Articles and methods

Abstract

To remember the disassembly information of items more accurately. [Solution] The article comprises a first unit, a second unit, a non-contact sensor attached to the second unit that outputs a detection signal that changes according to the distance from the first unit, and a storage means that stores first information indicating that the normalized detection signal output from the non-contact sensor has crossed a predetermined threshold.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an article and a method, and particularly to a technique for detecting and storing the disassembly of an article constituted by fastening a plurality of parts with fastening parts.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, for the purpose of protecting confidential information stored inside an article including an electronic device and as a countermeasure against illegal modification of the article, methods for determining that the article has been disassembled have been studied. In Patent Document 1, a method of recording an opening / closing history based on conduction information between a conductive circuit and an opening / closing switch provided opposite to the conductive circuit is disclosed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in the conventional technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the opening / closing history is recorded based on the conduction between the conductive circuit and the opening / closing switch, that is, the contact between the two. Therefore, when a contact failure occurs, it may become impossible to accurately record the opening / closing history. In particular, in an electronic device, when a general user opens the housing of the electronic device for the purpose of repair or the like, contact failure may occur due to dust or dirt entering the circuit part or insufficient fastening of the fastening member, increasing the possibility that the history is not accurately recorded.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to be able to more accurately store disassembly information of an article.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To achieve the above objective, the article of the present invention comprises a first unit, a second unit, a non-contact sensor attached to the second unit that outputs a detection signal that changes according to the distance from the first unit, and a storage means that stores first information indicating that the normalized detection signal output from the non-contact sensor has crossed a predetermined threshold. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, information on the disassembly of an article can be stored more accurately. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] External perspective view of the imaging device in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] An exploded perspective view of the imaging device in the embodiment. [Figure 3] A block diagram showing the functional configuration for disassembly detection in the first embodiment. [Figure 4] An enlarged perspective view showing the state of the imaging device during disassembly in the first embodiment. [Figure 5] This figure shows a graph illustrating the change in the output signal of the magnetic sensor in the first embodiment. [Figure 6] This figure shows a graph illustrating the change in the output signal of the TOF sensor in the second embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] The embodiments will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention as defined in the claims. While the embodiments describe multiple features, not all of these features are essential to the invention, and the features may be combined in any way. Furthermore, in the attached drawings, identical or similar configurations are given the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted.

[0010] <First Embodiment> The first embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In this embodiment, an imaging device is used as an example of an electronic device to which the present invention is applied, but the present invention is not limited to imaging devices. For example, it can be broadly applied to various articles in which at least a part of the housing can be separated, such as electronic devices in which electronic components are covered by a housing, or even articles in which mechanical components are covered by a housing.

[0011] ●Composition Figure 1 is an external perspective view of the imaging device 100 in this embodiment, which is an example of an electronic device. The exterior (housing) of the imaging device 100 is composed of a front cover unit 101, a top cover unit 102, a rear cover unit 103, a side cover unit 104, and a bottom cover unit 105, each formed of resin or the like. These exterior parts are fixed to the internal parts with fasteners such as screws (not shown). In this embodiment, the side cover unit 104 is the first exterior part to be removed when disassembling the imaging device 100. A mount portion 180 for attaching and detaching a lens unit (not shown) is provided on the front side of the imaging device 100. In the following description, the width direction of the imaging device 100 is defined as the X direction, the height direction of the imaging device 100 is defined as the Y direction, and the optical axis direction of the imaging device 100 is defined as the Z direction.

[0012] Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the imaging device 100. As shown in Figure 2, the imaging device 100 includes, in addition to the five exterior parts shown in Figure 1, internal parts enclosed by the exterior parts, such as the main body structure 106, mechanical shutter unit 107, imaging unit 108, and main circuit board 109. The mechanical shutter unit 107, imaging unit 108, and main circuit board 109 are fixed to the main body structure 6 by fastening parts such as screws (not shown). In this embodiment, when disassembling the internal parts of the imaging device 100, the main circuit board 109, imaging unit 108, and mechanical shutter unit 107 can be removed from the main body structure 106 in that order.

