JPH11174916A - Product with function for deciding replacement period of constituent member of product - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To take a previous measure against a fault of equipment and to improve the maintenance performance of the equipment by recording the fault or trouble of the operation or deficiency of a constituent member and deciding the replacement period of the constituent member according to the recorded information. SOLUTION: A decision means 12 compares the signal from a means 2 which detects the state of the constituent member with the signal from a reference input means 14 to decide deficiency of each defective item of an optical scanning mechanism 1. Namely, the tension of, for example, a paper conveyor belt is detected by a tension detecting means 8, whose detection signal is compared with a previously set tension value as design information in the decision means 12 and when the detected tension value deviates from the range of the input value, it is displayed as a defective item on a maintenance necessity decision display means 16. An equipment main body is maintained according to the display result of the maintenance necessity decision display means 16 to obtain the recovery of the normal function as the optical scanning mechanism 1. The maintenance necessity decision display means 16 indicates the replacement of the constituent member when a maintenance frequency exceeds a specific value.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to information equipment such as computers, communication equipment such as facsimile machines, office equipment such as copiers and printers, video equipment such as cameras, and electric equipment such as washing machines and vacuum cleaners. Related to the reuse and reuse of manufactured products.

[0002] The present invention also relates to the reuse and re-use of the components constituting the equipment.

[0003] In particular, the present invention relates to the reuse and reuse of components of electric and electronic equipment having a movable mechanism driven by a drive source such as a motor or a cylinder.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art The above-mentioned equipment includes a movable mechanism, and the constituent members or unit parts constituting the movable mechanism are worn out by the relative movement, sliding, rotation, etc. of each member. In addition, a failure due to a misalignment of the initial positional relationship between the constituent members due to a displacement or the like due to a result of the relative motion, or a malfunction of an operation before the failure occurs.

[0005] In addition, the performance of these movable mechanisms is degraded due to aging of the constituent members, for example, due to deterioration of material characteristics, regardless of the failure of a specific constituent member.

Further, the fixed part supporting the movable mechanism also loses its function as a fixed part due to abrasion, displacement, etc. of the constituent members of the movable mechanism.

[0007] In a conventional device, when a certain portion or a component fails, the component causing the failure is replaced to restore the initial function of the device or unit.

However, for example, office equipment such as copiers and printers has been improved in copying function and printing accuracy, and the internal structure has been complicated, and the entire equipment has been reduced in size. In addition, the facsimile function is added.

[0009] Further, in order to improve the performance of the equipment, not only the mechanism structure is more complicated than the conventional members used, but also the dimensional accuracy between the constituent members constituting the mechanism needs to be improved. Therefore, even if some parts and units are replaced and their functions are restored, not only the failure of other parts but also the deterioration of the performance / characteristics of the parts may cause a failure again and hinder continuous operation. become.

[0010]

FIG. 4 is a view showing a main part of an electronic copying machine. The copying machine includes an exposure device and a charging device for copying original information on paper around a photosensitive drum. In addition, various devices for controlling the functions of each unit, such as a paper feeding device, a developing device, a transfer device, a separating device, a fixing device, and a cleaning device are arranged.

Many of them are movable mechanisms, and the functions of each device are performed by the mutual movement of the constituent members of each device.

FIG. 1 shows a main structure of a transfer drum type laser beam printer, in which various movable mechanisms are arranged around a transfer drum.

In these movable mechanisms, for example, there is an optical scanning device as a mechanism for reading document information on a document table and transferring the information to a transfer drum. The device uses a driving force from a motor via a pulley and a belt. To the optical mirror for reciprocating drive.

In the case of this mechanism, the traveling accuracy of the optical mirror is adversely affected due to the belt tension, the abrasion of the belt, the poor fit between the pulley and the motor shaft, and the like.

In this mechanism, the optical mirror is fixed and held by a mirror holding member. However, repeated impacts caused by the traveling movement of the scanning table cause the assembly dimensions to be displaced due to the displacement of the assembly dimensions of each member.

Such abrasion of the components of the mechanism section and the problem of the fitting state cause a decrease in the reading accuracy of the document information and, finally, a reduction in the copied image accuracy.

Conventionally, maintenance and inspection of these mechanical parts, particularly important mechanical parts, have been regularly performed by maintenance and inspection of equipment. If there is a defect in each mechanical part, maintenance is performed by maintenance personnel. The function / performance is maintained.

