JPH11213768A - Cable life predicting apparatus and cable used therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To predict the time of occurrence of rupture of a signal wire in a cable due to cumulative bending stress and to display the prediction. SOLUTION: A bar code hand scanner unit 12 to which tensile force or standing force is applied by an operator and a static main body member are mutually connected with a cable 13. A dummy signal wire 16 which is housed in the cable 13 is ruptured before a part of a signal wire 15 of the cable 13 is ruptured due to cumulative bending stress applied to the cable 13 by moving the bar code hand scanner unit 12 and the rupture of the wire 16 is detected by a detection part 19. It is preferable to use a conductive wire coated with a Teflon(R) coating as the signal wire 15 and a conductive wire coated with a coating cross-linked by radiation as the dummy signal wire 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for estimating the life of a cable and determining an exchange time, and a cable used for the apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In electronic application equipment such as a bar code hand scanner (BHS) and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, a main body and a manual operation section (movable section) are interconnected by a multi-core connectable cable. I have. The movable part is pulled or twisted or other stress is applied to the cable in order to connect it to the bar code or the human body part printed or attached to different places of various products, so it breaks (a part of the core wire is broken) There is a risk of doing so.
If the cable breaks, it causes a serious inconvenience to the business. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent such an inconvenience by replacing or repairing the cable in anticipation of the life of the cable.

[0003] The life of a cable depends on the frequency of use and the magnitude and number of applied stresses, so it cannot be used for regular replacement or repair. Therefore, it is necessary to predict the life of the cable for each probe of the BHS or the diagnostic device.

Conventionally, according to Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 1-105870, a dummy signal line for disconnection detection is provided in a system cable connecting a central processing unit (CPU) and a peripheral processing unit, and all signals are provided by a bulkhead of the CPU. A dummy signal line of the system cable is connected in series by a jumper wire, and a determination result is displayed by a detection circuit which determines whether the start point and the end point are open or short. Thus, a system cable disconnection detecting device has been proposed and disclosed. If the dummy signal lines in the system cable are disconnected for any reason by connecting all the system cables that connect the devices of the system with the dummy signal lines, it will not be able to electrically conduct (conduct) and will be displayed as a detection circuit path. It is detected and displayed electrically by the circuit.

[0005]

According to the prior art, when a dummy signal line in a system cable is cut by an external force, it can be detected.
When only the signal line is cut (or broken), the detection display function does not operate at all. Further, it is necessary to add a cable disconnection detecting device having a detection circuit and a display circuit to the system configuration for detecting a cable disconnection. Furthermore, it is necessary to add a jumper wire for pulling out the dummy wire from the system cable and connecting it to each other and a wire for connecting to a cable disconnection detecting device. It has various problems.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to predict a disconnection or a durable life of a cable used in an electronic application device such as a BHS, and to cope with the cable before it actually occurs (repair, replacement, etc.).
And a cable used therefor.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a cable according to the present invention and used therein has the following characteristic configuration.

(1) The movable section and the fixed section are electrically interconnected by a cable, and a signal / power supply between the movable section and the fixed section is supplied and supplied through a plurality of signal lines in the cable. In a cable life predicting apparatus for detecting in advance a break due to a cumulative bending stress of the signal line of the cable, a plurality of insulated conductors having different elastic coefficients are housed in the cable, and the movable part and the fixed part A cable life predicting device for detecting breakage of a dummy signal line covered with an insulating material having a small elastic coefficient in the cable by a detection unit provided in at least one of the above.

(2) The cable life predicting device according to (1), wherein the movable part is a bar code hand scanner, and the fixed part is a POS device.

(3) The cable life predicting apparatus according to (1) or (2), wherein the cable is a signal line using a Teflon-coated conductor and a dummy signal line using an irradiation bridge-coated conductor.

(4) The cable life predicting apparatus according to (1), (2) or (3), wherein the dummy signal line has two lines connected to the detecting section in the movable section and forms a loop.

