JPH04264220A - Electronic balance - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To pursue a cause of a trouble quickly by providing a storage means in which storage contents will not be erased even when energization of an electronic balance having a abnormality warning function is stopped to store display information in warning of abnormality. CONSTITUTION:At a load detecting section 1 is a load sensor section such as electromagnetic force balancing mechanism or the like engage with a tray 1a and an output thereof is digitized with an A/D converter 2 to be brought into an arithmetic control section 3 every second. The arithmetic control section 3 averages load data which is brought in every second and converts a load on the tray 1a into a mass value based on a measuring program written in an ROM 32 to be shown on a display device 7. When abnormality occurs, a message describing the contents of the abnormality is shown on the display device 7. The contents of the abnormality displayed are stored in a nonvolatile RAM 34 together with temperature data from a temperature sensor 4 and time data from a timer 6. Thus, the contents of the RAM 34 are read out to enable the focused pursuing of a cause of a trouble.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an electronic balance.
More specifically, the present invention relates to an electronic balance equipped with an abnormal operation warning function.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, while an electronic balance is in operation, a routine for determining whether the balance is operating normally is inserted and executed once every few times in the program routine of the operation to determine whether the balance is operating normally. Balances have already been put into practical use that have a function to issue a warning to the balance user by displaying the details of the abnormality if the balance has not been checked.

0003

[Problem to be solved by the invention] By the way, conventionally,
When an electronic balance breaks down, the balance user reports information about the fault to a repair person and requests repair, but the balance repair person only relies on information from the balance user to troubleshoot the problem. We are searching for the cause. As a result, for repairers, the amount of information needed to investigate the cause of a balance problem is limited, and that information may be inaccurate, resulting in a large amount of time being wasted in searching for the cause. be.

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic balance that can quickly find the cause of trouble by adding a simple configuration by utilizing the functions already possessed by the electronic balance. It is in.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the electronic balance of the present invention has a storage means that does not erase the stored contents even when the power to the balance is stopped. and is configured to store display information at the time of abnormality warning in the storage means. Furthermore, it is more effective to store at least one of the ambient temperature and time data at the time of storing the abnormality information.

[0006]

[Function] Utilizes the abnormality warning function of the electronic balance's arithmetic control unit and stores abnormality information each time in a storage means such as a non-volatile memory that will not be erased even if the power is turned off, so that it can be easily detected during repairs. If the memory contents are read out, the history leading to the failure will be revealed, making it possible to narrow down the cause of the trouble.

[0007]

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. The load detection section 1 is a known load sensor section such as an electromagnetic force balancing mechanism that engages with the plate 1a, and its output is digitized by an A-D converter 2 and input into the calculation control section 3 every moment. A temperature sensor 4 is disposed within the load detection section 1, and its output is also guided to the AD converter 2 via a switch 5.

[0008] The arithmetic control section 3 is mainly composed of a microcomputer, and includes a CPU 31, a ROM 32, an R
It has an AM 33, a non-volatile RAM 34, an input/output interface 35, etc., and a timer 6 and a display 7 are connected to this calculation control section 3 in addition to the AD converter 2. Further, the switch 5 described above is switched by a command from the arithmetic control section 3, and the A-D converter 2 is selectively supplied with either the load signal from the load detection section 1 or the temperature signal from the temperature sensor 4. The calculation control unit 3 is configured to receive one temperature data each time a predetermined number of load data are received.

[0009] The arithmetic control unit 3 averages the load data taken in moment by moment based on a known measurement program written in the ROM 32, converts the load on the plate 1a into a mass value, and displays the mass value on the display 7. be able to. Also, ROM
32 includes, in addition to the measurement program, a sensitivity calibration program that is automatically selected based on a predetermined temperature change or the passage of time or according to a manual command, and a sensitivity calibration program that is automatically selected at a predetermined timing when each of these programs is executed. A program for monitoring operations that is executed is written.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the contents of an operation monitoring program, and the characteristic operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to this diagram. As mentioned above, this operation monitoring program is automatically selected and executed at a predetermined timing when a measurement routine or sensitivity calibration routine is executed, but when this operation monitoring program is selected (ST1), first It is determined whether the current operation is normal or not (ST2), and if there is no abnormality, the program returns to the original program (ST5).

If there is an abnormality, a message indicating the details of the abnormality is displayed on the display 7 (ST3), and then the displayed contents of the abnormality are displayed together with the temperature data from the temperature sensor 4 and the time data from the timer 6. Non-volatile RAM3
4 (ST4), and then returns to the original program (ST5). According to the above embodiments of the present invention, the nonvolatile R
The contents of abnormalities during the operation of the balance are stored moment by moment in the AM34 along with the temperature data and time data at that time, and in the event of a balance failure, a repair person can read out the contents of the non-volatile RAM34. This makes it possible to conduct a targeted search for the cause of the failure.

[0012] Furthermore, such data can be used as a guideline for improving balances by collecting statistics for each of a plurality of balances. In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention described above, the temperature data and time data at that point in time are stored together with the abnormality details, but it is not necessarily necessary to store the temperature data and time data, and it is not necessary to store either the temperature data or the time data. , or both may be configured so as not to be stored. However, by storing temperature data and time data together, it is possible to know when and under what usage environment this abnormal behavior occurred, increasing the amount of information needed for repairs. desirable.

Furthermore, in the present invention, it is of course possible to use an E2 PROM, a RAM having a backup power supply, or the like in place of the nonvolatile RAM of the above-described embodiment.

[0014]

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, a balance having a warning function for abnormal operation is provided with a storage means whose memory contents are not erased even if the power of the balance is turned off, Since the system is configured to memorize the warning contents of the balance, it is possible to know the history of abnormal operation of the balance at any time as needed, increasing the amount of information available at the time of repair and narrowing down the search for the cause of the trouble. This makes it possible to shorten the time required to find the cause, and at the same time, by collecting statistics on this memory content for electronic balances of the same type, it can also be used as a guideline for areas that need improvement when upgrading electronic balances. . Moreover, this effect can be achieved by using the abnormal operation warning function that the balance already has, and only requires adding a simple program and memory, and does not cause a large increase in costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

[Figure 1] Block diagram showing the system configuration of an embodiment of the present invention

[Figure 2] Flowchart showing the contents of the operation monitoring program written in the ROM 32

[Explanation of symbols]

1...Load detection section 1a...Plate 2...A-D converter 3... Arithmetic control section 31...CPU 32...ROM 33...RAM 34...Nonvolatile RAM 35...Input/output interface 4...Temperature sensor 5...Switch 6...Timer 7...Indicator

Claims (2)

[Claims] [Claim 1] A balance that is equipped with a means for displaying a warning to that effect together with the details of the abnormality if the operation is not normal based on a judgment made by the arithmetic control unit in the operating state, wherein the power supply to the balance is stopped. 1. An electronic balance, comprising a storage means whose memory contents are not erased even in a state in which the electronic balance is configured to store display information at the time of the above-mentioned abnormality warning in the storage means. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein when information is stored in the storage means, at least one of ambient temperature and time data at that time is also stored. Electronic balance.