[0013] Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration related to disassembly detection, arranged in the main body structure 106, mechanical shutter unit 107, imaging unit 108, main circuit board 109, side cover unit 104, and bottom cover unit 105 of the imaging device 100. The internal configuration of the imaging device 100 will be described below with reference to Figures 2 and 3.

[0014] The mechanical shutter unit 107 includes a shutter curtain 107a and a drive unit 107b, the drive unit 107b having a coil section (not shown) and a rotating magnet 107c. The rotating magnet 107c is a permanent magnet, and when the surrounding magnetic field changes due to current being supplied to the coil section, the rotating magnet 107c rotates. The rotational force of the rotating magnet 107c is transmitted within the drive unit 107b and converted into translational force, which drives the shutter curtain 107a. Even when there is no current supplied to the coil section, a constant magnetic field is generated from the rotating magnet 107c, so in the first embodiment, this magnetic field is used to perform disassembly detection as described later.

[0015] The imaging unit 108 includes an imaging element 108a and a shake correction unit 108b. The imaging element 108a is held movably with respect to the shake correction unit 108b, and the shake correction unit 108b is fixed to the main body structure portion 106. The shake correction unit 108b has a coil portion (not shown) and magnets A 1081a and magnets B 1081b. The magnets A 1081a and the magnets B 1081b are permanent magnets, and their attractive force changes by energizing the coil portion. Based on the shake information obtained from a shake detection mechanism (for example, a gyro sensor or an image processing unit that acquires a motion vector between images) not shown, the shake correction unit 108b adjusts the amount of energization to the coil portion, thereby controlling the surrounding magnetic field. By utilizing the change in the attractive force of the magnets A 1081a and the magnets B 1081b due to this magnetic field control, the shake correction unit 108b shifts and rotates the imaging element 108a so as to cancel the amount of shake based on the shake information, thereby correcting the shake. Even when the energization to the coil portion is zero, a certain magnetic field is generated from the magnets A 1081a and the magnets B 1081b. Therefore, in the first embodiment, this magnetic field is utilized to perform decomposition detection as described later.

[0016] On the main board 109, a sensor unit 1090 including a non-contact sensor 109a, a memory 109b, and a CPU 109d, and a built-in battery 109c that supplies power to the sensor unit 1090 are mounted. In the first embodiment, since the non-contact sensor 109a is a magnetic sensor, hereinafter, in the first embodiment, it is referred to as the magnetic sensor 109a.

[0017] The magnetic sensor 109a outputs a detection signal according to the surrounding magnetic flux density. The memory 109b is a non-volatile memory such as an EEPROM, for example, and can record and erase information electrically. The built-in battery 109c is mainly a button battery and includes a primary battery such as an alkaline battery or a lithium battery, or a secondary battery such as a NiCd battery, a NiMH battery, or a Li battery. The power from the built-in battery 109c is used for recording information in the memory 109b and holding the information recorded in the memory 109b.

[0018] The CPU 109d monitors the detection signal output from the magnetic sensor 109a. When the detection signal changes, it determines which component constituting the imaging device 100 has been removed by the method described later, and stores the obtained information in the memory 109b. On the main board 109, although not shown, various electronic components such as an image processing engine, chip resistors, ceramic capacitors, inductors, transistors, etc. are mounted.

[0019] A control board 1060 is provided in the main body structure part 106, and a non-contact sensor 106a, a memory 106b, a CPU 106c, and a built-in battery 106d are mounted on the control board 1060. In the first embodiment, since the non-contact sensor 106a is a magnetic sensor, hereinafter, in the first embodiment, it is referred to as the magnetic sensor 106a.

