JPS61184664A - Control device of equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To remove necessity of dedicated displayer for each control information and to provided a display of control information of excellent visibility with simple constitution by indicating the prescribed mark members according to the kinds of the control information to be displayed. CONSTITUTION:An upper livait data is displayed in a numerical displayer 6 by depressing a key 8-1 or key 8-2 in a manner that a pitograph displaying mark 7-1 is let blink and a mark 7-4 light, and this state is continued until either of keys 8-1-8-3 is depressed. When the mark 7-1 is blinking, a depressing of the division mode key 8-1 makes +1, and that of the key 8-2 makes -1, and both are displayed. If 2sec lapses without any key input, the mark 7-4 is made to blink and the 7-1 light. During the time when the mark 7-4 is blinking, a depressing of the key 8-1 with the upper limit setting mode makes +1,000, while that of the key 8-2 makes -1,000, and both are displayed.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an apparatus for managing the amount of equipment used, such as the number of copies made by a copying machine and the number of facsimile communications, using a recording medium on which predetermined data is recorded.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY Conventionally, each department is treated as one unit, and each department is provided with a mechanical counter (so-called key counter) as a means for managing, for example, the number of copies, and this counter is used when using a copying machine. There was a device that enabled copying operations by being inserted into a copying device, and also registered the number of copies made in a counter.

However, if the administrator wants to know the number of copies,
The counters that display the number of copies are kept by department, so the administrator has to visit each department from time to time to check the number of copies displayed on the counter, which requires a lot of effort and tabulation. The major drawback was that the work was troublesome. Furthermore, since the counter itself is relatively expensive, it is not economically desirable in the case of multi-department use, and it also has the disadvantage of being less convenient to carry in terms of shape and weight.

From this point of view, in recent years, when using equipment, a department card with a department code recorded on it is inserted into the device to enable operation, and the device is also equipped with a memory that stores the usage amount by department. If the administrator wants to keep track of the amount of equipment used by all departments, the amount of equipment used by each department can be recorded by inserting a card with a predetermined function code into the device. A device management device configured to display the amount and total amount used has been proposed.

In such a device, in addition to the above-mentioned amount of usage in each department and total amount of usage, unit prices, total amount of money used in each department, total amount of money used in all departments, etc. may be managed. In such a case, providing a dedicated display for each would not only complicate the display section but also increase costs.

Purpose The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its purpose is to provide a device management device that is cost-effective and capable of displaying various management data with a simple configuration. There is a particular thing.

Example The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a device management device (hereinafter referred to as a card controller) which is an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a card controller main body, 5 is an operation display section, 9 is an insertion slot for inserting a card as shown in FIGS. 2(a) to (d), and 23 is a connector for connecting a printer.

FIG. 3-1 is a perspective view showing a receiving unit member (hereinafter referred to as a socket) when the card controller I is installed in a device such as a copying machine.

100 is a socket body, and 4 is a connector connected to the socket. This socket 100 is mechanically fixed to an external device ot of the device with screws 102, as shown in FIG. 3-2. Also, electrically, by combining the east line connector inside the device and the connector 4 connected to the socket, inserting the card controller 1 into the socket 100, and turning on the power of the device, as shown in Fig. 2 (a). Cards as shown in ~(d) can be accepted.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the operation display section 5 in FIG.
It consists of various operation key switches (+, -, ENTER switches) 8-1 to 8-4, and the operation of the key switches, the department card erasing card shown in Fig. 2 (a) to (d), and the unit price By inserting the setting card and the upper limit setting card into the insertion slot (9) of the card controller 1, the following functions can be performed.

Here, the operating functions of the device using the function cards shown in FIGS. 2(a) to 2(d) will be explained.

(1) Operational function of the device Total number of sheets by department By inserting the department card shown in FIG. 2(a), which is optically set for each department, the device becomes operational, and the display section 6 in FIG.
7 displays the card department number and the total number of copies.

(2) Erasing function By inserting the erasing card shown in FIG. 2(b) and operating the key switch 8-3 in FIG. 4, the cumulative contents are erased.

