Sound diagnostic system, sound diagnostic device, sound diagnostic program, mobile terminal, and troubleshooting method

Abstract

We provide a sound diagnostic system that can more accurately analyze the cause of abnormal noises. [Solution] The sound diagnostic system 1 consists of a mobile terminal 2 and an external device 3. The mobile terminal 2 includes a sound acquisition unit (control unit 21) that acquires sounds emitted by the image forming apparatus when it is in trouble, a designation unit (control unit 21) that designates the sound location information by an area region whose size can be arbitrarily changed, a first transmission unit (control unit 21) that transmits the sound information and location information to the external device, a second reception unit (control unit 21) that receives specific information from the external device 3, and a display unit 231 that displays the received specific information. The external device 3 includes a first reception unit (control unit 31) that receives the sound information and location information, a designation unit (control unit 31) that identifies similar information as specific information from among the trouble-related information stored in the database 32 based on the sound information or location information, and a second transmission unit (control unit 31) that transmits the specific information to the mobile terminal 2.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a sound diagnostic system, a sound diagnostic device, a sound diagnostic program, a mobile terminal, and a method for identifying problems. [Background technology]

[0002] When an abnormal noise is emitted from an image forming apparatus, it may not be possible to identify the cause of the noise based solely on the sound information and its analysis results. For example, this may occur when numerous waveforms similar to the waveform obtained from the frequency analysis of the sound information exist, and other characteristics such as periodicity cannot be confirmed.

[0003] Therefore, Patent Documents 1 and 2 propose a method for identifying the cause of an abnormal noise using both the sound information of the abnormal noise and the location information where the abnormal noise occurred. Specifically, a method is proposed in which the analysis results of the sound information are compared with the analysis results of sound information previously acquired using the location information where the sound occurred, in order to identify the cause of the abnormal noise. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2017-116473 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2017-122665 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0005] However, the methods described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 record location information separately for areas divided by predefined boundaries, which can lead to the following problems. For example, if an abnormal noise occurs near a boundary line, the location information may mistakenly record an adjacent area instead of the area where the noise actually occurred. In this case, it may become impossible to accurately refer to the location information when retrieving information about past troubles based on the location information. Furthermore, because each area is predetermined, even if the location of the abnormal noise differs within the same area, the location information is recorded as if the noise occurred in the same area. This also makes it difficult to perform detailed analysis based on subtle differences in the location of the abnormal noise.

[0006] The objective of this invention is to provide a sound diagnostic system, sound diagnostic device, sound diagnostic program, portable terminal, and trouble identification method that can more accurately identify the cause of abnormal noise. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To achieve the above objective, the sound diagnostic system described in claim 1 is: A sound acquisition unit that acquires sound information from sounds emitted by the image forming apparatus when it malfunctions, A designation unit that specifies the position information of the aforementioned sound information as position information by specifying an area of ​​any size at any position, A first transmission unit that associates sound information acquired by the sound acquisition unit with location information specified by the designation unit and transmits it to an external device, A second receiving unit that receives sound information acquired by the sound acquisition unit from an external device or specific information identified based on location information specified by the designation unit, A portable terminal comprising: a display unit that displays the specific information received by the second receiving unit from an external device as a specific result; A first receiving unit that receives sound information acquired by the sound acquisition unit and location information specified by the designation unit from the aforementioned mobile terminal, A specifying unit that specifies, as specific information, information with similar position information from information on a plurality of troubles that occur in an image forming apparatus stored in a database based on the sound information acquired by the sound acquisition unit or the position information specified by the specifying unit; An external device comprising: a second transmission unit that transmits the specific information specified by the specifying unit to the mobile terminal.

[0008] The invention according to claim 2 is the sound diagnosis system according to claim 1, wherein The first transmission unit transmits including information on the location where the trouble occurs and the date and time when the trouble occurs, indicating the location where the image forming apparatus is installed.