[0020] ● Disassembly detection procedure Next, the detection procedure when components constituting the imaging device 100 are removed will be described. First, the detection procedure when the side cover unit 104 and the bottom cover unit 105, which are exterior components, are removed will be described. FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing a state in which the side cover unit 104 and the bottom cover unit 105 of the imaging device 100 are removed.

[0021] On the inner surface side of the side cover unit 104, a detection magnet 104a for disassembly detection is arranged. Also, the detection magnet 104a is arranged at a position near the magnetic sensor 109a in order to improve the disassembly detection accuracy. On the inner surface side of the bottom cover unit 105, a detection magnet 105a is arranged, and it is arranged at a position near the magnetic sensor 109a in order to improve the disassembly detection accuracy.

[0022] Conversely, in order to arrange the magnetic sensor 109a near the detection magnets 104a and 105a, it is desirable to arrange it near the boundary line between the side cover unit 104 and the bottom cover unit 105. However, the arrangement of the magnetic sensor 109a and the detection magnets 104a and 105a is not limited to the example shown in Figure 4, and can be appropriately determined depending on the sensitivity of the magnetic sensor 109a and the magnetic force of the detection magnets 104a and 105a used.

[0023] When the side cover unit 104 is removed, the detection magnet 104a moves away from the magnetic sensor 109a, causing the detection signal output from the magnetic sensor 109a to decrease. The CPU 109d on the main board 109 compares the detection signal with a pre-set threshold, and when the detection signal reaches the threshold, it changes the disassembly information stored inside the memory 109b and records the history. At this time, it detects which component has been removed using a method described later, links it to the disassembled component (in this case, the side cover unit 104), and changes the disassembly information accordingly.

[0024] For example, the numerical information "0" for the side cover unit 104 recorded in memory 109b is changed to "1" by adding 1. From the numerical information recorded in memory 109b, it is possible to check whether the side cover unit 104 has been removed and how many times it has been removed.

[0025] Similar to the side cover unit 104, when the bottom cover unit 105 is removed, the detection magnet 105a moves away from the magnetic sensor 109a, causing the detection signal output from the magnetic sensor 109a to decrease. When the detection signal from the magnetic sensor 109a reaches a threshold, the CPU 109b of the main board 109 detects which component has been removed using a method described later, links it to the disassembled component (in this case, the bottom cover unit 105), changes the disassembly information recorded inside the memory 109b, and records the history.

[0026] The detection signal output from the magnetic sensor 109a is affected by the magnetic fields of the detection magnets 104a and 105a, as well as the magnetic fields of the rotating magnet 107a, magnets A1081a and B1081b, and the magnetic field generated by energizing the coil (not shown) mentioned above. However, since the rotating magnets 107a, A1081a and B1081b, and the coil are far from the magnetic sensor 109a, the magnetic fields of the detection magnets 104a and 105a become dominant when detecting the disassembly of the side cover unit 104 and the bottom cover unit 105. Therefore, the resulting detection signal is also dominated by the signal corresponding to the magnetic fields of the detection magnets 104a and 105a. Thus, based on the change in the detection signal, disassembly detection of the side cover unit 104 and the bottom cover unit 105 can be performed.

[0027] Next, we will explain the detection procedure when the internal components, namely the main circuit board 109, the mechanical shutter unit 107, and the imaging unit 108, are removed.

[0028] When the main board 109 is removed, the magnetic sensor 109a mounted on the main board 109 moves away from the mechanical shutter unit 107 and the imaging unit 108. At this time, it moves away from the rotating magnet 107c included in the mechanical shutter unit 107 and magnets A1081a and B1081b included in the imaging unit 108. When the main board 109 is disassembled, the side cover unit 104 and the bottom cover unit 105 are removed, so the detection signal output from the magnetic sensor 109a is not affected by the magnetic fields of the detection magnets 104a and 105a. Also, when the side cover unit 104 and the bottom cover unit 105 are removed, the switch of the imaging device 100 is usually turned off, there is no power supplied to the coils, and no magnetic field is generated by the coils. Therefore, the magnetic fields of the rotating magnet 107c and magnets A1081a and B1081b become dominant, and it becomes possible to detect changes in these magnetic fields. Therefore, when the main board 109 is removed, the detection signal output from the magnetic sensor 109a decreases.