(However, the upper limit set value and unit price set value, which will be described later, are not deleted.) (3) Unit price setting function Insert the unit price setting card shown in Figure 1 (d).

The unit price per sheet can be set by operating the key switches 8-1 to 8-3 in FIG.

(4) Upper limit setting function By inserting the upper limit setting card shown in Fig. 1(e) and operating the key switches 8-1 to 8-3 shown in Fig. 3, it is possible to limit the number of sheets used in each department. Further, by setting this upper limit value to a value less than or equal to the current number of sheets used in each department, the use of that department can be prohibited.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the control section of the card controller. In the figure, 10 is a microcomputer, 11 is a RAM for storing total information, and 12 is a RAM for retaining information stored in the RAM when the device is powered off. backup battery,
Reference numeral 13 is a resistor for comparing the voltage of the battery 12 with a reference voltage set by a resistor 14.15. Also, 1
Reference numeral 6 denotes an analog switch, which has an analog card function to detect the voltage of the battery 12 only immediately after the device is powered on and immediately after the insertion of the various cards mentioned above is completed, and a signal is output from the output port o26 of the microcomputer 10. The voltage of the battery 12 is inputted through the input line 17 of the comparator 13 and voltage comparison is performed only when the voltage is turned on in an analog manner. This is to minimize the source current from the battery 12 and maximize the life of the battery.

18 and 19 are the battery 12 when the device is powered on, respectively.
Analog switch 16. Prevents current from flowing into the device and analog switch 16. This is a diode to prevent current from flowing into elements other than RAMII. 20 is a reset circuit for resetting the microcomputer 10 when the power is turned on;
The converter 22 is a photocoupler for converting the sheet count pulse signal sent from the device into a 5V electric voltage and removing line noise.

Further, DI-05 is a driver, and D2 is a driver for driving the printer motor 24 and printer magnet 25 during tally printing by connecting a printer (not shown) to the connector 23 in FIG. . D3 is a driver for shorting the 3rd and 5th lines of the connector 4 through the relay contact 26 to turn on the relay coil 27 to enable the device to operate.

D4. D5 is LED 28.29 for card data A and B
This is a driver whose configuration is shown in Figs. 6-1.6-2 and 7.

That is, the two systems of perforated data provided on the card are transferred to the phototransistor 30. A photo interrupter 34 consisting of (32), LED 31, and (33). , (35) and input the signals from the card data A signal generation circuit 36 and the card data B signal generation circuit 37. I9
is being entered. 38, 39.40 are respectively shown in Figure 4 8
+ switch signal and - switch signal respectively generated by pressing -1 to 8-3.

This circuit generates the ENTER switch signal, and these signals are input to the input port I4-6. 41
, 42, and 43 are the printer CP signal and printer S, respectively, which are necessary for the above-mentioned printer to operate normally.
P signal is the printer connect signal. When printing the total, it is detected that the printer is connected by the printer connect signal 43, and the printer motor 24 is first turned on, and the printer motor number 41 that is generated every time printing and the home position are generated. Printing is performed sequentially by turning on the printer magnet 25 while monitoring the timing of the printer motor 42.

In this embodiment, a key counter that mechanically stores the usage amount can also be connected to the socket 100 described above. Figure a- is an external perspective view of the key counter, and Figure 8-2 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of the key counter. The key counter 45 maintains the cumulative number of used keys by mechanically rotating a cam using an electromagnetic magnet 44. Connector 4' is the same connector as connector 4 in Figure 5, and electrically, the power supply, sheet count pulse signal, and short bar terminals for enabling the equipment to operate are also connected to the same numbers. . The card controller shown in Figure 5 is inserted into the socket 100 shown in Figure 3-1.3-2, and by inserting the department card, the relay contact 26 is turned on, and numbers 3 and 5 of the connector 4 are shorted, allowing the device to operate. becomes. In the case of key counter 45, connect connector 4 in advance.
' No.3 and No.5 are shorted and the key counter is 4.
5 into the socket 100 shown in Fig. 3-1.3-2 to make the device operational. So socket 100
has a structure that can be used with both the card controller l and the key counter 45. This makes it possible to selectively install a key counter when the number of departments is small, and a card controller when there are many departments, which satisfies the user's requirements in terms of cost.

