JP2021043011A - Diagnostic device and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique capable of improving security in an image forming apparatus for diagnosing a state of a member to be diagnosed by sound.
An image forming apparatus receives at least a sound from a member to be diagnosed and outputs a sound signal corresponding to the received sound, and performs signal processing on the sound signal output by the sound collecting means. It is provided with a processing means for outputting diagnostic data and a determination means for determining the state of the member to be diagnosed based on the diagnostic data, and the signal processing obtains a section average of a sound signal over a first period. The first period, which includes the section averaging process, is a period during which the sound cannot be recognized from the sound signal after the section averaging process.
[Selection diagram] Fig. 3

Description

The present invention relates to a diagnostic device and an image forming device for diagnosing the state of a member to be diagnosed from collected sounds.

A device such as an image forming device may be provided with a diagnostic device for diagnosing whether or not the operation of a predetermined member to be diagnosed is normal. Some such diagnostic devices diagnose whether or not the operation of the member to be diagnosed is normal based on the operating sound picked up by the sound collecting device. Here, since the sound collecting device collects not only the operating sound of the member to be diagnosed but also the sound and the like emitted by people around it, it may cause confidentiality leakage. Therefore, Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration that warns the user that sound is being picked up and enhances security.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-12199

However, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, if the user does not notice the warning that the sound is being picked up, the security may be reduced.

The present invention provides a technique capable of improving security in a diagnostic device or an image forming device that diagnoses the state of a member to be diagnosed by sound.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus receives at least the sound from the member to be diagnosed and outputs a sound signal corresponding to the received sound, and the sound collecting means outputs the sound signal. It is provided with a processing means for performing signal processing and outputting diagnostic data, and a determination means for determining the state of the member to be diagnosed based on the diagnostic data, and the signal processing extends over a first period of a sound signal. The first period includes the section averaging process for obtaining the section averaging, and the first period is a period during which the sound cannot be recognized from the sound signal after the section averaging process.

According to the present invention, security can be improved in a diagnostic device or an image forming device that diagnoses the state of a member to be diagnosed by sound.

The block diagram of the image forming apparatus which has the diagnostic apparatus by one Embodiment. The block diagram of the diagnostic apparatus according to one Embodiment. A flowchart of sound signal processing according to an embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the waveform of the sound signal in sound collection processing. A flowchart of diagnostic processing according to an embodiment. The block diagram of the diagnostic apparatus according to one Embodiment. A flowchart of diagnostic processing according to an embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Although a plurality of features are described in the embodiment, not all of the plurality of features are essential to the invention, and the plurality of features may be arbitrarily combined. Further, in the attached drawings, the same or similar configurations are designated by the same reference numbers, and duplicate explanations are omitted.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus 1 having a diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment. The letters Y, M, C, and K at the end of the reference reference numerals in FIG. 1 indicate that the colors of the toner images in which the members indicated by the reference numerals are involved in the formation are yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, respectively. In the following description, when it is not necessary to distinguish colors, a reference code with the last character omitted is used. The photoconductor 11 is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction shown in the figure at the time of image formation. The charging roller 12 charges the surface of the corresponding photoconductor 11 to a uniform potential. The optical unit 13 exposes the corresponding photoconductor 11 to form an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 11. The developing roller 15 of the developing device 14 develops an electrostatic latent image of the corresponding photoconductor 11 with toner, and forms a toner image on the photoconductor 11. The primary transfer roller 16 transfers the toner image of the corresponding photoconductor 11 to the intermediate transfer belt 17.

The intermediate transfer belt 17 is stretched by a drive roller 18, a tension roller 25, and a secondary transfer opposed roller 20, and is rotationally driven in the counterclockwise direction shown in the figure, depending on the rotation of the drive roller 18 at the time of image formation. .. By superimposing and transferring the toner image of each photoconductor 11 on the rotation-driven intermediate transfer belt 17, a full-color toner image can be formed on the intermediate transfer belt 17. Further, the toner image transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 17 is conveyed to the opposite position of the secondary transfer roller 19 by the rotation of the intermediate transfer belt 17.

On the other hand, the recording material P stored in the feed cassette 2 is fed to the transport path by the feed roller 4, and then transported to the position opposite to the secondary transfer roller 19 by the transport roller 5 and the transport opposing roller 6. To. The secondary transfer roller 19 transfers the toner image of the intermediate transfer belt 17 to the recording material P. The recording material P to which the toner image is transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 21. The fixing device 21 heats and pressurizes the recording material P to fix the toner image on the recording material P. After fixing the toner image, the recording material P is discharged to the outside of the device by the discharge roller pair 22.

