JPH09238238A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an unexpected sudden machine-down by allowing a serviceman or the like to check signs of a fault of a large capacity storage means being a key part. SOLUTION: A defect position detection means B detects a defective part of a large capacity storage means A, its address is stored in a defective address storage means C, and a defective part display means D displays number of defects based on the address of the defective part stored in the defective address storage means C by an instruction of the operator. Furthermore, the address of the defective part stored in the defective address storage means C can be displayed as it is by an instruction of the operator. Every time the defect position detection means B detects a defective part of the large capacity storage means A, history information such as total image forming number or the like at that time is stored and the stored history information is displayed by an instruction of the operator.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to various image forming apparatuses such as digital copying machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine, image data input from image input means such as a scanner is sequentially stored in a large-capacity storage means such as a hard disk, and these image data are sorted and rearranged. There is one that can perform processing such as.

[0003]

However, in such an image forming apparatus, there is a problem that the apparatus main body is stopped (machine down) due to a failure of the large-capacity storage means, and the image forming operation cannot be performed. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and a service person or the like can check a sign of failure of a large-capacity storage means, which is a key part, to prevent sudden machine down, and reliability of equipment. The purpose is to improve.

[0005]

The present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. 1, an image having a large-capacity storage unit A for sequentially accumulating image data input from an image input unit such as a scanner and performing processing such as sorting and rearrangement of these image data. In the forming apparatus, the following means are provided to achieve the above object.

According to the first aspect of the invention, as shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. 1, a defective portion detecting means B for detecting a defective portion of the mass storage means A, and an address of the defective portion detected by the means B are provided. Defective address storage means C for storing
And the defective address storage means C according to the operator's instruction.
And a defective number display means D for displaying the number of defective points based on the address of the defective points stored in.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, as shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. 2, a defective portion detecting means B for detecting a defective portion of the mass storage means A and an address of the defective portion detected by the means B are provided. Defective address storage means C for storing
And the defective address storage means C according to the operator's instruction.
The defective address display means E for displaying the address of the defective portion stored in the memory is provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, as shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. 3, a defective portion detecting means B for detecting a defective portion of the mass storage means A, and a degree at which the defective portion is detected by the means B. Further, a history information storage means F for storing history information such as the total number of images formed at that time, and a history information display means G for displaying history information stored in the history information storage means F according to an operator's instruction are provided. It is a thing.

In the image forming apparatus according to the invention of claim 1,
The defective portion detecting means B of FIG. 1 detects a defective portion of the large-capacity storage means A and stores the address in the defective address storing means C, and the defective number display means D is instructed by the operator.
Displays the number of defective portions based on the address of the defective portion stored in the defective address storage means C, so that the operator (service person or the like) can predict the failure of the large capacity storage means A by looking at the number. Can grab

In the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect of the invention,
The defective portion detecting means B of FIG. 2 detects a defective portion of the large capacity storage means A and stores the address in the defective address storing means C, and the defective address display means E is stored in the defective address storing means C according to an instruction from the operator. Since the address of the stored defective portion is displayed, the operator can grasp the sign of the failure of the mass storage means A by looking at the address.

In the image forming apparatus according to the invention of claim 3,
Each time the defective portion detecting means B of FIG. 3 detects a defective portion of the large-capacity storage means A, the history information such as the total number of image forming sheets at that time is stored in the history information storing means F, and the history information is instructed by the operator. The display means G is the history information storage means F.
Since the history information stored in is displayed, the operator can grasp the sign of failure of the large capacity storage means A by looking at the history information.

Therefore, in any of the above-described image forming apparatuses, it is possible to take measures such as exchanging the large-capacity storage means A in advance before the machine down occurs, and finally, the user. It is possible to improve the satisfaction degree and the reliability of the manufacturer.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a mechanical section of a digital copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In this digital copying machine, the document stack placed on the document table 2 provided in the automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as "ADF") 1 with the image surface facing up is the operation unit 30 shown in FIG. When the upper print key 34 is pressed, the lowermost original is sequentially fed to a predetermined position on the contact glass 6 by the feeding roller 3 and the feeding belt 4, and then stopped.

