JP4878293B2 - Design support apparatus, control method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a design support apparatus, a control method, and a program that support a designer's mechanism design by mechanism simulation.

  Conventionally, for example, in an image forming apparatus, a conveyance body (recording material) is conveyed at a predetermined position by a conveyance mechanism such as a conveyance roller or a guide, and thus conveyance control is performed by incorporating control software in the apparatus. It is carried out. In many of this type of transport control, it is rare that the transport body is simply transported in one direction at a constant speed. For example, software controls the conveyance control such as detecting the position of the conveyance body with a sensor and stopping the conveyance body at a predetermined position, or reversely rotating the conveyance roller to reverse the conveyance direction of the conveyance body.

  As the functions of image forming apparatuses in recent years have increased, software itself for performing conveyance control has become complicated, and man-hours required to identify and correct the cause from the discovery of defects in conveyance control have increased. In order to reduce these man-hours, for example, an opportunity to use a simulation technique for a transport mechanism design is increasing. When a simulation is performed by a simulation apparatus, the simulation is performed by releasing the connection with the actual machine, connecting with the apparatus to be simulated, and then giving a pseudo signal from the simulation apparatus.

  Regarding the design support method, a system has been proposed that improves the readability and understandability of the transport mechanism verification result by calculating the behavior of the transport body through simulation and creating and displaying a time chart of the transport mechanism operation. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). Such a design support method has a certain effect on the design of the operation and timing of the transport mechanism, that is, the efficiency of the software specification design for performing the transport mechanism control.

  However, there are still few proposals regarding the verification of software for controlling the transport mechanism. Among them, a design support method has been proposed in which an external event such as opening / closing of an image forming apparatus and ON / OFF of a switch is generated from an input device such as a keyboard to printer control software (see, for example, Patent Document 2). ). These design support methods for the transport mechanism control software have a certain effect with respect to the occurrence of a predetermined phenomenon by brute force and accidental discovery of a defect.

  Here, conveyance control of a conveyance body (paper) in a conventional image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15, for example.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a conveyance path for performing reverse conveyance of paper in the image forming apparatus. FIG. 15 is a diagram and a timing chart for explaining paper conveyance of the image forming apparatus.

In FIG. 14, there is a case where control is performed to reverse the transport direction of the paper transported in the direction of arrow D1 in the direction of arrow D2. At that time, the paper S that has passed through the transport roller (hereinafter referred to as roller) R2 and the sensor S1 and entered the roller R3 is temporarily stopped, and then the flapper 1701 is switched to reverse the rotation direction of the roller R3 to transport the paper. Is resumed and transported in the direction of the roller R4. In the temporary stop control of the paper S, the roller R3 is stopped a predetermined time after the trailing edge of the paper S is detected by the sensor S1.
JP-A-9-81600 JP-A-5-143260

  When the conveyance of the paper S is temporarily stopped at the point P06 shown in FIG. 15 above, if the distance β from the position P17 of the roller R3 to the paper rear end position P16 is short or β <0, The phenomenon occurs. That is, there occurs a phenomenon that slip occurs when the paper S is reversed by the roller R3 to start conveyance, or the paper S is completely discharged from the roller R3 and cannot be conveyed.

  Conversely, when the distance γ from the paper rear end position P16 to the branch point 1702 of the conveyance path is short or when γ <0, the following phenomenon occurs. That is, a phenomenon occurs in which the paper S that has been reversed by the roller R3 and started to be transported is transported to the transport path on the sensor S1 side instead of the transport path on the roller R4 side.

  The phenomenon as described above is caused by the response speed of the sensor S1 that determines the conveyance stop timing when the conveyance of the paper is temporarily stopped, the change with time of each conveyance roller, deterioration of durability, and the like.

  The evaluation of the image forming apparatus related to the above phenomenon (failure) can be confirmed by transporting the paper with an actual machine (actual machine). For example, when the paper that has started reversal and transport is transported to the transport path on the sensor S1 side and the leading edge of the paper is jammed at the position of the sensor S1, the following confirmation is performed. A physical condition is checked such as whether the paper and the conveyance guide are not rubbed somewhere on the conveyance path or whether the shape of the conveyance guide at the branch point 1702 is defective.

  If there is no cause in the physical situation, the distance γ from the paper trailing edge position P16 to the branch point 1702 when the paper S is temporarily stopped may be short, or γ <0. to decide. Accordingly, the actual machine measures and confirms the time from when the trailing edge of the paper is detected by the sensor S1 until the roller R3 is stopped, the rotation speed of the roller R3, the response speed when the rotation of the roller R3 is stopped, and the like.

  Conventionally, as a result of the above measurement, for example, “the time from the start of the reverse paper conveyance to the time when the flapper 1701 is switched is not due to a sufficient margin for the paper conveyance speed. And so on. That is, as described above, it takes a lot of man-hours to identify the cause from the phenomenon that has occurred, and the design efficiency has been reduced.

  The method of automatically verifying the stop position of the paper during the reverse conveyance using the simulation technique in order to improve the design efficiency has the following problems. With the technique described in Patent Document 1, the cause of the malfunction that is latent in the transport mechanism can be identified. However, there is a problem that it is not possible to identify the cause of a potential defect in software that controls the reverse conveyance of paper.