The control unit 3 includes a CPU 80 that controls the entire image forming apparatus 1, and a sound signal processing unit 70. Further, the image forming apparatus 1 is provided with a sound collecting device 71 which is a microphone. The sound collecting device 71 collects sound and outputs an electric signal (hereinafter, sound signal) corresponding to the collected sound (hereinafter, received sound) to the sound signal processing unit 70. The sound collecting device 71 is provided at a position where at least the abnormal sound generated from the member to be diagnosed can be picked up. In the present embodiment, the member to be diagnosed is the feeding roller 4, and therefore the sound collecting device 71 is provided in the vicinity of the feeding roller 4. The sound collecting device 71 to be arranged is not limited to one, and when there are a plurality of diagnosis target members, a plurality of sound collecting devices 71 corresponding to each diagnosis target member are arranged in the image forming device 1. You can also do it. The sound signal processing unit 70 can be configured by executing an appropriate program on a processor such as a CPU, can be realized by dedicated hardware such as an ASIC, or can be realized by a combination thereof. Further, a part or all of the functions of the sound signal processing unit 70 can be realized by the CPU 80. The functional portion related to the diagnosis of the abnormal sound of the CPU 80, the sound signal processing unit 70, and the sound collecting device 71 constitute a diagnostic device.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a diagnostic device. The analog-to-digital conversion unit (ADC) 701 converts the sound signal (analog signal) from the sound collecting device 71 into a digital value at predetermined period intervals (sampling interval) and outputs the sound signal (analog signal) to the processing unit 702. When the processing unit 702 receives a processing instruction from the CPU 80 via the communication unit 703, the processing unit 702 performs signal processing on the digital value using the reference value, and outputs the processing result to the CPU 80 via the communication unit 703. The reference value is notified and set by the CPU 80 to the processing unit 702 via the communication unit 703.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of sound signal processing in the processing unit 702. The processing unit 702 waits until a processing instruction is received from the CPU 80 in S100. Upon receiving the processing instruction, the processing unit 702 receives a plurality of digital values from the ADC 701 over the section averaging period, which is the time period for performing the section averaging process (S104) described later. Upon receiving the plurality of digital values, the processing unit 702 performs level shift processing for each of the plurality of digital values in S101. Subsequently, the processing unit 702 performs filter processing on the plurality of digital values after the level shift processing in S102. After that, the processing unit 702 performs square processing of each digital value after the filter processing in S103.

The level shift process is a process of removing a DC component by subtracting a reference value from each digital value. When the sound signal is shown in FIG. 4 (A), the sound signal after the level shift process is as shown in FIG. 4 (B). The reference value is, for example, a digital value output by the ADC 701 when the received sound is 0 or very small. In the present embodiment, this digital value is set in advance in a memory (not shown) of the control unit 3, and the CPU 80 notifies the processing unit 702 of this reference value. When the reference value fluctuates depending on, for example, the atmospheric temperature of the image forming apparatus 1, the temperature of the sound collecting device 71, the temperature of the sound signal processing unit 70, etc. It can be configured to be preset in a memory (not shown). In this case, the CPU 80 notifies the processing unit 702 of the reference value corresponding to the temperature acquired from the thermometer (not shown) in the image forming apparatus 1 at the time of the processing instruction. The temperature measured by the thermometer (not shown) is the temperature used in the correspondence between the temperature and the reference value. For example, when the corresponding relationship indicates the relationship between the temperature of the sound collecting device 71 and the reference value, a thermometer (not shown) measures the temperature of the sound collecting device 71. Further, when the reference value fluctuates according to the number of recording materials P in which images are continuously formed, the correspondence between the number of continuously formed images and the reference value is set in advance in a memory (not shown) of the control unit 3. Can be. In this case, the CPU 80 notifies the processing unit 702 of the reference value according to the number of continuously formed sheets when instructing the processing.

The filtering process is a process of applying a filter that allows only sounds of a specific frequency to pass through. The accuracy of diagnosis can be improved by extracting only the sound components necessary for diagnosing abnormal sounds and removing the sound components unnecessary for diagnosis. The pass band of the filter to be used is determined according to the abnormal sound to be diagnosed. Further, when determining a plurality of abnormal sounds having different frequencies, a plurality of filters corresponding to the respective abnormal sounds can be used. When a plurality of filters are used, the processes of S102 and below are performed in parallel for each of the filters. The shift level process of S101 removes the DC component, and is also a filter process for removing the DC component. That is, a combination of the level shift process of S101 and the filter process of S102 is also a filter process in a broad sense. The square processing is a processing in which each digital value after the filter processing is squared and only positive values are obtained. FIG. 4C shows the result of filtering the waveform of FIG. 4B and then performing square processing.

