Dynamic Component Lifetime Determination Using Usage Data
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for determining the lifetime of components in electric devices for preventive maintenance are based on product standards, which may not account for usage variations, leading to premature or uneconomical replacements.
Innovation Solution
An information processing system that collects and analyzes usage status and failure data from multifunction peripherals to determine the optimal lifetime of components, using variables like average copy volume, number of printing sheets, and humidity rate, and creates a lifetime matrix to adjust maintenance schedules accordingly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If component lifetime is determined by product standards, then maintenance schedule is standardized and easy to manage, but component replacement may occur prematurely or unnecessarily
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter basis for lifetime determination from fixed product standards to dynamic usage-based parameters including total copy volume, average copy volume, and number of jobs. This allows the maintenance management system to calculate component lifetimes that reflect actual usage patterns, improving replacement timing accuracy while maintaining standardized management procedures through automated calculations.
2Loss of substance
If component lifetime is extended based on usage patterns, then unnecessary replacements are reduced and costs are lowered, but component failure risk may increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the maintenance management apparatus continuously collects usage information from image forming apparatuses, calculates component lifetimes based on accumulated usage data, and adjusts maintenance schedules accordingly. This feedback loop ensures that components are replaced based on actual wear from usage patterns rather than fixed intervals, reducing unnecessary replacements while maintaining reliability through data-driven decision making.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary calculations of component lifetimes using accumulated usage data before actual failure occurs. By analyzing total copy volume, average copy volume, and number of jobs, the system predicts when components will reach their effective lifetime and schedules replacements in advance, preventing both premature replacement and unexpected failures.
3Reliability
If preventive maintenance is performed based on fixed lifetime standards, then component failures are prevented, but components with sufficient lifetime are replaced uneconomically
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from static fixed lifetime standards to dynamic usage-based lifetime determination. The maintenance management apparatus continuously updates component lifetime calculations based on actual usage patterns including total copy volume, average copy volume, and number of jobs. This dynamic approach allows the system to extend the effective lifetime of components that are used lightly while maintaining preventive replacement schedules for heavily used components, thereby preventing failures without causing unnecessary replacements.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
An information processing system includes one or more information processing apparatuses for determining lifetimes of components, to be replaced by preventive maintenance, of respective electric devices. The information processing system includes a leading variable specifying unit configured to specify, based on variables that represent use states of the electric devices and failure data of the electric devices which have been obtained from the electric devices, a plurality of leading variables relevant to the lifetimes of the components; a lifetime matrix creating unit configured to classify a plurality of values of each of the leading variables into sections to create a lifetime matrix in which the lifetimes of the components are set with respect to combinations of the sections each of which relates to a different leading variable; and a lifetime outputting unit configured to determine the lifetimes of the components with respect to the respective electric devices.