JP2021051133A - Fault location specification system, fault location specification method, fault location specification program, fault location specification device, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a fault location specification system that can accurately specify a fault location.SOLUTION: A system is for specifying a fault location of an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium, and comprises: a vanished fault extraction unit that compares image data of an image formed before replacement of a component constituting the image forming apparatus with image data of an image formed after the replacement, and extracts a fault that is present in the image before the replacement of the component and not present in the image after the replacement of the component; a specific information holding unit that holds specific information in which the feature quantity of the extracted fault and identification information on the replaced component are associated with each other; and a component specification unit that specifies a component that is the cause of the occurrence of the fault based on the feature quantity of the fault occurring in the image formed by the image forming apparatus and the specific information held by the specific information holding unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a failure location identification system, a failure location identification method, a failure location identification program, a failure location identification device, and an image forming apparatus.

Some image forming devices that form an image on a sheet-shaped recording medium are provided with a system for identifying a failure location that is a cause of defects occurring in the image. As such a technique, there is a technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 below. Patent Document 1 describes a system that reads an output image of a test pattern, performs a determination based on the read image, and determines a failure location based on evidence information when an instruction to specify a failure location is given. Has been done. Evidence information is device state information such as feature quantities of image defects, time-series characteristics of image defects, and usage status (days after replacement) of replacement parts of the image forming device. In addition, the failure diagnosis engine is used to determine the failure location, and the failure probability for each part involved in image formation is inferred.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-16347

However, the image forming apparatus is required to identify the faulty part with higher accuracy. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a failure location identification system, a failure location identification method, a failure location identification program, a failure location identification device, and an image forming apparatus capable of identifying a failure location with high accuracy.

The present invention for achieving such an object is a system for identifying a failed portion of an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium, and is formed before replacement of parts constituting the image forming apparatus. By comparing the image data of the image and the image data of the image formed after the replacement, the disappearance defect extraction unit for extracting the defects existing in the image before the parts replacement and not in the image after the parts replacement, and the extracted defects A specific information holding unit that holds specific information that associates the feature amount with the identification information of the replaced part, a feature amount of a defect that occurs in an image formed by the image forming apparatus, and a specific information holding unit that holds the characteristic amount. Based on the specific information provided, a component identification unit for identifying the component that caused the defect is provided.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a failure location identification system, a failure location identification method, a failure location identification program, a failure location identification device, and an image forming apparatus capable of identifying a failure location with high accuracy.

It is the schematic which shows the whole structure of the failure part identification system which concerns on embodiment. It is a block diagram of the image reading part included in the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a functional block diagram of the control part in the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a functional block diagram of the failure location identification apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the storage method of the defect information which is carried out based on the failure part identification program of this invention. It is a figure (the 1) for demonstrating the defect which occurs in the inspection image. It is a figure (the 2) for demonstrating the defect which occurs in the inspection image. It is a flowchart which shows the method of creating the specific information of the failure part which is carried out based on the failure part identification program of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the storage method of the specific information of the failure part which is carried out based on the failure part identification program of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the failure part identification method which is carried out based on the failure part identification program of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a failure location identification system, a failure location identification method, a failure location identification program, a failure location identification device, and an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

≪Failure location judgment system≫
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the overall configuration of the failure location identification system 1 according to the embodiment. The failure location identification system 1 shown in this figure is composed of, for example, a plurality of image forming devices 100 and a failure location identification device 300 capable of communicating with each image forming apparatus 100. The details of these components will be described below.

<Image forming apparatus 100>
The image forming apparatus 100 is of an electrophotographic type that forms a toner image on a sheet-shaped recording medium P, and includes an operation unit 11 and a display unit 12 on the upper surface portion of the housing 10. An image forming unit 20 and a transfer unit 30 are provided inside the housing 10, a fixing unit 40, a medium supply unit 50, and an image reading unit 60 are provided, each of which is composed of parts for image formation. There is. Further, a control unit 70 and a network interface 80 are further provided in the housing 10 of the image forming apparatus 100. The details of each of these components will be described below.