  Further, in the technique described in Patent Document 2, a potential problem can be found in the exception processing software of the image forming apparatus by generating an external event such as opening / closing of the cover of the image forming apparatus. However, verification of the conveyance control software part of the conveyance body without exception processing such as reversal conveyance control, and verification of software margin design values considering the response speed of the image forming device sensor, change with time and durability deterioration of the roller, etc. There is a problem of not reaching.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a design support apparatus, a control method, and a program capable of efficiently performing verification of transport mechanism control software, that is, verification of transport control of a transport body without omission of verification by a designer. It is in.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the design support apparatus of the present invention is a design support apparatus that verifies the transport control of the transport body by simulating the process in which the transport body is transported along the transport path by the transport mechanism. A first registration means for registering a control change or physical change of a component of the transport mechanism as a state change; and a second registration means for registering the position of the component of the transport mechanism as a verification reference position; Detection means for detecting the position of the transport body when the state change registered by the first registration means occurs, the verification reference position registered by the second registration means, and the detection means. The calculation means for calculating the distance between the detected position of the carrier and the distance calculated by the calculation means is compared with a preset allowable range, and the distance is within the allowable range. And verification means for verifying whether, characterized in that it comprises a notification means for performing notification on the basis of the verification result of the verification means.

  According to the present invention, since the notification is performed based on the verification result of whether or not the distance between the verification reference position and the position of the transport body is outside the allowable range, the verification of the software that controls the transport mechanism, that is, the transport body, is performed. This makes it possible to efficiently verify the conveyance control without omission of the designer's verification.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The design support apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is an image forming apparatus that can execute on a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) a paper conveyance simulation of an image forming apparatus and pseudo output of signals related to various devices (rollers, flappers, sensors, etc.). It is a device simulator. In other words, the design support apparatus is for supporting the control timing design of the firmware software that controls the image forming apparatus as a real machine. Before describing the design support apparatus, first, the control system and internal mechanism of the image forming apparatus as an actual machine will be briefly described.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of the control unit of the image forming apparatus.

  In FIG. 8, the image forming apparatus includes a control unit 909 as shown in FIG. The control unit 909 includes a CPU 801, a memory 802, and an operation unit 803. The CPU 801 has an I / F that exchanges information for performing control with a printer control interface (hereinafter referred to as I / F) 930 and an external I / F 926. The memory 802 includes a ROM 804 that stores a control program for the CPU 801 and a RAM 805 that provides a work area to the CPU 801.

  The operation unit 803 is configured by a liquid crystal with a touch panel for performing notification of processing execution content input by the operator, information regarding processing to the operator, a warning, and the like. The digital image processing unit 923 performs image processing on the output signal of the CCD 921. The external I / F 926 manages an I / F for communication with the outside of the image forming apparatus. A printer control I / F 930 manages I / F with the printer unit 902.

  FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus.

  In FIG. 9, an image forming apparatus 900 is configured as a color copying machine including a color image reader unit (hereinafter referred to as reader unit) 901 and a color image printer unit (hereinafter referred to as printer unit) 902. The reader unit 901 includes a control unit 910, an automatic document feeder (ADF) 912, a CCD 921, a digital image processing unit 923, an external I / F 926, a printer control I / F 930, and the like. The printer unit 902 includes a control unit 909, a laser scanner 931, a photosensitive drum 932, a rotating color developing device 933, various rollers, various sensors, and the like.

  First, the configuration of the reader unit 901 will be described. The control unit 910 controls the entire image forming apparatus. The ADF 912 feeds a document on a platen glass (platen) 911. Instead of ADF 912, a specular pressure plate or a white pressure plate may be mounted. The carriage 924 accommodates light sources 913 and 914 that illuminate a document, reflectors 915 and 916, and a mirror 917. The carriage 925 houses mirrors 918 and 919.

  The carriage 924 is moved at a speed V and the carriage 925 is moved at a speed V / 2 in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the electrical scanning direction (main scanning direction) of the CCD 921 to scan the entire surface of the document. The light sources 913 and 914 use halogen lamps, fluorescent lamps, xenon tube lamps, and the like, and the light is condensed on the original by the reflectors 915 and 916. Reflected light or projected light from the document is collected on the CCD 921 via mirrors 917 to 919 and a lens 920. The CCD 921 photoelectrically converts reflected light or projection light into an electrical signal.

  Next, the configuration of the printer unit 902 will be described. The printer unit 902 operates based on a control signal sent from the CPU 801 of the control unit 909 via the printer control I / F 930. The surface of the photosensitive drum 932 is uniformly charged to, for example, −300V to −900V by a charger 980 in advance. The surface potential of the photosensitive drum 932 is measured by the potential sensor 982, and an appropriate surface potential is calculated by the CPU 801. The photosensitive drum 932 has a diameter of, for example, 130 mm, is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow at, for example, 135 mm / sec, and is electrostatically separated by color separation corresponding to the image exposure pattern by the laser light output from the laser scanner 931. An image is formed on the drum surface.

  The rotating color developing device 933 has a configuration in which developing devices 947, 948, 949, and 950 corresponding to the respective colors of black, yellow, magenta, and cyan are arranged around the rotating shaft 933a in the clockwise direction. The developing units 947 to 950 are configured to be easily detachable from the rotating color developing unit 933, and the developing units 947 to 950 for the respective colors are mounted at designated color positions.

  When developing a black monochromatic image on the photosensitive drum 932, only the developing unit 947 is used, and the rotating color developing unit 933 is moved by a stepping motor (not shown) until the developing sleeve of the developing unit 947 faces the photosensitive drum 932. Rotate. From the developing unit 947, toner corresponding to the amount of potential formed between the surface of the photosensitive drum 932 on which the electrostatic latent image is formed and the developing sleeve surface to which the developing bias is applied is supplied to the photosensitive drum 932, The electrostatic latent image on the surface of the drum 932 is developed.

