Color Registration Correction in Inkjet Printing via Global and Local Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Inkjet printing systems face challenges in maintaining accurate color registration across multiple copies of a print job, particularly due to variables such as paper weight, ink coverage, and ink drying, which can lead to registration errors like translation, rotation, and stretching, compromising print quality.
Innovation Solution
A printing system that uses multiple printheads to print color planes, where processors determine global and local color plane correction values to adjust for registration errors, allowing for finer corrections and improved alignment between color planes, especially in documents with mixed content like text and images.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If global color plane correction values are determined for each document, then color registration errors are reduced, but local variations in registration errors across different regions of the document are not adequately addressed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the correction process into two segments: global correction values that apply to the entire document, and local correction values that apply to specific regions. This segmentation allows the system to address both overall registration accuracy and local variations, resolving the contradiction between global precision and local adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by determining local color plane correction values for different regions of the document based on measured registration errors in those specific areas. This allows each region to receive customized correction values tailored to its local registration characteristics, while still maintaining overall document coherence through the global correction layer.
2Manufacturing precision
If correction values are determined for each document in a print job, then registration precision is improved, but processing time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary measurement of color registration errors during the printing process itself, using registration marks printed on the document. This preliminary action allows correction values to be determined based on actual measured errors rather than theoretical calculations, improving accuracy while keeping processing efficient by utilizing existing print operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where registration errors are measured from printed registration marks, and these measurements feed back into the determination of correction values for subsequent documents. This closed-loop feedback system continuously improves registration accuracy across the print job while maintaining efficient processing through automated measurement and calculation.
Data Source
AI summary
A printing system for printing multiple copies of a print job having one or more documents is disclosed. A plurality of printheads prints each of a plurality of color planes of a first copy of the print job. One or more processors determine a first plurality of color registration errors produced during the printing of the first copy of the print job. Global color plane correction values for each document of the print job are determined. The global color plane correction values are adjusted locally for each document based on the first plurality of local color plane correction values. The plurality of printheads prints a second copy of the print job using the locally adjusted global color plane correction values for each document in the print job.