Information processing device and notification method

Abstract

To allow the cause of an abnormality that has occurred in an image forming device to be determined with high accuracy.SOLUTION: An image forming device includes: a developer supply container TB used for forming an image on a sheet; an operating state detection unit 208 for detecting errors in the operation of the developer supply container TB; a ROM 202 for storing a failure estimation table that shows the relationship between a failure location that may cause errors and intervals at which errors occur; and a CPU 201 for determining the occurrence intervals between errors to be analyzed detected by the operating state detection unit 208 and related errors related to the errors to be analyzed, performing a first failure estimation to estimate a failure location of the errors to be analyzed by using the failure estimation table and the determined occurrence intervals, and when there are multiple related errors, performing a second failure estimation to estimate the failure location of the errors to be analyzed by combining multiple failure locations estimated by the first failure estimation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a multifunction machine, a printer, or a facsimile machine, and a management system for the image forming apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] When a failure occurs in an image forming device, it is repaired by a customer engineer (hereinafter referred to as "CE") who visits the installation site of the image forming device. The time it takes to identify the cause of the failure and accurately complete the countermeasures varies depending on the capabilities of the CE. As a result, the time it takes to repair an image forming device varies depending on the CE. In order to shorten the time it takes to repair, a technology has been proposed that estimates the cause of the failure based on in-machine data that indicates the status of the image forming device and notifies the required processing (Patent Document 1). The in-machine data is, for example, information that indicates the status inside the device, such as values ​​detected by sensors installed in the image forming device and error occurrence information. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2017-017611 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The patent document discloses a fault diagnosis method that uses a diagnostic model generated from the correspondence between a predetermined fault cause and a sensor that shows a characteristic change in output value. This fault diagnosis method searches for a sensor that shows a predetermined output value change (data pattern) from the change in the output value of each sensor before the fault occurs, and identifies the fault cause corresponding to that sensor.

[0005] However, the fault diagnosis method described in the cited document has a problem in that the cause of the fault cannot be diagnosed unless the correspondence between the cause of the fault and the sensor is determined in advance. In view of the above-mentioned problems, the main object of the present invention is to determine with high accuracy the cause of an abnormality occurring in an image forming apparatus. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The image forming apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that it comprises parts used for forming an image on a sheet, a detection means for detecting errors in the operation of the parts, a memory means for storing fault estimation information indicating the relationship between a fault location that may be the cause of the error and an error occurrence interval, and a control means for determining the occurrence interval between an error to be analyzed detected by the detection means and an associated error related to the error to be analyzed, performing a first fault estimation to estimate the fault location of the error to be analyzed based on the occurrence interval determined to be the fault estimation information, and, if there are multiple associated errors, performing a second fault estimation to estimate the fault location of the error to be analyzed by combining the multiple fault locations estimated by the first fault estimation. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, the cause of an abnormality occurring in an image forming apparatus can be determined with high accuracy. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an image forming apparatus. [Diagram 2] Controller configuration diagram. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of a developer supply system. [Figure 4] FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. [Figure 7] 13(a) to 13(c) are diagrams showing a state in which the developer supply container cannot be detached. [Figure 8] 13(a) to 13(c) are diagrams showing a state in which the developer supply container is detachably attached. [Figure 9] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an error code. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of error-related information. [Figure 11] (a) to (d) are diagrams illustrating failure patterns. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a failure estimation table. [Figure 13] 6 is a flowchart showing a process of accumulating error-related information and a process of estimating a failure location. [Figure 14] 4 is a flowchart showing a process of determining a failure pattern. [Figure 15] (a) to (d) are diagrams illustrating failure patterns. [Figure 16] (a) to (c) are diagrams illustrating failure patterns. [Figure 17] 4 is a flowchart showing a process of estimating a failure location. [Figure 18] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a fault estimation system. [Figure 19] FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples. Although these examples are examples of preferred embodiments of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the configurations of these examples.

[0010] (Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus) FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to this embodiment. The image forming apparatus 100 operates by an electrophotographic method and forms a color image on a sheet S. The image forming apparatus 100 employs an intermediate transfer tandem method in which a plurality of image forming units are arranged along the surface of an intermediate transfer belt 7 onto which an image is transferred. The image forming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment includes four image forming units Pa, Pb, Pc, and Pd to form images of four colors, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. Such an image forming apparatus 100 can be realized by a printer, a copier, a multifunction machine, a facsimile, or the like.

[0011] The sheet S is stored in a sheet storage 60, and is fed by a sheet feed roller 61 employing a friction separation method in accordance with the timing of image formation by the image forming units Pa to Pd. The sheet feed roller 61 conveys the sheet S fed from the sheet storage 60 to a registration roller 62 via a conveying path. The registration roller 62 corrects skew of the sheet S, adjusts the timing, and conveys the sheet S to the secondary transfer unit T2.

[0012] The image forming units Pa to Pd have the same configuration and form images by the same operation, except for the color of the images they form. The image forming units Pa to Pd include photoconductors 1a to 1d, chargers 2a to 2d, exposure units 3a to 3d, developers 10a to 10d, primary transfer units T1a to T1d, and photoconductor cleaners 6a to 6d. In the following description, the suffixes a, b, c, and d will be omitted when the description is given without distinguishing between colors.

[0013] The photoconductor 1 is drum-shaped with a photosensitive layer on its surface, and is driven to rotate around the drum axis. The charger 2 uniformly charges the surface of the rotating photoconductor 1. The exposure unit 3 irradiates the uniformly charged surfaces of the photoconductors 1a-1d with light modulated according to image data of the color to be formed. As a result, an electrostatic latent image according to the image data is formed on the surface of the photoconductor 1.

[0014] The developing device 10 develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor 1 with a developer. In this embodiment, toner is used as the developer. The developing device 10 forms a toner image on the photoconductor 1 by attaching toner to the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 1. In the image forming unit Pa, the developing device 10a contains yellow developer and generates a yellow toner image. In the image forming unit Pb, the developing device 10b contains magenta developer and generates a magenta toner image. In the image forming unit Pc, the developing device 10c contains cyan developer and generates a cyan toner image. In the image forming unit Pd, the developing device 10a contains black developer and generates a black toner image. The number of colors of the toner images formed in the image forming device 100 is not limited to four colors.

[0015] The developing devices 10a to 10d in this embodiment contain a two-component developer in which a non-magnetic toner and a magnetic carrier are mixed, but a one-component developer containing only a magnetic toner or a non-magnetic toner may be used. The developing devices 10a to 10d are repeatedly replenished with developer from the developer storage unit when the amount of developer contained therein falls below a predetermined amount due to image formation. When the amount of developer contained therein falls below a predetermined amount, the developer storage unit is repeatedly replenished with developer of the corresponding color from developer supply containers TBa to TBd, which are developer supply containers. The details of the configuration of the developer supply system consisting of the developer supply container TB, the developer storage unit, and the developing device 10 will be described later.

[0016] The developer supply system stabilizes the amount of developer contained in the developing devices 10a-10d relative to a predetermined reference amount. By stabilizing the amount of developer contained, the developing devices 10a-10d can stabilize the amount of toner attached to the photoconductors 1a-1d. As a result, the amount of toner in the toner images formed on the photoconductors 1a-1d is stabilized, and the image density is stabilized.

[0017] The primary transfer portion T1 transfers the toner images from the photoreceptors 1a-1d to the intermediate transfer belt 7 by applying a predetermined pressure amount and an electrostatic load bias in the direction of the intermediate transfer belt 7. At this time, the toner images formed on the photoreceptors 1a-1d are superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 7. The toner remaining on the photoreceptors 1a-1d after transfer is collected by the photoreceptor cleaners 6a-6d.

[0018] The intermediate transfer belt 7 carries a multi-color toner image by transferring and superimposing the toner images of each color of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. The intermediate transfer belt 7 is an endless belt provided on an intermediate transfer belt frame (not shown) and stretched by a secondary transfer inner roller 8, a tension roller 17, and a secondary transfer upstream roller 18. The intermediate transfer belt 7 is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow R7 by the secondary transfer inner roller 8, the tension roller 17, and the secondary transfer upstream roller 18. The intermediate transfer belt 7 to which the multi-color toner images have been transferred conveys the multi-color toner images to the secondary transfer section T2 by rotating.