[0029] By normalizing the detection signal using the detection signal before the main board 109 is removed as the initial detection signal, it becomes possible to detect changes in the detection signal. Therefore, when the main board 109 is removed, just as when the side cover unit 104 and the bottom cover unit 105 are removed, the CPU 109b of the main board 109 detects which component has been removed using the method described later when the detection signal output from the magnetic sensor 109a reaches a threshold, links it to the disassembled component (in this case, the main board 109 itself), changes the disassembly information, and records the history.

[0030] Furthermore, the disassembly detection of the side cover unit 104, the bottom cover unit 105, and the main board 109 can be performed by normalizing the detection signal before each component is removed as an initial detection signal, and then comparing the detection signal output from the magnetic sensor 109a with the same threshold.

[0031] Furthermore, when the imaging device 100 is shipped from the production factory or when it is repaired by a certified repair person, the numerical information recorded in memory 109b may be reset to "0". In addition, memory 109b may store information such as the date and time when the detection signal reached the threshold.

[0032] Next, we will explain the detection procedure when the mechanical shutter unit 107 is removed.

[0033] Since the mechanical shutter unit 107 is a unit that can be removed after the main board 109, it cannot be detected as disassembled by the magnetic sensor 109a. Therefore, the CPU 106c mounted on the control board 1060 of the main body structure 106 uses the detection signal output from the magnetic sensor 106a, which is also mounted on the control board 106a, to detect disassembly in the same manner as the side cover unit 104 and the bottom cover unit 105. That is, when the detection signal from the magnetic sensor 106a reaches a threshold, the CPU 106c of the main body structure 106 detects which component has been removed using the method described later, links it to the disassembled component (in this case, the mechanical shutter unit 107), changes the disassembly information recorded in the memory 106b, and records the history.

[0034] Since the imaging unit 108 is a unit that can be removed after the main board 109, it cannot be detected by the magnetic sensor 109a. Therefore, similar to the mechanical shutter unit 107, the CPU 106c detects the disassembly of the imaging unit 108 using a detection signal output from the magnetic sensor 106a mounted on the control board 106a of the main body structure 106. Then, it modifies the disassembly information recorded in the memory 106b, linking it to the disassembled part (in this case, the imaging unit 108), and records the history.

[0035] ● How to distinguish disassembled parts Next, we will explain how to distinguish between the disassembled parts based on the detection signal output from the magnetic sensor 109a. Here, we will explain how to distinguish between the side cover unit 104 and the bottom cover unit 105 that has been removed, referring to Figure 5.

[0036] Figure 5 is a graph showing the change in the detection signal output from the magnetic sensor 109a. The horizontal axis L represents the distance between the magnetic sensor 109a and the detection magnet 104a or detection magnet 105a, and the vertical axis T represents the normalized value of the detection signal output from the magnetic sensor 109a. Curve 201 represents the detection signal when the side cover unit 104 is removed, and curve 202 represents the detection signal when the bottom cover unit 105 is removed. The normalized detection signal is the value obtained by dividing the detection signal output from the magnetic sensor 109a by the initial detection signal, and the initial detection signal is defined as the value of the detection signal immediately before the change in the detection signal.

