JP4054793B2 - Design support program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a design support program for supporting mechanism control design. More specifically, the present invention relates to a software design support program for controlling a transport mechanism for transporting a sheet-shaped transport body.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sheet-like conveyance body such as paper (hereinafter simply referred to as paper) is conveyed in all fields. For example, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, paper is transported by a transport mechanism such as a roller or a guide.

  When transporting paper, in many cases it is rare to transport the paper in only one direction at a constant speed. For example, the position of the transport body is detected by a sensor and stopped at a predetermined position, or the roller is rotated in reverse. In most cases, the conveying direction is reversed. Therefore, when transporting paper, software for controlling the paper transport mechanism is indispensable.

  In addition, for example, recent image forming apparatuses are demanded to have high functions and high production. Accordingly, software for controlling the image forming apparatus has become complicated, and the number of steps for identifying and correcting the cause has increased due to the discovery of defects. Yes.

  Thus, with the recent improvement in computer performance, there are increasing opportunities to use simulation technology for transport mechanism design. For example, a system for calculating the behavior of paper by simulation and finding a latent defect in the transport mechanism has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

In addition, while mechanism simulation plays an active role in every situation, software verification for controlling the mechanism has also been proposed. For example, a design support method has been proposed in which an external event such as switching on / off or opening / closing of a cover is generated from an input device such as a keyboard to printer control software (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP-A-9-81600 JP-A-5-143260

  Conventionally, for example, in the paper conveyance control of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 16 that has achieved high production, the paper P is first conveyed in the direction of arrow 1 and then conveyed in the direction of arrow 2, and then the rear end of the paper P exceeds the branch point B. Then, the direction is reversed in the direction of arrow 3 and arrow 4. If the reversal of the paper P to the arrow 3 is as fast as possible, it will flow backward to the path AB and will jam. If the entry is slowed down, productivity will drop accordingly.

  A branch mechanism called a flapper is provided at the branch point B so that the paper P does not flow backward to the path AB. The flapper is connected to a solenoid for switching the conveyance direction. When the solenoid is turned off, the flapper faces toward the path AB, and when the solenoid is turned on, the flapper faces toward the path BD. In order to make the image forming apparatus more productive, it is required to reverse the rear end of the paper P2 at a position downstream from the branch point B and close to the branch point B.

  However, in the conventional conveyance control software verification, when a jam occurs at the position of the paper P in FIG. 16, the cause must be specified by the following flow. First, the paper position change is inferred from the sensor ON / OFF timing, the motor control timing is verified, the flapper control timing is verified, and it is determined that the control error has been reversed without switching the flapper. It was. Of course, in the same jammed state, the cause may be a pattern other than a control error of flapper switching. For example, even when the roller R2 stops for some reason, the same jam state occurs.

  In other words, in the conventional transfer control software verification, when an unexpected operation different from the design is performed, first, the state is visually checked, the timing is verified, the cause is analogized, and the defective part is identified. The development efficiency was poor because of the steps taken. Particularly in the image forming apparatus, the reversing control is the most technical hurdle because the timing accuracy is the most necessary in the paper transport control.

  In addition to this, for example, if the flapper is switched before the trailing edge of the paper P passes through the branch point B, the conveyance control software can be corrected if the failure becomes apparent due to the phenomenon of jamming. In some cases, jamming may occur due to the roller R2 being pulled out of the flapper. Such defects often appear on the surface due to a change in the design of the transport mechanism or the occurrence of wrinkles on the paper P, and it is very difficult to identify the cause.

  In the conventional technology such as Patent Document 1, although the cause of the malfunction that is latent in the mechanism can be identified, software for controlling the transport mechanism in the real world is not used. could not. In addition, with the technology of the conventional patent document 2, although it is possible to find a potential defect in the software, it is necessary to specify the cause according to the conventional method, which is very inefficient.

An object of the present invention is to provide a design support program capable of efficiently verifying the transport mechanism control software.

