but another system may be used. In order to improve the cleaning property, in this example, a cleaning device 63 having a contact conductive fur brush 76 whose outer peripheral surface is in contact with the photoreceptor 40 is rotatable in the direction of the arrow in the figure. A metal electric field roller 77 for applying a bias to the fur brush 76 is provided so as to be rotatable in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and the tip of the scraper 78 is pressed against the electric field roller 77. The toner removed from the electric field roller 77 by the scraper 78 falls on the collection screw 79 and is collected.

  The photoconductor cleaning device 63 having such a configuration removes residual toner on the photoconductor 40 with a fur brush 76 that rotates in the counter direction with respect to the photoconductor 40. 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 recovered by the photoconductor cleaning device 63 is brought to one side of the photoconductor cleaning device 63 by the recovery screw 79 and returned to the developing device 61 by the toner recycling device 80 for reuse.

  The static eliminator 64 includes a static elimination lamp or the like, and removes the surface potential of the photoreceptor 40 by irradiating light. The surface of the photoreceptor 40 thus neutralized is uniformly charged by the charging device 60 and then subjected to optical writing processing.

  A secondary transfer device 22 is provided below the belt unit in the figure. In the secondary transfer device 22, a secondary transfer belt 24 is stretched between two rollers 23 and moved endlessly. One of the two rollers 23 is a secondary transfer roller to which a secondary transfer bias is applied by a power source (not shown), and the intermediate transfer belt 10 and the secondary transfer belt 24 are between the roller 16 of the belt unit. Is sandwiched. Thus, a secondary transfer nip is formed in which both belts move in the same direction at the contact portion while contacting. On the transfer paper fed from the registration roller pair 49 to the secondary transfer nip, the four-color superimposed toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 10 is secondarily transferred collectively under the influence of the secondary transfer electric field and the nip pressure, so that full color is obtained. An image is formed. The transfer sheet that has passed through the secondary transfer nip is separated from the intermediate transfer belt 10 and is conveyed to the fixing device 25 along with the endless movement of the belt while being held on the surface of the secondary transfer belt 24. Instead of the secondary transfer roller, secondary transfer may be performed by a transfer charger or the like.

  The surface of the intermediate transfer belt 10 that has passed through the secondary transfer nip approaches a support position by the support roller 15. Here, the intermediate transfer belt 10 is sandwiched between a belt cleaning device 17 that contacts the front surface (loop outer surface) and a support roller 15 that contacts the back surface. Then, after the transfer residual toner adhering to the front surface is removed by the belt cleaning device 17, it sequentially enters the primary transfer nip for K, Y, M, and C, and the next four-color toner The images are superimposed.

  The belt cleaning device 17 has two fur brushes 90 and 91. By rotating a plurality of raised brushes in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 10 in a counter direction with respect to the flocking direction, the transfer residual toner on the belt is mechanically scraped off. In addition, a cleaning bias is applied by a power source (not shown) to electrostatically attract and recover the scraped transfer residual toner.

  With respect to the fur brushes 90 and 91, the metal rollers 92 and 93 are rotating in the forward or reverse direction while being in contact with each other. Among these metal rollers 92 and 93, a negative polarity voltage is applied to the metal roller 92 located on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt 10 by the power source 94. Further, a positive polarity voltage is applied to the metal roller 93 located on the downstream side by the power source 95. The tips of the blades 96 and 97 are in contact with the metal rollers 92 and 93, respectively. In such a configuration, the upstream fur brush 90 first cleans the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 10 with the endless movement of the intermediate transfer belt 10 in the direction of the arrow in the drawing. At this time, for example, when −400 [V] is applied to the fur brush 90 while −700 [V] is applied to the metal roller 92, first, the positive polarity toner on the intermediate transfer belt 10 is moved to the fur brush 90 side. Electrostatic transfer to 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 is 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. These toners are negatively charged by a negative polarity bias applied to the fur brush 90. Next, by using the fur brush 91 on the downstream side to apply a positive polarity 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).

  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 with a positive polarity by a positive polarity bias applied to the fur brush 91 as described above. Then, it is transferred to the photoconductors 40K, 40Y, 40M, and 40C by the transfer electric field applied at the primary transfer position, and is collected by the photoconductor cleaning device 63.

  In general, the registration roller pair 49 is often used while being grounded. However, a bias can be applied to remove the paper dust of the transfer paper P.

  Under the secondary transfer device 22 and the fixing device 25, a transfer paper reversing device 28 (see FIG. 1) is provided so as to extend in parallel with the tandem portion 20 described above. As a result, the transfer paper after the image fixing process on one side is switched to the transfer paper reversing device side by the switching claw, is reversed there, and enters the secondary transfer nip again. Then, after the secondary transfer process and the fixing process of the image are performed on the other side, the sheet is discharged onto a discharge tray.

  In the copying machine having the above configuration, each process unit 18K, 18Y, 18M, 18C, secondary transfer device 22, exposure device 21 and the like constitute an image forming means for forming an image on a transfer sheet as a recording medium. .

  Some of the parts of this copier, when an abnormality occurs in the copier, at least the behavior immediately before the occurrence of the abnormality, so that which of the various parts installed in the copier is It functions as a characteristic value acquisition means for periodically acquiring characteristic values useful for narrowing down the involvement to some parts. This characteristic value acquisition means includes the control unit 1, various sensors 2, the operation display unit 3 and the like shown in FIG. The control unit 1 is a control unit that controls the entire copying machine, and includes a ROM 1c that is a data storage unit that stores a control program, a RAM 1b that is a data storage unit that stores calculation data and control parameters, a CPU 1a that is a calculation unit, It has a nonvolatile RAM 1d as data storage means. The operation display unit 3 includes a display unit 3a configured by a liquid crystal display or the like that displays character information, an operation unit 3b that receives input information from an operator using a numeric keypad and the like, and sends the input information to the control unit 1. .

  A characteristic value acquisition unit including the control unit 1 or the like acquires a plurality of characteristic values such as a photosensitive member charging potential. Examples of the characteristic value include sensing information, control parameter information, input information, and image reading information. Hereinafter, these pieces of information will be described in detail.