[0019] The multi-color toner images formed on the sheet S and the intermediate transfer belt 7 are transported at the same time at the secondary transfer portion T2. ​​The secondary transfer portion T2 is a transfer nip portion formed by a secondary transfer inner roller 8 and a secondary transfer outer roller 9 arranged opposite to each other. A predetermined pressure force and an electrostatic load bias are applied to the secondary transfer portion T2, so that the multi-color toner image is attracted from the intermediate transfer belt 7 to the sheet S. In this way, the secondary transfer portion T2 transfers the multi-color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 7 to the sheet S. Any toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 7 after transfer is collected by a transfer cleaner 11.

[0020] The sheet S onto which the multi-color toner image has been transferred is transported by the outer secondary transfer roller 9 from the secondary transfer portion T2 to the fixing device 13. The fixing device 13 applies a predetermined pressure and heat to the sheet S within a fixing nip formed by opposing rollers, melting and fixing the multi-color toner image onto the sheet S. The multi-color toner image develops color when melted and fixed, becoming a full-color toner image. The fixing device 13 is equipped with a heater as a heat source, and is controlled to always maintain an optimum temperature.

[0021] The sheet S on which the full-color toner image has been fixed is discharged onto a paper discharge tray 63. In the case of double-sided printing, the sheet S on one side of which an image has been formed is reversed by a reversing conveying mechanism 70 and conveyed to registration rollers 62, where an image is formed on the other side. As described above, the image forming apparatus 100 performs an image forming process for forming an image based on image data on a sheet.

[0022] (controller) 2 is a configuration diagram of a controller that controls the overall operation of the image forming apparatus 100 configured as described above. This controller 200 shows a configuration for controlling the supply of developer, and other functions, such as the configuration for controlling the image forming process, are omitted.

[0023] The controller 200 is an information processing device including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 202, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 203. A container drive control unit 206, a container detection unit 209, a remaining amount detection unit 212, an open / close detection unit 215, an internal data storage memory 204, and an operation unit 205 are connected to the CPU 201.

[0024] The CPU 201 executes computer programs stored in the ROM 202 to perform various processes by the image forming apparatus 100. In this way, the CPU 201 controls each device of the image forming apparatus 100. For example, the CPU 201 forms a full-color image based on image data on a sheet S. The RAM 203 provides a work area when the CPU 201 performs processes, and stores temporary data, etc. The in-machine data accumulation memory 204 is a storage device that stores (accumulates) in-machine data such as the date and time when an error occurs, a counter value, an error code, etc. The counter value is a value (parameter) that indicates the operating state of the image forming apparatus 100 when an error occurs. The counter value is, for example, the cumulative number of printed sheets by the image forming apparatus 100, the cumulative number of times a developer supply container TB has been replenished, etc.

[0025] The operation unit 205 is a user interface having an input interface and an output interface. The input interface is various key buttons, a touch panel, etc. The output interface is a display, a speaker, etc. A user inputs various instructions and data through the input interface of the operation unit 205. A user can check the status and notifications of the image forming apparatus 100 through the output interface of the operation unit 205.

[0026] The container drive control unit 206 controls the container drive unit 207 according to an instruction from the CPU 201. The container drive unit 207 includes a drive source for driving the developer supply container TB and opening the container replacement door 213. The container drive unit 207 transmits a drive force exclusively to two different loads, here, the developer supply container TB and the container replacement door 213, by switching between forward and reverse rotation of one drive source. The container drive unit 207 is driven by a current supplied by the container drive control unit 206 and drives the developer supply container TB. The container drive unit 207 is driven in a reverse rotation direction from when the developer supply container TB is driven by a current supplied by the container drive control unit 206 in a direction opposite to that when the developer supply container TB is driven, and opens the container replacement door 213. The container replacement door 213 is a door that is opened when the developer supply container TB is replaced, and is provided, for example, on the front surface of the image forming apparatus 100.

[0027] The container detection unit 209 controls the operation state detection unit 208 according to instructions from the CPU 201. The operation state detection unit 208 is an operation monitoring unit including a sensor that detects whether the developer supply container TB is operating. The sensor included in the operation state detection unit 208 is, for example, an optical photosensor. The operation state detection unit 208 detects the operating state of the developer supply container TB, and transmits a detection signal indicative of the operating state to the container detection unit 209. The container detection unit 209 transmits the detection result by the operation state detection unit 208 to the CPU 201.

[0028] The CPU 201 obtains the detection result by the operation state detection unit 208 while transmitting a drive signal to the container drive control unit 206 to drive the container drive unit 207. If the detection result of the operation state detection unit 208 indicates that the developer supply container TB is not driven despite the drive signal being transmitted to the container drive control unit 206, the CPU 201 determines that a malfunction has occurred and displays an error on the operation unit 205. At the same time, the CPU 201 accumulates an error code assigned in advance according to the type of error, the date and time when the error occurred, and a counter value indicating the operation state of the image forming apparatus 100 in the in-machine data accumulation memory 204 as in-machine data.

[0029] The remaining amount detection unit 212 controls the remaining amount detection sensor 211 according to instructions from the CPU 201. The remaining amount detection sensor 211 is a sensor that detects the amount of developer in the developer storage unit 210. The remaining amount detection sensor 211 is, for example, a piezoelectric element type powder level sensor equipped with a piezoelectric ceramic and a vibration structure.

[0030] The remaining amount detection sensor 211 transmits a detection signal indicating the detection result of the amount of developer in the developer storage unit 210 to the remaining amount detection unit 212. The remaining amount detection unit 212 transmits the detection result by the remaining amount detection sensor 211 to the CPU 201. The CPU 201 acquires the detection result of the remaining amount detection sensor 211 during an image forming operation. When the detection result of the remaining amount detection sensor 211 indicates that the amount of developer in the developer storage unit 210 is low, the CPU 201 transmits a drive signal to the container drive control unit 206 and drives the container drive unit 207 to supply developer to the developer storage unit 210.

[0031] When the developer supply container TB becomes empty, the user or CE performs an operation to replace the developer supply container TB. At that time, the CPU 201 displays a replacement button on the operation unit 205. When the CPU 201 detects that the replacement button has been pressed, it transmits a drive signal to the container drive control unit 206 so as to rotate the developer supply container TB in the opposite direction to when the container drive unit 207 drives the developer supply container TB. This causes the container drive unit 207 to open the container replacement door 213.

[0032] The container replacement door 213 is a door that prevents access to the developer supply container TB from the outside so that replacement work is performed only when the developer supply container TB is empty. The open / closed state of the container replacement door 213 is detected by an open / closed detection sensor 214. The open / closed detection sensor 214 is a state monitoring unit using, for example, an optical photosensor. The open / closed detection sensor 214 transmits a detection signal that indicates the detection result of the open / closed state of the container replacement door 213 to an open / closed detection unit 215. The open / closed detection unit 215 transmits the detection result by the open / closed detection sensor 214 to the CPU 201.

[0033] When the CPU 201 transmits a drive signal to the container drive control unit 206 to open the container replacement door 213, it acquires the detection result from the open / close detection sensor 214. When the detection result from the open / close detection sensor 214 indicates that the container replacement door 213 has entered an open state, the CPU 201 stops the drive signal to the container drive control unit 206.

[0034] If the detection result of the open / close detection sensor 214 indicates that the container replacement door 213 is not open despite the drive signal being sent to the container drive control unit 206 for a predetermined period of time, the CPU 201 determines that a malfunction has occurred and displays an error on the operation unit 205. At the same time, the CPU 201 accumulates an error code that is pre-assigned according to the type of error, the date and time when the error occurred, and a counter value indicating the operating status of the image forming apparatus 100 in the in-machine data accumulation memory 204 as in-machine data.

[0035] (Developer supply operation) The developer supply system and supply operation will be described with reference to Fig. 3 to Fig. 6. Fig. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of the developer supply system. Fig. 4 is an external view of a developer supply container TB. Figs. 5 and 6 are cross-sectional views of the developer supply system.