(5) A plurality of signal lines are provided in the cable jacket, and at least one dummy signal line having an insulating coating material having a smaller elastic coefficient than the insulating coating material of the signal lines is provided in the cable jacket. And a cable for predicting the break life of the signal line by breaking the dummy signal line.

(6) The cable according to (5), wherein a Teflon-coated conductor is used as the signal line, and an irradiation bridge-coated conductor is used as the dummy signal line.

That is, according to the cable life predicting apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of conductors are used in which a wire which is easily broken by bending stress (stress) is used as a dummy signal line and a wire having bending resistance is used as a normal signal line. (Dummy and signal line) are accommodated in one cable. By electrically monitoring the presence or absence of breakage of the dummy signal line, the cumulative stress of bending on the cable is known, and the life of the cable is predicted.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a detection circuit for detecting the presence / absence of breakage of the dummy signal line of the cable is disposed, for example, in the BHS, and the detection information is stored in a host computer of the POS device in a usual manner. Notify via signal line,
Thereby, it can be displayed. Also, for example, two dummy signal lines are accommodated in the cable, and the signal is looped by being electrically connected on the host computer side, so that the start and end of the dummy signal line are converged only by the cable. Becomes possible.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a cable life predicting apparatus of the present invention and a cable used for the same will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a simplified configuration diagram of a bar code hand scanner (BHS) using the cable life predicting device of the present invention. The BHS 10 includes a bar code hand scanner unit (BHSU) 12 which is a movable unit including a reading unit 17, a control unit 18, and a detection unit 19;
It comprises a connector 14 connected to a POS body (not shown), which is a fixed part, and a connectable cable 13 of a predetermined length connecting between the BHSU 12 and the connector 14.

First, the operation of the BHS 10 will be described. The reading unit 17 has a function of converting optical information of the barcode 11 printed or affixed to a product to be a subject into an electrical signal and reading the electrical signal. The general reading unit 17 irradiates the barcode 11 with a light beam (beam) such as laser light or red light, and converts the difference in the amount of reflected light into an electric signal. The reading unit 17 transfers the data read from the barcode 11 to the control unit 18.

The control unit 18 analyzes the bar code data transferred from the reading unit 17, converts the bar code type and data into electric signals and codes that can be transferred to the POS main unit, and connects the signal line 15 of the cable 13. To transfer through.
By repeatedly performing this operation, for example, the type, number, price, and other related information of the products sold at the store or the like can be stored in the P.
The information is sent to the OS device and used as sales information, inventory management, order (purchase) information, and other information.

Next, the cable 13 and the detecting unit 19 of the present invention for connecting the BHSU 12 and the connector 14 are shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the cable 13 has a structure in which a plurality of (five in this example) signal wires 15 and a plurality of (in this case, two) dummy wires 16 are twisted and then covered with an insulating coating 21. It is.

As is apparent from FIG.
Communication between HSU12 and POS device (data transfer)
In general, a stranded wire (in some cases, a single wire may be used) for the purpose of performing the above-described steps, and electrically connects the control unit 18 and the connector 14. The connector 14 is a PO
The BHSC 12 is configured to be detachable from a complementary connector (not shown) of the S device (main body), so that the BHSC 12 can be removed for repair or replacement. On the other hand, the dummy signal lines 16 are two wires connected on the connector 14 side. One of the dummy signal lines 16 extends from the detection unit 19 of the BHSU 12 to the connector 14, and the other of the dummy signal lines 16 extends from the connector 14 to the detection unit 19 of the BHSU 12.
To form a loop.

Here, the signal line 15 and the dummy signal line 16
Is obtained by covering a conductive wire made of a good conductive metal such as copper with an adhesive insulating coating and electrically insulating the conductive wire. In the preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, each signal line 15 is a wire made by applying a Teflon coating 32 to a metal conductive wire 31 such as copper.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3B, the dummy signal line 16 is a wire material in which a metal conductive wire 41 made of copper or the like is coated with an irradiation bridge 42. However, it is a matter of course that both of the wires 15 and 16 may be formed of a conductive wire and an insulating coating made of different materials.