  Further, when developing a color image on the photosensitive drum 932, the rotary color developing unit 933 is rotated by the stepping motor. That is, development is performed by rotating about a rotation shaft 933a to a development position where predetermined developing units 947 to 950 are selectively brought close to (or in contact with) the photosensitive drum 932 according to each separation color to be developed. Do. From the developing devices 947 to 950, an amount of toner corresponding to the charge on the photosensitive drum 932 is supplied to the photosensitive drum 932, and the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 932 is developed.

  The toner image formed by the developing operation on the photosensitive drum 932 is primarily transferred by the primary transfer roller 934 to the intermediate transfer body 935 that rotates counterclockwise by the clockwise rotation of the photosensitive drum 932. The primary transfer to the intermediate transfer member 935 is completed with one rotation of the intermediate transfer member 935 in the case of a black monochrome image and four rotations in the case of a full color image. The intermediate transfer member 935 can form two-sided images on the intermediate transfer member 935 when forming an image of a specific paper size (for example, A4 size or less).

  In the case of automatic paper feeding, paper is picked up by pickup rollers 942 to 945 from each cassette (upper cassette 938, lower cassette 939, third cassette 940, and fourth cassette 941). The paper transported by the paper feed rollers 962 to 965 of each cassette is transported to the registration rollers 970 by the vertical path transport rollers 966 to 969. In the case of manual paper feed, the paper stacked on the manual paper feed tray 961 is conveyed to the registration roller 970 by the manual paper feed roller 946.

  The paper conveyed to the registration roller 970 is conveyed between the intermediate transfer member 935 and the secondary transfer roller 936 at the timing when the transfer to the intermediate transfer member 935 is completed. Thereafter, the paper is conveyed in the direction of the fixing device while being sandwiched between the secondary transfer roller 936 and the intermediate transfer member 935 and is pressed against the intermediate transfer member 935. As a result, the toner image on the intermediate transfer member 935 is secondarily transferred to the paper. The toner image transferred to the paper is heated and pressed by a fixing roller and a pressure roller 937 and fixed on the paper.

  The transfer residual toner on the intermediate transfer member 935 is removed as follows. The cleaning blade 951 is rubbed against the intermediate transfer member 935 to scrape off transfer residual toner from the surface of the intermediate transfer member. Toner removal is performed by post-processing control in the latter half of the image forming sequence. Residual toner on the photosensitive drum 932 is removed as follows. Residual toner is scraped from the surface of the photosensitive drum by the blade 952 and conveyed to a waste toner box 953 integrated with the photosensitive drum unit.

  Further, residual toner of positive and negative polarities on the surface of the secondary transfer roller 936 that may be adsorbed unexpectedly is removed as follows. A secondary transfer forward bias and a secondary transfer reverse bias are alternately applied to adsorb residual toner of each polarity onto the intermediate transfer member 935, and the residual toner is scraped off by the cleaning blade 951. Thus, the post-processing control is completed by completely cleaning the residual toner.

  The paper on which the image is fixed is discharged as follows. In the case of the first paper discharge, the first paper discharge flapper 958 is switched in the direction of the first paper discharge roller 954 to discharge toward the first paper discharge roller 954. In the case of the second paper discharge, the first paper discharge flapper 958 and the second paper discharge flapper 959 are switched to the direction of the second paper discharge roller 955 and the paper is discharged toward the second paper discharge roller 955.

  In the case of the third paper discharge, the first paper discharge flapper 958 and the second paper discharge flapper 959 are switched in the direction of the reverse roller 956 and reversed by the reverse roller 956 in order to perform the reverse operation once by the reverse roller 956. After being reversed by the reverse roller 956, the third paper discharge flapper 960 is switched in the direction of the third paper discharge roller 957 and discharged toward the third paper discharge roller 957.

  In the case of double-sided discharge, the reverse operation is once performed by the reverse roller 956 as in the case of the third discharge, and the third paper discharge flapper 960 is switched to the double-sided unit direction and conveyed to the double-sided unit. The paper is temporarily stopped after a predetermined time after the paper is detected by the double-sided sensor, is re-supplied as soon as image formation preparation is complete, and an image is formed on the second side of the paper.

  The above is the description regarding the reader unit 901 and the printer unit 902 of the image forming apparatus as an actual machine. Next, a design support apparatus (image forming apparatus simulator) that performs paper conveyance simulation of the image forming apparatus and pseudo output of various device signals on a PC will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control system of the design support apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, the design support apparatus includes a software simulation unit 1, a mechanism simulation unit 2, an operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS) 3, an input monitoring unit 4, and a display control unit 5. The software simulation unit 1 is for virtually executing firmware software on paper conveyance control in the printer unit 902 of the image forming apparatus on the PC. In the present embodiment, a system for verifying firmware using a reader unit 901 using an actual machine and a printer unit 902 using a design support apparatus will be described.

  The input monitoring unit 4 monitors input from a man-machine I / F 6 such as a keyboard device or a mouse, and instructs the OS 3 to start executing software simulation of the software simulation unit 1. Note that the printer control I / F 930 that connects the reader unit 901 and the printer unit 902 of the image forming apparatus is connected to the reader unit 901 via the OS-232 via the RS-232C or USB connection installed in the PC. No.