(A) Sensing information As sensing information, it is considered as a target for acquiring drive relations, various characteristics of recording media, developer characteristics, photoreceptor characteristics, various electrophotographic process states, environmental conditions, various characteristics of recorded matter, and the like. . The outline of the sensing information is as follows.

(A-1) Driving information The rotational 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, a driving state of a rotating part such as a fixing roller, a paper conveyance roller, and a driving roller such as a cylindrical shape or a belt shape is detected. Sound generated by driving is detected by a microphone installed inside or outside the apparatus.

(A-2) Paper transport state The transmission or reflection type optical sensor or contact type sensor reads the position of the leading or trailing edge of the transported paper or detects that a paper jam has occurred. It reads out deviations in the passage timing of the leading and trailing edges of the paper and fluctuations in the direction perpendicular to the feeding direction. Similarly, the moving speed of the paper is obtained based on the detection timing between a plurality of sensors. The slip between the paper supply roller and the paper at the time of paper supply is obtained by comparing the measured rotation number of the roller with the amount of paper movement.

(A-3) Various characteristics of a recording medium 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. As for the thickness of the paper, the paper is sandwiched between two rollers, the relative positional displacement of the rollers is detected by an optical sensor, etc., or the amount of displacement equivalent to the amount of movement of the member pushed up when the paper enters is detected. It asks by doing. 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 sounds generated 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 rigidity of the paper is obtained by detecting the deformation amount (curvature amount) of the pressed paper. Whether or not the paper is recycled paper is determined by irradiating the paper with ultraviolet rays and detecting its transmittance. Whether the paper is a backing paper is determined 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 imaging device such as a CCD. Whether or not the sheet is for OHP is determined by irradiating the paper with light and detecting specularly reflected light having an angle different from that of the transmitted light. The amount of water contained in the paper is determined by measuring the absorption of infrared or μ-wave light. The curl amount is detected by an optical sensor, a contact sensor, or the like. The electrical resistance of the paper can be measured directly by bringing a pair of electrodes (such as paper feed rollers) into contact with the recording paper, or by measuring the surface potential of the photoconductor or intermediate transfer body after the paper transfer, Estimate the resistance value.

(A-4) Developer characteristics The characteristics of the developer (toner and carrier) in the apparatus influence 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 the toner, the charge amount and its distribution, fluidity, aggregation degree, bulk density, electrical resistance, amount of external additive, consumption or remaining amount, fluidity, toner concentration (mixing ratio of toner and carrier) can be mentioned. it can. Examples of the carrier include magnetic characteristics, coat film thickness, spent amount, and the like. It is usually difficult to detect such information alone in the image forming apparatus. Therefore, it may be 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 photoreceptor, 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 (resistance, dielectric constant, etc.) is measured. A coil is provided in the developing device, and voltage-current characteristics (inductance) are measured. 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 The photoreceptor characteristics are closely related to the function of the electrophotographic process as well as the developer characteristics. The photoconductor characteristics information includes photoconductor film thickness, surface characteristics (friction coefficient, unevenness), uniform charging potential, surface energy, scattered light, temperature, color, surface position (flare), linear velocity, potential attenuation. Examples include speed, electrical resistance, capacitance, and surface moisture content. Among these, the following information can be detected in the image forming apparatus. By detecting the current flowing from the charging member to the photoconductor, and simultaneously comparing 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. Find the film thickness. The uniform charging potential and temperature can be obtained by a conventionally known sensor. The linear velocity is detected by an encoder or the like attached to the photosensitive member rotation shaft. Scattered light from the surface of the photoreceptor is detected by an optical sensor.

(A-6) Electrophotographic Process State As is well known, toner image formation by electrophotography is performed by uniformly charging a photoreceptor, forming a latent image (image exposure) by laser light, etc., and charged toner (colored particles). Development, transfer of a toner image onto a transfer material (in the case of color, superimposition on a recording medium that is an intermediate transfer body or a final transfer material, or over development on a photoconductor during development), onto a recording medium. The toner images are fixed in the order. 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 photoconductor in non-contact charging is detected by measuring the amount of light that has passed through the gap. Electromagnetic waves due to charging are captured by a broadband antenna. In addition, sound generated by charging, exposure intensity, exposure light wavelength, and the like are also acquired.

  Examples of the method for acquiring various states of the toner image include the following. 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 in the solid portion and the potential when the latent image is developed, and is based on the ratio with the adhesion amount converted from the reflection density sensor at the same location. Ask. 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 the two. 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. The color unevenness at the time of superposition is detected by a full color sensor that detects the recording paper after fixing.

(A-7) Characteristics of formed toner image The image density and color are optically detected. Either reflected light or transmitted light may be used. What is necessary is just to select a light projection wavelength according to a 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 photoconductor or the toner image transferred to the transfer body is detected by an optical sensor for each gradation level. The 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. The color misregistration is detected by a monocular small-diameter spot sensor or a 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 feeding direction) measures density unevenness in the sub-scanning direction by a small-diameter spot sensor or a high-resolution line sensor on a recording paper, and measures a signal amount of a specific frequency. The glossiness (unevenness) is set such 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 an image background with an optical sensor that detects a relatively wide area on a photoconductor, intermediate transfer member, or recording paper, or a high-resolution area sensor that captures image information for each background area. There is a method of obtaining and counting the number of toner particles contained in the image.

(A-8) Physical characteristics of printed matter of image forming apparatus For image flow and image fading, a toner image is detected by an area sensor on a photosensitive member, an intermediate transfer member, or a recording sheet, and the acquired image information is obtained. Judge by image processing. The toner dust stain is obtained by taking an image on the recording paper with a high resolution line sensor or an area sensor and calculating the amount of toner scattered around the pattern portion. 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. Curling, undulation, and bending of the recording paper 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 the paper is accumulated to some extent by an area sensor provided vertically on the paper discharge tray.