[Operation unit 11]
The operation unit 11 is a part for inputting the setting of the job to be executed by using the image forming apparatus 100. The operation unit 11 may be a touch panel provided integrally with the display unit 12 described below, and constitutes an operation panel together with the display unit 12. The operation unit 11 may be a personal computer or another external device capable of communicating with the image forming apparatus 100 for data transfer.

[Display unit 12]
The display unit 12 displays the content of the operation on the operation unit 11. Further, the display unit 12 displays the failure portion specified by the failure location identification device 300 described later, which constitutes the failure location, and further displays necessary information.

[Image forming unit 20]
The image forming unit 20 has four image forming units 20y, 20m, 20c, and 20k for forming toner images of, for example, yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). .. Each of the image forming units 20y, 20m, 20c, and 20k includes a photoconductor 21, a cleaning unit 22 arranged around the photoconductor 21, a charging unit 23, an exposure unit 24, and a developing unit 25, respectively. ing.

− Photoreceptor 21−
Of these, the photoconductor 21 is one of the image carriers on which the toner image is formed, and has a drum shape that is rotated by a drive motor, and the drum-shaped side peripheral surface is the image carrier surface 21a. The image forming units 20y, 20m, 20c, and 20k having such a photoconductor 21 are arranged so that the axial directions of the photoconductor 21 are parallel to each other. In the arranged state, the image-supporting surface 21a of the photoconductor 21 is oriented in the same direction between the cleaning unit 22 arranged around each photoconductor 21 and the developing unit 25. ..

-Cleaning unit 22-
The cleaning unit 22 removes residual toner on the image-supporting surface 21a of the photoconductor 21. Such a cleaning unit 22 is for scraping and collecting toner from the image-supporting surface 21a of the photoconductor 21. Such a cleaning device 22b includes a lubricant coating brush that supplies a lubricant to the image-supporting surface 21a of the photoconductor 21, a cleaning blade for scraping toner from the image-supporting surface 21a of the photoconductor 21, and the scraped toner. Equipped with a screw for collecting.

-Charging part 23-
The charging unit 23 uniformly charges the image-supporting surface 21a of the photoconductor 21 from which the residual toner has been removed by the cleaning unit 22.

-Exposure section 24-
The exposure unit 24 forms an electrostatic latent image by exposure scanning on the image-supporting surface 21a charged by the charging unit 23. The exposure scanning by the exposure unit 24 is performed based on, for example, the image data read by the image reading unit 60 or the image data received from an external device.

-Development unit 25-
The developing unit 25 supplies the toner charged to the image-supporting surface 21a of the photoconductor 21 on which the electrostatic latent image is formed by the exposure unit 24, thereby forming the electrostatic charge on the image-supporting surface 21a of the photoconductor 21. Toner of each color is attached to the latent image. As a result, the image-bearing surface 21a of the photoconductor 21 in the image forming unit 20y has a yellow toner image, the surface of the photoconductor 21 in the image forming unit 20m has a magenta toner image, and the photoconductor 21 of the image forming unit 20c has a magenta toner image. A cyan toner image and a black toner image are formed on the photoconductor 21 of the image forming unit 20k.

[Transfer unit 30]
The transfer unit 30 is arranged in parallel with the image forming unit 20. The transfer unit 30 includes an intermediate transfer belt 31 configured as a rotating endless belt, a plurality of rollers 32 inscribed in the intermediate transfer belt 31, and a primary transfer unit 33. Further, the transfer unit 30 includes components such as a secondary transfer roller 34, a static elimination roller 35, and a cleaning unit 36.

Of these, the intermediate transfer belt 31 is arranged in a state of being hung on a plurality of rollers 32, and its outer peripheral surface is an image-supporting surface 31a. Such an intermediate transfer belt 31 rotates in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of each of the photoconductors 21 of the image forming units 20y, 20m, 20c, and 20k, and the image-supporting surface 31a is in contact with all of the photoconductors 21 in sequence. It is arranged in.

Further, the plurality of rollers 32 are arranged on the inner peripheral side of the intermediate transfer belt 31 so that the image-supporting surface 31a of the intermediate transfer belt 31 is in contact with all of the photoconductors 21. One of these rollers 32 is configured as a drive roller for rotating the intermediate transfer belt 31.