Thereafter, the reading unit (scanner) 5
The image of the original on the contact glass 6 is read by 0, and the original after the reading is discharged by the feeding belt 4 and the discharging roller 5. Further, when the document set detection sensor 7 detects that there is a next document on the document table 2, the document is fed onto the contact glass 6 like the previous document. The feeding roller 3, the feeding belt 4, and the discharging roller 5 are driven by a conveyance motor (not shown).

The transfer sheets stacked on the first tray 8, the second tray 9, and the third tray 10 are fed by the first paper feeding device 11, the second paper feeding device 12, and the third paper feeding device 13, respectively. ,
The vertical transport unit 14 transports the photosensitive drum 15 to a position where it abuts on the photosensitive drum 15. Actually, each tray 8 to 1
Any one of 0 is selected, and the transfer paper is fed from there.

On the other hand, the image data read by the reading unit 50 is written on the photosensitive drum 15 by the laser beam from the writing unit 57, and that portion passes through the developing unit 27 to form a toner image there. To be done. Then, the transfer paper fed from the selected tray is transferred by the transfer belt 16 at the same speed as the rotation of the photosensitive drum 15, while the toner image on the photosensitive drum 15 is transferred. Further, the fixing unit 17 fixes the image, and the paper discharge unit 18 discharges the image to a paper discharge tray 19 outside the machine.

By the way, when images are formed on both sides of the transfer paper, the transfer paper is fed from a selected one of the paper feed trays 8 to 10. The branch claw 112 for the upper side (position indicated by a virtual line)
When set to, the sheet is not guided to the sheet ejection tray 19 side but is guided to the double-sided sheet feeding unit 111 side and is temporarily stocked there.

Thereafter, the transfer paper stocked in the double-sided paper feeding unit 111 is re-fed from the double-sided paper feeding unit 111 in order to transfer the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 15 again, and the path is switched. Branch claw 112 for
Is set to the lower side (position indicated by the solid line),
It is guided to the paper discharge tray 19. Thus, the double-sided sheet feeding unit 111 is used when images are formed on both sides of the transfer sheet.

The photosensitive drum 15 and the conveyor belt 1
6, the fixing unit 17, the paper discharge unit 18, and the developing unit 27 are driven by the main motor 25 of FIG. 7, and the main motor 25 of each of the paper feeding devices 11 to 13 is driven by the paper feeding clutches 22 to 24 of FIG. It is transmitted and driven. The vertical transport unit 14 is driven by the drive of the main motor 25 being transmitted by the intermediate clutch 21 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 5 is a layout diagram showing an example of the configuration of the operation unit of this digital copying machine. The operation unit 30 includes a liquid crystal display 31, a ten key 32, a clear / stop key 33, a print key 34, and a mode clear key 35. The liquid crystal display 31 has a touch panel on its surface and can display function keys, the number of copies, a message indicating the state of the device, and the like.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of the liquid crystal display 31. When the operator touches one of the function keys displayed on the liquid crystal display 31, the function displayed in the frame of the function key is selected, and the black and white display is reversed. Further, when the details of the function have to be specified (for example, in the case of scaling, a scaling value, etc.), the detailed function setting screen is displayed by touching the function key. LCD display 31
Uses a dot display, so it is possible to graphically perform the optimum display at that time.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control system of this digital copying machine. Main controller 20
Controls the entire digital copying machine. The main controller 20 includes an operation unit 30 for display control and key input control, an image processing unit (IPU) 49 for controlling the reading unit 50, reading and writing of image data to and from an image memory, and a document feeding / discharging operation. A distributed control device such as the ADF 1 is connected.