(A-9) Environmental condition For temperature detection, the thermocouple method that takes out 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 A resistivity changing element using a Pt, a pyroelectric element that generates a potential on the surface due to a bias in the arrangement of electric charges in the crystal due to a rise in temperature, and a magnetic property depending on the temperature. A thermomagnetic effect element that detects a change can be employed. Humidity detection includes an optical measurement method for measuring light absorption of H ₂ O or OH groups, a humidity sensor for measuring a change in electric resistance value of a material due to adsorption of water vapor, and the like. Various gases are basically detected by measuring changes in the electrical resistance of the oxide semiconductor accompanying gas adsorption. There are optical measurement methods and the like for detecting the airflow (direction, flow velocity, gas type), but an air bridge type flow sensor that can be made smaller in consideration of mounting on a system is particularly useful. For the detection of atmospheric pressure and pressure, there are methods such as using a pressure sensitive material and measuring the mechanical displacement of the membrane. 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 formation parameters Direct parameters output by the control unit for image formation by calculation processing include, for example, set values of process conditions set by the control unit, charging potential, development bias value, fixing temperature set value. and so on. Similarly, setting values of various image processing parameters such as halftone processing and color correction, and various parameters set by the control unit for the operation of the apparatus, such as timing of paper conveyance, execution time of the preparation mode before image formation, etc. There is also.

(B-2) User Operation History Information on the user operation history includes the frequency of various operations selected by the user, such as the number of colors, the number of sheets, and an image quality instruction, and the frequency of the paper size selected by the user.

(B-3) Power Consumption Information on power consumption includes total power consumption or its distribution, change amount (differentiation), cumulative value (integration) for the whole period or a specific period unit (1 day, 1 week, 1 month, etc.). Etc.

(B-4) Consumables Consumption Information Consumables consumption information includes the amount of toner, photoconductor, paper used or its distribution and change amount for the entire period or for a specific period (one day, one week, one month, etc.). Differentiation), cumulative value (integration), and the like.

(B-5) Abnormality occurrence information Abnormality occurrence information includes the frequency or distribution of abnormal occurrences (by type), the amount of change (differentiation), for the entire period or a specific period unit (1 day, 1 week, 1 month, etc.), Cumulative value (integration) and the like can be mentioned.

(B-6) Accumulated Operation Time Information The control unit 1 measures the accumulated operation time for each of various components such as the process unit, the intermediate transfer belt 10, various rollers, the belt cleaning device 17, the fixing device 25, and the nonvolatile RAM 1d. Remembered in. The process units 18K, 18Y, 18M, and 18C for each color are attached to and detached from the copying machine main body in the state of the process unit, but the developing unit and the charging device are removed from the copying machine main body. And a photosensitive unit that holds other parts. The parts can be replaced not in the entire process unit but in the form of a developing unit, a charging device, and a photosensitive unit. For this reason, the accumulated operation time is measured separately for the developing unit, the charging device, and the photosensitive unit, not for the entire process unit. As the accumulated operation time, the accumulated number of printed sheets is counted. Every time the operation for one print is performed, the count value of the cumulative number of prints is incremented by one.

(C) Input image information The following information can be acquired from image information sent directly as data from a host computer or image information obtained after image processing is performed by reading a document image from a scanner. The accumulated number of colored pixels is obtained by counting image data for each GRB signal for each pixel. For example, an original image can be separated into characters, halftone dots, photographs, and backgrounds by a method as described in Japanese Patent No. 2621879, and the ratios of character portions, halftone portions, and the like 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 region 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. The character type (size, font) is obtained from the character attribute data.

Next, a specific method for acquiring characteristic values from a copying machine will be described.
(1) Temperature This 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 A humidity sensor that can be miniaturized is 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 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)
The toner density is detected for each color. As the toner concentration sensor, a known type 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 4 colors)
Uniform charging potentials are detected for the photoconductors 40K, 40Y, 40M, and 40C for the respective colors. A known surface potential sensor that detects the surface potential of an object can be used.

(6) Potential after photoconductor exposure (for 4 colors)
The surface potentials of the photoconductors 40K, 40Y, 40M, and 40C after optical writing are detected in the same manner as in (5).

(7) Colored area ratio (4 colors)
From the input image information, the coloring 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) Amount of developed toner (for four colors)
The toner adhesion amount per unit area in each color toner image developed on the photoreceptors 40K, 40Y, 40M, and 40C is obtained based on the light reflectance by the reflection type photosensor. 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 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)
Current flowing out from the photoreceptors 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.

  The control unit 1 periodically samples the various characteristic values as described above and stores them in the nonvolatile RAM 1d.

Next, a characteristic configuration of the maintenance support system according to the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 5 is a connection diagram illustrating a connection state of various devices in the maintenance support system according to the present embodiment.
In the figure, the maintenance support system includes a plurality of copiers that are placed under different users, and these copiers are connected to a data receiving computer 510 (to be described later) via a telephone line. . Each copying machine has a characteristic value acquisition unit including a control unit, various sensors, an operation display unit, and the like.

  Of each device in the maintenance support system according to the present embodiment, the characteristic value acquisition means and the nonvolatile RAM as the data storage means are provided inside a copying machine installed under the user. On the other hand, the data reception computer 510, the maintenance support server 511, and the maintenance information management computer 512 are installed in a remote monitoring facility of a contractor who undertakes maintenance management services. The data reception computer 510, the maintenance support server 511, and the maintenance information management computer 512 are each composed of a known computer device and can be connected to each other via a LAN to perform data communication with each other.

  The maintenance support system according to the present embodiment includes receiving means for receiving each characteristic value data in the nonvolatile RAM as data storage means mounted in each copying machine via a telephone line as a communication line. . This receiving means includes a modem mounted on each copying machine, a modem mounted on a data receiving computer 510 described later, and the like.

  The data receiving computer 510 accesses each copying machine of each user via a telephone line once a day at a predetermined time zone. Then, various types of characteristic value data for one day stored in the non-volatile RAM of each copying machine are received, sorted for each user, and stored in their own hard disk (management data storage means). In each user's copying machine, the characteristic value data is stored in a format in which the sampling date and time are associated. For example, if it is a photosensitive member charging potential, it is stored in the format of “−650, 2010/01/01/12: 53”. Various characteristic value data are sampled for every thousand prints. Therefore, one characteristic value corresponds to a value for every thousand prints.