The primary transfer unit 33 is located on the inner peripheral side of the intermediate transfer belt 31 at each position facing the photoconductors 21 of the image forming units 20y, 20m, 20c, and 20k, and is placed between the intermediate transfer belts 21 and the photoconductors 21. It is arranged in a state of sandwiching 31. A voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is applied to these primary transfer units 33, whereby the toner adhering to the image-supporting surface 21a of the photoconductor 21 is transferred to the image-supporting surface 31a of the intermediate transfer belt 31.

Further, the secondary transfer roller 34 is in a state where the intermediate transfer belt 31 is sandwiched between the intermediate transfer belt 31 and the roller 32 at a position facing one of the plurality of rollers 32 on the image-carrying surface 31a side of the intermediate transfer belt 31. Have been placed. Then, the nip portion where the secondary transfer roller 34 and the roller 32 come into contact is a recording medium in which the toner image formed on the image-carrying surface 31a of the intermediate transfer belt 31 is conveyed from the medium supply unit 50 described below. It is the transfer position to be transferred to P.

Further, the static elimination roller 35 is provided on the downstream side of the secondary transfer roller 34 in the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt 31 and on the upstream side of the primary transfer unit 33 in a state of sandwiching the intermediate transfer belt 31. Removes the charge of.

The cleaning unit 36 is arranged on the outer peripheral side of the intermediate transfer belt 31 between the static elimination roller 35 and the primary transfer unit 33 so as to face the image-carrying surface 31a of the intermediate transfer belt 31. The cleaning unit 36 is for removing the toner remaining on the image-carrying surface 31a of the intermediate transfer belt 31.

[Fixing part 40]
The fixing section 40 is arranged on the downstream side of the secondary transfer roller 34 in the transfer section 30 with respect to the transport direction of the recording medium P conveyed from the medium supply section 50 described below. The fixing unit 40 nips and conveys the recording medium P supplied from the secondary transfer roller 34 in a heated state, and fixes the toner image transferred to the recording medium P to the recording medium P. Further, the recording medium P on which the toner image is fixed is discharged to the outside of the housing 10. Such a fixing portion 40 includes various parts such as a heating roller and a pressure roller for niping the recording medium P.

[Media Supply Unit 50]
The medium supply unit 50 is arranged close to the secondary transfer roller 34 in the transfer unit 30. The medium supply unit 50 includes a cassette 51 that stores the recording medium P, a delivery roller 53 that sends out the recording medium P stored in the cassette 51, a transfer roller 55 that conveys the recording medium P sent out by the delivery roller 53, and the like. Each part is equipped. Then, the transfer roller 55 sandwiches the recording medium P together with the intermediate transfer belt 31 on the outer peripheral side of the intermediate transfer belt 31 between the secondary transfer roller 34 and the roller 32.

[Image reader 60]
The image reading unit 60 is a mechanical element portion for imaging the main surface of the recording medium P discharged from the fixing unit 40. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an image reading unit 60 included in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment. As shown in this figure, the image reading unit 60 includes a medium transporting unit 61 and an image pickup device 62. The medium transport unit 61 is a machine element portion that transports the recording medium P discharged from the fixing unit 40 in a predetermined transport direction [FD], and is composed of, for example, a plurality of transport rollers. Further, the image pickup device 62 may be a line sensor in which image pickup elements are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction [FD], and the image pickup device may be a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or another element.

Such an image pickup apparatus 62 is arranged on both sides of the recording medium P conveyed by the medium transfer unit 61, and reads images on the main surfaces of both sides of the recording medium P. Further, it is assumed that a shading 62a for detecting white or black as a reference for an image formed on the recording medium P is provided at a position facing each image pickup device 62. The medium transport unit 61 and the image pickup device 62 that form the image reading unit 60 are not components for forming an image on the recording medium P. However, a failure or malfunction of the medium transport unit 61 and the image pickup apparatus 62 causes a defect in the inspection image for inspecting the image formed on the recording medium P. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish it from the defect of the image formed on the recording medium P, and the medium transport unit 61 and the image pickup apparatus 62 are also included in the components of the present embodiment.

