Apparatus, system, and method for print quality measurements

Abstract

An apparatus includes at least one scanner. Each scanner includes a plurality of sensors, and each sensor is capable of measuring one or more characteristics associated with a portion of a substrate. The substrate has printing produced by a printing system. The apparatus also includes a controller capable of receiving at least some of the measurements from the plurality of sensors and determining a quality of the printing on the substrate using the received measurements. The substrate could represent paper, and the printing system could represent an offset printing system. At least one of the sensors may be in a fixed position and / or at least one of the sensors may be movable over part of a surface of the substrate. The determined quality of the printing could involve density, dot area, dot gain, contour sharpness, doubling, mottling, ghosting, misregister of different colored inks, slur, or improper positioning of the printing.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates generally to printing systems, and more particularly to an apparatus, system and method for print quality measurement. Background technique [0002] Different types of printing systems are available and used to print newspapers, books and other documents. These conventional printing systems often include components such as inline printing presses, common-impression-cylinder presses and blanket-to-blanket presses. Some conventional printing systems are used to produce printing on large streams of paper, such as three meter wide paper. Some conventional printing systems are also used to produce printing on rapidly moving paper, such as paper moving at twenty meters per second. Some conventional printing systems also combine multiple printing steps, such as systems that support sequential application of inks of different colors or appearances, laquer or other surface sealants, and the like. [0003] It is often necessary t...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, traditional print quality monitoring techniques are typically affected by various issues

For example, traditional print quality monitoring techniques are often slow and expensive

Furthermore, often there is little or limited space where print quality monitoring equipment can be installed and used

This typically limits the functionality provided by the device

Images