[0009] The invention according to claim 3 is the sound diagnosis system according to claim 1, wherein Each time the area region specified by the specifying unit is changed, the first transmission unit transmits the changed position information to the external device.

[0010] The invention according to claim 4 is the sound diagnosis system according to claim 1, wherein The specifying unit specifies one or more pieces of information on troubles in which the sound information acquired by the sound acquisition unit and the position information specified by the specifying unit are similar as specific information from the information on a plurality of troubles that occur in the image forming apparatus stored in the database.

[0011] The invention according to claim 5 is the sound diagnosis system according to claim 1, wherein The specifying unit calculates a score based on the degree of overlap of the area regions, the proximity of the positions of the area regions, or the size of the area regions, for the area region included in the position information and the area region specified by the specifying unit among the information on a plurality of troubles that occur in the image forming apparatus stored in the database, and specifies, as specific information, information on at least one trouble in descending order of the score.

[0012] The invention according to claim 6 is the sound diagnosis system according to claim 1, wherein The specific part identifies one or more movable parts having sound information similar to the sound information acquired by the sound acquisition part, from among the movable parts included in the area region designated by the designation part, as specific information.

[0013] The invention according to claim 7 is the sound diagnosis system according to claim 5, each time the area region designated by the designation part is changed, the specific part calculates a score based on a predetermined criterion for the area region after the change and the area region included in the position information among the information on a plurality of troubles occurring in the image forming apparatus stored in the database, and re-identifies the information on the trouble as specific information based on the score.

[0014] The invention according to claim 8 is the sound diagnosis system according to claim 5, The display part displays a plurality of the specific information in descending order of score.

[0015] The invention according to claim 9 is the sound diagnosis system according to claim 1, the display part displays one or more pieces of specific information as a specific result, and includes a sound reproduction part that reproduces a sound corresponding to the selected specific result when one specific result is selected by a user or the system.

[0016] The mobile terminal according to claim 10 includes a sound acquisition part that acquires, as sound information, the sound emitted by the image forming apparatus during a trouble, a designation part that designates, as position information, information on the position of the sound information by an area region of an arbitrary size at an arbitrary position, a transmission part that associates the sound information acquired by the sound acquisition part with the position information designated by the designation part and transmits the associated information to an external device, a reception part that receives specific information specified based on the sound information acquired by the sound acquisition part or the position information designated by the designation part from the external device, and a display part that displays the specific information received from the external device.

[0017] The sound diagnostic device according to claim 11 is A sound diagnostic device that identifies multiple problems occurring in an image forming apparatus using sound, A receiving unit that receives sound information related to sounds emitted by an image forming apparatus and location information related to the location of said sound information from a mobile terminal, A specification unit that identifies information relating to similar troubles from among a plurality of troubles occurring in an image forming apparatus stored in a database based on the sound information or the position information, The system includes a transmission unit that transmits the specific information identified by the identification unit to the mobile terminal.

[0018] The sound diagnostic program according to claim 12 is A computer on a mobile device, Sound acquisition means for acquiring sound information from sounds emitted by an image forming apparatus when it malfunctions. A designation means for specifying the position information of the sound information as position information by an area of ​​any size at any position, A transmission means that transmits sound information acquired by the sound acquisition means and location information specified by the designation means to an external device. Receiving means for receiving sound information acquired by the sound acquisition means from an external device or specific information identified based on location information specified by the designation means, It functions as a display means that displays the specific information received from an external device as a specific result.

[0019] The trouble identification method described in claim 13 is: A method for identifying problems occurring in an image forming apparatus using an information processing device, based on the sounds emitted by the image forming apparatus, A sound acquisition process for acquiring sound information emitted by an image forming apparatus, A specifying step of specifying positional information relating to the position of the sound information by an area of ​​any size at any position, Based on the sound information and the position information, a selection step is made to identify one or more similar pieces of information as specific information from among a plurality of pieces of information concerning troubles occurring in the image forming apparatus that have been prepared in advance, The process includes a display step of displaying the aforementioned specific information. [Effects of the Invention]