When the device configuration of the device becomes complicated, there is a case where, after taking measures such as replacing a part of the mechanism part, a malfunction of other parts of the mechanism part occurs due to the operation of the device. There are many.

For example, in an apparatus having a paper feed mechanism such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, etc., a large number of rollers and belts for paper feed are arranged, and the paper transport path is flat to reduce the size of the apparatus. It adopts a twisted and bent path and consists of multiple transport paths.

For this reason, for example, a paper jam due to a paper feed failure is caused by abrasion of components such as a roller and a belt, movement of each part, generation of looseness in assembly dimensions due to driving, and the like.

In such a case, the paper jam is eliminated by replacing the defective component through maintenance and inspection. However, after the direct replacement of the defective component, other components are defective.

After the belt is replaced due to a defective belt, the function is restored at first, but the elastic properties of other parts, for example, the rubber of the rubber roller gradually decrease. Poor paper feed due to slippage of rubber surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A first object of the present invention is to provide a device including a mechanical unit with a maintenance function of the device by determining a failure or a failure of a constituent member constituting the mechanical unit to take a precautionary measure against a mechanical failure. Is to improve.

[0024]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a product having a movable mechanism, wherein the movable portion or a fixed portion having a function of operating relatively to the movable portion is constituted. Provided is a product having means for recording a failure or defect in operation or operation of a component, and having a function of determining a replacement time of the component according to information of the recording means.

Further, the above-mentioned object is attained by a product characterized by comprising means for inputting information of the recording means and judging replacement time of the constituent members based on the information.

Further, the information of the recording means is recorded information of the number of failures of the constituent members constituting the movable portion or the fixed portion, and when the number of failures reaches a predetermined number, the exchange information of the constituent members is notified. The maintenance performance of equipment having movable parts, such as office equipment, is improved by a product characterized by including means for performing the above.

Further, a product having a movable mechanism,
A failure or a defect of the movable portion or a fixed portion that controls an operation mechanism relatively to the movable portion is recorded, and based on the recorded information, a constituent member of the movable portion or the fixed portion is replaced. A product characterized by this is proposed.

The movable part and the fixed part are composed of a plurality of constituent members, detect the number of failures or malfunctions of the respective constituent members, and replace the entire movable part or the fixed part according to the detected number. .

Furthermore, a product comprising a plurality of movable mechanisms, wherein each of the movable mechanisms comprises a plurality of constituent members,
Based on the detection information, the number of failures of the component member that causes the operation or operation failure of each of the movable mechanism units is detected.
The maintenance performance is improved by proposing a product in which the entire movable mechanism is replaced.

The present invention also relates to a method of reusing a component constituting a product having a movable mechanism such as office equipment, wherein the component comprises the movable mechanism. Or a configuration that constitutes a product characterized by storing performance information due to aging and determining whether or not the component can be reused based on the information when a failure occurs in the movable mechanism. A method for reusing components is proposed.

[0031]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a mirror optical scanning mechanism shown in FIG. 1, reference numeral 2 denotes detection means for detecting a defect of a member constituting the optical scanning mechanism, and means 2 includes a mirror. A means 4 for detecting the moving speed, a means 6 for detecting the degree of runout of the motor shaft, a means 8 for detecting the tension of the belt, a means 10 for detecting the eccentricity of the roller rotation, and the like are provided.

Numeral 12 is a means for judging a defect of each of the defective items of the optical scanning mechanism 1 on the basis of a signal from the means 2 for detecting the state of the constituent members. Is compared with the signal from the reference input means 14.

That is, for example, the tension of the belt for transporting the paper is detected by the tension detecting means 8, and the detection signal is compared and determined in the determining means with a preset tension value as design information, and the detected tension value is input. If the value deviates from the value range, it is determined as a defective item, and is input and displayed on the maintenance necessity determination display means 16.

The reference input means outputs mirror speed information, shaft runout allowable value information, belt tension allowable value information, and roller outer diameter allowable value information which are designed and determined.

A maintenance operation is performed on the main body of the apparatus in accordance with the display result of the maintenance necessity determination display means 16, and the normal function as the optical scanning mechanism is restored.

The result of the maintenance operation is recorded in the maintenance number recording means 18 for each function item.

Numeral 20 is a component member replacement necessity judging means, to which the count information of the number of times of maintenance is inputted and the number of times of maintenance is displayed.