[Control unit 70]
The control unit 70 is composed of a computer. The computer is hardware used as a so-called computer, and includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and an HDD (hard disk drive), which are not shown here. It is provided with such a non-volatile storage unit. Further, the control unit 70 includes an RTC (real-time clock).

Such a control unit 70 stores various images and various programs in a non-volatile storage unit, and executes processing based on the stored programs. Various programs held by the non-volatile storage unit include a program for image formation and a failure location identification program for identifying a failure location. In the present embodiment, this failure location identification program is characteristic, and the details of this failure location identification program will be described in detail in the subsequent failure location identification method.

FIG. 3 is a functional configuration diagram of the control unit 70 in the image forming apparatus 100 according to the embodiment, and is a diagram showing a function executed by the control unit 70. Hereinafter, the configuration of each functional unit of the control unit 70 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 above, based on FIG. The control unit 70 includes a drive control unit 70a, an image information processing unit 70b, a defect detection unit 70c, a defect information holding unit 70d, a component replacement detection unit 70e, a disappearance defect extraction unit 70f, and a specific information creation unit 70g. Each of these functional parts is as follows.

-Drive control unit 70a-
The drive control unit 70a controls the operation of each operation unit constituting the image forming apparatus 100, and forms an image on the recording medium P. Further, the drive control unit 70a controls the operation of each operation unit constituting the image reading unit 60, and reads the image formed on the recording medium P. Further, the drive control unit 70a controls the input / output of information via the network interface 80 and controls the display on the display unit 12.

-Image information processing unit 70b-
The image information processing unit 70b creates image data for printing by rasterizing the original data of the image formed on the recording medium P by executing the job. The original data of the image processed by the image information processing unit 70b is, for example, an image input from the external device 2 via the network interface 80. Further, when the original data of the image received by the network interface 80 is compressed data, the image information processing unit 70b decompresses the original data. When the image forming apparatus 100 has a platen and a reading device for reading an image of a document placed on the platen, the document data of the image processed by the image information processing unit 70b is read from the scanning device. It may be manuscript data.

-Defect detection unit 70c-
The defect detection unit 70c is a portion that detects defects generated in the inspection image acquired by the image reading unit 60. Further, the defect detection unit 70a extracts the feature amount of the detected defect. The feature amount of the defect and the details of the processing performed by the defect detection unit 70c will be described in the subsequent failure location identification method.

-Defect information holding unit 70d-
The defect information holding unit 70d holds defect information about the defect detected by the defect detecting unit 70c. The defect information held by the defect information holding unit 70d is information in which the feature amount of the defect extracted by the defect detecting unit 70c is associated with the defect detection timing. Details of the processing performed by the defect information holding unit 70d will be described in the subsequent failure location identification method.

-Part replacement detector 70e-
When various parts constituting the image forming apparatus 100 are replaced, the component replacement detection unit 70e identifies and detects the type of the replaced parts. The types of parts are the parts constituting the image forming unit 20, the transfer unit 30, the fixing unit 40, the medium supply unit 50, and the image reading unit 60 described with reference to FIG. Details of the processing performed by the component replacement detection unit 70e will be described in the subsequent failure location identification method.

-Disappearing defect extraction unit 70f-
When the parts replacement detection unit 70e detects the parts replacement, the disappearance defect extraction unit 70f extracts the defects disappeared from the inspection image as the disappearance defects after the parts replacement. Details of the processing performed by the disappearance defect extraction unit 70f will be described in the subsequent failure location identification method.

-Specific information creation unit 70g-
The specific information creation unit 70g creates specific information of a failure location in which the feature amount of the disappearance defect extracted by the disappearance defect extraction unit 70f is associated with the information of the part detected by the part replacement detection unit 70e. Further, the specific information of the failure location created by the specific information creation unit 70g may be associated with the identification information of the model of the image forming apparatus 100 in which the defect has occurred and other information with respect to the feature amount of the defect. ..

