JPH02161583A - Device for controlling life of parts - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically inform the replacing time of mounted parts by displaying parts to be replaced because of the end of the life of the parts on a display part. CONSTITUTION:A control part 1 decides whether an interruption request is generated from a clock part 2 or not, and when the request exists, reads in current time information through an internal bus 6, calculates the accumulated operation time read out from a storage part 3 and the up-to-date accumulated operation time and writes respective calculated values in a prescribed area of the storage part 3. The life time of each parts to be monitored is read out and compared with the accumulated operation time stored in the prescribed area to decide whether the part ending its life exists or not. When the part concerned exists, the part is displayed on the display part 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a life management device for components installed in various electronic devices such as computer-related devices.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, lifespan management of computer-related equipment, etc. has been carried out by periodically performing maintenance and inspection and replacing parts that have reached the end of their lifespan. However, there are also many devices that have few components and do not require regular maintenance, and devices that are economically or technically difficult to maintain. With equipment that does not undergo such maintenance and inspection, it is difficult to know when to replace parts with a short lifespan compared to the overall lifespan, and it is difficult to replace the parts after the parts reach the end of their lifespan and a malfunction occurs. Common. Therefore, because parts are replaced after a problem occurs, important data may be lost or
It had drawbacks such as inducing accidents.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) As mentioned above, in equipment that is not regularly maintained or inspected,
This system has the disadvantage of not knowing when to replace parts with short lifespans and replacing them only after a malfunction occurs, which can lead to loss of important data and cause serious accidents. Therefore,
The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks, and aims to provide a component life management device that automatically notifies the replacement period of mounted components.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a lifespan management device for parts that determines the operating time of parts installed in equipment and notifies when to replace them. Non-volatile storage means for storing the life span of parts; clock means with power backup for measuring time and generating time information; and time information read from the clock means in a predetermined cycle and from the non-volatile storage means. an operating time calculation means for calculating the latest cumulative operating time of the device based on the read cumulative operating time of the device up to the end of the period and storing it in the nonvolatile storage means; The cumulative operating time and the life time of the monitored component stored in the non-volatile storage means are compared to determine whether the cumulative operating time matches the life time or the time difference between the two is within a predetermined value. a determination means for determining whether or not the cumulative operating time has reached a specified value; and a notification for notifying information prompting replacement of a component for which it has been determined by the determination means that the cumulative operating time matches the life time or the time difference between the two has become within a predetermined value. It has a configuration including means.

(Function) In the component life management device of the present invention, the operating time calculation means calculates the operating time based on the time information read from the clock means and the cumulative operating time of the equipment up to the present read from the nonvolatile storage means in a predetermined cycle. A new cumulative operating time of the device is calculated and stored in the nonvolatile storage means. The determining means compares the cumulative operating time calculated by the operating time calculating means with the life time of the monitored component stored in the non-volatile storage means, and determines whether the cumulative operating time matches the life time. , determines whether the time difference between the two is within a predetermined value, and notifies the notification means of the determination result. The notification means determines whether the cumulative operating time matches the life time or the R of both
Information prompting the replacement of parts for which the a difference is determined to be within a predetermined value is notified.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the component life management device of the present invention. 1 is a control system that performs life management processing of parts and notifies when to replace them; 811.2 is a clock unit that keeps time regardless of whether the main power of the device incorporating this device is turned on or off; It periodically requests the control unit 1 to perform interrupt processing. Reference numeral 3 denotes a storage unit with a power backup device that stores the cumulative operating time of the equipment and the life span of parts. Reference numeral 4 denotes a watch battery unit that supplies driving power to the clock unit 2 when the main power source of the device is turned off, and 5 refers to a power supply unit that supplies power to drive the clock unit 2 when the main power source of the device is turned off, so that the data stored in the storage unit 3 does not volatilize. This is a backup battery unit that supplies Reference numeral 6 represents an internal bus that connects the above-mentioned parts and transmits data, and 7 represents a display section that displays the replacement of parts.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. The clock section 2 uses the main power source when the main power source of the device is on, and uses the power source from the clock battery section 4 when the main power source is off to keep time at all times and provide current time information to the control section. , makes periodic interrupt requests to the control unit 1 in order to execute the life management routine. When the control section 1 receives the interrupt request from the clock section 2 via the internal bus 6, it executes the life management routine shown in FIG.