[0036] 3, the developer supply system of this embodiment is mainly composed of a container drive unit 207, a container holding unit 301 that holds a developer supply container TB in the image forming apparatus 100, and a developer storage unit 210. The container drive unit 207 drives the developer supply container TB. The developer storage unit 210 stores a certain amount of developer T and supplies the developer to the developing device 10.

[0037] The developer supply container TB is detachably attached to the image forming apparatus 100. As shown in Fig. 4, the developer supply container TB is composed of a held portion 402 that is held by the container holding portion 301 in a state where it is attached to the image forming apparatus 100, and a developer accommodating portion 401 that is rotatable relative to the held portion 402.

[0038] 5, the container drive unit 207 includes a drive motor 2071 that is driven by a drive signal from the CPU 201, and a drive transmission unit 2072 that transmits the drive force of the drive motor 2071 to the developer supply container TB. The developer storage unit 401 stores therein a supply of developer T. The developer storage unit 401 is provided on a part of its outer periphery with a drive receiving unit 4012 that receives a drive force from the container drive unit 207, and a protrusion 4011. The protrusion 4011 comes into contact with a detection flag 2082, which will be described later.

[0039] The developer storage unit 210 is provided to stably supply developer T to the developing device 10, and stores a constant amount of developer T. The developer storage unit 210 includes a receiving unit 2101, a remaining amount detection sensor 211, a transport unit 2102, and a discharge port 2103. The receiving unit 2101 is provided at the top of the developer storage unit 210, and receives developer T discharged from a developer supply container TB. The remaining amount detection sensor 211 is provided at approximately the center of the developer storage unit 210, and detects the remaining amount of developer T inside. The transport unit 2102 and the discharge port 2103 are provided below the remaining amount detection sensor 211, and transport developer T to the developing device 10.

[0040] A container holding unit 301 (see FIG. 3) is provided on the upper part of the developer storage unit 210. The container holding unit 301 includes the above-mentioned operation state detection unit 208 that monitors the operation state of the developer supply container TB. The operation state detection unit 208 includes a photosensor 2081 and a detection flag 2082 that blocks or opens the detection surface of the photosensor 2081 in conjunction with the rotational operation of the developer supply container TB.

[0041] When an image forming operation is instructed by a user, an image forming process is executed. As a result, as shown in Fig. 5, the developer T in the developing device 10 is developed onto the photoconductor 1 and consumed. When the CPU 201 determines that a certain amount of the developer T in the developing device 10 has been consumed, it supplies the developer T from the developer storage unit 210 to the developing device 10.

[0042] 6, when developer is supplied to the developing device 10, the developer T in the developer storage unit 210 decreases, and the detection level of the remaining amount detection sensor 211 decreases. When the CPU 201 detects from the detection result by the remaining amount detection sensor 211 that the developer T in the developer storage unit 210 has decreased below a predetermined amount, the CPU 201 drives the container drive unit 207 to perform an operation of supplying developer T from the developer supply container TB to the developer storage unit 210. In this embodiment, the developer supply container TB rotates in the direction of the arrow m, whereby the developer T is supplied to the developer storage unit 210.

[0043] The operating state, i.e., whether the developer supply container TB is rotating, is monitored by an operating state detection unit 208. Specifically, the CPU 201 monitors whether the photosensor 2081 is closed or opened by a detection flag 2082 within a certain time after transmitting a drive signal for the container drive unit 207. If the photosensor 2081 is not closed or opened within the certain time, the CPU 201 determines that some kind of malfunction has occurred in the developer supply operation, and stops the supply operation of the developer supply container TB.

[0044] Thereafter, CPU 201 notifies the user that an abnormal state has occurred and image forming apparatus 100 has stopped by displaying the message on operation unit 205. Furthermore, if image forming apparatus 100 is connected to a network, CPU 201 notifies a CE or a sales company via the network that an abnormal state has occurred and image forming apparatus 100 has stopped. Here, abnormalities in the developer supply operation mainly occur due to two failure states.

[0045] The first failure state is a state in which the developer supply container TB does not rotate even when it receives a driving force from the container drive unit 207. Such a failure mode is hereinafter referred to as "failure mode A". Failure mode A occurs, for example, as follows. The developer T in the developer supply container TB may be compacted due to vibrations during distribution. This leads to an increase in the rotation load of the developer accommodating unit 401 relative to the held portion 402. The increase in the rotation load of the developer accommodating unit 401 leads to a failure mode A state in which the developer accommodating unit 401 cannot be rotated by the driving force of the container drive unit 207. Failure mode A also occurs when the container drive unit 207 simply breaks down and the driving force is not transmitted to the developer supply container TB.

[0046] In this case, since the developer supply container TB does not rotate, the detection flag 2082 cannot cover or open the photosensor 2081, and the operation state detection unit 208 detects an abnormality. Also, the developer T is not supplied from the developer supply container TB to the developer storage unit 210. Therefore, in the case of failure mode A, the detection level of the remaining amount detection sensor 211 of the developer storage unit 210 does not recover.

[0047] The second failure state is a state in which the developer supply container TB receives a driving force from the container drive unit 207 and rotates, but the operation state detection unit 208 cannot detect the operation. Such a failure mode is hereinafter referred to as "failure mode B." Failure mode B is, for example, a state in which the detection surface of the photosensor 2081 of the operation state detection unit 208 is contaminated by the developer. In this case, the photosensor 2081 is not detected as being blocked or released by the detection flag 2082. In addition, in the case of failure mode B, since the developer supply container TB rotates as described above, a constant amount of developer T is supplied to the developer storage unit 210. In other words, in the case of failure mode B, the detection level of the remaining amount detection sensor 211 of the developer storage unit 210 is restored.

[0048] It is desirable for the CE to promptly carry out recovery work for the image forming apparatus 100. For example, in the case of failure mode A, it is necessary to repair the developer supply container TB or the container drive unit 207, and in the case of failure mode B, it is necessary to repair the operation state detection unit 208 of the container holding unit 301. However, in reality, there is a gap of several hours to several days between receiving the notification and carrying out the maintenance work, considering the need to identify the part to be repaired and to arrange for the repair parts.

[0049] Therefore, the user may be instructed to restart image forming apparatus 100 by turning the power off and on, and to check whether image forming apparatus 100 can be restarted and what state it will be in after it is restarted. The first purpose is to collect information for identifying the location of the failure by restarting image forming apparatus 100. The second purpose is that, depending on the nature and type of failure, restarting may enable image forming apparatus 100 to perform image formation to some extent, which may minimize the opportunity loss for the user.

[0050] As a specific example, when failure mode A occurs, the CPU 201 stops the image forming apparatus 100 in a state where the developer T is not supplied to the developer storage unit 210. When the image formation process starts after the user restarts the apparatus, the CPU 201 detects that the remaining amount of developer T in the developer storage unit 210 is low, and drives the developer supply container TB to supply the developer T. As a result, a supply operation abnormality is detected in the same way as before the restart, and the image forming apparatus 100 stops. In this case, the image forming apparatus 100 cannot operate until a malfunction repair procedure is performed by the CE, but the fact that the malfunction state will soon reoccur is obtained as in-machine data.

[0051] On the other hand, if failure mode B occurs, a certain amount of developer T is supplied to the developer storage unit 210. Therefore, the remaining amount detection sensor 211 of the developer storage unit 210 may detect that there is a sufficient amount of developer T in the developer storage unit 210. In this case, when the image forming process is executed after the restart of the image forming apparatus 100, the image forming apparatus 100 can operate smoothly until a certain amount of developer T is consumed. This can minimize the opportunity loss for the user, and also obtain in-machine data that the malfunction state is not one that will immediately reoccur upon restarting the apparatus.

[0052] As described above, the image forming process is performed, and the developer T is consumed and supplied from the developer supply container TB. When the amount of developer T in the developer supply container TB becomes less than a predetermined amount, the developer storage section 210 is not supplied with a sufficient amount of developer T. When the amount of developer in the developer storage section 210 does not return to normal within a certain time, the CPU 201 determines that the developer T in the developer supply container TB has become empty. When the amount of developer in the developer storage section 210 does not return to normal within a certain time, specifically, when the detection level of the remaining amount detection sensor 211 does not recover even though the supply operation of the developer T in the developer supply container TB is being performed. Then, the CPU 201 notifies the user or CE by displaying the fact on the operation unit 205. The user or CE replaces the developer supply container TB in response to the notification.