  To achieve the above object, a design support program according to the present invention is a computer-readable design support program capable of verifying the processing operation of software that controls a transport mechanism, and a branch mechanism that branches the transport direction of virtual paper. On the other hand, whether or not the branch direction of the virtual paper is invalid based on the first procedure for setting the invalid branch direction in advance and the setting contents set in the first procedure as a result of transporting the virtual paper And a third procedure for displaying a warning on a display unit attached to the computer when it is determined in the second procedure that the virtual paper branch direction is invalid. The computer is executed.

  The design support program according to the present invention is a design support program executable in the image forming apparatus, wherein the processing operation of software for controlling the sheet transport mechanism in the image forming apparatus can be verified. A first procedure for setting an invalid branching direction in advance for the branching mechanism to be branched, and as a result of conveying the sheet, the branching direction of the sheet is invalid based on the setting contents set in the first procedure. And a third procedure for displaying a warning on the display unit provided in the image forming apparatus when it is determined in the second procedure that the sheet branching direction is invalid. And the image forming apparatus.

  According to the present invention, when there is a problem in the control of the branch mechanism, the cause can be identified before the abnormality occurs, and the transport mechanism software can be efficiently verified.

  Hereinafter, a design support apparatus according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

  First, Example 1 will be described. In this embodiment, a warning is displayed when an operation error of the virtual flapper for switching the virtual paper transport direction occurs in the paper transport simulation. Here, the expression “virtual” is used to indicate virtual paper and a flapper on the simulation.

  FIG. 1 shows a design support apparatus according to this embodiment. The design support apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment is a paper conveyance simulator that can perform a paper conveyance simulation of an image forming apparatus on a personal computer. In addition, it supports the control timing design of the firmware software that controls the image forming apparatus in the real world, and enables the verification of the processing operation of the firmware software.

  The design support apparatus according to this embodiment includes a software simulation unit 1, a mechanism simulation unit 2, an input monitoring unit 4, and a display control unit 5. Each is stored in the HDD in the personal computer and executed on the CPU in the personal computer. When executed, it is executed after being expanded on the RAM of the personal computer.

  The software simulation unit 1 is for virtually executing firmware software relating to paper conveyance control on a CPU in a personal computer. The input monitoring unit 4 monitors inputs from a keyboard device or a mouse as a man-machine interface, and instructs the software simulation unit 1 to start executing the software simulation.

  The execution result of the software simulation is passed to the mechanism simulation unit 2. The mechanism simulation unit 2 obtains by calculation which part in the paper transport mechanism the virtual paper is present from the speed of the virtual roller related to the paper transport control, etc., and passes it to the software simulation unit 1 or the display control unit 5.

  FIG. 2 is a display example of the paper conveyance simulation screen W1 displayed on the display attached to the personal computer by the display control unit 5. On the paper transport simulation screen W1, the virtual paper transport path is represented by a dotted line, the virtual roller is represented by a circle, the virtual sensor is represented by a triangle, and the virtual paper is represented by a solid line P.

  When the point B is pointed with the mouse cursor PT on the paper transport simulation screen W1 and the button of the pointing device is clicked, a flapper attribute setting screen W2 as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed. The flapper is a device for switching the paper transport path.

  On the flapper attribute setting screen W2, the flapper control value and the branch direction of the virtual flapper can be associated with each other. In the branch device name display W20, the name of the virtual flapper arbitrarily assigned by the designer, such as “Flapper A”, is displayed. In the path display W21, the path name to which “Flapper A” belongs is displayed. In the pull-down menus W22 and W23, “0” or “1” which is the control value of the virtual flapper can be selected. When the control value is “0”, the branch direction pull-down menu 24 is selected, and when the control value is “1”, the branch direction pull-down menu W25 is selected. In the pull-down menus W24 and W25, it is possible to select the downstream path name of the virtual paper transport path selected in the path display W21 and “invalid” meaning invalid branch direction designation.

  FIG. 4 shows aspects of the software simulation unit 1 and the mechanism simulation unit 2 of the design support apparatus of this embodiment.

  The software simulation unit 1 includes a firmware software unit 10, an input I / F unit 12, and an output I / F unit 13.

  The firmware software unit 10 is software for performing paper conveyance control of an image forming apparatus in the real world.

  The input I / F unit 12 is a part for inputting information from the mechanism simulation unit 2. The output I / F unit 13 is a part that outputs information to the mechanism simulation unit 2.