  The service person (maintenance worker) can set a predetermined periodic maintenance timing (such as when the number of copies of the copying machine reaches the specified number, when a specified period of time elapses from the previous maintenance work), or an abnormality prediction alarm described later. The maintenance of the corresponding copier is performed at the emergency maintenance timing when the notification of the error or the notification of the abnormality of the copier is received. The service person who performed the maintenance work under the user reports the contents of the maintenance work to the operator of the remote monitoring facility. The maintenance information management computer 512 arranged in the remote monitoring facility is installed with a maintenance management database capable of performing data management classified for each user. The operator who receives the report from the service person inputs the contents of the maintenance work performed by the service person in association with the corresponding user (corresponding copier) in the maintenance management database.

  The maintenance support server 511 performs maintenance work based on the characteristic value data stored in the hard disk of the data receiving computer 510 and the maintenance work data input to the maintenance management database of the maintenance information management computer 512. Various kinds of maintenance work support processing for providing maintenance useful information to the service person and performing maintenance work is performed. The maintenance work support process of the present embodiment is mainly an abnormality prediction process and a maintenance effectiveness determination process.

First, the abnormality prediction process executed by the maintenance support server 511 will be described.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the abnormality prediction process.
When the maintenance support server 511 receives the characteristic value data from the data receiving computer 510 for each copying machine (S1), the physical quantity calculation means first calculates the physical quantity data from the received data (S2). The physical quantity calculation means is realized by an arithmetic device such as a CPU constituting the maintenance support server 511 executing the physical quantity calculation program.

The physical quantity data here means various data (data for each type) generated inside the copying machine that is a maintenance object, and may be data itself generated inside the copying machine, One or two or more data of the same type may be processed. For example, the charge potential data VdHome generated inside the copying machine will be described as an example. The charge potential data VdHome itself may be handled as physical quantity data, or the maximum value of the charge potential data VdHome within a predetermined period. The temporal variation data VdExpnd of the charging potential data VdHome obtained from the following equation (1) using (max) and the minimum value (min) may be handled as physical quantity data. Note that “VdHome.max.ref” in the following formula (1) is the maximum value (max) of the reference charging potential data VdHome, and “VdHome.min.ref” is the reference charging potential data. This is the minimum value (min) of VdHome.
VdExpnd = (VdHome.max−VdHome.min) − (VdHome.max.ref−VdHome.min.ref) (1)

  After the physical quantity data is calculated in this way, the feature quantity data is then calculated by the feature quantity calculating means (S3). The feature amount calculation means is realized by an arithmetic device such as a CPU constituting the maintenance support server 511 executing the feature amount calculation program. This feature amount data is an index value indicating the characteristic behavior of physical amount data useful for predicting abnormality. For example, it has been found that if the variation in the plurality of charging potential data VdHome acquired within a predetermined period increases, the possibility of an abnormality in the charging device increases in the near future. Therefore, the variation of the plurality of charging potential data VdHome within a predetermined period, specifically, the variance and standard deviation in the plurality of charging potential data VdHome can be handled as feature amount data. Specifically, when the charging amount data VdHome is acquired, the feature amount calculation unit extracts the latest 16 charging potential data VdHome including the charging potential data VdHome from the data storage unit, obtains the standard deviation thereof, and obtains the result as a feature. It is stored in the data storage means as quantity data.

  It should be noted that the feature data is not limited to a variation in a plurality of physical quantity data or characteristic value data within a predetermined period, but is an average value as long as it is an index value indicating a characteristic behavior of physical quantity data useful for abnormality prediction. Feature quantity data calculated from various calculation formulas such as a maximum value and a regression value of signal change can be used.

  After the feature amount data is calculated in this way, next, the abnormality prediction determination data calculating means calculates (hereinafter referred to as “F value data”) from the calculated feature amount data (S4). The abnormality prediction determination data calculation means is realized by an arithmetic device such as a CPU constituting the maintenance support server 511 executing the F value calculation program. Generally, it is difficult to predict anomalies in the near future that occur in a copying machine with high accuracy from only a single type of feature data. Therefore, in the present embodiment, abnormality prediction determination data (F value data) that is an index value indicating whether or not to notify an abnormality prediction alarm is calculated from a plurality of types of feature amount data, and an abnormality is detected based on the F value data. It is determined whether or not to notify a prediction alarm.

  A sign that an abnormality will occur in the near future can be grasped by detecting that a signal that was stable in a normal state showed various and unique behaviors. In calculating the F value data, appropriate types of feature amount data are extracted from this viewpoint, and F value data is calculated from the extracted types of feature amount data. Hereinafter, an example of F value data calculation processing will be described.

  The abnormality prediction determination data calculation means first performs a process of determining individual tendencies of a plurality of types of feature amount data used for F value calculation. The trend determination processing of the present embodiment compares, for example, the feature amount data with the determination reference value b for each type of feature amount data, and if the feature amount data is less than the determination reference value b, there is an abnormal tendency. A binarization process is performed in which “0” is output because there is no data, and “1” is output because there is an abnormal tendency when the feature data is equal to or greater than the discrimination reference value b. After that, a weighted majority operation is performed on the result of the trend determination processing performed on various feature data. That is, for the weight α assigned to each type of feature amount data, when the result of the tendency determination process is “1” (abnormal tendency exists), a minus (−) is given, and the result of the tendency determination process Is “0” (no abnormal tendency), a plus (+) is given and added. In the present embodiment, the value calculated by the weighted majority operation is set as the F value.

  Once the F value data is calculated in this manner, the abnormality prediction determination means determines whether or not the calculated F value data satisfies the notification condition of the abnormality prediction alarm. In the present embodiment, when the F value data is a value equal to or less than zero, it is determined that the notification condition of the abnormality prediction alarm is satisfied (S5). The abnormality prediction determination means is realized by an arithmetic device such as a CPU constituting the maintenance support server 511 executing the abnormality prediction determination program.