[0053] The replacement operation of the developer supply container TB will be described with reference to Figs. 7 and 8. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which the developer supply container TB is attached to the image forming apparatus 100 and cannot be removed. Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a state in which the developer supply container TB is removable from the image forming apparatus 100. Figs. 7(a) and 8(a) are perspective views. Figs. 7(b) and 8(b) are top views. Figs. 7(c) and 8(c) are side views. For ease of explanation, the configurations are simplified in Figs. 7(b), 7(c), 8(b), and 8(c).

[0054] 7(a), when the image forming apparatus 100 is in operation, the developer supply container TB is housed in the container housing 700. The developer supply container TB is prevented from being accessed from the outside by a container replacement door 213 provided in the container housing 700.

[0055] 7(b), the container replacement door 213 is connected to a drive transmission unit 2072 of the container drive unit 207 via a link shaft 7001 extending along the container housing 700 and a link member 3011 provided on the container holding unit 301. In addition, the container housing 700 is provided with an opening / closing detection sensor 214 that detects whether the container replacement door 213 is opened or closed.

[0056] When the developer supply container TB becomes empty, the user or CE performs an operation to replace the developer supply container TB. At that time, by pressing a developer supply container TB replacement button displayed on the operation unit 205, the drive motor 2071 and drive transmission unit 2072 of the container drive unit 207 rotate in the opposite direction to the rotation during the supply operation of the developer T in the developer supply container TB (rotation in the opposite direction to the arrow n in FIG. 6). Note that a clutch (not shown) is provided in a part of the drive transmission unit 2072, and the drive force is not transmitted to the developer supply container TB by the clutch during the reverse rotation.

[0057] As a result of the reverse rotation of the drive transmission part 2072, a part of the drive transmission part 2072 comes into contact with the link member 3011, and the link member 3011 rotates in the direction of the arrow P, as shown in Fig. 8(b). Next, with the movement of the link member 3011, the link shaft 7001 is displaced in the direction of the arrow Y. With the displacement of the link shaft 7001, the container replacement door 213 is opened in the direction of the arrow S in Fig. 8(c). As shown in Fig. 8(a), when the container replacement door 213 is opened, the user or CE can detach the developer supply container TB in the Y direction and replace it with a new developer supply container.

[0058] During the replacement operation of the developer supply container TB, an open / close detection sensor 214 monitors whether the container replacement door 213 is properly opened. If the open / close detection sensor 214 does not detect the opening or closing of the container replacement door 213 within a predetermined time, the CPU 201 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the replacement operation of the developer supply container TB due to some kind of malfunction, and stops the image forming apparatus 100. Thereafter, the CPU 201 notifies the user that an abnormal state has occurred and the image forming apparatus 100 has been stopped by displaying this on the operation unit 205. Furthermore, if the image forming apparatus 100 is connected to a network, the CPU 201 notifies the CE or the sales company via the network that an abnormal state has occurred and the image forming apparatus 100 has been stopped.

[0059] Abnormalities in the replacement operation of the developer supply container TB mainly occur due to the following three failure states.

[0060] The third failure state is a failure of the container driving unit 207. Such a failure is hereinafter referred to as "failure mode C." Specifically, failure mode C occurs when the driving motor 2071 does not operate, or when the drive transmission unit 2072 is overloaded and the driving force is not transmitted, etc. In this case, the driving force is not transmitted to the link member 3011 and the link shaft 7001, and therefore the container replacement door 213 is not opened.

[0061] The fourth failure state is a failure of the link member 3011 or the link shaft 7001 itself that receives the driving force from the container driving unit 207. This type of failure is hereinafter referred to as "failure mode D." Specifically, failure mode D occurs when the link member 3011 and the link shaft 7001 become disconnected due to improper assembly, shock during logistics, or the like. In this case, as with failure mode C, the driving force is not transmitted to the link shaft 7001, and therefore the container exchange door 213 does not open.

[0062] The fifth failure state is a failure of the open / close detection sensor 214. Such a failure is hereinafter referred to as "failure mode E." In the case of failure mode E, the container replacement door 213 is opened by the driving force of the container driving unit 207, but the open state is not detected.

[0063] As described above, it is desirable that the recovery work of the stopped image forming apparatus 100 is promptly performed by the CE. For example, in the case of failure mode C, the container driving unit 207 needs to be repaired, and in the case of failure mode D, the link member 3011 or the link shaft 7001 of the container holding unit 301 needs to be repaired. In the case of failure mode E, the open / close detection sensor 214 needs to be repaired. However, in reality, there is a gap of several hours to several days from when the notification is received until the maintenance work is performed, considering the identification of the repair part and the arrangement of the repair parts. Therefore, as described above, the user may be instructed to perform an operation to restart the image forming apparatus 100 by turning it back on, and to check whether the image forming apparatus 100 can be restarted and what state it will be in after it is restarted.

[0064] For example, if the replacement operation abnormality is failure mode C or failure mode D, when the image forming apparatus 100 is restarted, a notification is output again urging the user to replace the developer supply container TB. At that time, if the operation unit 205 is operated in the same way as the previous time, there is a high possibility that a similar operation abnormality will occur immediately because the state has not changed. If an operation abnormality occurs, the user or CE is notified of the occurrence again. In other words, if an operation abnormality occurs again immediately, the CE can assume that the current operation abnormality is an abnormality in the drive transmission unit 2072, which is the cause of failure mode C, or an abnormality in the link member 3011 or link shaft 7001, which is the cause of failure mode D.

[0065] If failure mode E had occurred, the image forming apparatus 100 would have stopped, but since the container replacement door 213 is open, there is a possibility that the developer supply container TB has been replaced. In this case, when the image forming apparatus 100 is restarted, the CPU 201 detects that the developer supply container TB has been replaced, and no notification is issued to prompt the user to replace it. In other words, if the image forming apparatus 100 is operated normally, there is a high possibility that the same operational abnormality will occur again when the replaced developer supply container TB becomes empty. Since the operational abnormality does not occur again immediately, the CE can determine that there is a high possibility that the cause of the previous operational abnormality was a malfunction of the open / close detection sensor 214, which is a cause of failure mode E.

[0066] (Error Code) Fig. 9 is an explanatory diagram of error codes. Fig. 9 shows the error code displayed on the operation unit 205 when the CPU 201 detects an error, the detected content, the phenomenon that occurs, the failure mode, the failure location, and the operation period until the error occurs again when the operation is restarted. The relationship between each error and the failure content, and the period until the error occurs again when the operation is restarted will be described using Fig. 9.

[0067] The error code Err001 is an error that is issued when the operation state detection unit 208 cannot detect the operation of the developer supply container TB even though the container drive unit 207 is being driven. As described above, when the operation state detection unit 208 cannot detect the operation of the developer supply container TB even though the developer supply container TB is being driven, either failure mode A or failure mode B has occurred. In the case of failure mode A, the developer supply container TB or the container drive unit 207 has failed, and in the case of failure mode B, the operation state detection unit 208 has failed. Regardless of which failure mode occurs, the CPU 201 issues the same error code Err001 because it cannot detect the operation of the developer supply container TB.

[0068] In failure mode A, the developer supply container TB is not operating, and developer T is not supplied to the developer storage section 210. Therefore, when the image forming apparatus 100 is restarted and operated again after the error occurs, the remaining amount detection sensor 211 detects a decrease in the amount of developer T in the developer storage section 210, and the CPU 201 executes a developer supply operation. Therefore, an error with error code Err001 occurs again after a short operating period, specifically, after 10 or fewer printed sheets. The threshold value of 10 printed sheets is a value calculated based on the operating period of the image forming apparatus 100 until the error determination is made, and is a value until the error with error code Err001 reoccurs.

[0069] In failure mode B, although the operating state detection unit 208 cannot detect the operating state of the developer supply container TB, the developer supply container TB operates, and therefore developer is supplied to the developer storage unit 210. Therefore, even if the image forming apparatus 100 is restarted and operated again after the error occurs, the CPU 201 does not execute the developer supply operation until the developer T in the developer storage unit 210 is consumed by the image forming operation and the remaining amount detection sensor 211 detects a decrease in the amount of developer. Therefore, an error with error code Err001 occurs again for a longer operating period than in failure mode A, specifically, when the number of printed sheets is more than 10 sheets.