  The software simulation unit 1 passes the execution result to the mechanism simulation unit 2 via the OS 3. The mechanism simulation unit 2 obtains, by calculation, the location of the conveyance path (paper conveyance path) of the conveyance mechanism from, for example, the speed of a roller related to the paper conveyance control, and displays the calculation result via the OS 3. Pass to part 5. The display control unit 5 displays a paper transport simulation screen 201 (FIG. 2) on the display 7 attached to the PC. In the paper conveyance simulation screen 201, the paper conveyance path is represented by a dotted line 202, the roller is a circle, the sensor is a black triangle, the flapper is a white triangle, and the paper is represented by a solid line 203.

  The design support apparatus of the present embodiment has the following features. The design support apparatus registers state changes (control changes, physical changes) of the components (rollers, flappers, sensors, etc.) of the conveyance mechanism of the image forming apparatus, and positions of the components (roller nip position, The position of the transfer path branch point, etc.) is registered as the verification reference position. Furthermore, the design support device detects the rear end position of the paper when the state change occurs in the paper reversal conveyance control, calculates the distance between the rear end position and the verification reference position, and the distance is outside the allowable range. If so, a message to that effect is displayed on the paper transport simulation screen. Details of this control will be described later with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the control system of the design support apparatus.

  In FIG. 3, the software simulation unit 1 includes a firmware software unit 310, a wrapper unit 311, an input I / F unit 312, and an output I / F unit 313. The mechanism simulation unit 2 includes a paper position calculation unit 320, a device drive calculation unit 321, a paper position display unit 330, an input I / F unit 324, and an output I / F unit 325. The OS 3 involved between the software simulation unit 1 and the mechanism simulation unit 2 is not directly related to the gist of the present invention, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  In the software simulation unit 1, the firmware software unit 310 is software for performing paper conveyance control and various device control of an image forming apparatus as an actual machine. The wrapper unit 311 operates firmware software of an image forming apparatus as an actual machine on a PC. The input I / F unit 312 inputs information from the mechanism simulation unit 2. The output I / F unit 313 outputs information to the mechanism simulation unit 2.

  In the mechanism simulation unit 2, the input I / F unit 324 receives the output result from the output I / F unit 313 of the software simulation unit 1. The input I / F unit 324 passes control information of various single devices such as a motor, a clutch, and a flapper related to paper conveyance control and various device control of the image forming apparatus to the subsequent stage.

  The device drive calculation unit 321 drives devices such as virtual rollers and fans according to the paper conveyance control information and various device control information from the software simulation unit 1. For example, in the case of a fan, the device drive calculation unit 321 also calculates an output value such as a fan motor lock signal, and notifies the output I / F unit 325 of the output value. The paper position calculation unit 320 stores the position of the roller, and calculates and stores the position of the paper in the conveyance path according to information such as the rotation speed and rotation direction of the roller calculated by the device drive calculation unit 321.

  The paper position display unit 330 instructs the display control unit 5 to display the paper transport simulation screen 201 on the display 7 based on the leading edge position and the trailing edge position of the paper calculated by the paper position calculation unit 320. The output I / F unit 325 supplies output values such as various sensor information and lock signals calculated by the device drive calculation unit 321 and the paper position calculation unit 320 to the input I / F unit 312 of the software simulation unit 1.

  Next, a paper conveyance simulation operation of the image forming apparatus by the design support apparatus will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a paper conveyance simulation of the image forming apparatus by the design support apparatus.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of various device arrangements related to paper conveyance control of the image forming apparatus, and is based on the following simulation. The roller R411 that is driven from the motor M431 through the clutch CL441 conveys the paper 400 in the direction indicated by the solid line arrow on the paths P401 to P402. Further, the flapper FL451 is switched at the timing when the leading edge of the paper 400 passes the sensor S421, and the paper 400 is conveyed to the path P402-P403 or the path P402-P404. A dotted arrow indicates a driving relationship of the motor M431, the clutch CL441, and the flapper FL451.

  When the designer instructs the man-machine I / F 6 to start the paper conveyance simulation, the OS 3 executes the simulation of the software simulation unit 1 and the mechanism simulation unit 2 via the input monitoring unit 4. When the simulation of the software simulation unit 1 is started, the firm software unit 310 sequentially executes software for performing paper conveyance control of the image forming apparatus as an actual machine in cooperation with the wrapper unit 311 and the OS 3.

  When the process for starting the rotation of the motor M431 is started in the firmware software unit 310, information indicating the ID number, the rotation speed, and the rotation direction for identifying the motor M431 is transmitted as a command as follows. That is, a command is given from the firm software unit 310 to the input I / F unit 324 of the mechanism simulation unit 2 via the output I / F unit 313 and is passed to the device drive calculation unit 321.

  The device drive calculation unit 321 interprets the command, determines that it is a drive command for the motor M431, and starts to rotate the motor M431. Then, the device drive calculation unit 321 determines whether or not to rotate the roller R411 based on information on the motor M431 and the clutch CL441 connected to the roller R411. At this time, since the motor M431 is in a rotating state and the clutch CL441 is in an OFF state, the device drive calculating unit 321 determines that the roller R411 is not rotated.

  Thereafter, when the firm software unit 310 starts the process of starting the clutch CL441, a command is transmitted as follows. That is, an ID number for identifying the clutch CL441 and information indicating the ON / OFF state of the clutch CL441 are provided as commands to the input I / F unit 324 of the mechanism simulation unit 2 via the output I / F unit 313, and device drive calculation is performed. To the part 321.