  The mechanism simulation unit 2 includes a paper position calculation unit 20, an input I / F unit 29, an output I / F unit 27, and a paper position display unit 28.

  The input I / F unit 29 is a part that receives an output result from the output I / F unit 13 of the software simulation unit 1 and is used to pass control information related to paper conveyance control to the subsequent stage.

  The paper position calculation unit 20 stores the position of the virtual roller, rotates the virtual roller in accordance with the paper conveyance control information from the software simulation unit 1, and sets the stored virtual roller position and virtual roller rotation speed. Accordingly, the leading edge position and the trailing edge position of the virtual paper P in the virtual paper transport path are calculated and stored.

  The paper position display unit 28 instructs the display control unit 5 to display the above-described paper conveyance simulation screen W1 based on the leading edge position and the trailing edge position of the virtual paper P calculated by the preceding paper position calculation unit 20. It is a part to do.

  The output I / F unit 27 is a part for supplying the paper position information set by the preceding paper position calculation unit 20 to the input I / F unit 12 of the software simulation unit 1.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the paper position calculation unit 20. Before performing the paper position control shown in this flowchart, an invalid branch direction is set in advance (FIG. 3).

  The paper position calculation unit 20 first performs processing at a predetermined time interval t (S40). It is determined whether or not the path information including the leading edge to the trailing edge of the virtual paper P is “invalid” (S42). If “invalid”, a warning is displayed as shown in FIG. 6 (S43). End (conveyance stop).

  Then, the position of the virtual paper P is updated by obtaining the distance S = v × t that the virtual paper P travels from the paper transport speed v and the time interval t. The updated position information is transferred to the paper position display unit 28 and displayed on the paper transport simulation screen W1 (S45). The paper position change in S45 is transferred to the output I / F unit 27 (S46). The output I / F unit 27 outputs the paper position information to the input I / F unit 12 of the software simulation unit 1.

  Next, a description will be added in accordance with an actual simulation operation using FIG. FIG. 7 is an example of various device arrangements relating to paper conveyance control. The following items are required for paper conveyance control.

  The virtual paper P is conveyed by the virtual roller R1 in the direction of the solid arrow on the virtual paper conveyance path AB. The virtual roller R1 is driven from the virtual motor M1 via the virtual clutch CL1. At the timing when the leading edge of the virtual paper P passes through the virtual sensor S1, the virtual flapper FL1 is turned off, and the virtual paper P is advanced to the virtual paper transport path BC. When the rear end of the virtual paper P reaches 5 mm downstream of the branch point B, the virtual motor M2 is stopped and then the virtual flapper FL1 is turned on. Then, the virtual motor M2 is rotated in the reverse direction, and the virtual paper P is advanced to the virtual paper transport path BD. A dotted arrow indicates a driving relationship.

  When the designer instructs the start of the paper conveyance simulation from the man-machine interface, the software simulation unit 1 and the mechanism simulation unit 2 are executed via the input monitoring unit 4. When the execution of the software simulation unit 1 is started, the firm software unit 10 sequentially executes software for performing paper conveyance control of the real-world image forming apparatus.

  The firmware software unit 10 performs paper conveyance control according to the flowchart of FIG. When the virtual paper P reaches the predetermined position, the virtual motor M1 is turned on (S01), and the virtual clutch CL1 is turned on (S02). Then, it waits for the virtual sensor S1 to be turned on (S03), and if it is turned on, the virtual flapper FL1 is turned off (S04). Then, the process waits until the tip of the virtual paper P reaches 10 mm upstream of the virtual roller R2 (S05), and starts normal rotation of the virtual motor M2 (S06).

  The process waits until the rear end of the virtual paper P reaches 5 mm downstream of the branch point B (S07), and starts the reverse rotation of the virtual motor M2 (S09). Originally, following S07, the virtual flapper FL1 must be turned on (S08). For example, it is assumed that this part is missing due to a software description error. In this case, since the virtual flapper FL1 faces the virtual paper transport path AB, the virtual paper P flows backward through the virtual paper transport path AB.

  The virtual motor M1 ON information in S01 is passed to the paper position calculation unit 20 via the input I / F unit 29. However, since the virtual clutch CL1 is not turned on, the virtual roller R1 has not yet rotated.