[0070] The error code Err002 is an error that is issued when the open state of the container replacement door 213 cannot be detected by the open / close detection sensor 214 even though the container drive unit 207 is driven to rotate in reverse. As described above, in this case, any of failure modes C, D, and E has occurred. When failure mode C or D has occurred, any of the container drive unit 207, the link member 3011, or the link shaft 7001 has failed. When failure mode E has occurred, the open / close detection sensor 214 has failed. In either case of failure, the CPU 201 issues the same error code Err002 because it cannot detect the open state of the container replacement door 213.

[0071] In failure mode C or failure mode D, the container replacement door 213 is not opened, so the developer supply container TB is not replaced and remains empty. Therefore, when the image forming apparatus 100 is restarted and operated again after the error occurs, the CPU 201 drives the container drive unit 207 to open the container replacement door 213 again. However, since the open state of the container replacement door 213 cannot be detected, an error with error code Err002 occurs again. The error with error code Err002 occurs again in a short operating period, specifically, after 10 or fewer printed sheets. The threshold value of 10 printed sheets is a value calculated based on the operating period of the image forming apparatus 100 until the error determination is made, and is a value until the error with error code Err002 reoccurs.

[0072] In failure mode E, the open / close detection sensor 214 cannot detect the open state, but the container replacement door 213 is open, so the replacement work of the developer supply container TB can be performed. When the developer supply container TB is replaced, the container replacement door 213 is opened again when the replaced developer supply container TB becomes empty. For this reason, the error code Err002 reoccurs for a longer operating period than in failure modes C and D, specifically when the number of printed sheets is more than 10.

[0073] (Error related information) 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of error-related information stored in the internal data storage memory 204. The error-related information includes the date and time when the error occurred, a counter value indicating the operating state of the image forming apparatus 100, and an error code assigned in advance according to the type of error. In this embodiment, the counter value is the cumulative number of printed sheets by the image forming apparatus 100.

[0074] Each time an error is detected, the CPU 201 accumulates the error-related information illustrated in Fig. 10 in the internal data accumulation memory 204 by adding one line. For example, the error-related information in the first line of Fig. 10 indicates that an error with error code Err001 occurred on 2022 / 6 / 1 12:00 in an operating state with a cumulative number of printed sheets of 100010. In the failure estimation described below, the CPU 201 refers to this error-related information and estimates the location of the failure from the cumulative number of printed sheets and the error code.

[0075] (First failure assumption) In the first failure estimation, failure patterns are classified into multiple types (three in this example), and it is determined which failure pattern the error occurrence situation falls into. The failure location is estimated according to the determined failure pattern. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of failure patterns. The horizontal axis of FIG. 11 is the counter value of the image forming apparatus 100. The triangular mark indicates the timing at which the error occurred. The white triangular mark indicates the error that is the subject of analysis for the failure estimation. The black triangular mark indicates an error that occurred earlier than the error that is the subject of analysis.

[0076] In the fault estimation, a specific error is focused on as an analysis target. The fault estimation is performed using the error code and counter value of the error to be analyzed and the error code and counter value of an associated error related to the error to be analyzed. An associated error is an error that may occur due to a similar fault location as the fault location where the error to be analyzed may occur, and that has occurred earlier than the error to be analyzed.

[0077] For example, in the case of an error with error code Err001, the fault is in either the developer supply container TB or the container drive unit 207, or the operation status detection unit 208, so an error with error code Err002, which has the container drive unit 207 as the fault, may be a related error. Also, if an error with error code Err001 has occurred in the past, that error is defined as a related error.

[0078] The fault estimation is performed based on the difference between the counter value when a related error occurred in the past and the counter value when the image forming apparatus 100 is restarted and operated again and the error to be analyzed occurs again. This difference in the counter value is called the "operation period." It is determined whether the operation period is within a predetermined range, and the fault location is estimated based on the result of the determination.

[0079] FIG. 11(a) shows a failure state in which the operation period between the error to be analyzed and the associated error is short, and an error occurs immediately after restarting the operation. Since errors occur successively, such a failure pattern is defined as "continuous". The CPU 201 judges whether the associated error occurs within a range of a threshold A of the operation period, and judges that the failure pattern is continuous when the associated error occurs within the range of the threshold A. The threshold A is a value that is set in advance to judge that the failure pattern is continuous, and is stored in the ROM 202. The threshold A may be determined by calculating a value with a high statistical probability based on data in which a large number of pieces of error occurrence information are associated with failure locations.

[0080] FIG. 11(b) shows a failure state in which the operating period between the error to be analyzed and the associated error is longer than that of a continuous failure pattern. Since the error interval is long, such a failure pattern is defined as "intermittent". The CPU 201 judges whether the associated error occurs within a range of the threshold B that is greater than the threshold A. If the associated error is greater than the threshold A and within a range of the threshold B, the CPU 201 judges that the failure pattern is intermittent. The threshold B is a value that is set in advance to judge that the failure pattern is intermittent and is stored in the ROM 202. The threshold B is a period longer than the threshold A. The threshold B may be determined by calculating a value with a high statistical probability based on data in which a large number of pieces of error occurrence information are associated with failure locations.

[0081] Figure 11(c) shows a state where the operating period between the error being analyzed and the related error is longer than that of the intermittent failure pattern. In this case, since the period of stable operation is long, it is judged that the possibility of the specified failure state continuing forever is low. Therefore, it is judged that the error being analyzed and the related error are not caused by the same failure factor, but are each caused by independent failure factors.

[0082] That is, the CPU 201 determines that there is no associated error that has occurred due to the same fault cause as the error being analyzed. Since there is no associated error, this fault pattern is defined as "not occurring." In this case, since there is no information for fault estimation, fault estimation based on the counter value cannot be performed. The CPU 201 determines that there is no associated error within the range of threshold A, and that there is no associated error within the range of threshold B that is greater than threshold A, and determines that the fault pattern is not occurring.

[0083] Fig. 11(d) shows a state where no associated error has occurred. In such a case, since there is no information for making a fault inference, it is not possible to make a fault inference based on the counter value. This type of fault pattern is defined as not occurring, as in Fig. 11(c). The processing of the CPU 201 is the same as in Fig. 11(c). The CPU 201 determines that there is no associated error within the range of threshold A, and that there is no associated error within the range of threshold B that is greater than threshold A, and determines that the fault pattern is not occurring.

[0084] Fig. 12 is an example diagram of a fault estimation table. The fault estimation table in Fig. 12 is fault estimation information that compiles, for each combination of the error code of the error to be analyzed and the related error, information indicating the relationship between the judgment condition based on threshold value A and threshold value B, the fault pattern, and the fault location that may be the cause of the error. The CPU 201 performs fault estimation based on the fault estimation table. The fault estimation table is stored in the ROM 202, and is read out when fault estimation is executed. The fault estimation table will be described in detail.

[0085] No. 1 is a case where the error code to be analyzed is "Err001", the related error code is "Err001", and the failure pattern is continuous. This corresponds to failure mode A in FIG. 9. Threshold A for determining whether the failure is continuous or intermittent is 10 sheets. The CPU 201 determines that the case corresponds to No. 1 when an error with the related error code Err001 occurs within a range of 10 sheets or less, based on the time when the error with the error code Err001 to be analyzed occurs. In this case, the CPU 201 estimates that the location of the failure is either the developer supply container TB or the container drive unit 207.

[0086] No. 2 is a case where the error code to be analyzed is "Err001", the related error code is "Err001", and the failure pattern is intermittent. This corresponds to failure mode B in FIG. 9. Threshold B for determining whether it is intermittent or not occurring is 1000 sheets. CPU 201 determines that it corresponds to No. 2 when an error of related error code Err001 occurs within a range of more than 10 sheets and not more than 1000 sheets, based on the time when an error of error code Err001 to be analyzed occurs. In this case, CPU 201 estimates that the location of the failure is operation status detection unit 208.