  The device drive calculation unit 321 interprets the command, determines that the command is for the clutch CL441, and turns on the clutch CL441. Since the motor M431 is in the rotating state and the clutch CL441 is in the ON state, the device drive calculating unit 321 rotates the roller R411 at the rotation speed and the rotation direction based on the information of the motor M431.

  The paper position calculation unit 320 calculates the leading edge position and the trailing edge position of the paper 400 at a preset time interval t. First, the paper position calculation unit 320 reads information on the paths P401 to P402 including the leading edge to the trailing edge of the paper 400 from the held path information.

  The path information held by the paper position calculation unit 320 includes the ID number of the roller in each path and its position information. The paper position calculation unit 320 searches for a roller from the front end position of the paper 400 toward the rear end, and inquires of the device drive calculation unit 321 about the speed v of the roller R411 using the ID number of the roller R411 found first. The paper position calculation unit 320 updates the position of the paper 400 by obtaining a distance S = v × t that the paper 400 has traveled between the speed v and the time interval t. The paper position calculation unit 320 passes the updated paper position information to the paper position display unit 330. The paper position display unit 330 displays a paper conveyance simulation screen 201 on the display 7.

  The path information held by the paper position calculation unit 320 includes the ID number of the sensor in each path and its position information. The paper position calculation unit 320 searches for a sensor from the front end position of the paper 400 toward the rear end, and passes the ON information of the found sensor S421 to the output I / F unit 325. In addition, the paper position calculation unit 320 passes the OFF information of the sensor S421 to the output I / F unit 325 in a state where the rear end of the paper 400 has passed the sensor S421.

  The output I / F unit 325 converts the ON information of the sensor S421 into a command and outputs the command to the input I / F unit 312 of the software simulation unit 1. The firmware software unit 310 receives the ON information of the sensor S421 from the input I / F unit 312 and starts controlling the flapper FL451. The command transmission from the software simulation unit 1 to the mechanism simulation unit 2 is substantially the same as in the case of the motor M431 and the clutch CL441.

  The device drive calculation unit 321 of the mechanism simulation unit 2 receives the control command of the flapper FL451 and passes the flapper switching information of the corresponding ID number to the paper position calculation unit 320. When the leading end of the paper 400 reaches the branch point P402, the paper position calculation unit 320 reads a path that the paper 400 should proceed to. At that time, the paper position calculation unit 320 determines whether the traveling direction of the paper 400 is the path P402-P403 or the path P402-P404 according to the switching state of the flapper FL451, and changes the path information.

  Next, a control software verification method that is a feature of the present embodiment will be described.

  In the present embodiment, verification of the paper reverse conveyance control timing will be described as an example. The verification of the paper reverse conveyance control timing is as follows. In the control of reversing the conveyance direction with the roller R3 and conveying the paper conveyed in the D1 direction in FIG. 14 in the D2 direction, it is verified whether the stop of the roller R3 and the switching control of the flapper 1701 are performed at an appropriate timing. Is.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a flow of verification of the design support apparatus.

  In FIG. 10, the design support apparatus first creates a control profile for each load (roller, sensor, flapper) of the image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. 5 based on the input from the man-machine I / F 6 by the designer. (Step S1001). FIG. 5 is a control profile table of each load (roller, sensor, flapper) of the image forming apparatus. The control profile specifies control for each load (roller drive control, sensor / flapper ON / OFF control), and registers a set value when each control is executed.

  For example, when the drive control of the roller R1 has two types of acceleration, the control items are individually registered as “acceleration 1” and “acceleration 2”. Also, when the drive control of the roller R3 has two types of accelerations of normal rotation and reverse rotation in the rotation direction, the control items are individually registered as “acceleration 1” and “acceleration 2”.

  When simulating the response speed of the sensor, the change with time of the roller, the deterioration of durability, etc. according to the durability of the image forming apparatus as an actual machine, the set value is changed. The profile information registered in step S1001 is used as follows. That is, for example, when the mechanism simulation unit 2 performs a simulation of a physical phenomenon after a roller stop instruction is given by the software simulation unit 1 of the design support apparatus until the roller actually decelerates and completely stops. To do.

  Next, the design support apparatus registers the state change as shown in FIG. 6 based on the input from the man-machine I / F 6 by the designer (step S1002). FIG. 6 is a state change registration list in which states related to the current verification are registered from among the states generated by the conveyance mechanism of the image forming apparatus. The state change is a change in control or physical change of components (roller, flapper, etc.) constituting the conveyance mechanism of the image forming apparatus.

  For example, the registration number T2 means “timing when the roller R3 is stopped and controlled at the speed of deceleration 1”, and the registration number T3 means “timing when the roller R3 is physically stopped”. Similarly, the registration number T7 means “timing when the flapper FL1 starts ON1 control”, and the registration number T8 means “timing when the flapper FL1 is physically in the ON1 state”.

  The timing detection of the registration number T2 is as follows. That is, the firmware software unit 310 of the software simulation unit 1 starts the deceleration start control of the roller R3. Along with this, as a timing when the deceleration start control signal is input from the firmware software section 310 to the device drive calculation section 321 via the output I / F section 313 and the input I / F section 324 of the mechanism simulation section 2, the device drive calculation section 321 detects.