  The information on the virtual clutch CL1 on in S02 is passed to the paper position calculation unit 20 via the input I / F unit 29, and the connected virtual roller R1 rotates.

  The paper position calculation unit 20 updates the position of the virtual paper P in accordance with the conveyance speed of the virtual roller R1, provides paper position information to the firmware software unit 10 via the output I / F unit 27, and supplies the virtual sensor S1 with the paper position information. The waiting process of S03 is exited at the arrival timing.

  The virtual flapper FL1 OFF information in S04 is passed to the paper position calculation unit 20 via the input I / F unit 29, and the path information “invalid” corresponding to the virtual flapper FL1 OFF control value “0” is calculated in the paper position. Passed to part 20. However, when the virtual paper P enters the virtual paper transport path BC from the virtual paper transport path AB, no warning is displayed at this point because there is no branch.

  S05 is a waiting process in which the firmware software unit 10 takes a timing based on S03.

  Information about the virtual motor M2 forward rotation start in S06 is passed to the paper position calculation unit 20 via the input I / F unit 29, and the connected virtual roller R2 is rotated forward.

  S07 is a waiting process in which the firmware software unit 10 takes a timing based on S05.

  In S09, the virtual motor M2 inversion start information is passed to the paper position calculation unit 20 via the input I / F unit 29, and the connected virtual roller R2 is inverted.

  When the leading edge of the virtual paper P reaches the branch point B, the paper position calculation unit 20 reads the path information “invalid” in S42, and thus the warning display in FIG. 6 is displayed.

  As described above, in the design support method according to the present embodiment, the designer can be notified that the virtual flapper FL1 has caused an instruction error in the branch direction, and can immediately identify a problem caused by the missing portion of S08. it can.

  In addition to this, S08 is correctly controlled, the timing of S07 is early due to a designer's mistake, and the virtual flapper FL1 is controlled by S08 before the rear end of the virtual paper P exceeds the branch point B. Even in this case, since the invalidity of the path information is determined by the paper position calculation unit 20, the timing failure in S07 can be immediately identified.

  In the transport control in the real world, the paper P may be forcibly pulled out from the flapper FL1 by the roller R2 and may not be jammed. In such a case as well, the problem can be immediately identified.

  As described in the present embodiment, the flapper attribute setting screen of FIG. 3 is not limited to that form. For example, before the design support apparatus according to the present embodiment is started, it is recorded in advance in a data file as setting data. You may make it read in.

  Further, the warning display in FIG. 6 is not limited to the form. For example, the color of the branch point B is changed, the shape is changed, the enlarged display is performed on the paper conveyance simulation screen W1 in FIG. May be displayed to alert the designer.

  Next, Example 2 will be described. In this embodiment, as in the first embodiment, a warning is displayed when an operation error of the flapper occurs. However, while the paper is actually conveyed by a roller, the conveyance status of the paper and the warning are displayed in the image forming apparatus. It is different in that it is displayed on a touch panel type display provided in.

  In the present embodiment, a sheet-like conveyance body such as paper (hereinafter simply referred to as “paper”) is actually conveyed by a roller, so that the expression “virtual” is omitted.

  FIG. 9 shows a design support apparatus according to the present invention. The design support apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment can display the paper conveyance state of the image forming apparatus in the image forming apparatus, and supports the design of control timing of firmware software that controls the image forming apparatus.

  The design support apparatus of the present embodiment includes a software unit 1b, a mechanism monitor unit 2, an input monitoring unit 4b, and a display control unit 5b. Each is stored in a ROM or HDD in the image forming apparatus, and is executed on a CPU in the image forming apparatus.

  The software unit 1b is firmware software related to paper conveyance control. The input monitoring unit 4b monitors inputs from the touch panel display 50 and the numeric keypad 40, which are man-machine interfaces shown in FIG.

  By executing the software unit 1b, the motor 60, the clutch 61, and the flapper 62 in the paper transport mechanism 6 of the image forming apparatus are controlled. The result of paper movement is fed back to the software unit 1b by the sensor 63.