[Network interface 80]
The network interface 80 is for passing data between, for example, the image forming apparatus 100 and an external device including the failure location identifying apparatus 300.

<Failure location identification device 300>
Returning to FIG. 1, the failure location identification device 300 may be a computer that can be connected to the plurality of image forming devices 100, and may be a cloud server. In such a failure location identification device 300, when a defect occurs in the image formed on the recording medium P in each image forming device 100, the failure of the image forming device 100 is based on the feature amount of the defect generated in the image. It is a device that identifies a location. The failure location identification device 300 may be provided in the control unit 70 of each image forming device 100.

FIG. 4 is a functional configuration diagram of the failure location identification device 300 according to the embodiment. As shown in this figure, the failure location identification device 300 includes a specific information holding unit 300a and a component identification unit 300b. Each of these elements is as follows.

[Specific information holding unit 300a]
The specific information holding unit 300a is a part that holds specific information of a failure location transmitted from each image forming apparatus 100. The failure location specific information is information created by the specific information creation unit 70g (see FIG. 3) in the control unit 70 of each image forming apparatus 100, and is information transmitted from each image forming apparatus 100.

[Part identification unit 300b]
The component identification unit 300b is a portion that identifies a component that is the cause of the defect as a failure location based on the feature amount of the defect transmitted from each image forming apparatus 100. The component specifying unit 300b refers to the specific information stored in the specific information holding unit 300a, associates it with the same feature amount as the feature amount of the defect transmitted from each image forming apparatus 100, and associates it with the specific information holding unit. Identify the parts stored in 300a.

When the specific information stored in the specific information holding unit 300a includes the identification information of the model of the image forming apparatus 100, the component specifying unit 300b is associated with the same model as the image forming apparatus 100 that transmitted the feature amount of the defect. Prioritize and identify the parts that have been used. Further, the component identification unit 300b transmits the identification result to the image forming apparatus 100. The specific result includes the result when the part causing the defect cannot be identified.

≪How to identify the faulty part≫
Next, a failure location identification method implemented by the failure location identification system 1 described above will be described. The failure location identification method described here is a procedure carried out based on the failure location identification program of the present invention. In the following, the procedure of the failure location identification method will be described with reference to each flowchart and FIGS. 1 to 4 above.

<Saving defect information>
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a method of storing defect information implemented based on the failure location identification program of the present invention, and shows a procedure performed by the control unit 70 of the image forming apparatus 100. This flow is started as follows when the image reading unit 60 of each image forming apparatus 100 reads the image formed on the recording medium P.

[Step S101]
In step S101, the defect detection unit 70c performs an image inspection on the image of the recording medium P read by the image reading unit 60, and determines whether or not a defect has been detected. In the image inspection, the defect detection unit 70c acquires the image read by the image reading unit 60 as an inspection image, and compares this inspection image with the reference image stored in the storage unit to generate the inspection image. Detect defects. The reference image is, for example, an image input from an external device via the network interface 80, or an image read by the image reading unit 60 and determined to have no defects.

If the defect detection unit 70c determines that a defect has been detected (YES) in the image inspection, the defect detection unit 70c proceeds to the next step S102. On the other hand, if it is determined that no defect is detected (NO), the process is terminated.

[Step S102]
In step S102, the defect detection unit 70c extracts the defect feature amount for the detected defect. It is assumed that the feature amount of the defect extracted here is set according to the type of defect.

6 and 7 are diagrams (No. 1) and (No. 2) for explaining defects occurring in the inspection image. As shown in these figures, the inspection images 1001 and 1002 may have various defects [L1] to [L4] and "L" due to deterioration of each component constituting the image forming apparatus 100. is there. Here, as an example, defects [L1] to [L4] having directional components also called streaks, bands, or unevenness, point-like defects with low toner concentration called fireflies, and unnecessary parts called spots. A dot-like defect [L] such as a defect on which toner is printed is shown. These defects have a characteristic amount of characteristic defects for each component constituting the image forming apparatus 100.

