JPH0830449A - Machine controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely rewrite the contents for controlling a machine device by mounting a 2nd storage means which stores the contents to be rewritten into the contents of a 1st storage means and executing a rewriting program in the 2nd storage means by a control means. CONSTITUTION:When it is confirmed that an option memory 130 is connected to a CPU 100, version information is read out of the memory 130 and compared with version information in a program memory 110. When the version of the control program in the memory 130 is newer than the version of the control program in the memory 110, a new rewriting program in the memory 130 is executed so as to transfer the control program, etc., in the memory 130 to the memory 110. Consequently, the contents of the memory 110 can be rewritten by the latest rewriting program at all times.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a machine control device, and more particularly to a control device for controlling the operation of a machine device according to a control program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is common practice to control a mechanical device according to the contents of a memory (a control program or data; hereinafter referred to as a control program, etc.). by the way,
In some cases, the contents of the mechanical device are required to be changed or added in order to have multiple functions or to correct a defect. Therefore, it is desirable that the control program and the like can be easily changed or added.

For example, in the control device described in JP-A-5-80602, the control program stored in the EEPROM 802 can be rewritten with the control program transferred from an external device.

[0004]

However, in the device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-80602, the EEPROM 802
The control program therein is rewritten by the rewriting program stored in the ROM 803 in advance.
Therefore, even if the rewriting program has a problem, it cannot be easily corrected. Therefore, if there is a problem in the rewriting program, the EEPROM 802
Cannot reliably rewrite the control program of.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a machine control device capable of reliably rewriting the contents for controlling the machine device.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 stores the contents for controlling the operation of the mechanical device in a first storage means and the first storage means. A control means for controlling the operation of the mechanical device in accordance with the written contents, a content for controlling the operation of the mechanical device, and a rewriting program for rewriting the contents of the first storage means are removable. Second storage means, and when the second storage means is mounted, according to a rewriting program stored in the second storage means,
The control means rewrites the contents in the first storage means to the contents in the second storage means.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the contents stored in the first storage means and the second storage means are control programs.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that, in the second storage means, the rewriting program is stored with a predetermined address at the head.

[0009]

First, the second storage means storing the contents to be rewritten to the contents of the first storage means is mounted. Then, the control means executes the rewriting program in the second storage means.

[0010]

1 is a schematic sectional view of an electrophotographic copying machine according to the present invention. At the center of the copying machine main body 1, a photosensitive drum 2 which can be rotationally driven is arranged. Around the photosensitive drum 2, an eraser lamp 3, a charging charger 4, a developing device 5, a transfer charger 6, a separation charger 7,
The cleaners 8 are sequentially arranged. Also, the copying machine body 1
Paper feed cassettes 10 to 13 are provided in the lower part of the. In copying, first, an original image on the platen glass 20 is exposed on the photosensitive drum 2 that is uniformly charged by the charging charger 4, and an electrostatic latent image is formed. The electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing device 5, and then transferred to a sheet by the transfer charger 6. Photoconductor drum 2 after transfer
When is rotated further, the residual toner is removed by the cleaner 8 and the residual charge is removed by the eraser lamp 3. One of the sheets is supplied from one of the sheet feeding cassettes 10 to 13 by the sheet feeding rollers 10a to 13a, passes through the conveying roller 14 and the timing roller 15, and is conveyed to the position of the transfer charger 6. . The transferred sheet is separated from the photoconductor drum 2 by the corona discharge of the separation charger 7 and the stiffness of the sheet itself, and then passes through the conveyor belt 16 and the fixing device 17 and is discharged onto the discharge tray 18. It

FIG. 2 shows a control device for controlling the main body 1 of the copying machine. This controller implements the present invention. The key switch 101 provided on the operation panel of the copying machine main body 1 is connected to the input / output terminal of the CPU 100 (control means).
The display units 102 are connected in matrix. Further, each element of the apparatus such as the above-mentioned photosensitive drum 2 is a CPU 1
Controlled by the output signal from 00.

A program memory 110 and a data memory 120 are connected to the address / data bus of the CPU 100. The program memory 110 is a RAM made non-volatile by backing up a battery, and stores a control program. That is, the program memory 11
0 corresponds to the first storage means. In addition, the data memory 12
Reference numeral 0 is a ROM, which stores various data for controlling the copying machine main body 1. Then, the CPU 100 controls various operations of the copying machine main body 1 by using the control data in the data memory 120 and executing the control program in the program memory 110.

Further, an option memory 130 can be connected to the address / data bus of the CPU 100. The option memory 130 is a ROM that stores a control program and a rewriting program for rewriting the control program of the program memory 110, and corresponds to a second storage unit. Then, the CPU 100 can rewrite the control program in the program memory 110 with the control program in the option memory 130 by executing the rewriting program in the option memory 130.

From the CPU 100 to the program memory 110, addresses 00000 (H) to 6FFFF
(H) is allocated, addresses 70000 (H) to 7FFFF (H) are allocated to the data memory 120, and address 80000 is allocated to the option memory 130.
(H) to EFFFF (H) are assigned.

FIG. 3 shows a memory space of the program memory 110 and the option memory 130. The program memory 110 and the option memory 130 both store a control program, version information, and a rewriting program. The control program is a program for controlling the operation of the copying machine main body 1 and is stored in the program memory 110 with 00000 (H) as the start address and in the option memory 130 with 80000 (H) as the start address. . The rewriting program is a program for rewriting the control program of the program memory 110, and
6F000 (H) is set as the start address, and EF000 (H) is set as the start address in the option memory 130. Further, the program memory 110 and the option memory 130 store version information indicating the versions of the control programs stored therein at the address immediately before the rewriting program. In the following description, the control program stored in the program memory 110 may be referred to as an old control program, and the rewriting program may be referred to as an old rewriting program. Similarly, the control program stored in the option memory 110 may be referred to as a new control program, and the rewriting program may be referred to as a new rewriting program.

