JP5359006B2 - Electronic equipment monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To discriminate conditions which exert a bad influence on the life of an electronic device due to its temperature. <P>SOLUTION: In this electronic device monitoring device, a temperature deviation accumulation value calculation section 12 calculates two kinds, a temperature increase component and a temperature decrease component, of temperature deviation accumulation values of the electronic device. A condition determination/notification section 13 determines conditions based on the accumulation values of these two kinds of temperature deviations, and gives a notice of the conditions as needed. The contents of the condition determination are "insufficient cooling state", "heat shock state", "overcooled state" etc., for example. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for determining a situation that adversely affects the life of an electronic device due to temperature.

  Conventionally, it is known that temperature stress adversely affects the life of electronic equipment (reduces the life). For example, it is known that if an electronic device continues to be operated at a temperature higher than the temperature T0 during normal operation defined by the standard, the lifetime of the electronic device is shortened.

  Taking an instrument panel as an example of the above electronic equipment, conventionally, the temperature of the instrument room where the instrument panel is installed or the temperature inside the instrument panel is simply measured, and an alarm is given when the temperature rises abnormally. . For example, a temperature higher than the above temperature T0 (a temperature considered to be an abnormal temperature with respect to the lifetime) is set as a threshold, and an alarm is issued when the measured temperature exceeds this threshold. In other words, only instantaneous temperature rise could be monitored.

Here, conventional techniques described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are known.
The invention of Patent Document 1 calculates the life loss of electrical equipment at regular intervals in a computer, and automatically accumulates and displays the results. The life loss is calculated according to the temperature of the electric equipment, and the life is shortened as the temperature is higher.

The invention of Patent Document 2 predicts the lifetime of an electric circuit depending on temperature, humidity, and time by calculating an integrated value of a function of measured values and time of temperature sensors and humidity sensors.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-159574 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-174652

  Here, it is desired to make the life of the electronic device as long as possible. As described above, in the conventional technology, an alarm or the like is issued when the temperature in the instrument panel abnormally rises, so that the situation (abnormal temperature) that shortens the life of the electrical equipment may be improved by an operator or the like. It was possible to expect and this was to make the life of electrical equipment as long as possible.

However, even if the temperature in the instrument panel does not reach the abnormal temperature and the temperature continues to be high to some extent, the life of the electronic device is shortened.
In addition, for example, when the temperature is repeatedly high and low, the life may be shortened due to the effect of so-called “heat shock”.

  In addition, since the life of the electrical equipment becomes shorter as the temperature is higher as described above, the temperature of the instrument panel is lowered by lowering the temperature of the instrument room with an air conditioner in the case of the instrument panel in the instrument room. However, if it is too low, power consumption by the air-conditioning equipment becomes great, which is not economically appropriate.

  An object of the present invention is to monitor changes in the temperature of electronic equipment over a long period of time, to determine the situation that adversely affects the life of the electronic equipment due to temperature, or to report it, or there is no problem with respect to the life It is also to provide an electronic device monitoring device or the like that can determine that the situation is economically inappropriate and perform notification or the like.

  The electronic device monitoring apparatus according to the present invention is based on input means for inputting a measured value of the temperature of the target electronic device, and on the basis of the measured temperature value and a preset reference temperature, two portions of the temperature rise and the temperature fall. A situation in which a situation determination is made based on a temperature deviation integrated value calculation means for calculating an integrated value of the types of temperature deviations, an integrated value of the two types of temperature deviations, and a predetermined threshold set in advance, and a notification is made if necessary. Determination / notification means.

For example, the status determination and notification means obtains a difference between the integrated value of the two kinds of temperature deviation, the temperature rise is greater than the temperature decrease amount, and the difference is a predetermined second set in advance When the threshold value is exceeded, it is determined that “cooling is insufficient”.

Further, for example, the situation determination / notification means obtains a difference between the integrated values of the two types of temperature deviations, and the absolute value of the difference is 0 or close to 0 or less than a predetermined third threshold value. If the integrated value of the temperature deviation corresponding to the temperature rise exceeds a predetermined fourth threshold value, it is determined as “heat shock state”.

Alternatively, for example, the situation determination / notification unit obtains a difference between integrated values of the two types of temperature deviations, the temperature decrease is larger than the temperature increase, and an absolute value of the difference is preset. If the fifth threshold value is exceeded, it is determined as “supercooled state”.