The respective decentralized control devices and the main controller 20 exchange information indicating the state of the equipment and operation commands as necessary. Further, the main controller 20 is also connected with various clutches 21 to 24 and a main motor 25 necessary for paper conveyance and the like.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, the reading unit 5
An operation of reading an image of a document by 0 and forming a latent image corresponding to the image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 15 will be described. The latent image is a potential distribution generated by writing an image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 15 with a laser beam.

The reading unit 50 is composed of a contact glass 6 on which a document is placed and an optical scanning system. The optical scanning system includes an exposure lamp 51, a first mirror 52 and a lens 5.
3. It is composed of a CCD image sensor 54 and the like. The exposure lamp 51 and the first mirror 52 are fixed on a first carriage (not shown), and the second mirror 55 and the third mirror 5
6 is fixed on a second carriage (not shown). When reading an image of a document, the first carriage and the second carriage are mechanically scanned at a relative speed of 2: 1 so that the optical path length does not change. The optical scanning system is driven by a scanner drive motor (not shown).

The reading unit 50 optically reads an image of a document and converts it into image data (electrical signal). That is, the image surface of the original is illuminated by the exposure lamp 51 of the optical scanning system, and the reflected light image from the image surface is first reflected.
An image is formed on the light receiving surface of the CCD image sensor 54 via the mirror 52, the second mirror 55, the third mirror 56, and the lens 53, and the CCD image sensor 54 converts the image into image data. At this time, the image magnification is changed by moving the lens 53 and the CCD image sensor 54 in the horizontal direction of FIG. That is, the left and right positions of the lens 53 and the CCD image sensor 54 are set according to the designated magnification.

The writing unit 57 is composed of a laser output unit 58, an imaging lens 59, a mirror 60, etc.
Inside the laser output unit 58, a laser diode, which is a laser light source, and a polygon mirror (rotating polygonal mirror) that is rotated at a constant speed by a motor are provided. The laser beam emitted from the laser output unit 58 is polarized by a polygon mirror that rotates at a constant speed, passes through an imaging lens 59, is reflected by a mirror 60, and is focused on the surface of the photosensitive drum 15 to form an image. .

That is, the polarized laser beam is exposed and scanned in the direction (main scanning direction) orthogonal to the direction in which the photosensitive drum 15 rotates, and the image data output from the image processing unit 49 is written line by line. . An electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoconductor drum 15 by repeating main scanning at a predetermined cycle corresponding to the rotation speed of the photoconductor drum 15 and the scanning density (recording density).

The laser beam immediately before scanning on the photosensitive drum 15 is detected by a synchronization detection sensor (beam sensor) not shown. Then, a laser writing control unit (not shown) uses the main scanning synchronization signal output from the synchronization detection sensor to generate a control signal for inputting / outputting the laser diode lighting start timing and image data for each scanning. .

FIG. 8 shows an image processing unit (IPU) 49.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of FIG. The reflected light image (image) from the document surface is converted into image data by the CCD image sensor 54, and further converted from an analog value to a digital value by the A / D converter 61. The image data converted into the digital value is subjected to shading correction by the shading correction unit 62, and then the image processing unit 6
In step 3, image processing such as MTF correction and γ correction is performed.

The selector 64 switches the destination of image data. That is, the scaling unit 71 or the memory controller 65 is set as the destination of the image data. The image data that has passed through the scaling unit 71 is enlarged or reduced according to the designated scaling ratio, and is sent to the writing unit 57. Image data can be input / output bidirectionally between the memory controller 65 and the selector 64.

The CPU 68 is a central processing unit that writes and reads image data to and from the image memory 66 via the memory controller 65, and controls the reading unit 50 and the writing unit 57. ROM 69 is a read-only memory, and CPU
Various fixed data including a control program for operating 68 are stored. The RAM 70 is a readable / writable memory and temporarily stores various data.