[0087] No. 3 is a case where the error code to be analyzed is "Err001", the related error code is "Err001", and no failure pattern occurs. The CPU 201 determines that the case corresponds to No. 3 when the error of the related error code Err001 has not occurred within a range of 1000 sheets or less from the time when the error of the error code Err001 to be analyzed occurred. In this case, since the CPU 201 does not have information for estimating a failure, it estimates that the failure location is any one of all the locations related to the error code Err001 to be analyzed. The any one of all the locations related to the error code Err001 to be analyzed is any one of the developer supply container TB, the container drive unit 207, and the operation state detection unit 208.

[0088] No. 4 is a case where the error code to be analyzed is "Err002", the related error code is "Err001", and the failure pattern is continuous. When both the error code Err002 and the error code Err001 occur, the only failure part that can be a common cause of the failure is the container driving unit 207, as shown in FIG. 9. Therefore, the CPU 201 estimates that the failure part is the container driving unit 207 regardless of the counter value. The threshold A for determining whether the failure is continuous or intermittent is 10 sheets. The CPU 201 determines that the case corresponds to No. 4 when the error code Err002 to be analyzed occurs within a range of 10 sheets or less from the time when the error code Err002 occurs. In this case, the CPU 201 estimates that the failure part is the container driving unit 207.

[0089] In No. 5, the error code to be analyzed is "Err002", the related error code is "Err001", and the failure pattern is intermittent. Like No. 4, both the error code Err002 and the error code Err001 have occurred, and the failure location and the processing of the CPU 201 are the same as in No. 4. No. 4 and No. 5 may be combined into one case with the judgment condition set to 1000 sheets or less.

[0090] The following is an example of a case where an error with error code Err001 has occurred in the past and then an error with error code Err002 occurs: For example, after an error with error code Err001 occurs due to a malfunction of the container drive unit 207, the CE operates the operation unit 205 to check the state of the developer supply container TB, and forcibly opens the container replacement door 213. Even if an attempt is made to open the container replacement door 213, an error with error code Err002 occurs because the container drive unit 207 is malfunctioning.

[0091] No. 6 is a case where the error code to be analyzed is "Err002", the related error code is "Err001", and no failure pattern occurs. The CPU 201 determines that the case corresponds to No. 6 when the error of the related error code Err001 has not occurred within a range of 1000 sheets or less from the time when the error of the error code Err002 to be analyzed occurred. In this case, since the CPU 201 does not have information for estimating the failure, it estimates that the failure location is any one of all the locations related to the error code Err002 to be analyzed. The any one of all the locations related to the error code Err002 to be analyzed is any one of the container drive unit 207, the link member 3011, the link shaft 7001, and the open / close detection sensor 214.

[0092] No. 7 is a case where the error code to be analyzed is "Err002", the related error code is "Err002", and the failure pattern is continuous. This corresponds to failure modes C and D in FIG. 9. The threshold A for determining whether the failure is continuous or intermittent is 10 sheets. The CPU 201 determines that the case corresponds to No. 7 when an error with the related error code Err002 has occurred within a range of 10 sheets or less from the time when the error with the error code Err002 to be analyzed occurred. In this case, the CPU 201 estimates that the failure location is either the container drive unit 207, the link member 3011, or the link shaft 7001.

[0093] No. 8 is a case where the error code to be analyzed is "Err002", the related error code is "Err002", and the failure pattern is intermittent. This corresponds to failure mode E in FIG. 9. Threshold B for determining whether the failure is intermittent or not occurring is 1000 sheets. CPU 201 determines that No. 8 applies when an error with related error code Err002 has occurred within a range of more than 10 sheets and not exceeding 1000 sheets from the time when the error with error code Err002 to be analyzed has occurred. In this case, CPU 201 estimates that the failure location is the open / close detection sensor 214.

[0094] No. 9 is a case where the error code to be analyzed is "Err002", the related error code is "Err002", and no failure pattern occurs. The CPU 201 determines that the case corresponds to No. 9 when the error of the related error code Err002 has not occurred within a range of 1000 sheets or less from the time when the error of the error code Err002 to be analyzed occurred. In this case, since the CPU 201 does not have information for estimating the failure, it estimates that the failure location is any one of all the locations related to the error Err002 to be analyzed. The any one of all the locations related to the error Err002 to be analyzed is any one of the container drive unit 207, the link member 3011, the link shaft 7001, and the open / close detection sensor 214.

[0095] 13 is a flowchart showing the process of accumulating error-related information and the process of estimating the location of a failure. This series of processes is executed when an error occurs in the image forming apparatus 100.

[0096] The CPU 201 acquires information related to a previously occurring error from the on-board data storage memory 204 (S101). The CPU 201 accumulates information related to a newly occurring error in the on-board data storage memory 204 (S102). The CPU 201 acquires a failure estimation table from the ROM 202 (S103).

[0097] The CPU 201 judges the failure pattern of the associated error based on the past error related information (S104). This judgment is made for each associated error. For example, when the error code to be analyzed is "Err002", the CPU 201 judges that there are two associated error codes corresponding to "Err002", "Err001" and "Err002", based on the failure estimation table, and judges the failure pattern. The method of judging the failure pattern will be described later in detail.

[0098] The CPU 201 estimates the fault location from the error code and the fault pattern based on the fault estimation table (S105). For example, when the analysis target error code is "Err001", the related error code is "Err001", and the fault pattern is continuous, the CPU 201 estimates that the fault location is either the developer supply container TB or the container driving unit 207. When multiple types of related errors occur and correspond to multiple fault patterns, the CPU 201 combines the fault locations estimated for each fault pattern to obtain an estimation result. For example, it is assumed that the analysis target error code is "Err002", the related error code is "Err001", and the fault pattern is continuous, and that both the related error code is "Err002", and the fault pattern is intermittent are obtained. In this case, the CPU 201 estimates that either the container driving unit 207 or the open / close detection sensor 214, which are the respective fault locations, is the fault location.

[0099] Based on the inference result of the failure inference process, CPU 201 displays information on the failure location on operation unit 205 (S106). With this, CPU 201 ends a series of processes. Note that not only the failure location but also maintenance-related information may be displayed on operation unit 205. The maintenance-related information is, for example, a part replacement procedure and an estimate of the work time required for maintenance. The maintenance-related information corresponding to the failure location is, for example, stored in ROM 202 in advance. After inferring the failure, CPU 201 reads out the corresponding maintenance-related information from ROM 202 and displays it on operation unit 205. Furthermore, if image forming apparatus 100 is connected to a network, CPU 201 notifies CE of the failure location and maintenance-related information via the network.

[0100] FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the failure pattern determination process in S104. CPU 201 calculates the difference in counter value between the error to be analyzed and the associated error, and determines whether the calculated difference is within threshold A (S201). As described above, threshold A is 10 printed sheets in this embodiment. For example, if the cumulative number of printed sheets for the error to be analyzed is 100,000 sheets and the cumulative number of printed sheets for the associated error is 99,999 sheets, the difference is 1 sheet. CPU 201 determines whether this difference is within threshold A, which is 10 sheets.

[0101] If the difference is within threshold A (S201: Y), CPU 201 determines that the failure pattern is continuous (S202) and ends the failure pattern determination process. If the difference is greater than threshold A (S201: N), CPU 201 determines whether the difference calculated in the process of S201 is greater than threshold A and within threshold B (S203). As described above, threshold B is 1000 printed sheets in this embodiment. If the difference is within threshold B (S203: Y), CPU 201 determines that the failure pattern is intermittent (S204) and ends the failure pattern determination process. If the difference is greater than threshold B (S203: N), CPU 201 determines that the failure pattern has not occurred (S205) and ends the failure pattern determination process. In the first fault estimation described above, the fault location is estimated based on the occurrence timing of related errors relative to the error being analyzed.

[0102] (Second failure assumption) The second fault estimation is a fault estimation in the case where a plurality of fault patterns occur due to a plurality of related errors for the error to be analyzed. FIGS. 15 and 16 are explanatory diagrams of fault patterns. The horizontal axis in FIGS. 15 and 16 is the counter value of the image forming apparatus 100, as in FIG. 11. The triangular mark indicates the timing at which the error occurred. The white triangular mark indicates the error to be analyzed for the fault estimation. The black triangular mark indicates an error that occurred earlier than the error to be analyzed. FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the fault location estimation process of S105 in FIG. 13. Here, the error to be analyzed is the error with error code Err002 (see FIG. 9), the first related error of the multiple related errors is the error with error code Err001, and the second related error of the multiple related errors is the error with error code Err002.

