Centralized control system for terminal device

• US 5,631,724 A
• Filed: 02/28/1994
• Issued: 05/20/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha, Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha, Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Watanabe, Seiji, Sawada, Yoji, Kirimura, Toru, Maekawa, Kazunobu, Hirata, Sumiaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramirez, Nestor R.
• Application Number:
  US08/203,684
• Time in Patent Office: 1,177 Days
• Field of Search: 355/202, 355/203, 355/204, 355/205, 355/206, 355/207, 364/184, 364/185, 364/186, 371/29.1, 379/106
• US Class Current: 399/8
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/5079 for maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/55 Self-diagnostics; Malfunction or lifetime display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0733 in a data processing system embedded in an image processing device, e.g. printer, facsimile, scanner
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0757 by exceeding a time limit, i.e. time-out, e.g. watchdogs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2015 Redundant power supplies power supply failure G06F1/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3013 where the computing system is an embedded system, i.e. a combination of hardware and software dedicated to perform a certain function in mobile devices, printers, automotive or aircraft systems testing or monitoring of control systems or parts thereof G05B23/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3055 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the status of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring if the computing system is on, off, available, not available error or fault processing without redundancy G06F11/0703; error detection or correction by redundancy in data representation G06F11/08; error detection or correction by redundancy in operation G06F11/14; error detection or correction by redundancy in hardware G06F11/16

Abstract

A centralized control system capable of remote controlling terminal devices such as a copying machine or automatic vending machine by using communication lines. The system displays information identifying the terminal devices which have not transmitted the information to a central unit after predetermined time. Further, the system is provided with a back-up power source for backing up a memory storing the information to be transmitted and an IC for clocking the present time. The information stored in the memory is to be transmitted when the power is supplied again in the case where the transmission has not been carried out at the predetermined time because the power source for the terminal device was shut off. Moreover, the system judges, in the case where an image forming apparatus is adapted as a terminal device, whether the image forming apparatus has recovered from trouble condition to normal condition by judging whether a copy paper is actually discharged.

Claims

1. Centralized control system, comprising:

one or more terminal devices;

communicating means, provided for each of said one or more terminal devices, for transmitting information relating to operational condition of each of said terminal devices at a predetermined time; and

controlling means, connected to each of said communicating means through communication lines, for controlling each of said terminal devices in accordance with said information transmitted from each of said communicating means;

said controlling means having;

supervising means for supervising transmission of information at a new predetermined time determined for each of said communicating means;

detecting means for detecting which of said communicating means has not transmitted the information at said predetermined time thereof based on a supervisory result of said supervising means; and

displaying means for displaying information identifying the communicating means detected by said detecting means independent of the operational state of the communicating means or the communication lines.

2. Centralized control system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said terminal device is a copying machine.

3. Centralized control system as set forth in claim 2, wherein said operational condition information includes discharge condition of copy paper, jamming condition, the number of jammings, the number of copying operations for each size of copy paper, and the number of times each part of the copying machine has been used.

4. Centralized control system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said displaying means displays information of the communicating means detected by detecting means, as well as the predetermined time at which said information should be transmitted from said communicating means to said controlling means under normal condition.

5. Centralized control system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said controlling means further includes transmission time determining means for determining the new predetermined time for every time said information should be transmitted by any one of said communicating means, the supervising means being responsive to the new predetermined time determined for each of said communicating means by said transmission time determining means.

6. Centralized control system, comprising:

one or more terminal devices;

communicating means provided for each of said one or more terminal devices and energized by a power source for transmitting information relating to operational condition of each of said terminal devices at a predetermined time; and

controlling means, connected to each of said communicating means through communication lines, for controlling each of said terminal devices in accordance with said information transmitted from each of said communicating means;

said communicating means having;

storing means for storing said information;

holding means for holding data representative of said predetermined time;

clocking means for clocking present time;

a back-up power source for backing up said storing means and said clocking means when said power source is shut off;

comparing means for comparing the present time clocked by said clocking means with said predetermined time; and

transmitting means for outputting the information stored in said storing means to said controlling means at a time when the power is supplied again based on a result of comparison by said comparing means when said present time has passed said predetermined time,

wherein said transmitting means outputs to said controlling means the information, which is not outputted at the predetermined time due to the outage of the power, at the time when the power is supplied again.

7. Centralized control system as set forth in claim 6, wherein said terminal device is a copying machine.

8. Centralized control system as set forth in claim 7, wherein said operational condition information includes discharge condition of copy paper, jamming condition, the number of jammings, the number of copying operations for each size of copy paper, and the number of times each part of the copying machine has been used.

9. Centralized control system as set forth in claim 6, wherein said controlling means further includes transmission time determining means for determining a new predetermined time for every time said information should be transmitted by any one of said communicating means.