  The above-described determination reference value b and weight α used in the present embodiment can be created using a supervised learning algorithm generally called a boosting method. The boosting method is, for example, mathematical science no. 489, MARCH 2004 “Statistical Pattern Identification Information Geometry” and is well known. The outline will be described. First, state data known in advance as being in a normal state and state data known as being in an abnormal sign state are prepared. For the latter status data, for example, a status data log is taken when performing an endurance test of the device, and when an abnormal case is encountered, the period in which there was a predictive state before the abnormality (abnormal predictive period) is estimated. , Utilize the status data within the abnormal sign period. Then, a minus value label is given to the status data in the abnormal sign period, and a plus value label is given to the other status data (normal data). Thereafter, by performing 100 times of repeated learning by boosting, the determination reference value groups b1 to b100 and the weight groups α1 to α100 are output, and the determination reference value b and the weight α are determined therefrom.

  If the F value data is not less than or equal to zero (No in S5), no sign of abnormality is found for the copying machine, and the process is terminated. On the other hand, when the F value data is equal to or less than zero (Yes in S5), a sign of abnormality is indicated for the copying machine. In this case, an abnormality prediction alarm is issued to the terminal device of the service person who is in charge of the corresponding copying machine (S8). As a result, an abnormality prediction alarm is notified from the terminal device, and the service person who receives the information acquires information such as a copier corresponding to the abnormality prediction alarm and the content of the abnormality prediction using the terminal device. The maintenance of the copier is performed based on the above.

  In this way, after receiving the abnormality prediction alarm and performing maintenance work to cope with the abnormality cause related to the abnormality prediction, there are cases where the F value data again shows a value of zero or less after two to three days. . For example, after a maintenance operation for replacing the black photoconductor 40K in response to an abnormality prediction alarm related to the abnormality of the black photoconductor 40K, an abnormality prediction alarm related to the black photoconductor 40K again after a while. May be issued. At this time, the elapsed time from when the previous maintenance work is performed after the black photoconductor 40K is replaced to when the abnormality prediction alarm is issued again is sufficiently longer than the general life of the black photoconductor 40K. If it is short, it is unlikely that the cause of the abnormality relating to the abnormality prediction alarm that triggered the previous maintenance work was the deterioration of the black photoconductor. Therefore, there is a high possibility that a true cause of abnormality exists separately.

  As a specific example, when the black charging device 60K is contaminated with a large amount of discharge product such as a nitric acid compound, the discharge product adheres to the surface of the black photoreceptor 40K from the black charging device 60K. As a result, the charged potential of the black photoconductor 40K becomes unstable. As a result, an abnormality prediction alarm for the black photoconductor 40K is issued. When a maintenance operation is performed to replace the black photoconductor 40K with a new one in response to this abnormality prediction alarm, the surface of the black photoconductor 40K returns to a state where it is not contaminated with discharge products, so that the black photoconductor 40K is charged. The potential is temporarily stabilized. However, since the black charging device 60K remains dirty with a large amount of discharge products, the surface of the black photoreceptor 40K after replacement is immediately contaminated with the discharge products. As a result, after a while after the maintenance work for replacing the black photoconductor 40K, the charged potential becomes unstable again, and an abnormality prediction alarm for the black photoconductor 40K is issued again.

  If the service person who has received this abnormality prediction alarm does not know that the black photoconductor 40K has been replaced in the previous maintenance work, the maintenance work is performed again to replace the black photoconductor 40K with a new one. The maintenance work is completed without taking any action for the abnormality of the black charging device 60K, which is the true cause of the abnormality. In this case, after a while, an abnormality prediction alarm for the black photoconductor 40K is issued again, and inappropriate maintenance work is repeated, so that the true cause of the abnormality cannot be resolved by any time. In addition, even if the service person who has received the abnormality prediction alarm knows that the black photoconductor 40K has been replaced in the previous maintenance operation, the previous maintenance operation is inadequate. It is very difficult for an individual service person to make an appropriate judgment on their own whether or not they are related.

  The maintenance support server 511 in the maintenance support system of the present embodiment includes a maintenance result determination unit that determines whether or not the previous maintenance work was effective in eliminating the cause of the abnormality. This maintenance result determination means is realized when an arithmetic device such as a CPU constituting the maintenance support server 511 executes a maintenance effectiveness determination program. In the maintenance effectiveness determination process performed by the maintenance result determination unit in the present embodiment, the F value data after the previous maintenance operation (the F used as the notification condition of the abnormality prediction alarm that triggered the previous maintenance operation) is performed. Value data) is used as refined useful characteristic value data to determine the effectiveness of the previous maintenance work.

  Here, the accuracy of the validity determination of the previous maintenance work decreases as the F value data after the previous maintenance work used for the maintenance effectiveness determination process is farther from the execution time of the previous maintenance work. . This is because, as the elapsed time from the previous maintenance work becomes longer, the state change for other parts different from the part relating to the true abnormality cause proceeds, and the cause of the abnormality caused by the other parts in the F value data. This is because the possibility of influence increases.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the F value data used for determining the effectiveness of the previous maintenance work is within the period from the execution of the previous maintenance work to the predetermined maintenance effectiveness determination time (maintenance effectiveness determination period Ts). Limited to acquired data. This maintenance effectiveness determination time is preferably set to a time closer to the time when the minimum life of the parts (black photoconductor 40K) replaced in the previous maintenance work comes. For example, the time when the time corresponding to 20% of the set life of the black photoconductor 40K elapses is set as the maintenance effectiveness determination time.

  In this embodiment, when the F value data is equal to or less than zero (Yes in S5), before issuing the abnormality prediction alarm, first, the previous maintenance performed in response to the abnormality prediction alarm related to the F value data is performed. An elapsed period T from the time of performing the work is calculated (S6). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not this elapsed period T is within the maintenance effectiveness determination period Ts set as described above (S7). When it is determined that the elapsed period T exceeds the maintenance effectiveness determination period Ts (No in S7), an abnormal prediction alarm is issued (S8), but the elapsed period T is within the maintenance effectiveness determination period Ts. If it is determined (Yes in S7), not a failure prediction alarm but a maintenance failure notification is issued to the terminal device of the service person in charge of the corresponding copier (S9).