9 to 16.18 and 20.22 to 24 are flowcharts showing embodiments of the present invention.

A detailed explanation will be given below.

First, as shown in Fig. 9, when the power is turned on, the
A voltage check routine for the backup power supply 12 of RAMI 1 is executed (Step 500), and it is determined whether a card is inserted. This is because in configurations in which power is supplied from the device itself, such as a copying machine, it cannot be determined even if a card is inserted by the user when the power is turned off, so when the power is turned on, it is always determined whether a card is inserted or not. In this case, it is necessary to have the card inserted again. Therefore, in step 10 of FIG. 9, L for card data A is
The ED 31 and the BI'fl LED 33 are turned on to start the detection of the photosensors 30 and 32, and in step 520, it is determined whether the signal card data A signal and B signal from the photosensors 30 and 32 facing each LED are on/off. If a card is inserted here, the 1 display will show r-
-E E --J is displayed to prompt the user to reinsert the card.

And always by St epl 1.

Monitors the signals, and only when both are on, determines that the card has been removed, and displays no card at step 13 r-P
-” is displayed, the check is finished, and the process proceeds to 5tap14.

If the card is inserted, execute the voltage check routine of the backup power supply 12 of the S-RAM 11.
step 600), proceed to step 4, 5 step 14
is used to determine the type of inserted card, and if no card is inserted, r-P-J will be displayed on the display section 6 (
Step 14) Once inserted, the card data is read, and based on the read data, it is determined whether it is a management card or a department card (Step 15).
, the former has data 201 to 203, unit price setting mode (S t e p 200), upper limit setting mode (St
ep300) and erase mode (Step 400).

The latter has data from 1 to 200, and is in department mode (
Execute the process (Ste p l 00)
p20) - If there is an error in card insertion, r-E-J will be displayed on the display section 6 (S t e p
l6).

Next, a detailed explanation will be given of card data reading in 5rep14 using the explanatory diagram of FIG. 7 and the flowcharts of FIGS. 10 to 13.

In FIG. 7, the card is inserted in the direction of the arrow, and the card has holes corresponding to the start pattern, card data, and stop pattern, which are detected by the card and card data A/B signals. In particular, in this embodiment, the start pattern and stop pattern are always different patterns, and if they are not detected in a predetermined order, reading of card data is canceled. In the flowchart of Figure 10, first 5 steps
In Step 20, a start pattern is detected, which will be described later. If detected, data is read in Steps 521 to 25. Data is read when the card is inserted within a certain speed range in order to eliminate errors. Run only
Otherwise, the configuration is such that an error is displayed and the data is canceled.

That is, at 5tpe21, a "data cancel timer" is used to wait in order to cancel the card insertion speed being too fast, and then at 5tep22, the "data out timer" is used to wait in order to cancel the card insertion speed being too slow. Perform data detection.If data cannot be detected even after the timer ends in 5tep22, 5tep
p23 displays r-E-J, prompts the user to reinsert the card, and waits for the card to be removed.

If data is detected, the data detection/storage described later will be performed.
t, e p Perform 1 by 24, then increment the data counter by 1 by 5rep25, and repeat 5te until the counter reaches 8, that is, until 8 bits of card data are completed.
Read data from p21 to p26.

Then, in step 526, stop pattern detection, which will be described later, is performed, and if it is completed normally, reading of the card data is completed.

FIG. 11 is a detailed explanation flow of start pattern detection, and the start pattern shown in FIG. 7 is detected as follows. First, in step 5 step 20-1, both e signals of the card data are on, that is, the card is not inserted yet, and in the next step step 20-2, @
90 signals are both off, that is, the leading end of the card is inserted, and then 5 step 20-3 indicates that e
It is recognized in the order that only the signal is turned on, that is, the hole on the [phase] signal side of the card is detected. here 5
If a detection other than the above is detected in step 20-3, it is not recognized as a start pattern and an error is generated.