[0020] According to the present invention, since the location information of the occurrence of an abnormal noise can be recorded, referenced, and evaluated more accurately, the cause of the abnormal noise can be identified more accurately. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0021] [Figure 1] This is a system diagram illustrating one embodiment of the sound diagnostic system of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the sound diagnostic system of the present invention. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of specifying an area region in the present invention. [Figure 4] This figure shows a list of the columns in the database used in this invention. [Figure 5] This is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the sound diagnostic system of the present invention. [Figure 6] This figure shows the area of ​​abnormal noise and related information from the past according to the present invention. [Figure 7] This is a diagram to explain how to calculate the score for each area. [Figure 8] This is a diagram to explain how to calculate the score for each area. [Figure 9] This diagram shows a case where the location of the abnormal noise and the location of the component causing the noise are different. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0022] Embodiments of the sound diagnostic system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the scope of the invention is not limited to the illustrated examples.

[0023] <Configuration of the sound diagnostic system> Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of the sound diagnostic system 1 of this embodiment. The sound diagnostic system 1 comprises a mobile terminal 2 and an external device 3. Furthermore, the image forming apparatus 4 is the device that is subject to diagnosis by the sound diagnostic system 1. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the main functional configuration of the sound diagnostic system 1. The mobile terminal 2 and the external device 3 are connected via the network N.

[0024] (Mobile device) Mobile device 2 is, for example, a portable device such as a smartphone, tablet, or notebook PC. The mobile terminal 2 acquires sound information from the sound emitted by the image forming apparatus 4 when it malfunctions, specifies location information related to the sound emitted by the image forming apparatus 4 when it malfunctions based on user operation, associates the sound information with the location information, and transmits it to the external device 3. Furthermore, the mobile terminal 2 receives and displays specific information from the external device 3, which identifies information similar to the location information based on the sound information or location information transmitted to the external device 3. This allows the user to analyze the cause of the trouble that led to the image forming apparatus 4 emitting sound. The sound information acquired by the mobile terminal 2 regarding the sound emitted by the image forming apparatus 4 during a malfunction may be the sound signal itself, which represents the waveform of the sound, or it may be the waveform of the analysis result obtained by analyzing the sound signal. As shown in Figure 3, the positional information for the sound emitted by the image forming apparatus 4 in the event of trouble is specified by the user's operation using an area of ​​any size at any position relative to the appearance of the image forming apparatus 4 displayed on the mobile terminal 2.

[0025] As shown in Figure 2, the mobile terminal 2 comprises a control unit 21, a storage unit 22, an operation display unit 23, a communication unit 24, a sound-collecting microphone 25, and a speaker (not shown).

[0026] The control unit 21 comprehensively controls the operation of the mobile terminal 2. The control unit 21 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. Through the cooperation of the CPU with the ROM and programs stored in the memory unit 22, which are deployed in the RAM's working area, the control unit 21 comprehensively controls each part of the mobile terminal 2.

[0027] Furthermore, the control unit 21 functions as a sound acquisition unit that acquires sound information from sounds emitted by the image forming apparatus 4 when it malfunctions. For example, the control unit 21 functions as a sound acquisition unit by controlling a sound-collecting microphone 25, which is a well-known acoustic device that converts detected sounds into electrical signals (sound data). This sound-collecting microphone 25 may be built into the mobile terminal 2 or it may be an external device. Furthermore, the control unit 21 functions as a designation unit that specifies location information related to the position of sound information as location information by specifying an area of ​​any size at any position. Specifically, the control unit 21 functions as a designation unit by reading a program from the ROM or storage unit 22 that runs an application for specifying location information related to the position of sound information as location information by specifying an area of ​​any size at any position. For example, as shown in Figure 3, the control unit 21 receives an operation from the user to specify an area area for the appearance of the image forming apparatus 4 displayed on the operation display unit 23 by the application, and designates the range specified by the user as location information related to the position of sound information. The appearance of the image forming apparatus 4 may be a photograph of the image forming apparatus 4, or it may be a schematic diagram of the image forming apparatus 4. Also, although a front view is used as the appearance of the image forming apparatus 4 in Figure 3, it may also show the appearance of the image forming apparatus 4 from other angles, such as a side view. Furthermore, the location information may include area areas for the appearance of the image forming apparatus viewed from multiple angles, such as a front view and a side view. Furthermore, the control unit 21 functions as a first transmission unit that transmits sound information and location information in association with each other to an external device 3 via the communication unit 24. Furthermore, the control unit 21 functions as a second receiving unit that receives specific information identified by the external device 3 based on the information transmitted by the first transmitting unit, via the communication unit 24. Furthermore, the control unit 21 functions as a sound playback unit that accepts user input to confirm a sound based on specific information displayed by the operation display unit 23 and plays the sound accordingly. For example, the control unit 21 functions as a sound playback unit by controlling a speaker, which is a well-known audio output device that converts electrical signals into sound waves and outputs them. This speaker may be built into the mobile terminal or be external.