The print unit 74 is connected to the CPU bus and generates print image data such as page print character image data and arbitrary stamp image data. The print image data generated by the print unit 74 is input to the print combining units 72 and 73, and arbitrary print image data can be combined with the image data from the image processing unit 63 or the image data from the memory controller 65. it can.

Although not shown in FIG. 8, the image processing unit 49 includes image data input from the reading unit 50 and image data supplied from the outside (for example, a data processing device such as a personal computer). A circuit for selecting input / output of a plurality of image data is also provided so that the image data output from the) can be processed. However, hereinafter, only the operation (copy operation) on the image data input from the reading unit 50 will be described.

Image data and control signals for one page in the selector 64 will be described with reference to FIG. / FGATE (“/” indicates low active)
Is a frame gate signal and represents the effective period of one page of image data in the sub-scanning direction. / LSYNC is a main scanning synchronization signal for each line, and the image data becomes valid at a predetermined clock after this signal rises. /
LGATE is a line gate signal and indicates the effective period of the image data in the main scanning direction.

These signals are pixel clock signals VCL.
It is synchronized with K, and data of one pixel is sent in one cycle. The image processing unit (IPU) 49 is
Separate / F for input and output of image data
GATE, / LSYNC, / LGATE, and VCLK generation circuits are provided, and various input / output combinations of image data can be realized by performing phase adjustment etc. when directly outputting read image data. become.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the memory controller 65 and the image memory 66. In addition,
In this figure, the illustration of the address bus is omitted. The memory controller 65 includes an input data selector 101, an image synthesizing unit 102, a primary compression / expansion unit 103, an output data selector 104, a secondary compression / expansion unit 105, and the like. The control data is set in them by the CPU 68.

The image memory 66 comprises a primary storage device 106 and a secondary storage device 107. In the primary storage device 106, data writing to a specified area of the memory at the time of image data input or data reading from the specified area of the memory at the time of image data output is requested at the time of image data input or output. A memory that can be accessed at high speed, such as a DRAM, is used so that the transfer can be performed substantially in synchronization with the transfer speed.

Further, the primary storage device 106 has a circuit (an interface portion with the memory controller 65) which can be divided into a plurality of areas and simultaneously execute input / output of image data depending on the size of image data to be processed. Have
The secondary storage device 107 corresponds to the large-capacity storage means A shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, sequentially accumulates image data input from the reading unit 50 side, and synthesizes, sorts, rearranges, etc. these image data. It is for performing the processing of.

If the primary storage device 106 has a sufficient capacity to process the image data, the input / output of the image data to / from the secondary storage device 107 is not performed. If the secondary storage device 107 is capable of writing / reading image data substantially in synchronism with the data transfer rate required at the time of input / output of image data, the input / output image data may be written directly to the secondary storage device 107. Secondary storage device 1
It is also possible to read from 07. Further, the image data can be processed without distinguishing between the primary storage device 106 and the secondary storage device 107.

When the secondary storage device 107 is not capable of writing / reading the image data substantially in synchronization with the data transfer rate required at the time of inputting / outputting the image data, for example, the secondary storage device 107 may be a hard disk device or a magneto-optical device. Even when a large-capacity storage means such as a disk device is used, inputting / outputting image data to / from the secondary storage device 107 is performed by interposing the primary storage device 106 so that the data transfer capability of the secondary storage device 107 can be improved. A corresponding process can be performed.

With such a configuration, the storage device can be selected according to the image data processing speed of the digital copying machine, and the compression rate differs depending on the image data (the data access speed to the memory differs depending on the type of data). It can be supported even if the method is adopted. If the compression rate is variable, it may be possible to save the capacity of the storage device.

Next, an operation example of the memory controller 65 will be described. Here, an example is shown in which the secondary storage device 107 cannot write / read image data substantially in synchronization with the data transfer rate required when inputting / outputting image data.

<1> Input of image data (image memory 66
The input data selector 101 includes an image memory 66 (primary storage device 106) of the image data input from the reading unit 50 via each unit of the image processing unit 49.
The image data to be written to is selected. The image data selected by the input data selector 101 is supplied to the image combining unit 102, where it is combined with the image data already stored in the image memory 66.