The control in which the CPU 100 rewrites the control program in the program memory 110 will be described below.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a main routine of control by the CPU 100. When the CPU 100 is reset and the program starts, initialization (step S1) is performed. In this initial setting, the internal RA
Initialization of the CPU 100 such as clearing of M and setting of various registers, and processing of setting the copying machine body 1 to the initial state are performed.

Next, an internal timer built in the CPU 100 and having its value set in advance by initialization is started (step S2). Subsequently, display processing (step S3), input processing (step S4), copy control (step S5), memory rewriting processing (step S)
6) and other processing (step S7) are sequentially performed. When all the subroutine processing is completed, step S1
Wait for the end of the internal timer set in (Step S
8) End one routine and return to step S2.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the memory rewriting processing subroutine (step S6). here,
When the option memory 130 is connected, the control program is transferred to the program memory 110.

First, it is determined whether the option memory 130 is connected (step S100). Whether or not the option memory 130 is connected can be determined by reading and viewing the data in the address space of the option memory 130. A signal indicating that the option memory 130 is connected is the CPU 100.
Can also be configured to be input to.

If it is confirmed that the option memory 130 is connected, the version information is read from the option memory 130 (step S101) and compared with the version information in the program memory 110 (step S102). Then, the version of the control program in the option memory 130 and the program memory 110
If the version of the control program is the same or the control program of the option memory 130 is older (step S102; NO), the process returns to the main routine.

On the other hand, if the control program of the option memory 130 is newer than the version and the version of the control program of the program memory 110 (step S102; YES), the control program of the option memory 130 is transferred to the program memory 110. Therefore, the new rewriting program (step S103) in the option memory 130 is executed. Then, after the new rewriting program (step S103) ends, the initial setting process (step S) that is the first process of the main routine.
Jump to 1).

FIG. 6 shows a new rewriting program (step S
103) is a flowchart showing the above.

First, the read address is set to 80,000 (H).
(Step S201), and the write address is initially set to 00000 (H) (step S20).
2). Next, read the data from the memory specified by the read address and write it in the memory specified by the write address.
The data is written (steps S203, S204).
After that, the read address and the write address are added (steps S205 and S206). Then, it is determined whether or not the read address exceeds the last value EFFFF (H) (step S207). Read address is EFFF
If it exceeds F (H) (step S207; YE
S) Since all the data has been transferred from the option memory 130 to the program memory 110, this new rewriting program is ended. On the other hand, if the read address does not exceed EFFFF (H) (step S
207; NO), since the data to be transferred to the program memory 110 remains in the option memory 130, the process returns to step S203, and the reading / writing of data is continued. By the above processing, all the control programs and the like (control program, version information, and rewriting program) of the program memory 110 are rewritten to the control programs and the like of the option memory.

As described above, the rewriting of data in the program memory 110 is performed by the option memory 13
Since the processing is performed by the new rewriting program in 0, even if there is a defect in the old rewriting program in the program memory 110, it can be easily corrected. Further, since the rewriting program is also stored in the memory in which the new control program to be rewritten is stored, the rewriting program can be optimized for the new control program. For example, when only a part of the old control program is modified, the time required for rewriting the control program can be shortened. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the downtime of the mechanical device while the control program is being rewritten.

In the above embodiment, the program memory 1
Although the example of rewriting the control program of 10 has been described, if the data memory 120 is a rewritable non-volatile memory (for example, a RAM backed up by a battery), the control program of the data memory 120 can be rewritten. You can also do it. In this case, the control data is stored in the option memory 130, and the read address designated in step S202 of FIG.
It may be set to 0 (H).

[0027]

According to the present invention, in the machine control device for controlling the operation of the machine device according to the contents stored in the first storage means, it is possible to connect the first control means to the second control means.
The contents of the storage means can be easily rewritten. Moreover, since the rewriting of the contents in the first storage means is controlled according to the rewriting program stored in the second storage means, the contents of the first storage means can always be rewritten by the latest rewriting program. Therefore, even if there is a problem in the old rewriting program, the contents in the first storage unit can be surely rewritten without being affected by the problem. The content stored in the first storage means and the second storage means may be a control program as described in claim 2.

According to the third aspect of the invention, since the rewriting program is stored with the predetermined address of the second storage means at the head, the rewriting program is executed when the control means executes the rewriting program. Since it is not necessary to search the position of the rewriting program, the rewriting program can be easily executed. The second storage means is detachable, and the size of the rewriting program is assumed to be various. Therefore, the invention of claim 3 is particularly effective.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a copying machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control circuit embodying the present invention.

3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a memory space of a program memory 110 and an option memory 130. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a main routine of a control program of a program memory 110.

5 is a flowchart showing a memory rewriting processing subroutine of a control program of a program memory 110. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a new rewriting program in an option memory 130.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Copier main body (mechanical device) 100 ... CPU (control means) 110 ... Program memory (first storage means) 120 ... Data memory (first storage means) 130 ... Optional memory (Second storage means)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A first storage means for storing contents for controlling the operation of a mechanical device, a control means for controlling the operation of the mechanical device according to the contents stored in the first storage means, and the machine. And a removable second storage unit storing a rewriting program for rewriting the contents of the first storage unit and the contents for controlling the operation of the apparatus, wherein the second storage unit is mounted. At this time, the control unit rewrites the content of the first storage unit with the content of the second storage unit according to a rewriting program stored in the second storage unit. 2. The machine control device according to claim 1, wherein the contents stored in the first storage means and the second storage means are control programs. 3. The machine control device according to claim 1, wherein in the second storage means, the rewriting program is stored starting from a predetermined address.