  The timing detection for the registration number T3 is as follows. That is, the firmware software unit 310 of the software simulation unit 1 starts R3 stop start control. Accordingly, a stop start control signal is input from the firmware software unit 310 to the device drive calculation unit 321 via the output I / F unit 313 and the input I / F unit 324 of the mechanism simulation unit 2. Thereafter, the device drive calculation unit 321 simulates the rotational drive of the roller R3 based on the profile information of FIG. 5, and the device drive calculation unit 321 detects the timing at which the rotational speed of the roller R3 transitions from the deceleration state to the stop state. To do.

  The state change registration work for the state change registration list in FIG. 6 may use a GUI (Graphical User Interface) for easily setting each item. In that case, the “load” item is displayed so that each load name registered in the control profile table of FIG. 5 can be set as a pull-down format that can be selected and set, thereby enabling efficient registration work. . Similarly, it is possible to make the registration work more efficient for the “type” item by using the pull-down format.

  Next, the design support apparatus registers the verification reference position as shown in FIG. 7 based on the input from the man-machine I / F 6 by the designer (step S1003). Here, position information indicating the nip position of the roller R3 in FIG. 14 and the position of the branch point 1702 of the conveyance path is registered. As the position information, the horizontal and vertical directions of the cross-sectional view of the verification target image forming apparatus may be expressed as X and Y coordinates, respectively.

  Further, as the distance on the conveyance path of the image forming apparatus, for example, the registration roller 970 in FIG. FIG. 7 is a verification reference position registration list in which information of each verification reference position from the registration roller 970 is registered. The registration number P1 means that the distance from the registration roller 970 to the nip position of the roller R3 is 270 mm.

  Next, the design support apparatus sets an allowable value as shown in FIG. 11 (step S1004). FIG. 11 is a list of allowable values related to points for which control software verification is desired. For example, it is assumed that the paper S whose conveyance has been temporarily stopped at the timing of P06 in FIG. 15 starts to be reversed and conveyed at the timing of P08.

  When verifying whether or not the trailing edge P16 of the paper S has stopped with a sufficient margin with respect to the nip position P17 of the roller R3, the registration number T3 in FIG. 6 and the registration number P1 in FIG. Register as # 1. In the “Min” and “Max” items, the range of the distance of (the rear end position of the paper S at the timing T3) − (P1) should be registered. The “Min” and “Max” items of # 1 in FIG. 11 are set values that take into account the distance from the nip position of the roller R3 to the flapper FL1 at the branch point.

  In FIG. 11, # 3 is a setting for verifying whether or not the flapper switching has been completed and the transport path has been secured before the paper S is started to be reversed and transported. The registered contents in this case are T8 in FIG. 6 and P3 in FIG. 7, and the allowable range of the distance of (the rear end position of the paper S at the timing T8) − (P3) is set. Here, the value of the allowable range is negative because the position of the flapper is closer to the registration roller 970 than the rear end position of the paper S.

  The design support apparatus actually starts verification after completing the above control profile creation (step S1001), state change registration (step S1002), verification reference position registration (step S1003), and allowable value setting (step S1004). (Step S1005).

  When the input monitoring unit 4 detects that the designer has instructed the start of the paper conveyance simulation from the man-machine I / F 6, the design support apparatus executes the simulation in the software simulation unit 1 and the mechanism simulation unit 2 by the OS 3. The firmware software unit 310 of the software simulation unit 1 sequentially executes software for performing paper conveyance control of the image forming apparatus as an actual machine.

  In parallel with the execution of the software, the device drive calculation unit 321 of the mechanism simulation unit 2 detects in real time the state change of the device registered in the state change registration list of FIG. Further, the device drive calculation unit 321 searches the permissible value list of FIG. 11 for the state change to check whether it matches the verification contents, and verifies in real time by the above verification method if it is a verification target.

  As a result of the verification, if the device drive calculation unit 321 determines that the generated phenomenon is outside the allowable range, the device drive calculation unit 321 notifies the paper position display unit 330 via the paper position calculation unit 320. However, if the image forming apparatus is in an abnormal state such as a paper jam in the simulation at that time, the state change timing may be different from the design value, so that it may not be notified.

  The paper position display unit 330 instructs the display control unit 5 to change the display form (display color, display shape, etc.) of the corresponding part (load) of the transport mechanism on the paper transport simulation screen 201 of the display 7. At the same time, the paper position display unit 330 instructs the display control unit 5 to display the contents of the phenomenon that has occurred by opening another screen (not shown). As for the contents of the phenomenon that has occurred, various items registered in the state change registration list in FIG. 6 are searched based on the comparison target set in the allowable value list in FIG. indicate. Further, the allowable values “Min” and “Max” and the actually detected distance are also displayed.

  Thereafter, the designer examines whether or not there is a design problem based on the content displayed on the display 7 by the display control unit 5. When the designer instructs the man-machine I / F 6 to change the verification target and continue the verification (YES in step S1006), the design support apparatus displays the state change registration list in FIG. 6 and the allowable values in FIG. Update the list and repeat verification.

  With the verification method described above, oversight can be eliminated and verification can be performed more efficiently than in the verification method in which the designer visually verifies the paper conveyance diagram and timing chart shown in FIG.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the following effects are obtained. It is possible to register in advance a state change that occurs in the image forming apparatus to be simulated by the design support apparatus. The state change includes, for example, a state change in which the trailing edge of the paper S has left the sensor S1 in FIGS. 14 and 15 and a state change in which the roller R3 is stopped. In addition, the positions of components (rollers, flappers, sensors, etc.) of the conveyance mechanism of the image forming apparatus can be registered in advance as verification reference positions.