The image data synthesized by the image synthesizing unit 102 is subjected to compression processing (variable length compression processing) by the primary compression / decompression unit 103, and then the primary storage device 10 is operated.
6 is written. The image data written in the primary storage device 106 is further compressed by the secondary compression / decompression unit 105 as necessary, and then the secondary storage device 107.
Is written to and saved (stored).

<2> Output of image data (image memory 66
When the image data designated as the output target image data is stored in the primary storage device 106, the primary compression / decompression unit 103 performs decompression processing after the image data is read. Then, the decompressed image data or the image data after the image data and the image data input from the reading unit 50 are combined is selected by the output data selector 104 and output.

The image synthesizing section 102 has a primary storage device 106
Image data input from the reading unit 50 and image data input from the reading unit 50 are combined (having a phase adjustment function of the image data), output destination of the combined image data is selected (output of image data, primary storage Processing such as write back to the device 106 and simultaneous output to both output destinations).

The image data designated as the output target image data is not stored in the primary storage device 106 but in the secondary storage device 1.
If the image data is stored in 07, after the image data is read out, the secondary compression / decompression unit 105 performs decompression processing, and the decompressed image data is once written in the primary storage device 106. Thereafter, the same output operation as described above is performed.

Hereinafter, in this embodiment, the secondary storage device 10 will be described.
A hard disk device (HDD) is used as 7. FIG. 11 is a memory map diagram showing an area configuration example of a hard disk in the secondary storage device (hard disk device) 107.

As shown in FIG. 11A, this hard disk is roughly divided into two areas: a defective block management area and an original image data area. Position information (address) of a defective block generated in the secondary storage device 107 is stored in the defective block management area as shown in FIG. 7B, and the original image data area is shown in FIG. As shown in, a plurality of document image data are stored in the electronic sort mode.

The minimum allocation unit of a hard disk is usually a sector of 512 bytes, but if the allocation is managed in too small a unit, the amount of management information required will increase. Often managed as. In this embodiment, a storage area of 64 KB / block is allocated to the original image data. Original image data area is 64KB
512MB is prepared in × 8192 (2000H) blocks.

Generally, a hard disk has a defective sector that cannot be normally read / written due to a minute defect on the storage medium. This also occurs in the manufacturing process of the storage medium, but may occur when a strong shock is applied from the outside during use. Therefore, in this embodiment, if at least one defective sector exists in the block, the block is registered as a defective block so that image data may not be written to such a defective block during normal copying. There is.

In a network file server or the like, a verify operation is performed after the data is written to confirm whether the writing can be performed correctly. If a verify error occurs, the area is registered as a defective sector and the data to be written is rewritten to another sector. Although a hotfix operation such as writing to a hard disk has been realized, in the case of a copying machine, it is not allowed for the copy productivity to drop due to hard disk access errors, so all sectors of the hard disk should be scanned according to the operator's instructions. The hard disk initialization process of registering the defective block detected by the above in the defective block management area is performed.

In FIG. 11, the secondary image storage device 107 avoids defective blocks in the original image data and the stamp image data.
It shows a state of being stored in the internal hard disk. A 1-bit flag is prepared for each block in the bad block management area. When a bad block is found, the bit corresponding to the block number is set to "1" (the bad block is marked as bad). The addresses of defective blocks are stored and managed.

Since it is necessary to frequently access the bad block management data during the copy operation, if the hard disk is accessed every time the data is needed, the copy productivity may be deteriorated. Therefore, the defective block management data is stored in the memory (R
The data is read onto the AM 70 or the storage medium of the primary storage device 106, etc., and the data on this memory is referred to during a normal copy operation. At the time of registering a bad block, the management data on the memory is updated, and at the same time, the data is written to the hard disk to maintain the identity of the bad block management data.