[0103] The failure pattern shown in FIG. 15(a) represents a failure state in which the operation period between the analysis target error and the first and second related errors is short, and an error occurs immediately after restarting the operation. In this case, the CPU 201 performs the process of S101 to S105 in the flowchart of FIG. 13, and estimates the failure location based on the failure patterns No. 4 and No. 7 in the failure estimation table of FIG. 12. Specifically, No. 4 is a case in which the error code of the analysis target error is Err002, the error code of the related error is Err001, and the failure pattern is continuous. In this case, the CPU 201 estimates the failure location to be the container driving unit 207. No. 7 is a case in which the error code of the analysis target error is Err002, the error code of the related error is Err002, and the failure pattern is continuous. In this case, the CPU 201 estimates the failure location to be any one of the container driving unit 207, the link member 3011, and the link shaft 7001.

[0104] The container drive unit 207 is estimated as the faulty part in both the failure patterns No. 4 and No. 7. If the link member 3011 or the link shaft 7001 were the faulty part, it would be estimated that the container drive unit 207 also failed because the failure pattern No. 4 occurred. In other words, it is estimated that multiple failures, such as a failure of the container drive unit 207 and a failure of the link member 3011, or a failure of the container drive unit 207 and a failure of the link shaft 7001, occurred close to the time when the error to be analyzed occurred. Such simultaneous occurrence of two failures is hereinafter referred to as a "double failure." Here, from experience, the possibility of a double failure occurring is quite low. Therefore, in such a case, it is considered that the faulty part is highly likely to be the container drive unit 207, which is estimated as the faulty part in both the failure patterns No. 4 and No. 7.

[0105] When multiple failure patterns occur, the CPU 201 performs the failure location estimation process of S105 in Fig. 13 as shown in Fig. 17. The CPU 201 estimates the failure location from the failure pattern by the first failure estimation using the failure table in Fig. 12 (S105a). When multiple failure patterns occur, the CPU 201 performs the first failure estimation for each failure pattern and estimates the failure location of each failure pattern. Next, the CPU 201 estimates the failure location of the analysis target error by combining the estimation results of the failure location from the multiple failure patterns using the second failure estimation (S105b).

[0106] 15(a), CPU 201 combines container drive unit 207 estimated from failure pattern No. 4 with container drive unit 207, link member 3011, and link shaft 7001 estimated from failure pattern No. 7. As a result, CPU 201 estimates container drive unit 207, which has the highest estimation frequency, as the faulty part. CPU 201 can therefore notify the user or CE that the fault will be resolved by repairing and treating container drive unit 207 during maintenance, and can provide information useful for preparing replacement parts and shortening work time during maintenance.

[0107] The failure pattern shown in Fig. 15(b) represents a failure state in which the operation period between the analysis target error and the first related error is short, and the operation period between the analysis target error and the second related error is long. That is, Fig. 15(b) is a case in which the failure patterns No. 4 and No. 8 in Fig. 12 occur. Therefore, the CPU 201 estimates the failure location based on the failure patterns No. 4 and No. 8 by the process in Fig. 13 and the failure estimation table shown in Fig. 12. In the case of the failure pattern No. 4, the CPU 201 estimates the failure location to be the container driving unit 207. Similarly, in the case of the failure pattern No. 8, the CPU 201 estimates the failure location to be the open / close detection sensor 214.

[0108] 17, which is the second fault estimation. In this case, the estimation frequencies of the container driving unit 207 and the open / close detection sensor 214 are the same and the highest. Therefore, the CPU 201 estimates the container driving unit 207 and the open / close detection sensor 214 as the fault locations of the analysis target error by the processing of S105b.

[0109] This failure pattern suggests that a double failure has occurred. Therefore, the CPU 201 can notify the user or CE that multiple failures need to be repaired or dealt with during maintenance. This makes it possible to provide useful information for planning maintenance and preparing replacement parts.

[0110] The failure pattern shown in Fig. 15(c) represents a failure state in which the operating period between the analysis target error and the first related error is long, and the operating period between the analysis target error and the second related error is short. That is, Fig. 15(c) is a case in which the failure patterns No. 5 and No. 7 in Fig. 12 occur. Therefore, the CPU 201 estimates the failure location based on the failure patterns No. 5 and No. 7 by the process in Fig. 13 and the failure estimation table shown in Fig. 12. In the case of the failure pattern No. 5, the CPU 201 estimates the failure location to be the container driving unit 207. Similarly, in the case of the failure pattern No. 7, the CPU 201 estimates the failure location to be either the container driving unit 207, the link member 3011, or the link shaft 7001.

[0111] 17, which is the second fault estimation. In this case, since the estimation frequency of the container driving unit 207 is the highest, the CPU 201 estimates the container driving unit 207 as the fault location of the error to be analyzed. Therefore, the CPU 201 can notify the user or CE that the fault will be resolved if the container driving unit 207 is repaired or treated during maintenance, and can provide information that is useful for preparing replacement parts and shortening the work time during maintenance.

[0112] The failure pattern shown in Fig. 15(d) represents a failure state in which the operation period between the analysis target error and the first and second related errors is long. That is, Fig. 15(d) is a case in which failure patterns No. 5 and No. 8 in Fig. 12 occur. Therefore, the CPU 201 estimates the failure location based on the failure patterns No. 5 and No. 8 by the process in Fig. 13 and the failure estimation table shown in Fig. 12. In the case of failure pattern No. 5, the CPU 201 estimates the failure location to be the container driving unit 207. Similarly, in the case of failure pattern No. 8, the CPU 201 estimates the failure location to be the open / close detection sensor 214.

[0113] Further, similarly to the above, the CPU 201 performs the process of S105b in FIG. 17, which is the second fault estimation. In this case, the estimation frequencies of the container driving unit 207 and the open / close detection sensor 214 are the same and are the most frequent. Therefore, based on the second fault estimation, the CPU 201 estimates that the container driving unit 207 and the open / close detection sensor 214 are the fault locations of the error to be analyzed. This fault pattern suggests that a double fault has occurred. Therefore, the CPU 201 can notify the user or CE that multiple faults need to be repaired and dealt with during maintenance. This makes it possible to provide useful information for planning maintenance and preparing replacement parts.

[0114] The failure pattern shown in FIG. 16(a) represents a state in which the operating period between the analysis target error and the first related error is short, and the operating period between the analysis target error and the second related error is longer than the intermittent failure pattern. In this case, multiple related errors occur, but only one related error occurs within threshold B. Therefore, the CPU 201 determines that only the first related error has occurred for the analysis target error. Specifically, the CPU 201 determines that the failure pattern No. 4 in FIG. 12 has occurred. Therefore, the CPU 201 estimates that the container driving unit 207 is the failure location of the analysis target error.

[0115] The failure pattern shown in Fig. 16(b) represents a state in which the operating period between the analysis target error and the first related error is longer than that of the intermittent failure pattern, and the operating period between the analysis target error and the second related error is longer. In this case as well, the CPU 201 determines that only the second related error has occurred for the analysis target error. Specifically, the CPU 201 determines that the failure pattern No. 8 in Fig. 12 has occurred. Therefore, the CPU 201 estimates that the open / close detection sensor 214 is the failure location of the analysis target error.

[0116] In other words, even if multiple related errors occur for the error being analyzed, the CPU 201 will not determine that they are related errors unless they occur within threshold B, and will perform fault estimation by assuming that only a related error within threshold B (in this example, only the second related error) has occurred alone.

[0117] The failure pattern shown in Fig. 16(c) represents a state in which the operation periods between the analysis target error and the first related error and the second related error are both longer than those of the intermittent failure pattern. Therefore, the CPU 201 performs the same failure estimation as for the failure pattern shown in Fig. 11(d).