  In the control process by the control software of the image forming apparatus to be verified by the design support apparatus, when the state changes are registered in advance for various state changes generated in the image forming apparatus, the timing of occurrence of the state changes is stored. Further, when the distance from the paper rear end position to the verification reference position at the occurrence timing of each state change is outside the preset allowable range, a warning is given to that effect. Specifically, for example, when the distance from the rear end position of the paper when the roller R3 is stopped to the nip position of the roller R3 is only 10 mm with respect to the allowable value of 20 mm to 30 mm, a notification to that effect is given.

  By the above warning, for example, in the process of apparently normal reverse conveyance control at the time of paper reverse conveyance control, it is easy to solve a problem that the timing from OFF control of the sensor S1 to stop control of the roller R3 is not performed with good timing as designed. It becomes possible to discover. As a result, the designer can efficiently verify the operation of the transport mechanism control software of the image forming apparatus to be verified.

  Based on the basic configuration, the following specific modes are possible. For example, the control software detects an abnormality of the image forming apparatus to be verified and sets the abnormal state, or sets the state of the image forming apparatus to the abnormal state from the design support apparatus side. In this case, if the image forming apparatus is in an abnormal state, even if it is determined that the distance from the paper rear end position to the verification reference position is unacceptable, as described above, the process for notifying that effect is not performed. It can take the form. Thereby, since unnecessary notification is not performed, the designer can efficiently perform verification.

  In addition, the above notification may be a warning notification, or the screen may be displayed with the display color or display shape changed for the simulated contents. This makes it easier for the designer to identify an abnormality in the control software based on a notification different from the normal notification, and allows the designer to efficiently verify.

  In addition, it may be possible to determine whether the distance from the paper rear end position to the verification reference position is outside the allowable range or not during the simulation process. As a result, the designer can recognize the abnormality of the transport mechanism control software in real time.

  Further, it may be possible to determine whether or not the distance from the paper rear end position to the verification reference position is outside the allowable range after the simulation process is completed. This makes it possible to provide effective design support for verification methods such as when the control software processing takes a long time or when abnormal parts are listed and managed collectively. Details of this embodiment will be described later in another embodiment.

  In summary, the verification of the transport mechanism control software, particularly the verification of the paper reversal transport control, can be performed automatically and efficiently without omission of the designer's verification.

[Other embodiments]
In the above-described embodiment, an example in which a design support apparatus (image forming apparatus simulator) is used to verify the image forming apparatus is described, but the present invention is not limited to this. Verification may be performed using an image forming apparatus as a real machine.

  In the above-described embodiment, a roller, a sensor, and a flapper are exemplified as load types of the image forming apparatus when registering in the state change registration list. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can also be applied to other loads (transfer belt, laser exposure mechanism, etc.) provided in the image forming apparatus.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the phenomenon generated by the comparison with the allowable value list is determined to be outside the allowable range and the fact is displayed on the screen is described as an example. However, the present invention is limited to this. It is not a thing. In order to attract the attention of the designer, for example, a notification such as an audio warning may be used.

  In the above-described embodiment, the system that performs verification of the image forming apparatus in real time (sequentially performed during the simulation process) is described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The progress of execution of the control software may be recorded by log information, a measuring instrument, or the like, and verification may be performed based on the recorded information after the execution of the control software is finished (after the simulation process is finished).

  In this case, during image formation of the image forming apparatus, the CPU 801 of the control unit 909 sequentially stores ON / OFF control of various loads such as a motor and a flapper and input information of sensors and the like in the RAM 805 as log information. The log information stored here is transmitted to a PC or the like connected to the image forming apparatus via the external I / F 926. The log information includes information corresponding to each item of the state change registration list shown in FIG. 6 and information indicating the time when the state change has occurred.

  When the image forming process of the image forming apparatus is completed, the control software is verified by the verification apparatus shown in FIG. The verification device includes an OS 3, an input monitoring unit 4, a display control unit 5, an input device 1801, and a verification unit 1802. The input device 1801 imports log information obtained from the image forming device into the verification device. The input device 1801 is a device that inputs data via a floppy (registered trademark) disk drive or the like, and inputs data via RS-232C or USB connection. Any of the devices may be used.

  As illustrated in FIG. 13, the verification unit 1802 includes an input I / F unit 1901, a timing comparison processing unit 1902, a timing chart generation unit 1903, and a timing chart display unit 1904. The input I / F unit 1901 inputs log information obtained from the input device 1801. The timing comparison processing unit 1902 compares the input log information based on the state change registration list shown in FIG. 6 and the allowable value list shown in FIG. The timing chart generation unit 1903 generates a timing chart based on the result of the comparison processing performed by the timing comparison processing unit 1902.

  The timing chart display unit 1904 instructs the display control unit 5 to display the timing chart generated by the timing chart generation unit 1903. The actual comparison processing inside the timing comparison processing unit 1902 is the same as the processing content described in the device drive calculation unit 321. When the timing comparison processing unit 1902 determines that the timing is outside the allowable range, the timing chart generation unit 1903 displays display data that allows the designer to easily recognize the corresponding state change in the state change registration list shown in FIG. Is generated.

  In the verification apparatus, the designer inputs the verification reference position registration list shown in FIG. 7 and the allowable value list shown in FIG. 11 from the man-machine I / F 6 and uses an input screen (not shown) of the display 7. Set. As for the input screen, there is no problem in the format described above for the registration work for the state change registration list of FIG.

  In the above-described embodiment, the description has been made with the allowable value list as the setting for each state change, but the present invention is not limited to this. The type and size of the paper to be conveyed may be taken into consideration. This makes it possible to verify the paper reversal conveyance control even when the conveyance characteristics such as the type and size of the paper are different.