For example, in the case of defects [L1] to [L4] having a directional component, the feature amount of the defect is perpendicular to the position of the defect, the extension direction of the defect, the length of the extension direction of the defect, and the extension direction of the defect. Includes directional width and defect strength. Further, in the case of a punctate defect [L], the feature amount of the defect includes the position of the defect, the size of the defect, and the strength of the defect. The defect intensity is defined as the magnitude of the difference between the inspection image and the reference image.

[Step S103]
In step S103, the defect information storage unit 70d stores the defect information in which the feature amount of the defect extracted by the defect detection unit 70c is associated with the date and time information when the defect is detected. As a result, in the defect information storage unit 70d, each time a defect occurs in the inspection image read by the image reading unit 60, the feature amount of the generated defect and the date and time information indicating the occurrence timing of the defect are provided as defect information. Will be saved as.

Further, when the defect information holding unit 70d is detected at a position where a plurality of defects overlap, the defect information holding unit 70d may or may not store the information in association with the feature amount of each defect, or may not store the information as defect information.

[Step S104]
Further, in step S104, the drive control unit 70a transmits the feature amount of the defect extracted by the defect detection unit 70c from the network interface 80 to the failure location identification device 300, and ends the defect information storage process.

<Creation of specific information on the fault location>
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a method of creating failure location identification information implemented based on the failure location identification program of the present invention, and shows a procedure performed by the control unit 70 of the image forming apparatus 100. Hereinafter, the procedure for creating the specific information of the failure location will be described in the order shown in the flowchart of FIG.

[Step S105]
In step S105, the component replacement detection unit 70e determines whether or not the replacement of the components constituting the image forming apparatus 100 has been detected. The component replacement detection unit 70e identifies the replaced component by a signal from a sensor attached to each component or a sensor provided close to the component, or replaces the component by an operation from the operation unit 11. It may be a configuration that specifies a component.

If it is determined that the component replacement detection unit 70e is detected (YES), the process proceeds to the next step S106, and the process is repeated until it is determined that the component replacement detection unit 70e is detected (YES). However, the component replacement detection unit 70e determines that the detection (YES) is made only when one component is replaced.

In this step 105, the component replacement detection unit 70e may be configured to extract the timing at which only one of the components is replaced from the maintenance record information possessed by the control unit 70 of the image forming apparatus 100.

[Step S106]
In step S106, the disappearance defect extraction unit 70f refers to the defect information stored in the defect information storage unit 70d, and acquires the feature quantities of all the defects generated in the images before and after the component replacement. Here, the images before and after the parts replacement are images formed by the image forming apparatus 100 immediately before and after the parts replacement. If the defect information storage unit 70d does not store the defect information immediately after the parts are replaced, the disappearing defect extraction unit 70f stores the defect information immediately after the parts are replaced in the defect information storage unit 70d. Wait until it is done.

[Step S107]
In step S106, the disappearance defect extraction unit 70f extracts the defect disappeared from the inspection image after the part replacement based on the feature quantities of all the defects immediately before and immediately after the part replacement occurs. At this time, the disappearance defect extraction unit 70f acquires the defect information having the date and time information immediately before the part replacement and the defect information having the date and time information immediately before, and the feature quantity of all the defects possessed by these defect information. To compare. As a result, defects that existed in the inspection image immediately before the parts replacement but did not exist in the inspection image immediately after the parts replacement are extracted as disappearance defects.

Here, the example shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 above is the inspection image 1001 immediately before the replacement and immediately after the replacement when the photoconductor 21 of a specific unit among the four image forming units 20y to 20k is replaced. It is assumed that it is an example of the inspection image 1002 of. In this case, the disappearing defect extraction unit 70f compares the feature amounts of the defects of the defects [L1] to [L4] and [L] detected in the inspection images 1001 and 1002, and occurs in the inspection image 1002 immediately after the replacement. The defect [L1] that has not been removed is extracted as a disappearing defect.