Next, FIG. 12 is a detailed explanation flow of data detection. 5
In step 24-1, detect the position of the card without a hole,
At step 24-2, it is detected whether the card data signal or the 0 signal is off, that is, whether the hole is on the [present] side or the ■ side, and at step 24-3, the data on the [present] side is set to O.
On the 20 side, the data is stored as 1 in the bit of the [card data] corresponding to the contents of the [data counter].

In other words, in the case of Figure 7, the data is 01010110B, which is 1
In base 0, it is 86.

In FIG. 13, the stop pattern detection is as follows:
5 step 26-1 detects no hole, 26-2 detects a hole only on the [with] side, 26-3 detects no hole, 26-4 detects a hole in both ■, 26-5 no hole The stop pattern is recognized in the order of detection. 5 steps here
If there is any other detection at 26-2 and 26-4, it will not be recognized as a stop pattern and will be treated as an error.

Next, processing in each mode will be explained.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing details of processing contents in department mode.

In this mode, each time a copy is made, the total number of copies corresponding to the department card number is increased by 1, and at the same time the RAM in the microcomputer 10 is
This is the mode in which the data is stored in the .

At step 100-1, the relay coil 27 is turned on by a signal from the terminal 03 of the microcomputer 10, and its contact 26 is turned on to permit copying of the copying machine main body.

In 5teplOO-2, pictogram display mark 7-1.7-
4 and indicate the "#" mark and the "Evening" mark respectively. Then, in 5teplOO-3, the card data is used as department data, and the corresponding [number of copies] and [maximum number of copies] are backed up and stored.
- Read from RAM.

At 5teplOO-4, (card data) (department number) and the cumulative number of copies for that department are displayed on the number display section 6.0 Next, at 5teplOO-5, a pulse is output every time the copying machine makes a copy. Number of sheets count pulse signal〕
, and add 1 to the above-mentioned [number of copies] by outputting a signal, and at the same time write and save the [number of copies] in the above-mentioned 5-RAM, and then return to 5tep100-4.
The number is displayed on the number display section 6.

On the other hand, in 5TEP100-6, while the [sheet count pulse signal] is not output, the [number of copies per copy] is the [upper limit number of copies].
If this is the case, the relay coil 27 is turned off, copying is prohibited, and at the same time the display on the number display section 6 is blinked to notify the user that the number of copies has reached the upper limit. Furthermore, the 5tpe100-7 constantly checks whether a card is inserted, and if the user removes the card during copying, that is, if the user wants to interrupt copying, it immediately turns off the relay coil 27, prohibits copying, and The display on the display section 6 is closed to (-P-) to notify that there is no card.

FIGS. 15 and 16 are flowcharts showing in detail the processing contents of the unit price setting mode.

As mentioned above, this mode is used to set the unit price for each copy, and when the unit price setting card is inserted, the data on the card (201 in this embodiment) is read and this mode is started.

First, in step 200-1, change the display of number display section 6 to r---
g, and at the same time read the unit price setting data from S-RAMII.At this time, if nothing is set, ro, 01J is read.0 Next, in 5tep100-2, whether or not the e key a-t was pressed. Check and the pictogram display mark 7-2
゜7-3 is lit to indicate the ``@ mark'' and ``q mark,'' and the unit price setting data is displayed as shown in Fig. 17 (a). And in 5tep200-3 key 8
Check whether -1 to 8-3 have been pressed. (2) When the key 8-1 is pressed, the unit price data is counted up to ten, and when the e key 8-2 is pressed, the unit price data is counted up to -. The details of the counting method are shown in Fig. 16. When the unit price data is from 0.01 to 9.99, it is counted in increments of 0.01 (Fig. 17 (b)), 9.99+0.
At 01, the display is switched to io and O (Figure 17 (C)), and from 10.0 to 60.0 it is counted in increments of 0.1 (Figure 17 (d)). This is because up to 0.1 yen is sufficient in Japan, but up to 0.01 $ is required in the United States, for example.

Then, when the ENTER key 8-3 is pressed, the unit price setting is confirmed, the display is turned off after 5 step 200-4, the data for which 1 sand diameter has been confirmed is displayed on the number display section 6, and at the same time, it is displayed on the S-RAMI 1. Write and exit this mode.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing in detail the processing contents of the upper limit setting mode.

