Failure Prioritization in Image Processing Apparatuses
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems for managing image processing apparatus failures often lead to incorrect prioritization of faulty parts for replacement, resulting in unnecessary adjustments or incorrect work due to differences between calculated and actual failure priorities, especially for infrequent failures.
Innovation Solution
A system that includes a management unit for accumulating records of past remedies, an identification unit for parts with potential to eliminate errors, a determination unit for assessing failure possibilities based on error history, and a calculation unit for determining failure cause probabilities, providing targeted information for display based on these assessments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the actual number of replacements for a part is large in the field, then the part is prioritized for replacement, but this may lead to unnecessary adjustments or replacement if the part has low failure possibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter used for prioritization from simple replacement count to a composite score that incorporates both replacement frequency and failure possibility probability. This transforms the prioritization criterion to balance historical data with diagnostic accuracy, resolving the contradiction between restoration efficiency and identification accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by using actual field replacement results to update and refine the failure possibility probabilities for different parts. This continuous learning mechanism ensures that the prioritization becomes more accurate over time, reducing both unnecessary replacements and missed failures.
2Reliability
If replacement priority is determined by actual numbers of replacements, then common failures are addressed effectively, but infrequent failures may have distorted priority orders due to high replacement percentages
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a weighted scoring system that combines replacement frequency with failure possibility probability, changing the single-parameter prioritization to a multi-parameter approach. This resolves the distortion in priority orders for infrequent failures by balancing statistical frequency with diagnostic likelihood.
3Quantity of substance
If service engineers follow replacement guidance based on high replacement numbers, then resource utilization improves, but costs are wasted on unnecessary adjustments or trial and error
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides feedback to service engineers by displaying both the failure possibility probability and the prioritization rank together. This dual-information feedback enables engineers to make informed decisions, avoiding unnecessary replacements of parts with low failure possibility even if they have high replacement counts, thus reducing waste while maintaining efficient resource utilization.
Data Source
AI summary
A system identifies, based on a predetermined error occurring in an image processing apparatus, a plurality of parts each having a possibility of eliminating the predetermined error by being replaced, determines a failure possibility of each of the identified plurality of parts, calculates a failure cause probability of each of the identified plurality of parts based on field results, and provides data for performing a display including parts information including those results.