[0037] The detection signal corresponds to the magnetic flux density passing through the magnetic sensor 109a, and decreases as the distance L between the magnetic sensor 109a and the detection magnet 104a or detection magnet 105a increases. During the disassembly operation, the distance L increases as the detection magnet 104a or detection magnet 105a moves away from its initial position, and the normalized detection signal is always a value of 1 or less. Also, since the magnetic flux density detected by the magnetic sensor 109a is a vector quantity, the curve shape differs depending on the direction in which the detection magnet 104a or 105a moves away and the magnetic force of the magnet used for detection. In this embodiment, when the side cover unit 104 is removed, the detection magnet 104a or 105a moves in the +X direction, and when the bottom cover unit 105 is removed, it moves in the -Y direction, so the shapes of curve 201 and curve 202 are different.

[0038] In this embodiment, a threshold TL is provided in the detection signal, which serves as a flag for decomposition detection. Lines 201a and 201b are tangents to curves 201 and 202 at threshold TL, respectively, and the slopes of lines 201a and 201b represent the slopes (amount of change) of curves 201 and 202 at threshold TL, respectively. When the detection signal reaches threshold TL, the CPU 109d of the main board 109 performs differential arithmetic on the detection signal. The numerical value obtained by the differential arithmetic is the slope of the curve at threshold TL, and this value allows for the distinction between whether the side cover unit 104 or the bottom cover unit 105 has been removed. In the example shown in Figure 5, when the slope is as shown by line 201a, it is determined that the side cover unit 104 has been removed, and when the slope is as shown by line 201b, it is determined that the bottom cover unit 105 has been removed. The correspondence between the slope at the threshold TL and the side cover unit 104 and the bottom cover unit 105 is measured and stored in advance, for example, before the product is shipped from the factory.

[0039] The removal of the main board 109, shutter unit 107, and imaging unit 108 can also be distinguished using a similar differential calculation process. Of these, regarding the detection of the removal of the main board 109, as described above, the detection signals from the magnetic fields of the rotating magnet 107c, magnet A1081a, and magnet B1081b of the imaging unit 108 are smaller than the detection signals from the magnetic fields of the detection magnets 104a and 105a. Therefore, when the detection signal reaches the threshold TL, the initial detection signal value may be used to determine whether the side cover unit 104 or the bottom cover unit 105 has been removed, or whether the main board 109 has been removed.

[0040] As described above, according to the first embodiment, accurate and reliable disassembly information can be obtained using a magnetic sensor and a magnet, which are non-contact sensors.

[0041] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the side cover unit 104, bottom cover unit 105, main board 109, shutter unit 107, and imaging unit 108 were described as components for disassembly detection, but the present invention is not limited to the types of components. It is sufficient to enable disassembly detection of any component constituting an article using a magnetic field and magnetic sensors.

[0042] Furthermore, while the above example described the use of two magnetic sensors to detect the removal of exterior and internal components, the number of magnetic sensors may be one or three or more, depending on the components being disassembled and detected. Also, the arrangement of the magnetic sensors and magnets is not limited to the example above. In other words, it should be appropriately modified according to the configuration and shape of the item being disassembled and detected.

[0043] <Second Embodiment> Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment described above, the case in which magnetic sensors 109a and 106a are used as non-contact sensors was explained. In this second embodiment, the case in which a TOF (Time Of Flight) sensor is used as a non-contact sensor will be explained.

[0044] When using TOF sensors as non-contact sensors, a TOF sensor is provided for each object to be disassembled and detected. That is, if you want to detect the disassembly of the side cover unit 104 and the bottom cover unit 105, you install two TOF sensors. Also, when using TOF sensors, the detection magnets 104a and 105a that were provided on the side cover unit 104 and the bottom cover unit 105 in the first embodiment shown in Figure 4 become unnecessary. Aside from the two points mentioned above, the components are the same as those of the first embodiment, so the explanation will be omitted.

[0045] In this embodiment, the exterior parts used for disassembly detection are the side cover unit 104 and the bottom cover unit 105, but other exterior parts may also be used. Furthermore, disassembly detection of the shutter unit 107 and imaging unit 108, which can be removed after the main board 109 is disassembled, can be performed by mounting TOF sensors for disassembly detection of each unit on the control board of the main body structure 106 instead of the magnetic sensor 106a.