Since the original image data is stored in the hard disk after being subjected to the variable length compression, the original image data size changes according to the compression rate. Therefore, one document image data is divided (stored) into an indefinite number of blocks. Therefore, in order to manage the block number corresponding to each original, in this embodiment, a directory table having a structure as shown in FIG. 12 and a block allocation table as shown in FIG. 13 are constructed on the memory.

The directory table has entries for the maximum number of originals, each of which corresponds to one original. Each entry holds the first block number of a plurality of block groups in which the document image data is divided and stored. The block allocation table has entries for the total number of blocks on the hard disk, each of which corresponds to one block.

Each entry holds the next block number in which the image data is stored following the block. However, if the block is the last block forming one document image data, FFFFH is held as the end mark. Therefore, by referring to both the directory table and the block allocation table, it is possible to obtain a chain of block numbers connected in series corresponding to one document image data.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an operation flow of the hard disk initialization processing by the image processing unit 49.
In this operation flow, the existence of a defective sector is sequentially checked from the block 0 of the hard disk in the secondary storage device 107, and if a defective sector is found, the block is registered in the defective block management area (the defective block is defective). Mark). When all blocks have been checked, the hard disk initialization process ends.

There are several possible methods for checking the defective sector. In this embodiment, a read command for all sectors included in a block is issued to the secondary storage device 107 and returned from the secondary storage device 107. Whether the sector is a defective sector or not is determined based on the completion status.

Normally, the hard disk side automatically performs error correction and error retry processing. Therefore, even if a read error occurs, if it is recovered by error correction or retry processing, the main body side will not receive any information. You will not get it. Therefore, when checking a defective sector, the error correction and error retry processing on the hard disk side are prohibited so that the defective sector can be surely detected.

In this embodiment, the defective sector is detected only by the reading process as described above. However, as a method for further increasing the defective sector detection rate, it is possible to write a predetermined data pattern and read it correctly. It is also possible to detect a defective sector by confirming whether or not the defective sector is detected.

As described above, the bad blocks of the hard disk are managed so that the bad blocks cannot be used at the time of copying. However, the hard disk is against the impact applied from the outside while the spindle motor is rotating. Since is structurally weak, it is inevitable that a bad sector will occur after hard disk initialization.

In this embodiment, when an access error to the hard disk occurs during copying, the copy operation is interrupted, a bad block mark is attached to the block in which the error has occurred, and the use of that block is prohibited thereafter. At the same time, the value of a total counter (not shown) is stored in the bad block occurrence history table shown in FIG. 14 as bad block occurrence history information. The total counter is a counter that advances each time one copy is taken.
The information of the bad block occurrence history table is stored and saved in a non-volatile memory (not shown).

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a first example of the operation flow of the processing according to the present invention by the control section (main controller 20, image processing unit 49) of this digital copying machine. In this case, at least the defective portion detecting unit B, the defective address storing unit C, and the defective address storing unit C shown in FIG.
And the function as the defective number display means D.

The control section of this digital copying machine is shown in FIG.
When the print key 34 is pressed (ON), the copy operation is started. If an access error occurs in the hard disk (HDD) in the secondary storage device 107 during this copy operation, the copy operation is interrupted and a defective mark is added to the block in which the error has occurred (the block address is The value of the total counter is stored in the bad block occurrence history table together with the bad block management area.

On the other hand, when a request for displaying the number of defective blocks on the hard disk is received by a key operation on the operation unit 30 by an operator (serviceman or the like) during standby, the defective blocks stored in the defective block management area are received. The number of defective blocks (the number of defective blocks) is calculated based on the address and displayed on the liquid crystal display 31 of the operation unit 30. FIG. 17 shows a display example of the number of defective blocks on the hard disk.

