JP2773542B2 - FA controller - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an FA controller for automatically determining and notifying the life of a replaceable hard disk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional FA controller. In FIG. 3, 1 is an external power supply for operating the FA controller 18, 2 is a power input terminal for inputting electricity from the external power supply 1, 3 is a hard disk 4 and 3 is a voltage of electricity input from the external power supply 1. A transformer circuit for converting to a voltage necessary for operating the central processing unit 6 , a hard disk 4, a central processing unit 6 of the FA controller 18, a display information requesting from the central processing unit 6 and a display unit 8. A display interface device 9 for displaying a key input device 9 receives key input information from the key input device 10 and notifies the central processing device 6 of the information. A reference numeral 11 denotes a hard disk access upon request from the central processing device 6. The hard disk interface device 13 is a user creation procedure 13 created by a user to execute an arbitrary process. Is a memory that stores. Here, the user creation procedure 13a is performed by the central processing unit 6
As described above, display on the display device 8, reading of key input information from the key input device 10, access to file contents of the hard disk 4 (read / write), and the like are performed through the central processing unit 6. it can. Further, the memory 13 retains the stored contents (user creation procedure 13a) with a battery even when power is not supplied.

Next, a conventional method for determining the life of the hard disk 4 will be described. The life of the hard disk 4 is measured by measuring the cumulative energizing time of the hard disk 4, and when this time exceeds a prescribed time determined in terms of the performance of the hard disk, it is determined that the life has expired, and the hard disk 4 is replaced. In order to determine the life of the hard disk, an operator measures and records the daily energizing time and obtains the accumulation to determine whether the specified time has been reached. If the hard disk fails before the end of its life, or if it is desired to change the function to be performed to another function, replace the hard disk (in the latter case, intentionally replace the hard disk with another function S / W). After that, the operator had to judge the life of the new hard disk after the replacement from the beginning or in the middle.

[0004]

Since the conventional FA controller 18 is configured as described above, when the life of the hard disk 4 is determined, it must be performed manually by an operator. There is a problem that the load increases, and the life of the hard disk is not noticed even if the service life is exceeded due to forgetting the work (especially when the hard disk is frequently replaced).

[0005] The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and can be used not only when the hard disk is used until the end of its life in an arbitrary FA controller but also when the hard disk is frequently replaced. ,
An object of the present invention is to obtain an FA controller that can automatically determine the life of the hard disk 4 and notify an external device.

[0006]

An FA controller according to the present invention has a memory for storing and holding a set value of a life time and a current value indicating a cumulative energizing time up to the present.
Hard disk detachable been, and time measuring means for measuring an energization time of the hard disk, the current value the time measuring means to update the current value of the accumulated energized time stored in the memory each time to measure the predetermined time update Means and said
Read the set value and current value in the memory, and
And a current value, thereby determining the life of the hard disk .
The hard disk has reached the end of its life,
A life end signal output means for outputting a life end signal, but with the.

[0007]

The time measuring means according to the present invention measures the passage of time, and the current value updating means updates the current value of the cumulative energizing time stored in the memory of the hard disk every predetermined time measured by the time measuring means. The life determining means compares the updated current value with a set value indicating the life time of the hard disk stored in the memory, and if the set value is exceeded, determines that the hard disk has reached the life,
The life expiration signal output means outputs a life expiration signal and notifies it.

[0008]

[Embodiment 1] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the drawings, the components denoted by the same reference numerals as those of the conventional example are the same as or similar to those of the conventional example. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 5 denotes a set value 5a indicating the life time of the hard disk 4 (a specified value of the cumulative energization time) and a life determination procedure 13
a memory updated by c and storing a current value 5b indicating the current cumulative energization time of the hard disk 4, a clock element 12 capable of performing time operation and being accessed (read / written) at an arbitrary time by the central processing unit 6, 13b is a time measurement procedure as a time measurement means for reading out the current time by the clock element 12 and calling the life determination procedure 13c every hour, and 13c updates the current value 5b indicating the current value of the cumulative power-on time of the hard disk 4 ( Current value updating means to add 1)
When the value exceeds the set value 5a, the hard disk 4 reaches the end of its service life. An internal LED 15 attached to the surface of the FA controller 18 to notify that the output has been reached, and an output terminal 1 to notify the outside.
Reference numeral 6 denotes an output circuit as a life reaching signal output means for outputting the notification signal. Reference numeral 17 denotes an external LED which is connected to the output terminal 16 to externally know that the hard disk 4 has reached the end of its life based on the notification signal. The memory interface device accesses the memory A5 in response to a request from the processing device 6. Here, the memory A5 is structurally incorporated in the hard disk 4, and the access of the memory A5 and the access of the hard disk 4 are irrelevant. The memory A5 holds the stored contents 5a and 5b with batteries even when power is not supplied, and the batteries are also structurally incorporated into the hard disk 4 (not shown). When replacing the hard disk, the hard disk 4, the memory A5, and the battery are replaced as a set, and the replacement operation can be easily performed like a floppy disk. The clock element 12 continues the clock operation by the battery even when no power is supplied. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present invention.