  According to the electronic device monitoring apparatus and the like of the present invention, it is possible to monitor a rise / fall change in the temperature of the electronic device over a long period of time, determine a situation that adversely affects the life of the electronic device due to the temperature, and notify, or the like. Even if there is no problem with respect to the service life, it can be determined that the situation is economically inappropriate and notification can be made. Accordingly, it is possible to take measures such as inspecting / maintaining parts in a preventive maintenance manner.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
This technique is capable of monitoring changes in the temperature of electronic devices over a long period of time and determining and informing a situation in which the temperature adversely affects the life of the electronic device. In other words, the effect of temperature is divided into both rising and falling parts under the reference temperature, and time integration monitoring is performed, and the above conditions are presented as “undercooled state”, “heat shock state”, “supercooled state”, etc. is there.

The electronic device means all devices that use electronic components.
First, it is known that the degree of influence of temperature stress on the lifetime of electronic equipment is determined by the Arrhenius law. For example, it is generally known that the life of an electrolytic capacitor as an electronic component in an electronic device is halved if the temperature rises by 10 °.
・ Arrhenius law L = A ・ exp (Ea / kT)
(L: life, A: constant, Ea: activation energy (eV), T: absolute temperature, k: Boltzmann constant [8.6159 × 10 (eV)])
According to the Arrhenius law, an electronic component has a shorter life as temperature rises and becomes longer as temperature falls.

  In this method, the temperature is treated in the same way as radioactivity, and if it is radioactivity, the monitored object will be the amount of exposure. The integrated value of the temperature deviation is considered.

That is, not only when the temperature exceeds a certain value, but also by integrating the temperature deviation, the degree of damage of the electronic device can be specifically measured.
Here, the temperature (in-panel temperature or the like) of the target electronic device is T1 (° C.), and the economical reference temperature at which the electronic device can obtain a stable life is Tb. The reason for saying “economic” is that, as mentioned above, the lower the temperature, the longer the service life becomes. If the room temperature is lowered too much, the power consumption by the air-conditioning equipment will increase, resulting in an economic loss. This is because this point needs to be taken into consideration. Therefore, the reference temperature Tb is appropriately determined by an operator or the like in consideration of economy. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the reference temperature Tb may be, for example, a temperature during normal operation defined by the standard for the target electronic device.

In FIG. 1, the schematic block diagram of the electronic device monitoring apparatus 10 of this example is shown.
The illustrated electronic device monitoring apparatus 10 includes an input unit 11 for inputting a temperature measurement result (the temperature T1 (° C.)) by a temperature sensor A (not illustrated) that measures the temperature of the target electronic device, the temperature T1, and the reference. Based on the temperature Tb, a temperature deviation integrated value calculation unit 12 that calculates an integrated value of the temperature deviation, and a situation determination based on the integrated value of the temperature deviation and a predetermined threshold value set in advance, and notify if necessary. A situation determination / notification unit 13; As a notification method, for example, a predetermined message is displayed on a display included in the electronic device monitoring apparatus 10.

  The input unit 11 may be connected to the temperature sensor A (not shown) to input measurement data from the temperature sensor A in real time, or the measurement data from the temperature sensor A may be other devices not shown. Or what is recorded on the recording medium may be obtained from the other device or recording medium.

The temperature deviation integrated value calculated by the temperature deviation integrated value calculation unit 12 has two types of temperature increase and temperature decrease. Details will be described later.
The processing function of the temperature deviation integrated value calculation unit 12 and the situation determination / notification unit 13 is a predetermined function stored in a storage device such as a memory (not shown) by a CPU / MPU (not shown) included in the electronic device monitoring apparatus 10. This is realized by executing an application program.

  The electronic device monitoring apparatus 10 may be realized by a DCS (Distributed Control System) or a general-purpose personal computer. When the DCS is used, the temperature deviation may be integrated using a standard integration module provided in the DCS.

The temperature deviation integrated value calculation unit 12 integrates the temperature deviation by, for example, the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG.
The process shown in FIG. 2 is executed each time the temperature measurement result (temperature T1 (° C.)) is acquired at a predetermined sampling period, for example.

In the process shown in FIG. 2, first, a difference (temperature deviation) between the acquired temperature T1 and the reference temperature Tb is obtained (step S11).
That is,
Temperature deviation ΔT = T1-Tb
Ask for.

Then, the process branches depending on whether the obtained temperature deviation ΔT is a positive value or a negative value (step S12).
That is, when ΔT> 0 (positive) (step S12, YES), this ΔT is set as ΔTup (step S13), and the integrated value Tup for the temperature rise is obtained by the following equation (1) (step S14). .

Integrated value Tup for temperature rise Tup = ∫ΔTup (1) In addition, ΔT in equation (1) means all ΔTup acquired so far including this time. Therefore, if the previous integrated value Tup is obtained and held in the process of FIG. 2 in the past, Tup = Tup + ΔTup may be used instead of the equation (1). The same applies to the following equation (2).

On the other hand, if ΔT <0 (negative) (step S12, NO), this ΔT is set to ΔTdown (step S15), and the integrated value Tdown for the temperature decrease is obtained by the following equation (2).
Integrated value Tdown for temperature decrease = ∫ΔTdown (2) In this case, however, the integrated value Tdown for temperature decrease is a negative value, so that in the process shown in FIG. 2, this becomes a positive value. I have to. That is, in the process of FIG. 2, the absolute value of ΔTdown is taken (S = | ΔTdown |) (step S16), and the absolute value S is integrated (step S17).

In other words, in this example,
The integrated value Tdown for the temperature drop is expressed by the following equation: Tdown = ∫S (2) ′.

  Either of the above formulas (2) and (2) ′ may be used, but in the description here, the difference between Tup and Tdown is obtained as will be described later, and therefore the formula (2) ′ is used. That is, the processing in steps S16 and S17 shown in FIG. 2 is performed.

Of course, if ΔT = 0, the integration process is not performed.
The situation determination / notification unit 13 is based on the two types of temperature deviation integrated values calculated and updated as needed by the temperature deviation integrated value calculating unit 12, that is, the integrated value Tup for the temperature rise and the integrated value Tdown for the temperature decrease. Then, the situation determination described below is performed, and notification or the like is performed as necessary.

The process by the situation determination / notification unit 13 may be performed every time the process of FIG. 2 is executed, or may be performed every time a predetermined time set in advance elapses.
Of the situation determination processing described below, only the following method (i) performs situation determination using only the integrated value Tup for the temperature rise. Therefore, when only this method is executed, no processing may be performed if the determination in step S12 is NO.
(I) When strictly monitoring the degree of influence of temperature, a state where the temperature T1 is equal to or lower than the reference value Tb is not considered (the above-described (2) equation = 0 or (2) ′ = 0). That is, the situation determination is performed using only the integrated value Tup for the temperature rise.

  For example, a predetermined threshold value P set in advance is compared with the integrated value Tup for the temperature rise, and when Tup exceeds the threshold value P (Tup> P), it is determined as “insufficient cooling state”. For example, in the state shown in FIG. 3, it is determined as “undercooled state”. Then, notification such as displaying the determination result on the display is performed.

  By this notification, when the target electronic device is in an environment in which the room temperature can be adjusted by the air conditioning facility, the operator or the like takes measures such as lowering the temperature of the target electronic device by lowering the room temperature by strengthening the cooling by the air conditioning facility. be able to. Alternatively, the operator or the like can take measures such as inspecting / maintaining parts in a preventive maintenance manner.

Further, the life may be calculated according to the Arrhenius rule based on the integrated value Tup for the temperature rise.
In addition, in the method (i), if ΔTup continues to be accumulated over a long period of time, Tup will eventually exceed the threshold value P. Therefore, the accumulated value of the temperature rise every predetermined period (for example, every month). Tup may be reset (set to 0).
(Ii) When considering the degree of temperature influence, the difference Y = Tup−Tdown of the integrated value is calculated, the difference Y is compared with a predetermined threshold Q, and the difference Y is the threshold. When Q is exceeded (Y> Q), it is determined that the cooling is insufficient. For example, if the state as shown in FIG. 3 continues, it is determined that the state is “undercooled”. Then, notification such as displaying the determination result on the display is performed. The threshold value Q is a positive value. Therefore, if at least Tup> Tdown is not satisfied, it is not determined that the cooling is insufficient.

  By this notification, when the target electronic device is in an environment in which the room temperature can be adjusted by the air conditioning facility, the operator or the like takes measures such as lowering the temperature of the target electronic device by lowering the room temperature by strengthening the cooling by the air conditioning facility. be able to. Alternatively, the operator or the like can take measures such as inspecting / maintaining parts in a preventive maintenance manner.

As described above, an electronic component has a shorter life when the temperature rises and becomes longer when the temperature falls. Therefore, even if the lifetime is shortened by Tup, it is considered that the lifetime is offset by Tdown, so that there is no problem as long as the lifetime is not shortened as much as the lifetime at the reference temperature Tb as a whole. (Conversely, the lifetime may be longer than the lifetime at the reference temperature Tb (when Y <0)). Thus, as described above, the determination is performed using the difference Y of the integrated values.
(Iii) The method (ii) is effective in the situation shown in FIG. 3, but is not effective in the situation shown in FIG. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 4, a period of high temperature and a period of low temperature are mixed, but the temperature deviation is large and the integrated values Tup and Tdown are approximately the same value. In this case, in the method (ii), since the difference Y of the integrated values is a low value, notification or the like is not performed, and it is considered that there is no particular problem with respect to the lifetime according to the Arrhenius rule.

  However, in a situation where such a temperature change occurs, the life of the electronic device may be shortened due to the influence of heat shock. For example, even if the set temperature of the air conditioning equipment is constant, the temperature of the electronic equipment rises due to the high outside air temperature during the day and the air conditioning is not fully effective, but this time the outside air temperature drops at night. This may be the case when the air conditioner is too effective and the temperature of the electronic device drops. Alternatively, when the target electronic device is, for example, a vehicle-mounted electronic device, it may be placed in an environment where the temperature change is severe. In this case as well, the situation shown in FIG. 4 may occur.

  In the example shown in FIG. 4, when the difference Y = Tup−Tdown of the integrated values is calculated by the method (ii), for example, Y≈0. Of course, FIG. 4 is an extreme example, and in reality, there may be few cases where Y≈0, but the value of Y becomes very small compared to the magnitude of the temperature fluctuation.

  From this, this method is the same as the method (ii) in that the difference Y = Tup−Tdown of the integrated value is calculated, but this difference Y is compared / determined with a predetermined threshold R and the temperature rises. The accumulated value Tup of the minute is compared and determined with a predetermined threshold value U.

  The threshold value R is a threshold value for determining whether or not the situation is such that Y≈0, for example, and is an arbitrary value close to “0”, for example. Then, it is determined whether or not the absolute value | Y | of the difference Y is less than the threshold value R (| Y | <R?).

  The threshold U may be the same value as the threshold P, for example, but is not limited to this example. When the threshold value U = the threshold value P, it is determined whether or not the situation is determined as “insufficient cooling” when the determination is made only by Tup as in (i) above. FIG. 4 shows a case where the absolute value | Y | of the difference Y is less than the threshold value R, even though it is determined that the state is “insufficient cooling” when it is determined only by Tup. It is considered that there is a high possibility that the temperature fluctuation is intense.

From this, it is determined whether or not Tup> U is satisfied together with the determination of “| Y | <R?”.
When it is determined that Tup> U and | Y | <R, it is determined that the life of the electronic device may be shortened due to the influence of the heat shock, and a notification to that effect is given. If the integrated value Tup for the temperature rise is higher than a certain level, but the difference Y between the integrated values is small, the integrated value Tdown for the temperature decrease will also be large, and the temperature change will be large, resulting in heat shock. This is because they may be affected.

By this notification, an operator or the like can take measures such as inspecting / maintaining parts in a preventive maintenance manner. Alternatively, when the target electronic device is in an environment where the room temperature can be adjusted by the air conditioning facility, the operator or the like adjusts the temperature by the air conditioning facility (for example, strengthening the cooling during the day and weakening the cooling at the night). Can be handled.
(Iv) As mentioned above, if the indoor temperature is lowered too much because the lifetime of the electronic device is lower, the power consumption by the air-conditioning equipment increases, the economic loss increases, and the economic It would be inappropriate.

  As described above, the reference temperature Tb in this example is an economical reference temperature at which the electronic device can obtain a stable lifetime. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. Large situations (supercooled conditions) are economically inappropriate.

  Therefore, in the method (iv), the difference Y = Tup−Tdown of the integrated value is calculated, and the difference Y is compared with a predetermined threshold value V, and the difference Y becomes less than the threshold value V. If (Y <V), it is determined as “supercooled state” and a notification to that effect is given. The threshold value V is a negative value. Therefore, unless at least Tup <Tdown, the “supercooled state” is not determined. The threshold value V may be a positive value. In this case, the absolute value of the difference Y is compared with the threshold value V, and when the absolute value of the difference Y exceeds the threshold value V and the difference Y is a negative value, the “supercooled state” It will be determined.

By this notification, an operator or the like can take measures such as increasing the set temperature of the air conditioning equipment to reduce the power consumption by decreasing the cooling capacity.
In any of the above methods (i) to (iv), not only the notification is performed as described above but also other significant information is provided (displayed) to the operator or the like. Also good. For example, a graph (time series data) showing the variation of the temperature deviation ΔT as shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 may be displayed. In order to display such a graph, the temperature deviation ΔT obtained during the process shown in FIG. 2 may be stored in association with the time at that time.

  By displaying such a graph, for example, the operator can see in which time zone the “supercooled state” is reached by looking at the graph of FIG. 5 for example. It is possible to perform such a response. For example, if it is found as a result of analysis that the state is “supercooled” only at night, it is possible to take measures such as increasing the set temperature of the air conditioning equipment at night.

  In any of the above methods (i) to (iv), the temperature rise integrated value Tup and the temperature drop integrated value Tdown are further used, or the time deviation data of the temperature deviation ΔT is used. Based on this, the lifetime of the electronic device may be calculated.

  In the past, only absolute temperature monitoring of equipment (electronic equipment) using electronic components was possible. However, with this method, it is possible to predict the life of electronic components by taking time into account, and it is possible to determine the situation that adversely affects the life of electronic equipment due to temperature. This makes it possible to check the parts inspection / maintenance time in a preventive maintenance manner.

  This method can be applied to all devices that are in an environment where deviations can be integrated with measured temperature values of devices using electronic components (electronic devices). For example, temperature measurement is easy, such as in an instrument panel, and it is particularly effective in an apparatus provided with a control device such as DCS.

It is a schematic block diagram of the electronic device monitoring apparatus of this example. It is a process flowchart figure of a temperature deviation integrated value calculation part. It is an example of temperature deviation (DELTA) T of a cooling insufficient state. It is an example of temperature deviation (DELTA) T at the time of a heat shock. It is an example of the temperature deviation (DELTA) T of a supercooled state.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Electronic device monitoring apparatus 11 Input part 12 Temperature deviation integrated value calculation part 13 Situation determination / alerting | reporting part

Claims (5)

An input means for inputting a measured value of the temperature of the target electronic device;
Temperature deviation integrated value calculating means for calculating an integrated value of two types of temperature deviations for the temperature rise and the temperature drop based on the temperature measurement value and a preset reference temperature;
Situation determination / notification means for determining a situation based on the integrated value of the two types of temperature deviations and a predetermined threshold set in advance, and informing if necessary,
An electronic device monitoring apparatus comprising:   The situation determination / notification means determines that the cooling is insufficient when the integrated value of the temperature deviation corresponding to the temperature rise exceeds a preset first threshold value. The electronic device monitoring apparatus according to claim 1.   The situation determination / notification means obtains a difference between integrated values of the two types of temperature deviations, the temperature increase is larger than the temperature decrease, and the difference exceeds a predetermined second threshold value set in advance. The electronic device monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device monitoring apparatus determines that the cooling is insufficient.   The situation determination / notification means obtains a difference between the integrated values of the two types of temperature deviations, and is a case where the absolute value of the difference is 0 or close to 0 or less than a predetermined third threshold, 2. The electronic device monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the integrated value of the temperature deviation corresponding to the temperature rise exceeds a predetermined fourth threshold, it is determined as a “heat shock state”.   The situation determination / notification means obtains a difference between the integrated values of the two types of temperature deviations, the temperature decrease is larger than the temperature increase, and an absolute value of the difference is set in a predetermined fifth The electronic device monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the threshold value is exceeded, it is determined as “supercooled state”.