[0028] The storage unit 22 is composed of, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), semiconductor memory, etc., and is a storage unit capable of writing and reading data and programs. Furthermore, the memory unit 22 stores sound information acquired by the control unit 21, location information specified by the control unit 21, and the like.

[0029] The operation display unit 23 includes a display unit 231 and an operation unit 232. The display unit 231 is composed of a display such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). The display unit 231 displays various screens according to the instructions of the display control signals input from the control unit 21. The display unit 231 displays specific information received by the second receiving unit as a specified result. The operation unit 232 includes, for example, a keyboard with character input keys, numeric input keys, and keys corresponding to various other functions, a pointing device such as a mouse, and receives scanning input from the user and outputs an operation signal corresponding to the scanning input to the control unit 21. The operation unit 232 may also be a touch panel formed integrally with the display unit 231. The touch panel may be pressure-sensitive, electrostatic, or optical, for example.

[0030] The communication unit 24 is a communication module or communication interface for communicating with an external device 3 via a network N, either wired or wirelessly. Examples include narrow-area wireless communication modules such as Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth®, or wide-area wireless communication modules such as 5G, 4G, and LTE. The mobile terminal 2 and the external device 3 are connected via a wired or wireless LAN or an internet communication network, enabling the transmission and reception of information.

[0031] (external device) External device 3 is a device capable of storing large amounts of data, such as a server, PC, tablet terminal, or smartphone. Based on the sound information and location information received from the mobile terminal 2, external device 3 identifies similar information from among the information on multiple troubles occurring in the image forming apparatus 4 stored in the database 32, and transmits the identified information as identified information to the mobile terminal 2.

[0032] As shown in Figure 2, the external device 3 includes a control unit 31, a database 32, a communication unit 33, and the like.

[0033] The control unit 31 comprehensively controls the operation of the external device 3. The control unit 31 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. Through the cooperation of the CPU and a program stored in the ROM, which is deployed in the RAM's working area, the control unit 3 comprehensively controls each part of the external device 3. Furthermore, the control unit 31 functions as a identifying unit that identifies information as specific information for the purpose of resolving problems from among the information on multiple problems occurring in the image forming apparatus 4 and information on the movable parts of the image forming apparatus 4 stored in the database 32, based on the sound information and location information received from the mobile terminal 2. In this embodiment, a score is calculated based on the location information, and the information with the higher score is identified as specific information. The specific method for calculating the score will be described later. Furthermore, the control unit 31 functions as a first receiving unit that receives sound information and location information from the mobile terminal 2 via the communication unit 33. Furthermore, the control unit 31 functions as a second transmission unit that transmits specific information identified by the identification unit to the mobile terminal 2 via the communication unit 33.