[0046] Figure 6 is a graph showing the change in the detection signal of the TOF sensor when the side cover unit 104 is removed. The horizontal axis L represents the distance between the TOF sensor and the side cover 104, and the vertical axis T represents the detection signal. Here, the detection signal is a value indicating time (for example, the measured time or count value). The detection signal increases in proportion to the distance between the TOF sensor and the side cover unit 104. In this embodiment, a threshold TL' is set based on a value offset to 0 for the initial position of each component, and when the detection signal reaches the threshold TL', the disassembly information recorded inside the memory 109b is changed and the history is recorded.

[0047] Alternatively, the detection signal normalized using the initial detection signal before each component is removed may be compared with a single threshold TL', or different thresholds may be set for each component, and when the distance to each component exceeds the threshold, the disassembly information recorded in memory 109b may be changed and the history recorded.

[0048] As described above, according to the second embodiment, accurate and reliable disassembly information can be obtained using a TOF sensor, which is a non-contact sensor.

[0049] In this embodiment, the disassembly detection procedure for the side cover unit 104 has been described, but this is merely an example and is not limited to this. Similarly, the arrangement of the TOF sensors is also merely an example and is not limited to this. In other words, the arrangement of the TOF sensors can be changed depending on the unit whose disassembly you want to detect.

[0050] It should be noted that the disassembly procedure and configuration s for disassembly detection described in this embodiment are merely examples and are not limited to the above-mentioned examples. Furthermore, although this embodiment describes the use of a magnetic sensor and a TOF sensor as non-contact sensors, the present invention is not limited to magnetic sensors and TOF sensors.

[0051] <Summary> This embodiment includes the following configuration. (Item 1) The first unit and, The second unit, A non-contact sensor attached to the second unit and outputting a detection signal that changes according to the distance from the first unit, When the normalized detection signal output from the non-contact sensor changes across a predetermined threshold, a storage means stores first information indicating that the signal has changed across the threshold. An article characterized by having the following: (Item 2) The article according to item 1, further characterized in that the storage means stores date and time information when the detection signal reaches the threshold. (Item 3) The article according to item 1 or 2, characterized in that the first information is the number of times the detection signal has changed across the threshold. (Item 4) The article according to any one of items 1 to 3, characterized in that the second unit is surrounded by the outer casing of the article. (Item 5) The article according to item 4, characterized in that the first unit constitutes a part of the exterior. (Item 6) The article according to item 4, characterized in that the first unit is surrounded by the exterior part. (Item 7) The non-contact sensor is a magnetic sensor, The article according to any one of items 1 to 6, characterized in that the first unit has a magnet, and the non-contact sensor outputs a detection signal corresponding to the strength of the magnetic field. (Item 8) A third unit having a magnet, The system further includes processing means for processing the detection signal from the non-contact sensor, The detection signal output by the non-contact sensor further changes according to the distance to the third unit. The processing means determines, based on the amount of change in the detection signal when the detection signal reaches the threshold, whether the distance between the non-contact sensor and the first unit or the third unit has changed. The article according to item 7, characterized in that the storage means stores the first information in association with the first unit or the third unit based on the determination. (Item 9) The article according to any one of items 1 to 7, characterized in that the non-contact sensor is a TOF (Time Of Flight) sensor. (Item 10) The article described in any one of items 1 to 9 is characterized in that the article is an electronic device. (Item 11) The article described in any one of items 1 to 9, characterized in that the article is an imaging device. (Item 12) The article according to item 11, characterized in that the second unit is a component that is removed from the imaging device before the first unit. (Item 13) The article according to item 11, characterized in that the second unit is a component that remains in the imaging device even after the first unit has been removed. (Item 14) The first unit and the second unit are surrounded by the exterior of the imaging device. The article according to any one of items 11 to 13, characterized in that the first unit is a shutter unit. (Item 15) The first unit and the second unit are surrounded by the exterior of the imaging device. The article according to any one of items 11 to 13, characterized in that the first unit is an imaging unit including an image sensor. (Item 16) A method for detecting and storing that a first unit or a second unit has been removed from an article comprising a first unit and a second unit, An output step in which a non-contact sensor attached to the second unit outputs a detection signal that changes according to the distance from the first unit, A storage means stores information indicating that the normalized signal of the detection signal output in the output step has crossed a predetermined threshold when the normalized signal crosses a predetermined threshold. A method characterized by having the following:

[0052] The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, claims are attached to disclose the scope of the invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0053] 100…Imaging device, 101…Front cover unit, 102…Top cover unit, 103…Rear cover unit, 104…Side cover unit, 104a…Detection magnet, 105…Bottom cover unit, 105a…Detection magnet, 106…Main body structure, 106a…Magnetic sensor (or TOF sensor), 106b…Memory, 106c…CPU, 106d…Built-in battery, 107…Mechanical shutter unit, 107c…Rotating magnet, 108…Imaging unit, 1081a…Magnet A, 1081b…Magnet B, 109…Main board, 109a…Magnetic sensor (or TOF sensor), 109b…Memory, 109c…Built-in battery, 109d…CPU, 200…Output signal of magnetic sensor, 203…Output signal of TOF sensor

Claims

1. The first unit and The second unit, A non-contact sensor attached to the second unit outputs a detection signal that changes according to the distance from the first unit, When the normalized detection signal output from the non-contact sensor changes across a predetermined threshold, a storage means stores first information indicating that the signal has changed across the threshold. An article characterized by having the following:

2. The article according to claim 1, further characterized in that the storage means stores date and time information when the detection signal reaches the threshold.

3. The article according to claim 1, characterized in that the first information is the number of times the detection signal has changed across the threshold.

4. The article according to claim 1, characterized in that the second unit is surrounded by the exterior of the article.

5. The article according to claim 4, characterized in that the first unit constitutes a part of the exterior portion.

6. The article according to claim 4, characterized in that the first unit is surrounded by the exterior portion.

7. The non-contact sensor is a magnetic sensor, The article according to claim 1, characterized in that the first unit has a magnet, and the non-contact sensor outputs a detection signal corresponding to the strength of the magnetic field.

8. A third unit having a magnet, The system further includes processing means for processing the detection signal from the non-contact sensor, The detection signal output by the non-contact sensor further changes according to the distance to the third unit. The processing means determines, based on the amount of change in the detection signal when the detection signal reaches the threshold, whether the distance between the non-contact sensor and the first unit or the third unit has changed. The article according to claim 7, characterized in that the storage means stores the first information in association with the first unit or the third unit based on the determination.

9. The article according to claim 1, characterized in that the non-contact sensor is a TOF (Time Of Flight) sensor.

10. The article according to claim 1, characterized in that the article is an electronic device.

11. The article according to claim 1, characterized in that the article is an imaging device.

12. The article according to claim 11, characterized in that the second unit is a component that is removed from the imaging device before the first unit.

13. The article according to claim 11, characterized in that the second unit is a component that remains in the imaging device even after the first unit has been removed.

14. The first unit and the second unit are surrounded by the exterior of the imaging device. The article according to claim 11, characterized in that the first unit is a shutter unit.

15. The first unit and the second unit are surrounded by the exterior of the imaging device. The article according to claim 11, characterized in that the first unit is an imaging unit including an image sensor.

16. A method for detecting and storing that a first unit or a second unit has been removed from an article comprising a first unit and a second unit, An output step in which a non-contact sensor attached to the second unit outputs a detection signal that changes according to the distance from the first unit, A storage means stores information indicating that the normalized signal of the detection signal output in the output step has crossed a predetermined threshold when the normalized signal crosses a predetermined threshold. A method characterized by having the following:

Images