The processing unit 702 performs section averaging processing in S104. The interval averaging process is a process obtained in S103 that divides the cumulative value of the digital values after each squared process over the interval averaging period by the number of accumulated digital values. The processing unit 702 outputs the digital value after the section averaging processing to the CPU 80 as a processing result via the communication unit 703 in S105. FIG. 4D shows an interval average result based on the squared processing result of FIG. 4C. The processing result transmitted in S105 shows one value of a certain time of the waveform of FIG. 4 (D). The CPU 80 can obtain the waveform shown in FIG. 4D by repeatedly transmitting a processing instruction to the processing unit 702. By performing interval averaging, it is possible to easily compare the loudness of the sound when diagnosing an abnormality in the operating sound.

In the present embodiment, the interval average period is set to a time during which the main frequency component of the voice can be removed. As a result, the voice cannot be recognized from the processing result acquired by the CPU 80, and the security can be improved. As a result of verification with actual voice data, when the section average period was set to 2 ms or more, it could not be recognized as voice. Therefore, for example, the interval average period can be set to 2 ms.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the diagnostic process executed by the CPU 80. The CPU 80 waits in S200 until an instruction to start image formation is instructed by a host computer or the like (not shown). When the start of image formation is instructed, the CPU 80 waits in S201 until the diagnosis timing is reached. For example, the CPU 80 determines that the diagnosis timing is in the period during which the diagnosis target member is operating. In this example, since the feeding roller 4 is a member to be diagnosed, the CPU 80 determines that it is the diagnosis timing when the feeding roller 4 is rotated. In the case of the diagnostic timing, the CPU 80 outputs a processing instruction to the sound signal processing unit 70 in S202. After that, the CPU 80 waits in S203 until the processing result is received from the sound signal processing unit 70. Upon receiving the processing result from the sound signal processing unit 70, the CPU 80 determines in S204 whether the processing result is larger than the threshold value which is a predetermined value. When the processing result is equal to or less than the threshold value, the CPU 80 determines in S206 whether the image formation is completed, and if the image formation is not completed, the process is repeated from S201, and the image formation is completed. The process of 5 is completed. Further, when the processing result is larger than the threshold value in S204, the CPU 80 determines that the state of the member to be diagnosed is not normal, and notifies the user of the abnormal portion in S205, in this example, the feeding roller 4, and FIG. End the process.

As shown in the process of FIG. 5, the CPU 80 repeatedly outputs a process instruction to the sound signal processing unit 70 and acquires the process result while the member to be diagnosed is operating during the image formation. Then, when the processing result becomes larger than the threshold value, it is determined that the member to be diagnosed is not normal. In the process of FIG. 5, if one of the plurality of process results acquired during the operation of the member to be diagnosed is larger than the threshold value, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred, but the process result larger than the threshold value is more than a predetermined number of times. Then, it can be configured to determine that an abnormality has occurred. Further, a plurality of threshold values may be provided, and the level of abnormality and the sign of abnormality may be determined by comparing the processing result with the plurality of threshold values.

As described above, the section average period for performing the section average calculation of the sound signal is set to the period during which voice recognition cannot be performed. Security can be improved by setting the time sequence of the processing result acquired by the CPU 80 (hereinafter, diagnostic data) as data that cannot be voice-recognized.

<Second embodiment>
Subsequently, the second embodiment will be described focusing on the differences from the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, the diagnostic data acquired by the CPU 80 is subjected to section averaging processing in the section averaging period during which voice recognition cannot be performed, thereby improving security. However, there may be a case where the CPU 80 requires a digital value that has not been processed by the processing unit 702. The present embodiment improves security even in such a case. Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described assuming that the CPU 80 uses a digital value that has not been processed by the processing unit 702 in order to set the reference value.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a diagnostic device according to the present embodiment. The same reference reference numerals are given to the functional blocks similar to the configuration of the diagnostic apparatus of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2, and the description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, the diagnostic device has a thinning section 704. The thinning unit 704 receives the digital value output by the ADC 701, performs the thinning process of the received digital value, and outputs the thinned digital value to the CPU 80 via the communication unit 703. The thinning interval by the thinning unit 704 is set so that voice recognition cannot be performed from the digital value after thinning. Similar to the interval average period, if the thinning interval is set to 2 ms or more, the voice cannot be recognized. Therefore, in this example, the thinned interval is set to 2 ms. That is, the thinning unit 704 extracts one digital value every 2 ms from the digital value output by the ADC 701 and outputs it to the CPU 80. The CPU 80 sets a reference value based on the digital value after thinning out. The CPU 80 receives the thinned-out digital value every 2 ms, but cannot perform voice recognition from this digital value sequence, and thus security is maintained.