[0034] Database 32 stores information about multiple problems occurring in the image forming apparatus 4 and information about the movable parts of the image forming apparatus 4. The items included in the information about multiple problems occurring in the image forming apparatus 4 are, as shown in Figure 4, ID, location information, cause, replacement parts, action taken, serial number, model, installation location, file name, sound, date and time of occurrence, etc. The items included in the information about the movable parts of the image forming apparatus 4 are ID, movable part name, location information, model, file name, sound, etc. The file name is the name of the file in which the audio of the sound information acquired by the sound acquisition unit is recorded.

[0035] The communication unit 33 is a communication module or communication interface for communicating with the mobile terminal 2 via a network, either wired or wirelessly. Examples include narrow-area wireless communication modules such as Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth®, or wide-area wireless communication modules such as 5G, 4G, and LTE. The mobile terminal 2 and the external device 3 are connected via a wired or wireless LAN or an internet communication network, enabling the transmission and reception of information.

[0036] <Operation of the sound diagnostic system> Next, we will explain the operation of the sound diagnostic system 1. Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the control procedure for processing performed by the control unit 21 of the mobile terminal 2 and the control unit 31 of the external device 3. The control unit 21 executes S1 to S3 and S8 to S9, and the control unit 31 executes S4 to S7.

[0037] The control unit 21 uses the sound-collecting microphone 25 to acquire sound information of the sound emitted by the image forming apparatus 4 when it malfunctions (Step S1: Sound acquisition step). The control unit 21 prompts the user to specify the location information where the sound originated, using an application stored in the memory unit 22 or ROM. The control unit 21 accepts the user's specification operation and specifies the location information (step S2: specification step). The control unit 21 transmits the acquired sound information, specified location information, serial number, model name, installation location, and date and time of occurrence to the external device 3 via the communication unit 24 (step S3). The control unit 31 receives sound information, location information, serial number, model name, installation location, and date and time of occurrence from the mobile terminal 2 via the communication unit 33 (step S4). The control unit 31 calculates a score indicating the similarity between the received information and each data stored in the database 32 (step S5). The control unit 31 identifies multiple data points as specific information in descending order of their scores (step S6: identification process). The control unit 31 transmits specific information to the mobile terminal 2 via the communication unit 33 (step S7). The control unit 21 receives specific information from the external device 3 via the communication unit 24 (step S8). The control unit 21 displays the specified information as the specified result on the display unit 231 as shown in Figure 6 (Step S9: Display step). In Figure 6, the image indicates location information, and playback is linked to the sound information file; when the user presses the play button on the screen, the corresponding sound is played.

[0038] Figure 7 illustrates the score calculation performed in step S5. This document presents a specific method for quantitatively evaluating the degree of overlap and positional relationship between two location data points when the area region in the location data is specified as a rectangle. In this method, the area region is defined as a bounding box, and evaluation is performed based on the intersection region of two bounding boxes. Below, the bounding box is referred to as bbox, and the bounding box 1 and bounding box 2 used for evaluation are referred to as bbox1 and bbox2, respectively. Specifically, bbox1 is the area region of the location information transmitted from the mobile terminal 2 to the external device 3, and bbox2 is the area region of the location information included in the trouble information selected from the database during the process in which the control unit 31 performs identification as the identification unit. In this evaluation, the normalized intersection area and score are calculated. For the coordinate system of the entire image used in the evaluation, the upper left point of the image is defined as the origin (0, 0) of the coordinate system, and the lower right point of the image is defined as (img_width, img_height). img_width is the width of the image, and img_height is the height of the image. The direction of the coordinates is such that the x-axis increases from left to right, and the y-axis increases from top to bottom. In the following, the coordinates of bbox1 and bbox2 are defined, and the process of calculating the score from the intersection area, which is the area where bbox1 and bbox2 overlap, is explained. Define the upper left coordinate of bbox1 as (x1, y1), the lower right coordinate as (x2, y2), the upper left coordinate of bbox2 as (x1', y1'), and the lower right coordinate as (x2', y2'). Let the x coordinate of the left end of the intersection area be x left = max(x1, x1'), the x coordinate of the right end be x right = min(x2, x2'), the y coordinate of the upper end be y top = max(y1, y1'), and the y coordinate of the lower end be y bottom = min(y2, y2'). Let the upper left coordinate of the intersection area be (x left , y top ), and the lower right coordinate of the intersection area be (x right , y bottom ). Let the width of the intersection area be width inter = max(0, x right - x left ), the height be height inter = max(0, y bottom - y top ), and the area be A inter = width inter * height inter . Based on the area A bbox2 = (x2' - x1') * (y2' - y1') of bbox2, the normalized intersection area normalized_area is defined as follows. When A bbox2 = 0, normalized_area = 0; when A bbox2 > 0, (Equation 1) normalized_area = Ainter / A bbox2 This is how it is defined. The value of the normalized cross-section (normalized_area) is used as the score for specific information.