  As a result, a maintenance failure notification is notified from the terminal device, and the service person who receives the notification goes to the user to perform maintenance work on the corresponding copier. When performing this maintenance work, the serviceman knows that the previous maintenance work was inappropriate, so the content of the previous maintenance work (replacement of the black photoconductor 40K) is performed using the terminal device. Based on this information, in the current maintenance work, not the deterioration of the black photoconductor 40K but a measure corresponding to another cause of abnormality is performed.

The reason why the previous maintenance work based on the abnormality prediction alarm related to the abnormality of the black photoconductor 40K is inappropriate is as follows.
The first cause is a case where a part different from the part to be replaced is replaced based on the abnormality prediction alarm in the previous maintenance work. For example, this is the case where the black photoconductor 40K should be replaced, but the yellow photoconductor 40Y has been replaced. Even in this case, if the maintenance work such as cleaning the inside of the image forming apparatus is performed together with the replacement of the yellow photoconductor 40Y during the previous maintenance work, the black photoconductor 40K is abnormal for a while after the previous maintenance work is performed. The related abnormal prediction alarm may not be issued.
As described above, the second cause is the case where the true abnormality cause is not the deterioration of the black photoconductor 40K but the abnormality of the charging device 60K.

  Therefore, as a maintenance failure notification, for example, on the display unit of the service person's terminal device, “The previous maintenance failed. Has the part to be predicted for abnormality properly replaced? The part to be predicted for abnormality has been replaced properly. In such a case, it is better to notify the content “Is there any part that has deteriorated among the parts arranged around the part to be predicted for abnormality?”.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing an example of the transition of the F value when the previous maintenance work is inappropriate.
In this graph, the horizontal axis represents the number of printed sheets, the vertical axis represents the F value, and one point is plotted for every 1000 sheets. When the F value data indicates a value of zero or less, an abnormality prediction alarm or a maintenance failure notification is issued as described above. Before the previous maintenance work, the F value gradually approaches zero as the number of printed sheets increases, and finally the F value data shows zero or less. As a result, when a failure prediction alarm is issued, the service person receives the failure prediction alarm and performs maintenance work (previous maintenance work) for replacing the black photoconductor 40K.

  Here, the F value used to determine whether to issue an abnormal prediction alarm or a maintenance failure notification is reset by the maintenance work, and if the characteristic value data for a certain period T0 after the maintenance work is not collected, a new F value is calculated. Can not. Therefore, as shown in the graph of FIG. 7, the F value is not plotted for a certain period T0 after the previous maintenance work. Then, when the F value can be calculated after a certain period T0 after the previous maintenance work, if the previous maintenance work is inappropriate, the F value immediately indicates a value of zero or less. Become. When the F value after the previous maintenance work shows a value of zero or less within the maintenance effectiveness determination period Ts, a maintenance failure notification is issued instead of an abnormal prediction alarm.

  In this embodiment, since the F value is used to determine the effectiveness of the previous maintenance work, the previous time until the fixed period T0 (the period until the number of printed sheets reaches 16000) elapses after the previous maintenance work. The maintenance work validity judgment process cannot be executed. When it is desired to perform the validity determination process of the previous maintenance work before the time when the predetermined period T0 elapses after the previous maintenance work, instead of using the F value as the narrowed-down useful characteristic value data, for example, the physical quantity described above Data, feature data, or data obtained by processing these data may be used. In particular, since the physical quantity data is data that can be acquired when the number of printed sheets after the previous maintenance operation reaches 1000, the validity of the maintenance operation can be determined early after the previous maintenance operation.

  When using such physical quantity data, feature quantity data, or data processed from these data, it is difficult to determine the effectiveness of the previous maintenance work with high accuracy only from the data after the previous maintenance work. Comparing the data before and after the execution of the maintenance work makes it easy to determine the effectiveness of the previous maintenance work with high accuracy. Specifically, for example, for the physical quantity data and feature quantity data used for calculating the F value data of the abnormality prediction alarm that triggered the previous maintenance work, the average value of the latest 10 points before the previous maintenance work is performed. And the variance value is compared with the average value and variance value of the last 10 points after the previous maintenance work, and the average values before and after the previous maintenance work are similar or the variance values are similar. If so, it is determined that the previous maintenance work was inappropriate.

  Even if the F value after the previous maintenance operation is greater than zero, the transition of physical quantity data, feature data, or F value data before and after the previous maintenance operation is similar There is a high possibility that the previous maintenance work was inappropriate.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing the transition of the charging potential when the normal state continues.
FIG. 9 is a graph showing the transition of the charged potential when an appropriate maintenance operation is performed immediately after the abnormality prediction alarm is notified.
In each of these graphs, the horizontal axis represents the number of printed sheets, the vertical axis represents the charging potential, and one point is plotted for every 1000 sheets.

  In the graph shown in FIG. 9, the 10-point average value of the charged potential immediately before the maintenance work was −622 [V], and the variance of the 10 points was 185. In the graph shown in FIG. 9, the 10-point average value of the charged potential immediately after the maintenance work was −656 [V], and the variance of the 10 points was 5. Comparing the average values before and after the execution of the maintenance work, the average value after the maintenance work was 20 V or lower than before the maintenance work. Further, when comparing the variances before and after the execution of the maintenance work, the variance after the maintenance work was 100 or more smaller than that before the maintenance work. Since it is normal that the charging potential is stable at a low value, it can be determined that the maintenance work was effective.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing the transition of the charged potential when the maintenance work was performed immediately after the abnormality prediction alarm was notified, but the maintenance work was inappropriate.
In the maintenance operation, when the yellow photoconductor 40Y is mistakenly replaced where the black photoconductor 40K is supposed to be replaced, the transition of the charged potential becomes a graph as shown in FIG. In the graph shown in FIG. 10, the 10-point average value of the charged potential immediately before the maintenance work was −622 [V], and the variance of the 10 points was 185. In the graph shown in FIG. 10, the 10-point average value of the charged potential immediately after the maintenance work was −625 [V], and the variance at the 10 points was 186. Comparing the average values and variances before and after the execution of the maintenance work, both showed almost the same values before and after the maintenance work and were similar. Therefore, in this case, a maintenance failure notification is issued when 10 charged potentials are acquired immediately after the maintenance work is performed.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing the transition of the charged potential when the maintenance work is performed immediately after the abnormality prediction alarm is notified, but the maintenance work is inappropriate.
In the case where maintenance work is performed simply to replace the black photoconductor 40K in spite of the fact that the original abnormality is caused by the black charging device 60K, the transition of the charging potential becomes a graph as shown in FIG. . In the graph shown in FIG. 11, the 10-point average value of the charged potential immediately before the maintenance work was −622 [V], and the variance of the 10 points was 185. In the graph shown in FIG. 11, the 10-point average value of the charged potential immediately after the maintenance work was −649 [V], and the variance at the 10 points was 6. In this case, at the time when 10 charged potentials are acquired immediately after the execution of the maintenance work, it is determined that the maintenance work is effective, and no maintenance failure notification is issued.