  The execution result of the software unit 1b is passed to the mechanism monitor unit 2b. The mechanism monitor unit 2b obtains by calculation which part in the paper transport mechanism 6 the paper is present from, for example, the speed of a roller related to paper transport control, and passes it to the display control unit 5b.

  A paper conveyance display screen as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the touch panel display 50 by the display controller 5b. The details are the same as in the case of the first embodiment, and will be omitted.

  When the branch point B is pointed with the finger F or the like on the paper conveyance display screen, the flapper attribute is displayed. In the flapper attribute setting (W20 to W25), the flapper control value and the branching direction of the flapper can be associated with each other. Details are the same as in the first embodiment.

  FIG. 12 shows aspects of the software unit 1b, mechanism monitor unit 2b, and paper transport mechanism 6 of the design support apparatus of this embodiment.

  The software unit 1b includes a firmware software unit 10, an input I / F unit b12, and an output I / F unit 13b.

  The firmware software unit 10 is software for performing paper conveyance control of the image forming apparatus.

  The input I / F unit 12 b is a part for inputting information from the paper mechanism mechanism 6. The output I / F unit 13b is a part that outputs information to the paper transport mechanism 6 and the mechanism monitor unit 2b.

  The mechanism monitor unit 2 b includes a paper position calculation unit 20, an input I / F unit 29, and a paper position display unit 28. The main configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, since there is no feedback from the sensor to the software simulation unit 1, the paper position calculation unit 20 generates the data. However, since there is the paper transport mechanism 6, this is not necessary in this embodiment.

  The paper transport mechanism 6 includes a motor 60, a clutch 61, a flapper 62, and a sensor 63.

  As in the first embodiment, when the actual paper transport mechanism 6 has the arrangement shown in FIG. 7 and the firmware software unit 10 performs the paper transport control according to the flowchart of FIG. 7, the warning shown in FIG. The display is displayed.

  As described above, the design support method of the present embodiment can also notify the designer that the cause is an instruction error in the flapper branch direction.

  The flapper attribute setting shown in FIG. 11 is not limited to this form. For example, it may be recorded in advance in a data file as setting data and read before starting the design support apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  Further, the warning display in FIG. 13 is not limited to the form. For example, the color of the branch point B is changed, the shape is changed, the enlarged display is performed on the paper transport simulation screen W1 in FIG. May be displayed to alert the designer.

  In the first and second embodiments, the flapper branch invalidation screen of FIG. 6 is displayed by specifying the flapper branching direction in advance in the flapper attribute setting screen of FIG. 3 or FIG. 11, but as in this embodiment, The order of the paper conveyance paths through which the paper passes may be defined in advance.

  FIG. 14 shows a paper transport path order setting screen display according to this embodiment.

  On the paper transport path order setting screen W3, the order of the paper transport paths through which the paper passes can be defined by the path order display list W30. In this example, it is defined that the path order proceeds in the order of “path AB”, “path BC”, and “path BD”, and the order can be arbitrarily changed up and down by operating the mouse cursor PT or the keyboard.

  Pointing on the add button W31 with the mouse cursor PT and clicking the button of the pointing device adds a new path to the path order display list W30. On the other hand, when the path in the path order display list W30 is selected, the user selects the delete button W32 with the mouse cursor PT and clicks the pointing device button to delete the selected path. Removed.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart of the paper position calculation unit 20 according to this embodiment. The paper position calculation unit 20 first performs processing at a predetermined time interval t (S50). Then, the path order defined in advance on the paper transport path order setting screen W3 is read (S51), and it is determined whether or not the path information included from the leading edge to the trailing edge of the paper P matches (S52). Then, a warning display as shown in FIG. 6 is performed (S53), and the process ends abnormally (conveyance stop).

  The position of the paper P is updated by obtaining the distance S = v × t that the paper P travels from the paper transport speed v and the time interval t. The updated position information is transferred to the paper position display unit 28 and displayed on the paper transport simulation screen W1 (S55). The paper position change in S55 is transferred to the output I / F unit 27 (S56). The output I / F unit 27 outputs the paper position information to the input I / F unit 12 of the software simulation unit 1.

