US-12625451-B2 - Sound diagnostic system

US12625451B2US 12625451 B2US12625451 B2US 12625451B2US-12625451-B2

Abstract

A sound diagnostic system includes an image forming apparatus and an information processing apparatus. The image forming apparatus includes operating portions, a sound collector for collecting a sonic wave, an acquiring portion, in each of a plurality of time sections when the sonic wave is collected by the sound collector, for acquiring a data including sonic wave level and an operating state of the operating portions. The information processing apparatus includes a generator for generating a threshold by adding a predetermined value to a first sonic wave level based on the sonic wave in a first period. The information processing apparatus determines a cause of an abnormal sound by comparing a second sonic wave level based on the sonic wave in a second period after the first period and the threshold. The predetermined value is set so as to be smaller as the first sonic wave level is larger.

Inventors

Seiji Hara
Yohei Suzuki

Assignees

CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20241031
Priority Date: 20231206

Claims (6)

1 . A sound diagnostic system comprising an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material and an information processing apparatus capable of communicating with the image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus comprises: one or more operating portions; a sound collecting portion configured to collect a sonic wave so as to include a period when the operating portion is in operation; an acquiring portion, in each of a plurality of time sections when the sonic wave is collected by the sound collecting portion, configured to acquire a data including sonic wave level based on the sonic wave and an operating state of the one or more operating portions; and a transmission portion configured to transmit the data to the information processing apparatus, and wherein the information processing apparatus comprises: a receiving portion configured to receive the data; a threshold value generating portion configured to generate a threshold value by adding a predetermined value to a first sonic wave level which is the sonic wave level based on the sonic wave collected by the sound collecting portion in a first period; and a determining portion configured to determine a cause of an abnormal sound by comparing a second sonic wave level which is the sonic wave level based on the sonic wave collected by the sound collecting portion in a second period after the first period and the threshold value, and wherein the predetermined value is set so as to be smaller as the first sonic wave level is larger.
2 . The sound diagnostic system according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined value is added to an antilogarithm of the first sonic wave level which is logarithm.
3 . The sound diagnostic system according to claim 2 , wherein the acquiring portion generates the sonic wave level based on the sonic wave collected by the sound collecting portion in a period including the period when the operating portion is in operation and a period when the operating portion is not in operation.
4 . The sound diagnostic system according to claim 1 , wherein the threshold value has a predetermined threshold range, and wherein the determining portion determines the cause of the abnormal sound by calculating, in the plurality of time sections, a number of time sections in which the second sonic wave level is in the predetermined threshold range.
5 . The sound diagnostic system according to claim 1 , further comprising a notification portion configured to notify a determined result of the determining portion or countermeasure information based on the determined result of the determining portion in a case in which the determining portion determines the cause of the abnormal sound, and a display device configured to receive a notification from the notification portion and display the determined result of the determining portion or the countermeasure information based on the determined result of the determining portion.
6 . The sound diagnostic system according to claim 1 , each of the one or more operating portions drives a component included in the image forming apparatus.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART The present invention relates to a sound diagnostic system for determining presence or absence of an abnormal sound. In an image forming apparatus such as a copy machine and a laser printer, if a component reaching an end of life thereof continues to be used without being replaced, the abnormal sound may be generated from such a component. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-032948, a component which is generating an abnormal sound in an image forming apparatus is identified. Specifically, by analyzing a frequency of detected sound, the component which is generating the abnormal sound is identified based on the frequency and a peak value of sound pressure level at that frequency. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, when a plurality of components are in operation simultaneously, frequency bands of each component may overlap, and it may be difficult to identify the component which is generating the abnormal sound using the conventional identification method. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to determine a cause of an abnormal sound with high accuracy. In order to solve the aforementioned problems, the present invention includes the following configuration. A sound diagnostic system comprising an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material and an information processing apparatus capable of communicating with the image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus comprises: one or more operating portions; a sound collecting portion configured to collect a sonic wave so as to include a period when the operating portion is in operation; an acquiring portion, in each of a plurality of time sections when the sonic wave is collected by the sound collecting portion, configured to acquire a data including sonic wave level based on the sonic wave and an operating state of the one or more operating portions; and a transmission portion configured to transmit the date to the information processing apparatus, and wherein the information processing apparatus comprises: a receiving portion configured to receive the data; a threshold value generating portion configured to generate a threshold value by adding a predetermined value to a first sonic wave level which is the sonic wave level based on the sonic wave collected by the sound collecting portion in a first period; and a determining portion configured to determine a cause of an abnormal sound by comparing a second sonic wave level which is the sonic wave level based on the sonic wave collected by the sound collecting portion in a second period after the first period and the threshold value, and wherein the predetermined value is set so as to be smaller as the first sonic wave level is larger. Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an image forming apparatus in Embodiments 1 through 3. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a sound diagnostic system in the Embodiments 1 through 3. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the sound diagnostic system in the Embodiments 1 through 3. FIG. 4, part (a), part (b), and part (c), includes schematic cross-sectional views describing an outline of a contacting/separating mechanism of a transfer roller in the Embodiment 1. FIG. 5 is a flowchart describing a procedure for calculating a threshold range in the Embodiment 1. FIG. 6A includes graphs illustrating sonic wave level and operating state of actuators in the Embodiment 1. FIG. 6B includes graphs illustrating the sonic wave level and the operating state of the actuators in the Embodiment 1. FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating the sonic wave level averaged in a section in the Embodiment 1 and a statistic thereof. FIG. 8, part (a), part (b), and part (c), includes graphs illustrating statistics and the threshold range for each section in the Embodiment 1. FIG. 9 is a view illustrating whether or not the statistic is within the threshold range for each section in the Embodiment 1. FIG. 10 is a flowchart describing a procedure for identifying a unit causing the abnormal sound in the Embodiment 1. FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating statistics and threshold ranges for each section in the Embodiment 2. FIG. 12 is a view illustrating whether or not the statistic is within the threshold range for each section in the Embodiment 2. FIG. 13 is a graph illustrating statistics and threshold range for each section in the Embodiment 3. FIG. 14 is a view illustrating whether or not the statistic is within the threshold range for each section in the Embodiment 3. DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, suitable Embodiments of the present invention will be exemplarily described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, dimensions, material, shapes and relative dispositions of components described below should be changed as app