As mentioned above, this is a mode that sets the upper limit for the number of copies for a specific department, and in particular, it is a mode that can prohibit or cancel the use of a specific department, and when the upper limit setting card is inserted, the data of that card is (202 in this example)
Read and start upper limit setting mode.

First, in step 300-1, the display on the number display section 6 is set to r--1-J, and at the same time, each department data (
1 to 200), and the initial value of the apparatus is set to the maximum value (100,000 sheets) for each department.

Next, in 5tep300-2, Φ key 8-1 or e key 8-
When 2 is pressed, [department data] and [upper limit data]
is displayed on the number display section 6.

Then, in step 300-3, the pictogram display mark 7-1 is blinked to instruct the "# mark" to blink, and the pictogram display mark 7-4 is lit to indicate the "♂ mark" (first
9(a)), this state is maintained for 2 seconds until any of the keys 8-1 to 8-3 is pressed. When the mark 7-1 indicating the "# mark" is flashing, it is the department mode, and if the key is pressed, the Φ key 8-1 will display the [department code]
+1. (For the 9 key 8-2, it is displayed as -1 in Fig. 19 (b) (c)), and from then on, repeat for each key manually (Step
300-4).

In addition, if key human power is not performed, 5te after the aforementioned 2 seconds have elapsed.
Proceed to p300-5, and this time mark 7-4, which indicates "(mark"), blinks, and mark 7-, which indicates "# mark"
1 (Fig. 19 (d)), continue this state for 2 seconds until the key is pressed, and after 2 seconds, turn on 5tep300-
Return to 3. When the mark 7-4 indicated by "(mark)" is blinking, it is the upper limit setting mode, and when the key is pressed, set the Φ key 8-11i (upper limit data) to +1000.
．． For e key 8-2, 100OL is displayed (Fig. 19(e), (f)), and this is repeated for each key manually thereafter (St
ep300-6), at this time, by setting [upper limit data] to 0 or less than the current cumulative number of sheets used, copying for that department can be prohibited.

In addition, when the machining Im key 8-3 is pressed, the upper limit data is determined, and the display is temporarily turned off at step 5 step 300-7. At the same time, the marks 7-1 and 7-4 indicating the "# mark" and "(mark)" are lit, and at the same time, the data is written to the S-RAM II, and this mode is ended.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing details of the processing contents of the erase mode. This is a mode that clears all the cumulative copy number data for departments 1 to 200 stored in the 5-RAM11 to 0, and is not cleared in the upper limit setting mode or unit price setting mode.

First, (-------) is displayed on the number display section 6, and -(S
Step 400-1), Rororo]] By pressing the key 8-3 (Step 400-2) the display turns off -H and St.
ep400-3), erase mode processing starts.

5tep400-4 ite [department data] from 1 to 2
00, the corresponding S-RAMI l
Clear the number data in O and finish, 5tep
At 400-5, the number display section 6 "00...OOJ" is displayed to notify the completion of erasure.This makes it possible to easily clear the number of sheets data.

Also, by doing this with an erasure card.

The user cannot erase data without this card, which improves management reliability.

Next, the display form of the pictogram display marks 7-1 to 7-4 and the display contents of the number display section 6 will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 21 and 22.

Figure 21 (a) shows the display format when the unit price setting card (Figure 1 (C)) is inserted, and the unit price (@) per sheet (9).
, and the display on the number display section 6 at that time indicates the value.

Further, FIGS. 21(b) to (e) show the display form when the [open] switch 8-3 (FIG. 4) is pressed when no card is inserted. The process will be further explained below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When no card is inserted, the display on the number display section 6 is (-P-). When the D-RoD Waroro switch 8-3 is pressed from this state (Step 700-1),
(--1----) is displayed, and by pressing the RoD Loco switch again, the (counter) is +1 and the (TOTAL
Proceed to the display format that shows the number of used sheets) (! Indicates the TOTAL number of sheets calculated by multiplying the unit price by the total number of sheets used in all departments.Also, by pressing q loss inch 8-3 (counter) +1, the department used and its cumulative number of sheets is displayed as shown in Figure 21 (d). In other words, # (department) ♂ (
The indication mark 7-1.7-4 (number of sheets used) lights up. Next, by pressing the ENTER switch 8-3, the (counter) is +1 and the display format changes to the one shown in Figure 8(e), which shows the TOTAL amount by department, which is the unit price multiplied by the cumulative number of sheets used in the department. When the [ENTER] switch 8-3 is pressed, the counter is set only for the department in use = 4. = 5 and (d) and (e) are repeatedly displayed in sequence. <(St
eploo-3), and if a card is inserted while this mode is running or the Rollo] key 8-3 is not pressed until the timeout, the display is immediately aborted and returns to the initial state shown in Figure 9 ( Step 7
00-2), the mode is changed according to the content of the cart load, and the display is also changed.