[0039] Based on Figure 8, an example of calculating a score and identifying specific information using the method in Figure 7 will be explained. The area enclosed by the solid line is bbox1, and the areas enclosed by the dotted lines (1), (2), and (3) are examples of bbox2. Hereafter, A bbox2 The values ​​for the intersection area are hypothetical values ​​used for the sake of explanation. Let the top-left coordinate of bbox1 be (30, 20) and the bottom-right coordinate be (80, 70). If the top-left coordinate of (1) is (60, 35) and the bottom-right coordinate is (85, 60), then A bbox2 The value is 625, and the intersection area is 500, so the score is 500 / 625 = 0.8. If the top left coordinate of (2) is (65, 75) and the bottom right coordinate is (85, 95), then A bbox2 Since the value is 400 and the intersection area is 0, the score is 0 / 400 = 0. If the top left coordinate of (3) is (10, 45) and the bottom right coordinate is (50, 75), then A bbox2 The value is 1200 and the intersection area is 500, so the score is 500 / 1200 ≈ 0.42. If the data stored in database 32 is (1), (2), and (3), then (1), which has the highest score, will be identified as specific information before the other data. If there is no intersection area, as in (2), the score will be 0. bbox2 If the area is large, the score will be smaller even if the crossing area is equal to (1). This is because equation (1) was designed so that the score decreases as the area of ​​bbox2 increases, as the amount of information needed to identify the source of the abnormal noise decreases and ambiguity increases. Regarding the method of calculating the score, in addition to the method shown in equation (1), other methods such as IoU (Intersection over Union) for calculating the degree of overlap of area regions, DIoU (Distance IoU), a derivative index of IoU that takes into account the distance between centers, and CIoU (Complete IoU), which takes into account the aspect ratio (difference in shape), are possible. Therefore, the score is not limited to the presented equation (1).

[0040] <Variation> As a variation, let's describe a case where the location of a specific movable part is clearly specified by a designated part. For example, in the paper discharge section of an image forming apparatus, a roller is making noise due to lack of lubrication, and the location of this roller is specified. In this case, the external device 3 can compare the sound information received with the sound information of the movable part stored in the database 32, and one or more similar movable part information may be identified as specific information. Here, the sound information of the movable part refers to the sound information emitted by the movable part when it malfunctions. This allows users of the sound diagnostic system 1 to obtain information about moving parts highly relevant to the abnormal noise at an early stage. Therefore, troubleshooting can be carried out quickly. However, the component located at the point where the abnormal noise originates is not necessarily the cause of the noise. For example, consider the point in Figure 9 where the gear transmits the driving force of motor B to roller A. In Figure 9, the abnormal noise originates near roller A, but the cause of the noise may be the effect of speed changes due to wear on motor B. In this case, replacing roller A with a new component will not eliminate the abnormal noise. Therefore, by recording the location information indicating the area where the abnormal noise originates and the information of the component causing the noise in association, the cause of the abnormal noise can be analyzed more accurately.