  As in the first and second embodiments, when the actual paper transport mechanism 6 has the arrangement shown in FIG. 7 and the firmware software unit 10 performs paper transport control according to the flowchart of FIG. 7, a warning display as shown in FIG. Is called.

  As described above, in the design support method according to the present embodiment, the designer can be informed that the error is caused by an instruction error in the branching direction of the flapper FL1, and it is possible to immediately identify a problem caused by the missing portion of S08. .

  Note that the paper transport path order setting screen in FIG. 14 is not limited to that form. For example, the paper transport path order setting screen may be recorded in advance in a data file as setting data and read before starting the design support apparatus according to the present embodiment. good.

  Further, the warning display in FIG. 6 is not limited to the form. For example, the color of the branch point B is changed, the shape is changed, the enlarged display is performed on the paper conveyance simulation screen W1 in FIG. May be displayed to alert the designer.

It is a control block diagram of the design support apparatus of Example 1 which concerns on this invention. It is a screen display image figure of the design support apparatus of FIG. It is a flapper attribute setting screen display image figure of the design support apparatus of FIG. It is a more detailed control block diagram of the design support apparatus of FIG. It is a flowchart of the paper position calculation part of Example 1 and 2 which concerns on this invention. It is a flapper branch invalid screen display image figure of the design support apparatus of FIG. It is a figure showing an example of the paper conveyance mechanism for demonstrating this invention. It is a flowchart showing an example of the conveyance control for controlling FIG. It is a control block diagram of the design support apparatus of Example 2 which concerns on this invention. It is an image figure of the man-machine interface of the design support apparatus of FIG. It is a flapper attribute setting screen display image figure of the design support apparatus of FIG. FIG. 10 is a more detailed control block diagram of the design support apparatus of FIG. 9. It is a flapper branch invalid screen display image figure of the design support apparatus of FIG. It is a paper conveyance path | pass order setting screen display image figure of Example 3 which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart of the paper position calculation part of Example 3 which concerns on this invention. It is a figure showing an example of the paper conveyance control of a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Software simulation part 1b Software part 2 Mechanism simulation part 2b Mechanism monitor part 4 Input device 5 Display control part 10 Firm software part 12 Input I / F part 13 Output I / F part 20 Paper position calculation part 27 Output I / F part 28 Paper position display unit 29 Input I / F unit 40 Numeric keypad 50 Touch panel display CL1 (virtual) clutch FL1 (virtual) flapper M1 (virtual) motor M2 (virtual) motor P (virtual) paper R1 (virtual) roller R2 (virtual) Roller S1 (virtual) sensor W1 Paper transport simulation screen W2 Flapper attribute setting screen W3 Paper transport path order setting screen

Claims (6)

In a computer-readable design support program that enables verification of the processing operation of software that controls the transport mechanism,
A first procedure for presetting an invalid branching direction in advance for a virtual branching mechanism that branches the transport direction of virtual paper;
A second procedure for determining whether the branch direction of the virtual paper is invalid based on the setting contents set in the first procedure as a result of transporting the virtual paper;
In the second procedure, if it is determined that the branch direction of the virtual paper is invalid, a third procedure for displaying a warning on a display unit attached to the computer;
A design support program for causing a computer to execute   The design support program according to claim 1, wherein the setting contents in the first procedure are a control value and a branch direction of the virtual branch mechanism.   The design support program according to claim 1, wherein the warning display is performed by displaying the virtual branch mechanism in a different color from that in a normal state.   2. The design support program according to claim 1, wherein the warning display is performed by displaying the virtual branch mechanism in a different shape from the normal time.   The design support program according to claim 1, wherein the warning display is performed by adding a mark to the virtual branch mechanism and displaying it. In the design support program executable in the image forming apparatus, the processing operation of the software for controlling the sheet transport mechanism in the image forming apparatus can be verified.
A first procedure for presetting an invalid branching direction for a branching mechanism for branching the sheet conveyance direction;
A second procedure for determining whether or not the sheet branching direction is invalid based on the setting contents set in the first procedure as a result of conveying the sheet;
A third procedure for displaying a warning on a display unit provided in the image forming apparatus when it is determined in the second procedure that the sheet branching direction is invalid;
Is executed by the image forming apparatus.

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