In general, it is known that the Teflon material has a larger elastic modulus than the irradiation cross-linking material, and there is a difference in time to break when a continuous bending stress is applied thereto. The wires 15 and 16 used as the insulating coating material of the conductive wire are obtained by positively using the characteristics of these two insulating materials. As a result, the same continuous or repeated bending stress was applied to the signal line 15 coated with Teflon 32 and the dummy signal line 16 coated with the irradiation bridge coating 42 even when the conductive wires 31 and 41 of the same metal and material were used. In this case, the dummy signal line 16 is broken first by the signal line 15.

Next, the detecting function of the detecting section 19 will be described.
The detection unit 19 supplies the detection current to one of the dummy signal lines 16 and observes a loopback current from the other dummy signal line 16. It is not always necessary to always supply this detection current, but it is sufficient to supply the detection current in pulses at predetermined intervals during the operation of the BHS 10. If the dummy signal line 16 breaks when the cumulative bending stress on the cable 13 reaches a predetermined level due to the continuous use of the BHS 10, the loopback current is cut off. Therefore, the detection unit 19 detects that at least one of the dummy signal lines 16 has broken. Is detected. Therefore, the detecting unit 1
9 notifies the control unit 18 of the breakage of the dummy signal line 16, and the control unit 18 further transmits a signal or code indicating that the service life of the cable 13 is near via the POS device via the normally conducting signal line 15 of the cable 13. Send to Therefore, based on the information of the POS device, the BHS 10 is removed from the POS device main body by the connector 15 after the store is closed or during a break, or the BHS 10 is replaced with a new BHS,
Do repairs.

As described above, the signal line 15 and the dummy signal line 1
6 are housed in the same cable 13 and receive the same bending stress.
It can be understood that the life of the cable can be predicted with high reliability, and it is possible to prevent a trouble to the work due to a sudden break of the cable.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, a bar code hand scanner (B) using the cable life predicting apparatus of the present invention will be described.
HS) shows another example or modification. This BHS10 '
Is similar to the BHS 10 of FIG. 1, similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and only the main differences will be described. Cable 1
3 'is the same cable as the cable 13 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and uses a Teflon-coated signal line 15' and an irradiation bridge-coated dummy signal line 16 '. However, only one dummy signal line 16 'is used and is connected between the detection unit 19' of the BHSU 12 'and the connector 14'. In other words, the loop circuit configuration does not use two dummy signal lines as in the case of FIG.

In the cable life predicting apparatus of FIG. 4 or the BHS 10 'using the same, the cable life is calculated as follows. A rupture detection voltage or current signal is applied to the dummy signal line 16 'from the POS device body (not shown) via the connector 14'. Until the dummy signal line 16 'of the cable 13' is broken by the repeated use of the BHSC 12 ', the break detection unit 19' from the POS main body correctly receives the detection signal. However, when the dummy signal line 16 'is broken, the detection unit 19' cannot receive the detection signal, and the broken state of the dummy signal line 16 'is detected. Thus, as in the case of FIG. 1, the detecting unit 19 'notifies the control unit 18' of the break, and further notifies the POS device via the signal line 15 ', and performs the same processing as described above. In the figure, reference numeral 17 'denotes a reading unit similar to the reading unit 17 of FIG.

Further, referring to FIG. 5, a bar code hand scanner (BH) using the cable life predicting apparatus of the present invention.
S) Another embodiment will be described. This BHS 90 is also shown in FIG.
And a configuration similar to the BHS 10, 10 'of FIG. 4,
Perform a similar operation. The main difference is that the BHSU 92 has a reading unit 97 and a control unit 98, but has a detection signal generator 99 instead of the detection units 19 and 19 '. The detection signal generator 99 generates a break detection voltage or current signal on the dummy signal line 96 in the cable 93 at predetermined intervals.