Next, the operation of the present invention for determining the life of the hard disk 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, FA
When the controller 18 is turned on, the central processing unit 6 automatically starts executing the user creation procedure 13a and the time measurement procedure 13b, and thereafter executes the above two procedures in parallel.
This is because the central processing unit 6 repeats the operation of executing one of the procedures for a certain period of time (several milliseconds), and interrupting the other procedure for the certain period of time. It works as if it were running in parallel. The user creation procedure 13a is a procedure created by the user, and performs tasks intended by the user, such as communication with other devices and data processing. Time measurement procedure 1
3b first checks whether the procedure is the first loop after the start (step 30), and if it is the first time, reads the current time from the clock element 12 and writes it to the local variable A (step 31).
If it is not the first time, the process proceeds to step 32 without performing any processing. Next, the current time is read from the clock element 12 and written in the local variable B (step 32).
The elapsed time from the middle time to the current time in the local variable B is calculated, and it is checked whether this time has exceeded one hour (step 3).
3) If it exceeds, the current time in the local variable B is written into the local variable A (step 34), and the life determination procedure 13c is called and executed as a subroutine. Thereafter, the time measurement procedure 13b does not proceed to the next (step 30) until the execution of the life determination procedure 13c is completed. If the elapsed time does not exceed one hour in step 33, the process returns to step 30. In the life determination procedure 13c, first, the current value 5b indicating the cumulative energization time of the hard disk 4 is incremented by 1 (meaning 1 hour) (step 4).
0), the set value 5a indicating the life time of the hard disk and the current value 5b are read from the memory A5 (step 4).
1). Here, the writing of the life time to the set value 5a and the writing of 0 as the initial value to the current value 5b are performed when the manufacturer of the hard disk 4 completes the production (before shipment).
I will go to. Next, it is checked whether or not the current value (accumulated energizing time) read in step 41 exceeds a set value (life time) (step 42). Then, the information is displayed on the display device 8 via the display 7 and notified (step 43), and the life is output to the internal LED 15 and the external LED 17 via the output circuit 14 (lit) to be notified (step 44). Thereafter, the process returns to the life determination procedure 13b. As described above, the life of the hard disk 4 can be automatically determined and notified. In addition, if the hard disk 4 needs to be replaced before it reaches the end of its life due to a failure or a change in use, both the hard disk 4 and the memory A5 are replaced. Starts counting from the current value 5b of the new memory A5 after replacement, and sets the value 5a of the new memory A5 after replacement.
Can be determined. In other words, after replacing the hard disk 4 and the memory A5, it is possible to immediately start the life determination without requiring any special operation (for example, storing the new set value 5a and the current value 5b after the replacement in the central processing unit). Becomes

[0010]

As described above, each hard disk is
Current value indicating the set value of the life time and the accumulated energization time
Since the values are stored and stored on the hard disk,
Even if you replace the hard disk according to
Disk life is automatically determined by FA controller
Then, this can be notified to the outside. Therefore, c
Workload reduction for hard disk life management
FA controller with excellent maintainability
Can be

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an FA controller according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a conventional FA controller.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Hard disk 5 Memory A 5a Set value 5b Current value 13 Memory 13b Time measurement procedure 13c Life judgment procedure 12 Clock element 7 Display interface device 14 Output circuit

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A memory for storing and holding a set value of a lifetime and a current value indicating a cumulative energizing time up to the present.
Hard disk detachable having a time measuring means for measuring an energization time of the hard disk, the current value of the time measuring means to update the current value of the accumulated energized time stored in the memory each time to measure the predetermined time
Updating means for reading a set value and a current value in the memory;
By comparing the values and the current values, and lifetime determination means for determining the lifetime of the hard disk, it reaches the hard disk life by the life determination means
If it is determined that the, FA controller with a life end signal output means for outputting a life end signal.