When the number of maintenance exceeds a predetermined number, the replacement necessity determining means instructs replacement of a component.

Further, the replacement necessity determining means 20 inputs the number of maintenances for each of the maintenance items, for example,
If the shaft and bearing mechanism of the motor are replaced because the shaft runout exceeds the specified value, even if the degree of wear of the rollers has not yet reached the required number of replacements, it will be farther away by the subsequent operation of the equipment. It is determined whether or not maintenance is performed at a non-existent point, and for example, whether or not the roller needs to be replaced is determined and displayed in consideration of the subsequent operation time.

That is, when the discrimination means 20 displays the signal indicating that the maintenance and replacement of the shaft runout is required, the maintenance frequency detecting means 18 for the other maintenance items displays the next item to be replaced, and the replacement maintenance is performed together. Do.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the paper feed mechanism.

For a device such as a copying machine, a printer, or a facsimile, which has a function of copying and printing information on paper, it is of paramount importance to eliminate a paper jam due to paper feeding.

The paper feed mechanism mainly includes components such as a paper feed roller and a conveyor belt. The paper feed mechanism has several components for feeding paper from a paper supply unit to a transfer unit, a development unit, a fixing unit, and a discharge unit. Via the transport path, each transport path is composed of a roller and a belt.

In FIG. 2, the number of paper jams in each conveyance path 22 is recorded in a jam occurrence number detecting means 24, and the number of actuations of a clutch for ON / OFF-controlling the roller drive of the conveying path is determined by the clutch number detecting means. 26.

Further, the degree of wear of the rollers constituting the transport path,
The belt tension is also detected by the detecting means 28.

The signals of these detecting means are sent to the maintenance necessity judging means 30 and compared with the reference value of the reference input means 32.

The reference input means outputs jam frequency information, clutch operation frequency information, and belt tension information, which are criteria for determining whether or not replacement is necessary.

The judgment result of the judgment means is sent to the maintenance necessity judgment display means 32.

In the above arrangement, for example, a paper jam phenomenon is detected by the detecting means 24 in the paper conveying mechanism, the number of paper jams is counted by the counting means in the judging means, and when the counted value exceeds the allowable frequency value, the display operation is performed. Done.

The number of actuations of the paper feed clutch is also counted by the counting means in the discriminating means, and when the number of actuations exceeds a set value, a display operation is performed.

The belt tension is displayed when the value detected by the tension detecting means deviates from the reference range.

In an apparatus having a paper feeding mechanism such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, etc., a large number of rollers and belts are provided for paper feeding, and the paper conveying path is not flat but twisted to reduce the size of the apparatus. It adopts a bent path and is composed of a plurality of transport paths.

Therefore, for example, a paper jam due to a paper feed failure is caused by abrasion of components such as a roller and a belt, movement of each part, generation of looseness in assembly dimensions due to driving, and the like.

In such a case, the paper jam is eliminated by replacing the defective component through maintenance and inspection. However, after the replacement of the direct component, other components are defective.

After the belt is replaced due to a defective belt, the function is initially recovered, but the elastic properties of other components, for example, the rubber of the rubber-coated roller gradually decrease. Poor paper feed due to slippage of rubber surface.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which a member which directly causes a failure as described above is replaced, and a member which may cause a failure in the near future time is specified to take a measure against the failure in advance. Is shown.

In the drawing, reference numeral 40 denotes a motor, a belt,
It is a movable mechanism section that mainly includes rollers and pulleys.

A means 42 counts the total operating time of the motor.

Reference numeral 44 denotes jam detection means, and reference numeral 46 denotes replacement necessity determination means described with reference to FIG.

Reference numeral 48 denotes a means for instructing the endurance time of the belt, 50 denotes a means for instructing the endurance time of the roller, 52
Is a means for instructing the endurance time of the pulley.

Reference numeral 54 denotes second component replacement necessity determining means, which specifies the component causing the failure by the replacement necessity determination means 46, and then determines the movable mechanism of the belt, roller, pulley or the like. The operating time information of the constituent members after the device is manufactured is received from the motor operating time counting means 42, and further,
The endurance time information of the mechanism component is stored in each of the means 48, 50,
When the remaining time up to the endurance time is lower than the frequent value, it is determined that replacement is required and an exchange signal is output.

Reference numeral 56 denotes a means for displaying constituent members requiring replacement.