[0041] <Effects> As described above, the sound diagnostic system 1 of this embodiment includes a control unit 21 (sound acquisition unit) that acquires sound information from the image forming apparatus 4 when it is in trouble, a control unit 21 (designation unit) that designates information relating to the location of the sound information as location information by an area of ​​any size at any location, a control unit 21 (first transmission unit) that associates the sound information acquired by the control unit 21 with the location information designated by the control unit 21 and transmits it to an external device 3, a control unit 21 (second reception unit) that receives specific information from the external device 3 based on the sound information acquired by the control unit 21 or the location information designated by the control unit 21, and the control unit 21 The external device 3 comprises a mobile terminal 2 having a display unit 231 that displays specific information received by as a result of identification; a control unit 31 (first receiving unit) that receives sound information and location information specified by the control unit 21 from the mobile terminal 2; a control unit 31 (identification unit) that identifies information with similar location information as specific information from among multiple pieces of information on troubles occurring in the image forming apparatus 4 stored in the database 32 based on the sound information or location information specified by the control unit 21; and a control unit 31 (second transmitting unit) that transmits the specific information identified by the control unit 31 to the mobile terminal 2. In this embodiment, the user of the sound diagnostic system 1 can more accurately identify information about similar past troubles by more precisely specifying the location information of the sound emitted by the image forming apparatus 4 during a trouble. Furthermore, in the sound diagnostic system 1 of this embodiment, the control unit 31 calculates a score based on the degree of overlap of the area regions, the proximity of the area regions, or the size of the area regions, for the area regions included in the location information and the area regions specified by the control unit 21 among the information on multiple troubles occurring in the image forming apparatus stored in the database 32, and identifies at least one piece of information on a trouble as specific information in order of the highest score, thereby enabling the user of the sound diagnostic system 1 of this embodiment to obtain specific information that is more relevant to the differences in the location of the occurrence of abnormal noises. Furthermore, in the sound diagnostic system 1 of this embodiment, whenever the area region specified by the control unit 21 is changed, the control unit 31 calculates a score according to a predetermined standard for the changed area region and the area region included in the location information among the information on multiple troubles occurring in the image forming apparatus 4 stored in the database 32, and re-identifies the trouble information as specific information based on the score, so that the user of the sound diagnostic system 1 of this embodiment can obtain information on trouble as specific information according to the fine differences in location information at the site where the trouble is being dealt with. Therefore, users of the sound diagnostic system 1 of this embodiment will be able to perform detailed analysis based on subtle differences in the location of abnormal noise generation. In other words, they will be able to analyze the cause of abnormal noise more accurately. The sound diagnostic system 1 of this embodiment may be composed of a device in which a mobile terminal 2 and an external device 3 are integrated. [Explanation of symbols]

[0042] 1. Sound diagnostic system 2 Mobile devices 21 Control Unit (Sound Acquisition Unit, Designation Unit, First Transmission Unit, Second Reception Unit) 22 Memory section 23 Operation display section 231 Display section 232 Operation section 24 Communications Department 25 Sound-collecting microphones 3. External devices (sound diagnostic devices) 31 Control Unit (First Receiving Unit, Identification Unit, Second Transmitting Unit) 32 Databases 33 Communications Department 4. Image forming apparatus A Roller B Motor N Network

Claims

1. A sound acquisition unit that acquires sound information from sounds emitted by the image forming apparatus when it malfunctions, A designation unit that specifies the position information of the aforementioned sound information as position information by specifying an area of ​​any size at any position, A first transmission unit that associates sound information acquired by the sound acquisition unit with location information designated by the designation unit and transmits it to an external device, A second receiving unit that receives sound information acquired by the sound acquisition unit from an external device or specific information identified based on location information specified by the designation unit, A portable terminal comprising: a display unit that displays the specific information received by the second receiving unit from an external device as a specific result; A first receiving unit that receives sound information acquired by the sound acquisition unit and location information specified by the designation unit from the aforementioned mobile terminal, A specification unit identifies information with similar location information as specific information from among multiple pieces of information about troubles occurring in an image forming apparatus stored in a database, based on sound information acquired by the sound acquisition unit or location information specified by the specification unit. An external device comprising: a second transmission unit that transmits specific information identified by the aforementioned specific unit to the mobile terminal; A sound diagnostic system equipped with [specific features / features].