  However, when the average value and variance of 10 points in a period of 20000 to 30000 printed after the maintenance work was calculated, the average value was −633 [V] and the variance was 108. When these average values and variances are compared with the 10 average values and variances immediately before the maintenance work is performed, both values are similar, and it is determined that the maintenance work is inappropriate. Is emitted.

  As described above, the effectiveness of the maintenance work can be determined by comparing the average value and the variance value before and after the maintenance work is performed.

In the present embodiment, the case where the effectiveness of the maintenance work performed according to the abnormality prediction alarm is determined has been described. However, the maintenance work performed in response to a notification from the user that an abnormality has occurred, or a predetermined value is determined. The same applies to determining the effectiveness of maintenance work performed at the regular maintenance timing.
In addition, it is possible to appropriately change whether each means constituting the maintenance support system of the present embodiment is arranged in a copying machine or a server connected to the copying machine through a communication line.

What has been described above is merely an example, and the present invention has a specific effect for each of the following modes.
(Aspect A)
In a maintenance support system for supporting maintenance work by providing information useful for maintenance of a maintenance object such as a copying machine to a maintenance worker such as a serviceman, the data storage means for storing data, and the maintenance object Characteristic value data stored in the data storage means based on the acquired signal, and useful for determining whether or not the maintenance work is effective when the maintenance work is performed on the maintenance object Characteristic value acquisition means for acquiring narrowed useful characteristic value data such as F value data and charging potential data, which are various characteristic value data, and maintenance work indicating that the maintenance work has been performed on the maintenance object Storage processing such as the maintenance information management computer 512 for executing data processing for storing data in the data storage means in association with execution time data indicating the time when the maintenance work was performed A maintenance result determination unit of the maintenance support server 511 for determining whether or not the maintenance work is effective based on the narrowed useful characteristic value data after execution of the maintenance work, and the maintenance work Maintenance support for executing a notification process for notifying maintenance personnel of maintenance result determination information (such as a maintenance failure notification) indicating that the maintenance operation is not effective when the maintenance result determination unit determines that the maintenance operation is not effective. And a notification processing execution means of the server 511.
According to this, since the maintenance result determination information that the previous maintenance work based on the determination result of the maintenance result determination means was not effective is notified to the maintenance worker, for the maintenance worker who has received this notification, Maintenance work having contents different from the previous maintenance work can be performed. Therefore, when the previous maintenance work is not effective, it is possible to suppress the same unnecessary maintenance work as the previous maintenance work from being repeatedly performed.

(Aspect B)
In the aspect A, the narrowed-down useful characteristic value data indicates whether or not the maintenance work is effective by comparing data before and after the maintenance work is performed when the maintenance work is performed on the maintenance target object. Characteristic value data such as charging potential data useful for determination, and the maintenance result determination means includes the narrowing useful characteristic value data after the maintenance work is performed and the narrowing useful data before the maintenance work is performed. It is characterized in that it is determined whether or not the maintenance work is effective based on a result of comparison with the characteristic value data.
Even if it is difficult to accurately determine the effectiveness of the maintenance work using only the refined useful characteristic value data after the maintenance work is performed, the comparison result of the refined useful characteristic value data before and after the maintenance work is used. Thus, it may be easy to accurately determine the effectiveness of the maintenance work. According to the present aspect B, it is easy to accurately determine the effectiveness of the maintenance work in such a case.

(Aspect C)
In the aspect A or B, the narrowed-down useful characteristic value data after the maintenance work used by the maintenance result determination unit used when determining whether or not the maintenance work is effective is from after the maintenance work is performed. The narrowed-down useful characteristic value data acquired by the characteristic value acquisition means within a period until a predetermined maintenance effectiveness determination time elapses.
The more useful characteristic value data for narrowing down after the previous maintenance work is performed, the farther the acquisition time of the useful characteristic value data from the previous maintenance work is, the farther the useful characteristic value data and the previous maintenance work after the previous maintenance work is performed. Is less likely to be related to the effectiveness of On the other hand, by limiting the acquisition time of the useful characteristic value data after narrowing down the previous maintenance work used to determine the effectiveness of the previous maintenance work to a time close to the time after the previous maintenance work, the maintenance result The accuracy of determining the effectiveness of the previous maintenance work by the determination means is increased. In this aspect C, the narrowed-down useful characteristic value data after the execution of the maintenance work used by the maintenance result determination means for the maintenance work effectiveness determination is from the execution of the maintenance work to a predetermined maintenance effectiveness determination time. Limited to useful characteristic value data. Therefore, by appropriately setting this maintenance effectiveness determination time, it is possible to determine the effectiveness of the previous maintenance work with high accuracy. Note that the appropriate maintenance effectiveness determination timing varies depending on the content of the maintenance work to be determined.

(Aspect D)
In the aspect C, the maintenance effectiveness determination time is set to a time closer to the latest time when the same maintenance work as the maintenance work is necessary again after the maintenance work is effectively performed. .
If the acquisition time of the useful characteristic value data after narrowing down the maintenance work used to determine the effectiveness of the maintenance work is close to the time after the maintenance work is performed, the accuracy of the maintenance work effectiveness judgment by the maintenance result judgment means is Often increases. In such a case, according to this aspect D, it is possible to accurately determine the effectiveness of the maintenance work.