With the above-described configuration, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the belt of the paper feed mechanism breaks down, and the malfunction occurs again within a short time after the function recovery after the belt replacement.

[0065]

As described above, the present invention relates to a product provided with a movable mechanism, in which the operation or operation of the movable portion or a fixed member constituting a fixed portion having an operation function relative to the movable portion is faulty or defective. And a function of discriminating the replacement time of the constituent members according to the information of the recording means, thereby obtaining a product that can quickly reproduce the movable mechanism.

Further, by providing information of the recording means and determining the replacement time of the component based on the information, the component can be specified.

The information of the recording means is information on the number of failures of the constituent members constituting the movable part or the fixed part, and means for notifying the replacement information of the constituent members when the number of failures reaches a predetermined number. The maintenance work can be speeded up by providing.

A product provided with a movable mechanism, wherein a failure or a defect of the movable portion or a fixed portion that controls an operation mechanism relatively to the movable portion is recorded, and the movable portion is recorded based on the recorded information. The location of the trouble could be clarified by exchanging the constituent members constituting the part or the fixed part.

Further, the present invention relates to a method of reusing a component constituting a product provided with a movable mechanism, wherein information on the service life of the component constituting the movable mechanism or performance information due to aging is stored. In addition, when a failure occurs in the movable mechanism, it is determined whether or not the component can be reused based on the information, and a method of reusing a component constituting a product is proposed. Accordingly, it is possible to avoid a failure after a short time after maintenance of the failure location.

The maintenance performance of the image forming apparatus can be improved by applying the present invention to the image forming apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an application example of an optical scanning mechanism.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram applied to a paper feeding mechanism of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a modified example.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a transfer drum type image forming apparatus.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an optical mirror scanning mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical mirror scanning mechanism 2 Detecting means 4 Mirror speed detecting means 6 Shaft runout detecting means 8 Belt tension detecting means 10 Roller wear detecting means 12 Comparison determining means 16 Maintenance necessity determining display means 18 Maintenance count recording means 20 Exchange necessity determining means Reference Signs List 22 conveyance path 24 jam detection means 26 clutch operation frequency detection means 28 belt tension detection means 30 discrimination means 32 display means

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A product provided with a movable mechanism, wherein a means for recording a failure or a defect in operation or operation of a component constituting the movable portion or a fixed portion having a function of operating relative to the movable portion is provided. A product having a function of determining a replacement time of the component according to information of the recording unit. 2. A product according to claim 1, further comprising means for inputting information of said recording means, and judging a replacement time of said constituent member based on said information. 3. The information of the recording means is recorded information of the number of failures of a component constituting the movable portion or the fixed portion, and when the number of failures reaches a predetermined number, information of replacement of the component is reported. 3. A product according to claim 2, comprising means for performing. 4. A product provided with a movable mechanism, wherein a failure or a defect of the movable portion or a fixed portion that controls an operation mechanism relatively to the movable portion is recorded, and based on the recorded information,
A product characterized in that constituent members constituting the movable part or the fixed part are replaced. 5. The movable part and the fixed part include a plurality of constituent members, detect the number of failures or malfunctions of each of the constituent members, and replace the entire movable part or the fixed part according to the detected number. A product according to claim 4, characterized in that: 6. A product comprising a plurality of movable mechanisms, wherein each of the movable mechanisms is composed of a plurality of constituent members, and the number of failures of the constituent members that causes a failure in operation or operation of each of the movable mechanism portions. Wherein the entire movable mechanism is replaced based on the detection information. 7. The product according to claim 6, wherein a movable mechanism to be replaced is notified based on the detection information of the number of failures. 8. A method of reusing a component constituting a product having a movable mechanism, the method comprising storing use durability time information or performance information due to aging of the component constituting the movable mechanism, A method of reusing a component constituting a product, characterized in that when a failure of a mechanism occurs, it is determined whether or not the component can be reused based on the information. 9. The product according to claim 1, wherein the movable mechanism is a movable mechanism of an image forming apparatus. 10. The product according to claim 9, wherein said movable mechanism is an optical unit of said image forming apparatus. 11. The product according to claim 10, wherein said movable mechanism is a transport device for an information carrier of an image forming apparatus. 12. The product according to claim 9, wherein the members constituting the movable mechanism include a roller and / or a belt. 13. The product according to claim 12, wherein the component includes a fixing member that supports the roller and / or the belt.