  In the above embodiment, paper is used as an example of the carrier (recording material). However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention is also applicable to other types of conveyance bodies than paper.

  In the above-described embodiment, the copying machine is taken as an example of the image forming apparatus, but the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can also be applied to a printer or a multifunction machine.

  The object of the present invention is achieved by executing the following processing. That is, a storage medium that records a program code of software that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus is stored in the storage medium. This is the process of reading the code.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the program code and the storage medium storing the program code constitute the present invention.

  Moreover, the following can be used as a storage medium for supplying the program code. For example, floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD + RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM or the like. Alternatively, the program code may be downloaded via a network.

  Further, the present invention includes a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by executing the program code read by the computer. In addition, an OS (operating system) running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing based on an instruction of the program code, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing. Is also included.

  Furthermore, a case where the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized by the following processing is also included in the present invention. That is, the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Thereafter, based on the instruction of the program code, the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the control system of the design support apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the paper conveyance simulation screen of a design support apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the detailed structure of the control system of a design support apparatus. It is a diagram illustrating a paper conveyance simulation of the image forming apparatus by the design support apparatus. 3 is a diagram illustrating a control profile table for each load of the image forming apparatus. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a state change registration list in which states related to the current verification are registered from among states generated by the conveyance mechanism of the image forming apparatus. 6 is a diagram illustrating a verification reference position registration list in which information of each verification reference position from registration rollers of the image forming apparatus is registered. FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a control unit of the image forming apparatus. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of verification of a design support apparatus. It is a figure which shows the allowable value list regarding the point which wants to verify control software. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the control system of the verification apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the detailed structure of the verification part of a verification apparatus. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a conveyance path for performing reverse conveyance of paper in the image forming apparatus. 3 is a diagram and timing chart of paper conveyance of the image forming apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

1 Software simulation unit (first registration means, second registration means)
2 Mechanism simulation unit (detection means, calculation means, verification means, notification means)
3 Operating system 4 Input monitoring unit 5 Display control unit (display control means)
201 Paper transport simulation screen 310 Firmware software section 320 Paper position calculation section 321 Device drive calculation section 900 Image forming apparatus 1701 Flapper (component)
1702 Branch point (component)
R2 to R4 rollers (components)
S1 sensor (component)
1801 Input device 1802 Verification unit 1902 Timing comparison processing unit 1903 Timing chart generation unit 1904 Timing chart display unit

Claims (9)

A design support device that verifies the transport control of the transport body by simulating a process in which the transport body is transported on the transport path by the transport mechanism,
First registration means for registering a control change or physical change of a component of the transport mechanism as a state change;
Second registration means for registering the positions of the components of the transport mechanism as verification reference positions;
Detection means for detecting a position of the transport body when the state change registered by the first registration means occurs;
Calculation means for calculating a distance between the verification reference position registered by the second registration means and the position of the transport body detected by the detection means;
Verification means for comparing the distance calculated by the calculation means with a preset allowable range and verifying whether the distance is outside the allowable range;
Notification means for performing notification based on the verification result of the verification means;
A design support apparatus comprising: The transport control includes reverse transport control for reversing the transport direction of the transport body,
The detection means detects a rear end position of the transport body when the state change registered by the first registration means occurs;
The calculation means calculates a distance between the verification reference position registered by the second registration means and a rear end position of the transport body detected by the detection means. The design support apparatus described.   The design support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit does not perform the notification when the transport mechanism is in an abnormal state in the simulation.   Display control means for displaying the contents of the simulation and displaying the location of the transport mechanism to be verified based on the verification result of the verification means notified by the notification means by changing the display form from the normal time. The design support apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a design support apparatus.   The design support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the verification unit sequentially performs the verification in the middle of the simulation.   The design support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the verification unit performs the verification after the simulation ends.   The component of the transport mechanism includes any of a roller that transports the transport body, a flapper that switches a transport direction of the transport body, a sensor that detects the transport body, and a branch point of the transport path. The design support apparatus according to claim 1. A control method of a design support apparatus that verifies the transport control of the transport body by simulating a process in which the transport body is transported on a transport path by a transport mechanism,
A first registration step of registering a control change or physical change of a component of the transport mechanism as a state change;
A second registration step of registering the position of the component of the transport mechanism as a verification reference position;
A detection step of detecting a position of the transport body when the state change registered in the first registration step occurs;
A calculation step of calculating a distance between the verification reference position registered by the second registration step and the position of the transport body detected by the detection step;
A verification step of comparing the distance calculated by the calculation step with a preset allowable range and verifying whether the distance is outside the allowable range;
A notification step of performing notification based on the verification result of the verification step;
A control method comprising: A program for causing a computer to execute a control method of a design support apparatus that verifies the transport control of the transport body by simulating a process in which the transport body is transported on a transport path by a transport mechanism,
A first registration module for registering a control change or physical change of a component of the transport mechanism as a state change;
A second registration module for registering the position of the component of the transport mechanism as a verification reference position;
A detection module for detecting a position of the carrier when the state change registered by the first registration module occurs;
A calculation module for calculating a distance between the verification reference position registered by the second registration module and the position of the transport body detected by the detection module;
A verification module that compares the distance calculated by the calculation module with a preset allowable range and verifies whether the distance is outside the allowable range;
A notification module for performing notification based on a verification result of the verification module;
A program comprising:

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