[Step S108]
In step S108, the specific information creation unit 70g creates specific information of the failure portion in which the feature amount of the disappearance defect extracted by the disappearance defect extraction unit 70f is associated with the information of the part detected by the part replacement detection unit 70e. Here, the feature amount of the disappeared defect is the feature amount of the defect associated with the date and time information immediately before the part replacement is performed. Further, the component information detected by the component replacement detection unit 70e is the identification information given to the detected component, for example, the identification information given to the photoconductor 21 of a specific unit. It should be noted that the identification information of the failure location may be associated with the identification information of the model of the image forming apparatus 100 in which the defect has occurred and other information with respect to the feature amount of the defect. The other information is, for example, information on the usage history of the image forming apparatus 100 and information on the installation environment.

[Step S109]
In step S109, the drive control unit 70a causes the failure location identification device 300 to transmit the failure location identification information created by the specific information creation unit 70g from the network interface 80, and ends the failure location identification information creation process.

<Creation of specific information on the fault location>
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a method of storing the failure location identification information implemented based on the failure location identification program of the present invention, and shows a procedure performed by the failure location identification device 300. Hereinafter, the procedure of the method of storing the specific information of the failure location will be described in the order shown in the flowchart of FIG.

[Step S301]
In step S301, the specific information holding unit 300a of the failure location identification device 300 determines whether or not the failure location identification information has been received. If it is determined that the specific information holding unit 300a has received (YES), the process proceeds to the next step S302, and the process is repeated until it is determined that the information has been received (YES).

[Step S302]
In step S302, the specific information holding unit 300a saves the received specific information of the failure location and ends the process.

<Creation of specific information on the fault location>
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a failure location identification method implemented based on the failure location identification program of the present invention, and shows a procedure implemented in the failure location identification device 300. Hereinafter, the procedure of the failure location identification method will be described in the order shown in the flowchart of FIG.

[Step S303]
In step S303, the component identification unit 300b of the failure location identification device 300 determines whether or not the defect feature amount has been received from the image forming apparatus 100. If it is determined that the component identification unit 300b has received (YES), the process proceeds to the next step S304, and the process is repeated until it is determined that the component identification unit 300b has received (YES).

[Step S304]
In step S304, the component identification unit 300b refers to the specific information of the failure location stored in the specific information holding unit 300a, and the feature amount of the defect that matches the feature amount of the defect received from the stored specific information. Search for specific information that has. In this case, the matching of the feature amounts of the defects does not have to be exactly the same as the feature amounts of the defects, but may match within a preset range. Further, the component identification unit 300b may perform the above search by narrowing down the specific information having the identification information of the same model as the image forming apparatus that transmitted the feature amount of the defect received in step S303 from the specific information. Good.

The component identification unit 300b stores the identification information of the component associated with the feature amount of the defect determined to match the received feature amount of the defect in the specific information holding unit 300a, and from the specific information. Extract and identify the parts that caused the defects.

[Step S305]
In step S305, the component identification unit 300b transmits the identification information of the identified component to the image forming apparatus 100. Here, among the plurality of image forming apparatus 100, the identification information of the specified component is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100 which is the transmission source of the feature amount of the defect received in step S303.

Although not shown here, the image forming apparatus 100 that has received the identification information causes the display unit 12 to display the received identification information of the parts. At this time, the display unit 12 also displays the feature amount of the defect transmitted to the failure location identification device 300 in step S303 at the same time.

<Effect of embodiment>
According to the embodiment described above, a component that causes a defect in the image based on specific information that associates the feature amount of the defect disappeared from the image by the actual replacement of the component with the information of the replaced component. Is identified as the location of the failure. Therefore, it is possible to identify the faulty part with high accuracy. Further, when the maintenance information of the image forming apparatus and the information of the defect detection by the image inspection are accumulated, the specific information associated with the exchanged part and the lost defect can be extracted from the information, so that the information already exists. With the information, it is possible to detect the faulty part with high accuracy. In addition, since the feature quantities of the defects are acquired for the images immediately before and after the parts replacement, it is possible to create an inspection report showing that the defects have disappeared by the parts replacement.