(Aspect E)
In the aspect D, the maintenance effectiveness determination time is set to a time closer to the time when the set life of the replacement part such as the black photoconductor 40K replaced by the maintenance work comes. .
According to this, since there is a high probability that the maintenance work in which the replacement part is replaced is not effective within the maintenance effectiveness determination period, it is possible to accurately determine the effectiveness of the maintenance work.

(Aspect F)
In any of the above aspects C to E, an input receiving means for receiving an input operation for inputting the set time of the maintenance effectiveness determination time, and setting the maintenance effectiveness determination time at the set time received by the input receiving means. And a determination time setting changing means for changing.
For example, in the example of the above-described embodiment, when the maintenance information management computer 512 is used as an input receiving unit and the operator performs an input operation for inputting the setting time of the maintenance effectiveness determination time, the data of the setting time is determined as the determination time. It is configured to be sent to a maintenance support server 511 as setting change means. Since the usage environment of the maintenance object (the number of sheets passed through the copying machine per day, etc.) varies from user to user, the user can use it by configuring it so that the optimum maintenance validity judgment time can be set for each user It becomes possible to keep the maintenance object in a stable and stable state.

(Aspect G)
In any one of the above aspects A to F, the narrowed-down useful characteristic value data is stored in the data storage unit based on one type or two or more types of signals acquired at a time from the maintenance object. It is characteristic value data such as physical quantity data.
According to this, it is possible to determine the effectiveness of the maintenance work early after the maintenance work is performed.

(Aspect H)
In any one of the above aspects A to F, the narrowed-down useful characteristic value data is characteristic value data indicating the behavior of one type or two or more types of signals acquired from the maintenance object within a predetermined period. It is characterized by that.
By using such narrowed useful characteristic value data, it is possible to determine the effectiveness of maintenance work with high accuracy.

(Aspect I)
In any of the above aspects A to H, a detecting means for detecting an abnormality or a sign of abnormality of the maintenance object based on characteristic value data such as an F value stored in the data storage means, and the detecting means Has a contact processing execution means for executing a contact process for notifying the maintenance worker of the detection result when the abnormality or a sign of abnormality is detected. Characteristic value data used for detecting an abnormality or a sign of abnormality of the maintenance object.
According to this, based on the characteristic value data of the same type as the characteristic value data that triggered the notification of abnormalities or signs of abnormalities (abnormality prediction alarms, etc.) to cause the maintenance worker to perform the maintenance work, the maintenance work is performed. It is determined whether or not is valid. Therefore, the effectiveness of maintenance work can be determined with high accuracy.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control part 18 Process unit 40 Photoconductor 60 Charging device 100 Printer part 200 Paper feed part 300 Scanner part 400 Document conveyance part 510 Data receiving computer 511 Maintenance support server 512 Maintenance information management computer

JP 2010-49285 A

Claims (9)

In a maintenance support system that supports maintenance work by providing information useful for maintenance of maintenance objects to maintenance workers,
Data storage means for storing data;
It is characteristic value data stored in the data storage means based on a signal acquired from the maintenance object, and whether or not the maintenance work is effective when the maintenance work is performed on the maintenance object Characteristic value acquisition means for acquiring narrowed-down useful characteristic value data, which is characteristic value data useful for determination, and
Data processing for storing maintenance work data indicating that the maintenance work has been performed on the maintenance object in association with execution time data indicating the time when the maintenance work is performed is stored in the data storage unit. Storage processing execution means;
Maintenance result determination means for determining whether or not the maintenance work is effective based on the narrowed useful characteristic value data after the maintenance work is performed;
When the maintenance result determination means determines that the maintenance work is not effective, notification processing execution means for executing a notification process for notifying the maintenance worker of maintenance result determination information that the maintenance work is not effective And a maintenance support system. The maintenance support system according to claim 1,
The narrowed-down useful characteristic value data is useful for determining whether or not the maintenance work is effective by comparing the data before and after the execution of the maintenance work when the maintenance work is performed on the maintenance target object. Characteristic value data,
The maintenance result determination means determines whether the maintenance work is effective based on a result of comparing the narrowed useful characteristic value data after the maintenance work is performed with the narrowed useful characteristic value data before the maintenance work is performed. A maintenance support system characterized in that it is determined whether or not. In the maintenance support system according to claim 1 or 2,
The narrowed-down useful characteristic value data after the execution of the maintenance work used by the maintenance result determination means when determining whether or not the maintenance work has been effective is a predetermined maintenance effectiveness judgment time after the execution of the maintenance work. A maintenance support system characterized in that it is narrowed down useful characteristic value data acquired by the characteristic value acquisition means within a period until elapse of time. The maintenance support system according to claim 3,
The maintenance support system is characterized in that the maintenance effectiveness determination time is set to a time closer to the latest time when the same maintenance work as the maintenance work is necessary again after the maintenance work is performed effectively. The maintenance support system according to claim 4,
The maintenance support system, wherein the maintenance effectiveness determination time is set to a time closer to a time when a set life of a replacement part replaced by the maintenance work comes. The maintenance support system according to any one of claims 3 to 5,
Input accepting means for accepting an input operation for inputting the set time of the maintenance effectiveness judgment time;
A maintenance support system comprising: determination time setting change means for changing the setting of the maintenance effectiveness determination time at the set time received by the input receiving means. The maintenance support system according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The narrowed-down useful characteristic value data is characteristic value data stored in the data storage means based on one type or two or more types of signals acquired from the maintenance target at a time. system. The maintenance support system according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The narrow-down useful characteristic value data is characteristic value data indicating behavior of one type or two or more types of signals acquired from the maintenance object within a predetermined period. The maintenance support system according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
Detecting means for detecting an abnormality of the maintenance object or a sign of abnormality based on characteristic value data stored in the data storage means;
When the detection means detects an abnormality or a sign of abnormality, it has a contact processing execution means for executing a contact process for contacting the detection result to the maintenance worker,
The narrow-down useful characteristic value data is characteristic value data used by the detection means to detect an abnormality or a sign of abnormality of the maintenance object.

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