This break detection signal is applied / supplied to the POS device main body via a connector 94 connected to the other end of the cable 93 (the end opposite to the BHSU 92). However, when the cumulative value of the bending stress on the cable 93 reaches a predetermined level due to the continuous use of the BHS 90, the dummy signal line 96 breaks before the signal line 95 breaks. as a result,
The POS device main body cannot receive the break detection signal, and knows that the life of the cable 93 is near. As a result, the repair or replacement procedure of the cable 93 described above is performed. This cable 93 may have substantially the same configuration as that described with reference to FIGS.

[0030]

According to the cable life predicting apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of wires having the same characteristics and other shapes are housed in the same cable, and only one is used for a signal or power supply, and the other is used for the signal or power supply. By using it as a dummy signal line, it is possible to predict the service life of the signal line based on the cumulative value of the bending stress, and to substantially eliminate the trouble of business due to a sudden break or disconnection. Accordingly, a remarkable effect in practical use is obtained when used for a unit or a cable between a probe and a main body of an electronic application device to which a complicated and multiple bending stress is applied, such as a bar code hand scanner and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

According to the cable of the present invention, a plurality of signal lines and dummy signal lines covered with different insulating materials are formed in the same jacket by mutually twisting each other.
Before the signal line breaks, the dummy signal line can be broken by the cumulative value of the bending stress on the cable, and the life of the cable can be known. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a cable capable of knowing the cumulative value of the bending stress with a simple configuration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a simplified configuration diagram of a preferred embodiment of a barcode hand scanner employing the cable life predicting device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the cable of the present invention used in the cable life predicting apparatus of FIG.

3A and 3B show details of the cable shown in FIG. 2, wherein FIG. 3A is a sectional view of a signal line and FIG. 3B is a sectional view of a dummy signal line.

FIG. 4 is a simplified configuration diagram showing a modified example of the barcode hand scanner of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a simplified configuration diagram of an embodiment of an example of a barcode hand scanner employing the cable life predicting device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 10 ', 90 Movable part (barcode hand scanner) 12, 12', 92 Barcode hand scanner unit (BHSU) 13, 13 ', 93 Cable 14, 14', 94 Connector 15, 15 ', 95 Signal line 16, 16 ', 96 Dummy signal line 17, 17', 97 Reading unit 18, 18 ', 98 Control unit 19, 19' Detection unit 31, 41 Conducting wire 32 Teflon coating 42 Irradiation crosslinking coating

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. When electrically connecting a movable part and a fixed part with a cable and connecting / supplying a signal / power supply between the movable part and the fixed part via a plurality of signal lines in the cable. ,
In a cable life predicting apparatus for detecting in advance a break due to a cumulative bending stress of the signal line of the cable, a plurality of insulated conductors having different elastic coefficients are housed in the cable, and at least the movable part and the fixed part are housed. A cable life predicting apparatus, wherein a breakage of a dummy signal line covered with an insulating material having a small elastic coefficient in the cable is detected by a detection unit provided on one side. 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said movable section is a bar code hand scanner, and said fixed section is a POS device. 3. The cable life predicting device according to claim 1, wherein the cable is a signal line using a Teflon-coated conductor and a dummy signal line is an irradiation bridge-coated conductor. 4. The cable life predicting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the dummy signal line has two lines connected to the detecting section in the movable section to form a loop. 5. A cable having at least one dummy signal line having a plurality of signal lines in a cable coating and having an insulating coating material having a lower elastic modulus than an insulating coating material of the signal lines. And a breakable life of the signal line can be predicted by breaking the dummy signal line. 6. The cable according to claim 5, wherein a Teflon-coated conductor is used as said signal line, and an irradiation bridge-coated conductor is used as said dummy signal line.