1 ... Failure location identification system 1 ... Failure location identification system 12 ... Display unit 60 ... Image reading unit 70c ... Defect detection unit 70f ... Disappearing defect extraction unit 100 ... Image forming device 300 ... Failure location identification device 300a ... Specific information holding unit 300b ... Part identification part P ... Recording medium [L1] to [L4] ... Defects (defects with directionality)
[L] ... Defect (dotted defect)

Claims (14)

A system for identifying a faulty part of an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium.
Comparing the image data of the image formed before the replacement of the parts constituting the image forming apparatus with the image data of the image formed after the replacement, defects existing in the image before the parts replacement and not present in the image after the parts replacement. Disappearance defect extraction unit to extract
A specific information holding unit that holds specific information in which the feature amount of the extracted defect and the identification information of the replaced part are associated with each other.
Based on the feature amount of the defect generated in the image formed by the image forming apparatus and the specific information held in the specific information holding unit, the component specifying unit that identifies the component that caused the defect. Failure location identification system equipped with. An image reading unit that reads an image formed by the image forming apparatus, and an image reading unit.
A defect detection unit that compares the inspection image read by the image reading unit with a reference image that serves as a reference for the inspection image, detects defects in the image formed by the image forming apparatus, and extracts the feature amount of the detected defects. With and
The failure location identification system according to claim 1, wherein the disappearing defect extraction unit extracts the defect by comparing the feature amounts extracted by the defect detection unit. The failure location identification system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the feature amount is set according to the type of the defect. When the defect is a defect having a directional component,
3. The feature amount includes the position of the defect, the extending direction of the defect, the length of the extending direction of the defect, the width in the direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the defect, and the strength of the defect. Failure location identification system described in. If the defect is a punctate defect,
The failure location identification system according to claim 3, wherein the feature amount includes the position of the defect, the size of the defect, and the strength of the defect. The failure location identification system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a display unit that displays information about the component specified by the component identification unit. The failure location identification system according to claim 6, wherein the display unit displays the feature amount of the defect when the component is specified together with the information about the component. The failure location according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the disappearance defect extraction unit extracts the defect only when one of the parts constituting the image forming apparatus is replaced. Specific system. A plurality of image forming devices for forming an image on a recording medium,
It has a failure location identification device capable of transmitting and receiving information to and from the plurality of image forming devices.
Each of the image forming devices
A plurality of specific information in which the disappearance defect extraction unit is provided and the feature amount of the defect extracted by the disappearance defect extraction unit is associated with the identification information of each component is transmitted to the failure location identification device.
The failure location identification device is
The failure location according to claim 1, wherein the specific information holding unit and the component specifying unit are provided, and the specific information transmitted from each image forming apparatus is stored in the specific information holding unit. Specific system. Each of the image forming devices transmits the feature amount of the defect generated in the formed image to the failure location identification device.
The component specifying unit identifies the component that caused the defect based on the feature amount of the defect transmitted from the image forming apparatus and the specific information held in the specific information holding unit. The failure location identification system according to claim 9, wherein information about the identified component is transmitted to the image forming apparatus of the transmission source of the feature amount of the defect. It is a method for identifying a faulty part of an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium.
The disappearance defect extraction unit compares the image data of the image formed before the replacement of the parts constituting the image forming apparatus with the image data of the image formed after the replacement, and is present in the image before the parts replacement and after the parts replacement. Extract defects that do not exist in the image
The specific information holding unit holds specific information in which the feature amount of the extracted defect and the identification information of the replaced part are associated with each other.
The component identification unit identifies the component that caused the defect based on the feature amount of the defect generated in the image formed by the image forming apparatus and the specific information held in the specific information holding unit. How to identify the location of the failure. It is a defect location identification program for identifying a defect location of an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium.
Comparing the image data of the image formed before the replacement of the parts constituting the image forming apparatus with the image data of the image formed after the replacement, defects existing in the image before the parts replacement and not present in the image after the parts replacement. Is extracted by the disappearance defect extraction unit,
The specific information holding unit holds the specific information in which the feature amount of the extracted defect and the identification information of the replaced part are associated with each other.
Based on the feature amount of the defect generated in the image formed by the image forming apparatus and the specific information held in the specific information holding unit, the component specifying part is made to identify the part that caused the defect. Failure location identification program. A failure location identification device provided with the failure location identification system according to any one of claims 1 to 8. An image forming apparatus including the failure location identification system according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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