2. The sound diagnostic system according to claim 1, wherein the first transmitting unit transmits information regarding the location where the trouble occurred and the date and time the trouble occurred, indicating the location where the image forming apparatus is installed.

3. The sound diagnostic system according to claim 1, wherein the first transmitting unit transmits the changed location information to the external device each time the area region specified by the designating unit is changed.

4. The sound diagnostic system according to claim 1, wherein the identifying unit identifies one or more pieces of information as identifying information regarding troubles that occur in an image forming apparatus, from among the information regarding troubles that occur in the image forming apparatus stored in the database, and the sound information acquired by the sound acquisition unit and the location information designated by the designating unit are similar.

5. The sound diagnostic system according to claim 1, wherein the identifying unit calculates a score based on the degree of overlap of the area regions, the proximity of the area regions, or the size of the area regions, for the area regions included in the location information and the area regions specified by the designating unit, and identifies at least one piece of information relating to a problem as identifying information in descending order of the scores.

6. The sound diagnostic system according to claim 1, wherein the identifying unit identifies one or more movable parts having sound information similar to the sound information acquired by the sound acquisition unit, from among the movable parts included in the area region specified by the designating unit.

7. The sound diagnostic system according to claim 5, wherein, each time the area region specified by the designating unit is changed, the designating unit calculates a score according to a predetermined standard for the changed area region and the area region included in the location information among the information on multiple troubles occurring in the image forming apparatus stored in the database, and re-identifies the information on the trouble as designating information based on the score.

8. The sound diagnostic system according to claim 5, wherein the display unit displays multiple pieces of the specified information as specified results in descending order of score.

9. The sound diagnostic system according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit that displays one or more specific pieces of information as a result of identification, and a sound playback unit that plays a sound corresponding to the selected result when one of the specific results is selected by the user or the system.

10. A sound acquisition unit that acquires sound information from sounds emitted by the image forming apparatus when it malfunctions, A designation unit that specifies the position information of the aforementioned sound information as position information by specifying an area of ​​any size at any position, A transmission unit that associates sound information acquired by the sound acquisition unit with location information specified by the designation unit and transmits it to an external device, A receiving unit that receives sound information acquired by the sound acquisition unit from an external device or specific information identified based on location information specified by the designation unit, A portable terminal comprising: a display unit that displays the specified information received from an external device as a specified result.

11. A sound diagnostic device that identifies multiple problems occurring in an image forming apparatus using sound, A receiving unit that receives sound information related to sounds emitted by an image forming apparatus in the event of trouble, and location information related to the location of said sound information, A specification unit that identifies information relating to similar troubles from among a plurality of troubles occurring in an image forming apparatus stored in a database based on the sound information or the position information, A sound diagnostic device comprising a transmitting unit that transmits specific information identified by the specified unit to the mobile terminal.

12. A computer on a mobile device, Sound acquisition means for acquiring sound information from sounds emitted by an image forming apparatus when it malfunctions. A designation means for specifying the position information of the sound information as position information by an area of ​​any size at any position, A transmission means that transmits sound information acquired by the sound acquisition means and location information specified by the designation means to an external device. Receiving means for receiving sound information acquired by the sound acquisition means from an external device or specific information identified based on location information specified by the designation means, A sound diagnostic program that functions as a display means for displaying the specific information received from an external device as a specific result.

13. A method for identifying problems occurring in an image forming apparatus using an information processing device, based on the sounds emitted by the image forming apparatus, A sound acquisition process for acquiring sound information emitted by an image forming apparatus, A specifying step of specifying positional information relating to the position of the sound information by an area of ​​any size at any position, Based on the sound information and the position information, a selection step is made to identify one or more similar pieces of information as specific information from among a plurality of pieces of information concerning troubles occurring in the image forming apparatus that have been prepared in advance, A display step in which the specified information is displayed as a specified result, A method for identifying problems, characterized by comprising the following features.

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