The sound signal processing in the processing unit 702 of the present embodiment is the same as the sound signal processing of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3, and the description thereof will be omitted. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the diagnostic process executed by the CPU 80. The same step numbers are assigned to the same processing steps as the diagnostic processing of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 5, and the description thereof will be omitted. When the CPU 80 is instructed to start image formation in S200, the CPU 80 sets a reference value based on the digital value after thinning out in S300. The reference value to be set is a digital value after thinning out when the member to be diagnosed is not operating. Since the digital value when the member to be diagnosed is not operating corresponds to the DC component, the accuracy of removing the DC component by the shift level calculation can be improved. Subsequent processing is the same as in the first embodiment.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the sound signal that is not subjected to the section averaging process or the like is output to the CPU 80, and at that time, the thinning process is performed at a predetermined thinning interval. That is, not the sound signal itself, but the amplitude value for each thinning interval of the sound signal is output to the CPU 80. Security can be improved by setting the thinning interval so that voice recognition cannot be performed from the amplitude value (digital value) after the thinning process.

[Other Embodiments]
In each of the above embodiments, the sound signal processing unit 70 performs sound signal processing in the digital region, but a part of the processing may be performed in the analog region. For example, the sound signal processing unit 70 may be configured to perform all or any of the processing prior to the interval averaging processing in the analog region.

The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiment to a system or device via a network or storage medium, and one or more processors in the computer of the system or device reads and executes the program. It can also be realized by the processing to be performed. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

The invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, a claim is attached to make the scope of the invention public.

71: Sound collecting device, 70: Sound signal processing unit, 80: CPU

Claims (16)

A sound collecting means that receives at least the sound from the member to be diagnosed and outputs a sound signal corresponding to the received sound.
A processing means that performs signal processing on the sound signal output by the sound collecting means and outputs diagnostic data,
A determination means for determining the state of the member to be diagnosed based on the diagnostic data, and
Is equipped with
The signal processing includes an interval averaging process for obtaining an interval averaging over a first period of a sound signal.
The image forming apparatus is characterized in that the first period is a period during which voice cannot be recognized from the sound signal after the section averaging process. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first period is a period of 2 ms or more. The signal processing includes a filter processing of a sound signal output by the sound collecting means and a square processing of calculating a square of the sound signal after the filter processing.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the section averaging process is performed on the sound signal after the square processing. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the filter processing includes a shift processing for reducing a reference value corresponding to a DC component from a sound signal output by the sound collecting means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a setting means for setting the reference value based on the measured temperature. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the image forming apparatus further includes a setting means for setting the reference value based on the number of recording materials in which an image is continuously formed. The image according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the determination means determines that the diagnosis target member is not normal when the sound signal after the section average processing becomes larger than a predetermined value. Forming device. A thinning means for outputting the amplitude value of the sound signal output by the sound collecting means for each second period, and a thinning means for outputting the amplitude value for each second period.
A setting means for setting the reference value based on the amplitude value for each second period output by the thinning means, and a setting means for setting the reference value.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising. A sound collecting means that receives at least the sound from the member to be diagnosed and outputs a sound signal corresponding to the received sound.
A processing means that performs signal processing on the sound signal output by the sound collecting means and outputs diagnostic data,
A determination means for determining the state of the member to be diagnosed based on the diagnostic data, and
A thinning means for outputting the amplitude value of the sound signal output by the sound collecting means for each second period, and a thinning means for outputting the amplitude value for each second period.
An image forming apparatus characterized in that the image forming apparatus is provided. The signal processing includes a shift processing for reducing a reference value corresponding to a DC component from the sound signal output by the sound collecting means.
The image forming apparatus
The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a setting means for setting the reference value based on the amplitude value for each second period output by the thinning means. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the second period is a period during which voice cannot be recognized from the amplitude value for each second period output by the thinning means. .. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the second period is a period of 2 ms or more. 8. The setting means is characterized in that, of the amplitude values for each second period output by the thinning means, the amplitude value in the period during which the diagnosis target member is not operating is set as the reference value. Or the image forming apparatus according to 10. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the processing means performs the signal processing in the digital domain. A sound collecting means that receives at least the sound from the member to be diagnosed and outputs a sound signal corresponding to the received sound.
A processing means that performs signal processing on the sound signal output by the sound collecting means and outputs diagnostic data,
A determination means for determining the state of the member to be diagnosed based on the diagnostic data, and
Is equipped with
The signal processing includes an interval averaging process for obtaining an interval averaging over a first period of a sound signal.
The diagnostic apparatus, characterized in that the first period is a period during which voice cannot be recognized from the sound signal after the section averaging process. A sound collecting means that receives at least the sound from the member to be diagnosed and outputs a sound signal corresponding to the received sound.
A processing means that performs signal processing on the sound signal output by the sound collecting means and outputs diagnostic data,
A determination means for determining the state of the member to be diagnosed based on the diagnostic data, and
A thinning means for outputting the amplitude value of the sound signal output by the sound collecting means for each second period, and a thinning means for outputting the amplitude value for each second period.
A diagnostic device characterized by being equipped with.

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