In this way, a defective block (defective portion) of the hard disk in the secondary storage device 107, which is a large-capacity storage means, is detected and its address is stored in the defective block management area, and the defective block is instructed by the operator. If the number of defective blocks is displayed on the liquid crystal display 31 of the operation unit 30 based on the address of the defective block stored in the management area, the service person or the like can check the number of defective blocks to predict the failure of the secondary storage device 107. Can grab

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a second example of the operation flow of the processing according to the present invention by the control section (main controller 20, image processing unit 49) of this digital copying machine. In this case, the control unit includes at least the defective portion detecting means B, the defective address storing means C, and
And the function as the defective address display means E.

The control section of this digital copying machine is first shown in FIG.
When the print key 34 is pressed (ON), the copy operation is started. Then, during the copy operation, the secondary storage device 1
When an access error occurs in the hard disk (HDD) in 07, the copy operation is interrupted and a defective mark is attached to the block in which the error occurred (the block address is stored in the defective block management area).
The value of the total counter is stored in the bad block occurrence history table.

On the other hand, when the operator receives a request to display the defective block address of the hard disk by a key operation on the operating unit 30 during standby, the defective block address stored in the defective block management area is set to the operating unit 30. It is displayed on the liquid crystal display 31 of. FIG.
Shows a display example of the bad block address of the hard disk.

In this way, a defective block (defective portion) of the hard disk in the secondary storage device 107, which is a large-capacity storage means, is detected and its address is stored in the defective block management area, and the defective block is instructed by the operator. If the address of the defective block stored in the management area is displayed on the liquid crystal display 31 of the operation unit 30, the service person or the like can look at the address to see the secondary storage device 10.
You can grasp the signs of the failure of 7.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a third example of the operation flow of the processing according to the present invention by the control section (main controller 20, image processing unit 49) of this digital copying machine. In this case, the control unit has at least the functions of the defective portion detection unit B, the history information storage unit F, and the history information display unit G shown in FIG.

The control unit of this digital copying machine is first shown in FIG.
When the print key 34 is pressed (ON), the copy operation is started. Then, during the copy operation, the secondary storage device 1
When an access error occurs in the hard disk (HDD) in 07, the copy operation is interrupted and a defective mark is attached to the block in which the error occurred (the block address is stored in the defective block management area).
The value of the total counter is stored in the bad block occurrence history table.

On the other hand, when the display request of the defective block occurrence history information of the hard disk is accepted by the key operation on the operation unit 30 by the operator during the standby, the history information stored in the defective block occurrence history table is operated. It is displayed on the liquid crystal display 31 of the unit 30. FIG.
The display example of the bad block occurrence history information of the hard disk is shown in FIG.

As described above, every time a defective block (defective portion) of the hard disk in the secondary storage device 107, which is a large-capacity storage means, is detected, the value of the total counter at that time is stored in the defective block occurrence history table, According to the operator's instruction, the history information stored in the defective block occurrence history table is displayed on the liquid crystal display 31 of the operation unit 30.
In this case, the service person or the like can grasp the sign of the failure of the secondary storage device 107 by looking at the history information.

Therefore, by any of the above processes, it is possible to take measures such as replacing the hard disk in the secondary storage device 107 in advance before a machine down occurs, and finally. It is possible to improve user satisfaction and reliability for the manufacturer. In addition,
By arbitrarily combining the above-described processes, it is possible to easily grasp the sign of failure of the secondary storage device 107.

The embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a digital copying machine using a hard disk device has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a laser printer or a facsimile machine using a hard disk device or another large-capacity storage device. It is applicable to various image forming apparatuses such as apparatuses.

[0080]

As described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, a service person or the like can check a sign of failure of a large-capacity storage means, which is a key part, to prevent sudden machine down. Therefore, the reliability of the device can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a basic configuration of the invention of claim 1;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a basic configuration of the invention according to claim 2;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a basic configuration of the invention according to claim 3;

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a mechanical section of a digital copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a layout diagram showing a configuration example of an operation unit of the digital copying machine shown in FIG.

6 is a diagram showing a typical display example on the liquid crystal display 31 of FIG.