That is, the control unit 1 determines whether or not there is an interrupt request from the clock unit 2 in step 201, and if there is no interrupt request, executes other processing in step 202, and if there is, executes the other processing in step 203.
After reading the current time information from the clock unit 2 via the internal bus 6, in step 204, the current time information is determined based on the cumulative operating time of the device read out from the storage unit 3 and the current time information. The latest cumulative operating time of the device is calculated, and the calculation result is written in a predetermined area of the storage unit 3 as a new cumulative operating time. In step 205, the lifespan time of each component to be monitored that is stored in another area of the storage unit 3 is read out, and the cumulative operating time is read out from the predetermined area and compared, to determine whether there are any parts whose lifespan has expired. Determine. Note that the lifespan is determined based on whether the lifespan of the component matches the cumulative operating time, or whether the time difference between the two is within a predetermined value. If it is determined in step 205 that there is no component whose life has come to an end, the process returns to step 201; if it is determined that there is, the process advances to step 20B, where the name of the component whose life has come to an end is displayed on the display section 7, and this component is replaced. After displaying a message prompting you to exchange, return to step 1. Note that when the main power of the device is turned off, power is supplied from the backup battery section 5 to the storage section 3, and various data stored in the storage section 3 are prevented from volatilizing.

According to this embodiment, when a part reaches the end of its life and requires replacement, a display indicating this is displayed on the display section 7.
The user can see this and quickly replace the target part. Therefore, it is possible to prevent accidents such as troubles occurring in the equipment due to parts that suddenly reached the end of their lifespan and important data becoming volatile as in the past. Furthermore, the reliability of the equipment can be ensured without performing maintenance inspections that are costly and time-consuming. Further, since the above-mentioned life management device can be constructed by using the central processing unit, clock, memory, CRT, etc. of the device incorporating this device, the manufacturing cost can be significantly reduced depending on the device.

Note that the watch battery section 4 and the backup battery section 5 can also be included as the components to be monitored.

Further, the display unit 7 may be a display device such as a liquid crystal or a CRT, or may be an element such as an LED or a buzzer if the component to be monitored is specified in advance. Furthermore, when the component to be monitored is a disk storage device or the like, the control unit 1 may count the number of accesses to this device, and determine that the life span has come when the count value reaches a predetermined number.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the component life management device of the present invention, it is possible to automatically notify when it is time to replace mounted components.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a component life management system according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing life management processing of the control section shown in FIG. 1. 1...Control unit 3...Storage unit 2...Clock unit 7...Display unit Agent Patent attorney Noriyuki Ken Yudo Yamashita Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim] A component life management device that determines the operating time of components installed in a device and notifies when to replace the components, which includes the life time of monitored components of the device and the cumulative total of the device to date. non-volatile storage means for storing operating time; clock means with power backup for measuring time and generating time information; time information read from the clock means and time information read from the non-volatile storage means in a predetermined cycle. operating time calculation means for calculating the latest cumulative operating time of the device based on the cumulative operating time of the device up to the present and storing it in the non-volatile storage means; and the cumulative operating time calculated by the operating time calculating means. Compare the time with the lifespan of the monitored component stored in the non-volatile storage means to determine whether the cumulative operating time matches the lifespan or whether the time difference between the two is within a predetermined value. and notification means that notifies information prompting replacement of a component for which the cumulative operating time is determined to match the service life time or the time difference between the two is within a predetermined value. A component life management device characterized by the following: