JPH04105136A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain the effective application of a back-up memory and the maintenance information by writing the using state of an equipment and the trouble information which are detected by the equipment itself in an extra address area of the back-up memory. CONSTITUTION:A CPU 1 serves as the control center of an electronic equipment, e.g., a printer and controls the various drive systems 3 of the printer based on a control program stored in a ROM 2. As the capacity of a back-up memory 7 of the printer is large, the information on the electronic equipment and the trouble information detected by the equipment itself are written into an extra address area of the memory 7. Thus the memory 7 can be effectively used and also the factor of a trouble if occurs in the equipment and the using state of the equipment can be quickly and surely decided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an electronic device equipped with a backup memory.

In electronic devices such as facsimile machines and printers,
Equipped with a microcomputer for control. and,
Recently, in order to prevent written data from being erased in the event of a power outage, etc., there is a trend to include a backup memory (RAM or EEPROM with a back-up amplifier).

Device functions and other various data are written in this type of bank amplifier memory, but recent backup memories have a large memory capacity and are low cost. Things tend to be used frequently. For this reason, the current situation is that the memory capacity of the bank amplifier memory, that is, the address area, is not effectively utilized.

The present invention was made in view of the current situation, and
By writing the device usage status and trouble status detected by the device itself into the remaining address area of the backup memory, the electronic device can effectively utilize the backup amplifier memory and effectively utilize this information during maintenance. The purpose is to provide.

In an electronic device equipped with a backup memory, the present invention includes a detection means for detecting device usage status or trouble status, and detecting device usage information or trouble information that is stored in a part of the area of the punctured-up memory. It is characterized by comprising a writing means for writing to.

Since the memory capacity of recent back amplifier memory is large,
If device usage information and trouble information detected by the device itself are written in the remaining address area, not only can backup memory be effectively used, but also backup memory can be saved in the event of a breakdown of the electronic device. By searching the data written in the device, the cause of the failure and usage conditions can be determined quickly and reliably.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an electronic device according to the present invention.

The CPU 1 is the control center of this electronic device (hereinafter, a printer will be explained as an example), and the R
The various drive systems 3 of the printer are controlled according to the control program stored in the OM2.

In addition, this printer is provided with various sensors 4 for detecting troubles and usage conditions of various drive systems 3, and based on detection signals from the various sensors 4, the CPU 1 determines trouble states and usage conditions of each part of the printer.

The detection unit 5 includes various timers such as a 1-minute timer and a 1-hour timer, various counters that measure the elapsed time of these timers, jamming, and communication abnormalities (CPLtl and other CPLtl and other not shown).
It is equipped with various counters for detecting the occurrence of an abnormality to count the number of occurrences of abnormal states such as communication abnormality with the PU) and other abnormal states.

Here, the 1-hour timer and the counter associated with it are used to measure the power-on time of this printer, and when the power-on starts, the CPUI starts the 1-hour timer, and every time one hour passes thereafter, The count value of the counter is incremented by one, and the count value is
given to I. Then, the CPUI drives the data writing section 6, which causes the bank amplifier memory 7 to
For example, the energization information is 0 in the address area A shown in FIG.
．． 1. Written as binary code data.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the procedure for measuring the power supply time. When power supply to the printer is started, the CP
The UI starts a one-hour timer, and in step S1,
It is determined whether one hour has elapsed since the start of energization, and each time one hour has elapsed, the count value of the counter is incremented by one (S2), thereby taking a detection form of measuring the energization time. Then, when the count value of the counter reaches an appropriate value, the energization time information is written into the address area A of the backup memory 7 as described above.

On the other hand, the one-minute timer and the counter associated with it are used to measure the operating time of this printer.
This measurement is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

That is, each time this printer starts operating, the CPU
starts the 1-minute timer, and in step Sll, determines whether the cumulative elapsed time value of the 1-minute timer has elapsed by 1 minute, and when it is confirmed that 1 minute has elapsed, the count value of the corresponding counter is incremented by 1. Go (S12)
, This provides a detection form that measures time in a timely manner.

Then, when this count value reaches an appropriate value, the operating time information is written in the address area B of the backup memo IJ 7, for example, in the same manner as described above.

Trouble detection using various counters for abnormal order detection is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, when this flowchart starts, the cpui detects troubles in this printer, and first, steps S
At step 21, it is determined whether jamming has occurred in the paper feeding system or paper ejection system of this printer based on the detection signal from the corresponding sensor.

Once you have verified that no jamming is occurring, then
In step S22, it is determined whether the above communication abnormality has occurred, and if not, it is determined whether any other abnormality other than these has occurred based on the detection signal from the corresponding sensor (S23 ). If none of the abnormalities occur, further monitoring is continued.

On the other hand, step S21. S22. In S23, if the occurrence of jamming, the above-mentioned communication abnormality, or any other abnormality other than these is detected, a counter for jamming detection provided in the detection unit 5 is provided.

Increment the counter values of the communication abnormality detection counter and other abnormality detection counters by 524.
), (S25), (S26), step S27
Then, a record management process is performed in which the abnormality occurrence information is written into the address area C of the hack-up memory 7, for example.

In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a printer, but it goes without saying that the present invention can be similarly applied to other electronic devices such as a facsimile machine.

According to the above-described invention, device usage information and trouble information are automatically written to the backup memory, so that during maintenance, etc., by reading the data written to the hack-up memory, it is possible to determine the details of the malfunction. Maintenance information can be immediately determined.

Therefore, there is an advantage that troubleshooting and maintenance can be carried out quickly and reliably.

Another advantage is that the address area of the hack-up memory can be used effectively.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an electronic device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a drawing showing an address area of a hack-up memory, Fig. 3 is a flowchart 1 showing a procedure for measuring energization time, and Fig. 4 is a FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure for measuring driving time, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure for detecting trouble. 1...CPU, 5...Detection section, 6...Data writing section 6.7...Backup memory.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In electronic devices equipped with backup memory,
An electronic device comprising: a detecting means for detecting a device usage state or a trouble state; and a writing means for writing the detected device usage information or trouble information into a part of the area of the backup memory.