7 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a control system of the digital copying machine shown in FIG.

8 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an image processing unit (IPU) 49 of FIG.

9 is a timing chart showing an example of image data and control signals for one page in the selector 64 of FIG.

10 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a memory controller 65 and an image memory 66 of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a memory map diagram showing an example of the area configuration of a hard disk.

FIG. 12 is a memory map diagram showing an example of the area configuration of a directory table.

FIG. 13 is a memory map diagram showing an example of the area configuration of a block allocation table.

FIG. 14 is a memory map diagram showing an example of a region configuration of a bad block occurrence history table.

15 is a diagram showing an operation flow of a hard disk initialization process by the image processing unit 49 of FIG.

16 is a diagram showing a first example of an operation flow of a process according to the present invention by the control unit (main controller 20, image processing unit 49) in FIG. 7. FIG.

17 is a diagram showing a display example of the number of defective blocks of a hard disk on the liquid crystal display 31 of FIG.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a second example of an operation flow of processing according to the present invention by the control unit (main controller 20, image processing unit 49) in FIG. 7;

19 is a diagram showing a display example of bad block addresses of a hard disk on the liquid crystal display 31 of FIG.

20 is a diagram showing a third example of an operation flow of a process according to the present invention by the control unit (main controller 20, image processing unit 49) in FIG.

21 is a diagram showing a display example of bad block occurrence history information of a hard disk on the liquid crystal display 31 of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 20: Main controller 30: Operation unit 31: Liquid crystal display 49: Image processing unit 50: Reading unit 54: CCD image sensor 57: Writing unit 61: A / D converter 62: Shading correction unit 63: Image processing unit 64: Selector 65 : Memory controller 66: image memory 68: CPU 69: ROM 70: RAM 71: scaling unit 101: input data selector 102: image synthesis unit 103: primary compression / expansion unit 104: output data selector 105: secondary compression / Decompression unit 106: Primary storage device 107: Secondary storage device (hard disk device)

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Internal reference number for FI FI technical display location G11B 20/18 572 G11B 20/18 572F (72) Inventor Koichi Kanaya 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo No. Stock Company Ricoh (72) Inventor Moriyuki Koike 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Ricoh Company (72) Hiroshi Mori 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stock Company In Ricoh (72) Inventor Tomofumi Harada 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Norio Doke 1-3-3 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo In Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72 ) Inventor Takahiko Uno 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo, Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hisashi Ishiguro 1-3-3 Nakamagome, Tokyo, Ota-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor, Hattori Yasuhiro 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Endo Ota-ku, Tokyo Nakamagome 1-chome No. 3 No. 6 stock company in the Ricoh

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus comprising a large-capacity storage means for sequentially accumulating image data input from an image input means such as a scanner and performing processing such as sorting and rearrangement of the image data. Defective portion detecting means for detecting a defective portion of the capacity storing means, defective address storing means for storing an address of the defective portion detected by the means, and defectives stored in the defective address storing means according to an operator's instruction. An image forming apparatus comprising: a defective number display means for displaying the number of defective portions based on the address of the portion. 2. An image forming apparatus comprising a large-capacity storage means for sequentially accumulating image data input from an image input means such as a scanner and performing processing such as sorting and rearrangement of the image data. Defective portion detecting means for detecting a defective portion of the capacity storing means, defective address storing means for storing an address of the defective portion detected by the means, and defectives stored in the defective address storing means according to an operator's instruction. An image forming apparatus, comprising: defective address display means for displaying an address of a location. 3. An image forming apparatus comprising a large-capacity storage means for sequentially accumulating image data input from an image input means such as a scanner and performing processing such as sorting and rearrangement of the image data. A defective portion detecting means for detecting a defective portion of the capacity storage means, and a history information storing means for storing history information such as the total number of images formed each time the defective portion is detected by the means,
An image forming apparatus, comprising: history information display means for displaying history information stored in the history information storage means according to an instruction from an operator.