[0118] In the second fault estimation described above, when multiple associated errors occur, the fault location of the analysis target error is estimated by combining the estimation results of each fault pattern. This makes it possible to estimate the fault location more clearly and obtain advanced information about the fault location than when the judgment results of each fault pattern are individually estimated as the fault location. In other words, the CPU 201 can provide the user or CE with useful information that leads to the preparation of parts required for treatment, the time required for treatment, and a reduction in the treatment time during maintenance of the fault location.

[0119] (Modification) In the above example, a configuration has been described in which error-related information is stored in the in-machine data storage memory 204 in the image forming apparatus 100, and the CPU 201 reads the error-related information from the in-machine data storage memory 204 and estimates the location of the failure. In this example, a case will be described in which these processes are performed by an information processing device provided outside the image forming apparatus 100.

[0120] 18 is a configuration diagram of a failure estimation system that estimates a failure location of an image forming apparatus using an external information processing device. The failure estimation system 1500 includes one or more image forming apparatuses 1501 and 1502, a server 1503, and a management device 1504. Here, two image forming apparatuses 1501 and 1502 are provided in the failure estimation system 1500. The image forming apparatuses 1501 and 1502 are configured by adding a network interface to the image forming apparatus 100, and form an image on a sheet S to create a deliverable. The server 1503 and the management device 1504 function as information processing devices that estimate a failure location based on in-machine data.

[0121] The image forming apparatuses 1501 and 1502, the server 1503, and the management apparatus 1504 are capable of communicating with each other via a network. Here, the network is the Internet 1505. The network may be an electric communication line such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network). The failure estimation system 1500 collects data from the image forming apparatuses 1501 and 1502, and estimates the cause of failure for each of the image forming apparatuses 1501 and 1502 based on the collected data.

[0122] When an error occurs, each of the image forming apparatuses 1501 and 1502 transmits error-related information about the error that has occurred to the server 1503 .

[0123] The server 1503 accumulates the error-related information, which is in-machine data acquired from each of the image forming apparatuses 1501 and 1502, for each of the acquired image forming apparatuses 1501 and 1502. In addition, the server 1503 transmits to the management apparatus 1504 the received error-related information and error-related information of errors that have occurred in the same image forming apparatus in the past.

[0124] 19 is a configuration diagram of the management device 1504. The management device 1504 includes a CPU 1601, a memory 1602, a storage 1603, a network interface (I / F) 1604, and an operation unit 1606. The CPU 1601, the memory 1602, the storage 1603, and the network I / F 1604 are communicatively connected via a system bus 1605.

[0125] The CPU 1601 controls the overall operation of the management device 1504. The memory 1602 stores a startup program for the CPU 1601 and data required for executing the startup program. The storage 1603 is a storage device having a larger capacity than the memory 1602, such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive). The storage 1603 stores the control program executed by the CPU 1601, etc.

[0126] The CPU 1601 executes a startup program stored in the memory 1602 when the management device 1504 is started. The startup program is a program for loading the control program stored in the storage 1603 into the memory 1602. The CPU 1601 executes the control program loaded into the memory 1602 and performs various controls. The CPU 1601 also communicates with other devices such as the server 1503 via the Internet 1505 through the network I / F 1604. The operation unit 1606 has the same functions as the operation unit 205. The operation unit 1606 inputs an instruction to the CPU 1601 to display a fault estimation result. The operation unit 1606 also displays the fault estimation result under the control of the CPU 1601.

[0127] 13, 14, and 17 based on the error-related information received from the server 1503, and estimates the location of the failure. The CPU 1601 transmits the result of the estimation of the failure location to the server 1503. The server 1503 stores the received result of the estimation of the failure location.

[0128] When an instruction to display the failure estimation result is input from the operation unit 1606, the CPU 1601 acquires the failure location estimation result from the server 1503 and displays information about the failure location on the operation unit 1606. Note that the CPU 1601 may display not only the failure location but also maintenance related information on the operation unit 1606. The maintenance related information is, for example, a part replacement procedure and an estimate of the work time required for maintenance. In this way, the failure location of the image forming apparatuses 1501 and 1502 managed by the failure estimation system 1500 is estimated and maintenance work is performed.

[0129] The image forming apparatus 100 and the fault estimation system 1500 of the present embodiment as described above estimate the fault location that caused the error based on the error occurrence pattern (error occurrence interval) determined using only the counter value included in the error-related information. This makes it possible to estimate the fault location with high accuracy without using a large amount of in-machine data such as the detection value by the sensor or the control value of the image forming apparatus.

Claims

1. An information processing device that communicates with a database that records information about errors that have occurred in an image forming device, an acquisition means for acquiring from the database a certain error and related errors that occurred before the certain error, and acquiring first information on the cumulative number of printed sheets in the image forming apparatus when the certain error occurred and second information on the cumulative number of printed sheets in the image forming apparatus when the related error occurred; a determining means for determining a cause of the certain error based on the first information and the second information; and an output unit that outputs the cause of the error determined by the determination unit. Information processing device.

2. The determination means determines the location of the cause of the certain error based on the difference between the cumulative number of printed sheets of the image forming device when the certain error occurred and the cumulative number of printed sheets of the image forming device when the related error occurred.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1.

3. The determination means is characterized in that it compares the difference between the cumulative number of printed sheets of the image forming device when the certain error occurs and the cumulative number of printed sheets of the image forming device when the related error occurs with a threshold value, and determines the location of the cause of the certain error based on the comparison result between the difference and the threshold value.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1.

4. The determination means If a first error is determined as the certain error, determining the cause of the first error based on a comparison result between the difference and a first threshold value; When a second error different from the first error is determined as the certain error, the cause of the second error is determined based on a comparison result between the difference and a second threshold value different from the first threshold value.

4. The information processing device according to claim 3.

5. The determination means is characterized in that, when the difference between the cumulative number of printed sheets of the image forming device when the certain error occurs and the cumulative number of printed sheets of the image forming device when the related error occurs exceeds an upper limit value, it determines a plurality of predetermined cause locations as the cause location of the certain error.

3. The information processing device according to claim 2.

6. The determination means is characterized in that, if the related error does not occur within a predetermined number of pages going back from the cumulative number of printed pages of the image forming device when the certain error occurred, it determines multiple causal locations as the causal location of the certain error.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1.

7. A notification method for notifying the cause of an error that has occurred in an image forming device, comprising: a selection step of selecting an error from a database storing information about an error that has occurred in the image forming apparatus; a related error acquisition step of acquiring, from the database, related errors that occurred earlier than the selected error; a print number acquisition step of acquiring first information on the cumulative number of prints of the image forming apparatus when the selected error occurred and second information on the cumulative number of prints of the image forming apparatus when the related error occurred; a notification step of notifying the cause of the selected error based on the first information and the second information.

8. The notification step is characterized in that the cause of the selected error is notified based on the difference between the cumulative number of printed sheets of the image forming device when the selected error occurred and the cumulative number of printed sheets of the image forming device when the related error occurred. The notification method according to claim 7.

9. The notification step is characterized in that the cause of the selected error is notified based on the result of comparing the difference between the cumulative number of printed sheets of the image forming device when the selected error occurred and the cumulative number of printed sheets of the image forming device when the related error occurred with a threshold value. The notification method according to claim 7.

10. The notification step comprises: When a first error is selected, notify the cause of the first error based on the result of comparing the difference between the cumulative number of printed sheets of the image forming apparatus when the first error occurred and the cumulative number of printed sheets of the image forming apparatus when an error related to the first error occurred earlier than the first error, with a first threshold value; When a second error different from the first error is selected, the cause of the second error is notified based on the result of comparing the difference between the cumulative number of printed sheets of the image forming device when the second error occurred and the cumulative number of printed sheets of the image forming device when an earlier related error occurred than the second error, with a second threshold different from the first threshold. The notification method according to claim 9.

11. The notification process is characterized in that, when the difference between the cumulative number of printed sheets of the image forming device when the selected error occurs and the cumulative number of printed sheets of the image forming device when the related error occurs exceeds an upper limit value, a plurality of predetermined cause locations are notified as the cause locations of the selected error. The notification method according to claim 7.

12. The notification step is characterized in that, if the related error does not occur within a predetermined number of pages going back from the cumulative number of printed pages of the image forming device when the selected error occurred, multiple cause locations are notified as the cause location of the selected error. The notification method according to claim 7.

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