10. Centralized control system, comprising:

one or more terminal devices;

communicating means, provided for each of said one or more terminal devices and energized by power source, for transmitting information relating to an operational condition of each of said terminal devices; and

controlling means, connected to each of said communicating means through communication lines, for controlling each of said terminal devices in accordance with said information transmitted from each of said communicating means;

said communicating means having;

storing means for storing said information;

holding means for holding data representative of a predetermined time;

clocking means for clocking the present time;

back-up power source for backing up said storing means and clocking means when said power source is shut off;

comparing means for comparing the present time clocked by said clocking means with said predetermined time;

a flag which is set in the case where said information stored in said storing means should be transmitted in accordance with comparison result by said comparing means; and

transmitting means, in the case where said flag is set and the power source is not shut off, for transmitting said information stored in said storing means to said controlling means immediately, and at the time when the power is supplied again in the case where said flag is set but the power source is shut off;

wherein said transmitting means transmits to said controlling means the information, which is not transmitted at the time when said flag is set due to the outage of the power, at the time when the power is supplied again.

11. Centralized control system as set forth in claim 10, wherein said terminal device is a copying machine.

12. Centralized control system as set forth in claim 11, wherein said operational condition information includes discharge condition of copy paper, jamming condition, the number of jammings, the number of copying operations for each size of copy paper, and the number of times each part of the copying machine has been used.

13. Centralized control system for an image forming apparatus, comprising:

one or more image forming apparatuses for forming an image on copy paper;

communicating means, provided for each of said one or more image forming apparatuses, for transmitting each operational condition information including trouble information of each of said image forming apparatuses; and

controlling means for controlling each of said image forming apparatuses in accordance with said information transmitted from each of said communicating means;

said communicating means having;

first judging means for judging a trouble condition of said image forming apparatus;

second judging means for judging that said image forming apparatus discharges the copy paper in accordance with an image forming operation;

third judging means for judging whether said image forming apparatus has recovered from the trouble condition to a normal condition in accordance with judgment results of said first and second judging means when the image forming apparatus discharges the copy paper after the trouble condition occurs; and

transmitting a result of the judging from said third judging means to said controlling means.

14. Centralized control system for image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 13, wherein said image forming apparatus is a copying machine.

15. Centralized control system for image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 14, wherein said trouble information is under the condition of jamming of copy paper.

16. Centralized control system for image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 14, wherein said operational condition information includes discharge condition of copy paper, the number of jamming, the number of copying operation for each size of copy paper, the number of times each part of the copying machine has been used.

17. Centralized control system for image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 13, further comprising holding means for holding a judgment result of said second judging means, and means for resetting the trouble information being held by the holding means when said third judging means judges that said image forming apparatus has recovered to the normal condition.

18. Centralized system as set forth in claim 13, further comprising:

first holding means for holding a judgment result of said first judging means;

second holding means for holding a judgment result of said second judging means;

third holding means for holding a judgment result of said third judging means; and

means for transmitting the judgment result held in said third holding means from said communicating means to said controlling means and then resetting said trouble information.

19. Centralized control system for a plurality of copying machines, comprising:

a plurality of data terminal devices each associated with a respective one of said plurality of copying machines, and

a central unit connected to each of said data terminal devices through a communication line;

wherein each of said data terminal devices collects information relating to an operational condition of the copying machine and transmits the collected information to said central unit through the communication line at a predetermined time determined for each of said data terminal devices;

said central unit including;

means for providing a present time,

storing means for storing the predetermined time determined for each of said data terminal devices,

means for renewing the predetermined time stored in said storing means for the data terminal device which has transmitted the information at the predetermined time,

detecting means for detecting which of said data terminal devices fails to transmit the information at the predetermined time thereof based on comparison between the present time and the predetermined time stored in said storing means, and

displaying means for displaying information identifying the data terminal device detected by said detecting means independent of the operational state of the communicating means or the communication lines.

20. Centralized control system for a plurality of copying machines, comprising:

a plurality of data terminal devices each associated with a respective one of said plurality of copying machines; and

a central unit connected to each of said data terminal devices through a communication line;

wherein each of said data terminal devices is energized by a power source to collect information relating to an operational condition of the copying machine and to transmit the collected information to said central unit through the communication line at a predetermined time determined for each of said data terminal devices;

each of said data terminal devices including;

storing means for storing said information,

holding means for holding data representative of said predetermined time,

clocking means for clocking a present time;

a back-up power source for backing up said storing means and said clocking means when said power source is shut off;

comparing means for comparing the present time clocked by said clocking means with said predetermined time; and

transmitting means for outputting the information stored in said storing means to said central unit at a time when the power is supplied again based on a result of comparison by said comparing means when said present time has passed said predetermined time,

wherein said transmitting means outputs to said central unit the information, which is not outputted at the predetermined time due to the outage of the power, at the time when the power is supplied again.

21. Centralized control system for a plurality of copying machines each of which forms an image on a paper, comprising:

a plurality of data terminal devices each associated with a respective one of said plurality of copying machines; and

a central unit connected to each of said data terminal devices through a communication line;

wherein each of said data terminal devices collects information relating to an operational condition of the copying machine and transmits the collected information to said central unit through the communication line;

each of said data terminal devices including;

first judging means for judging a trouble condition of said copying machine,

first transmitting means for transmitting information indicating the trouble condition judged by said judging means to said central unit,

second judging means for judging that said copying machine discharges the paper in accordance with a copying operation, and

second transmitting means for transmitting information indicating that the copying machine has recovered from the trouble condition when said second judging means judges that said copying machine discharges the paper after the trouble condition is judged by said first judging means.