Next, the S-RA performed in 5 steps 500 and 600
A voltage check of the battery 12 for retaining the stored information of MI 1 when the device is powered off will be described.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart for executing the above-described check performed in step 500 when the power is turned on.

In step 500-1, the analog switch 16 described above is turned on by the signal from terminal 02B of the microcomputer 10, and in step 500-2, after waiting for the timer time by the [gate-on timer], the circuit shown in FIG. 5 described above turns on the battery. Wait for the comparison output of the capacitance to stabilize and then check the voltage. In step 500-3, if it is determined that the voltage check input is higher than the standard, turn off [analog switch 16) and continue operating the device (11th step). figure(
b)), On the other hand, if the voltage is judged to be below the standard, 5 steps
500-4, the analog switch 16 is turned off to prevent further source current from flowing out, and at the same time the number display section 6 is turned off.
C----J and blinks to notify the user that it is time to replace the battery (FIG. 25(a)).

Further, FIG. 24 is a flowchart for executing the above-mentioned check every time a department card is inserted.
Detects the presence or absence of a card and synchronizes with it to perform steps 5step5oo-i to 5step500-3.
5tep6 which is the same step as the voltage check up to
Execute 00-1 to 5oo-3. on the other hand.

If the voltage is below the standard, proceed to 5step 600-4, turn off the analog switch 16, and then turn on the department code and rC----J alternately as shown in Figure 25 to inform the user that it is time to replace the battery. (Fig. 25 (C) to (e)
)).

Note that the various timers and counters set in the flowchart of this embodiment are R in the microcomputer 10.
This is set in a predetermined area of AM.

In addition, although this embodiment has been described using the case of managing the number of copies made by a copying machine as an example, the present invention is not limited to this, but can also be applied to the management of the number of recorded sheets of a printer such as a laser beam printer, and the management of the number of communication times of a facsimile. It is clear that this method can be applied to the management of the amount of usage of various devices.

Effects As described above, according to the present invention, a predetermined mark member is designated according to the type of management information to be displayed, so there is no need to provide a dedicated display for each management information, and the structure is simple and It becomes possible to display management information with excellent visibility at low cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an external perspective view of a card controller which is an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a view showing various function cards, Fig. 3-1 is an external perspective view of a socket, and Fig. 3-2
Figure 4 is a diagram showing the connection state of the socket to the device, Figure 4 is a diagram showing the operation display part of the card controller, Figure 5 is a block diagram showing the control part of the card controller, and Figure 6-1 is a diagram showing the control part of the card controller.
The figure shows the configuration of the reading unit of the card controller, Figure 6-2 shows the electrical connection of the reading unit shown in Figure 6-1, and Figure 7 shows the operation of reading data recorded on the card. FIG. 8-1 is an external perspective view of the key counter and a flowchart, and FIGS. 17, 19, 21, and 25 are diagrams showing the display form of the display unit. In the figure, l is a card controller, 5 is an operation display part, 9 is a card insertion slot, 10 is a microcomputer, 11 is R
AM, 12 is a power amplifier battery, 30.32 is a phototransistor, 31.33 is an LED, and 100 is a socket.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Storage means for storing a plurality of pieces of management information of devices, display means for displaying the management information stored in the storage means, and plurality of pieces of management information for identifying types of management information displayed on the display means. A device management device for equipment, comprising: a mark member; and an instruction means for instructing a predetermined mark member among the plurality of mark members according to the type of management information displayed on the display means.