Dot Placement Rule Unification for Rotated Rectangle Rendering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Image forming apparatuses face issues with correctly drawing rectangles in standard metafile format when the user coordinate space is rotated, leading to line-shaped blanks and potential errors in bar code recognition due to inconsistencies in dot placement rules between contour and fill operations.
Innovation Solution
An image forming apparatus and method that selectively unify dot placement rules into either the Grid Intersection or Grid Centered rule to ensure consistent placement of contour and fill dots within the coordinate space, preventing line-shaped blanks during rotation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If different dot placement rules are used for contour and fill operations, then the rendering accuracy of each operation is optimized, but line-shaped blanks appear when the coordinate space is rotated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent dynamically switches between two operational modes: a normal mode using different dot placement rules for contour and fill operations, and a unified mode using the same rule for both operations when rotation is detected. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by selecting the appropriate rendering strategy based on the specific operational context.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the dot placement rule parameter from being operation-specific (different rules for contour and fill) to being operation-agnostic (same rule for both operations) when rotation is detected. This parameter change eliminates the inconsistency that causes line-shaped blanks while maintaining rendering accuracy through the unified rule.
2Ease of operation
If the Rectangle operator is used for standard metafile format, then the contour can be drawn, but line-shaped blanks appear due to inconsistency with fill operation
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts its behavior based on the detected operation type and coordinate space orientation. When rotation is detected, it switches to unified dot placement rule mode, ensuring consistency between contour and fill operations while maintaining the contour drawing capability provided by the Rectangle operator.
3Measurement precision
If Grid Intersection rule is used for contour, then contour precision is improved, but inconsistency with Grid Centered rule for fill causes drawing errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the dot placement rule parameter from being operation-specific (Grid Intersection for contour, Grid Centered for fill) to being operation-agnostic (using the same rule for both operations) when rotation is detected. This parameter change eliminates the inconsistency while preserving precision through the unified approach.
Data Source
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AI summary
An image forming apparatus (20) includes: a dot image forming unit (331) executes one of: (i) a default mode of forming a dot image of an entire rectangle by placing an internal dot group corresponding to a fill of an inside a rectangle and a contour dot group corresponding to a contour of the rectangle based on a first dot placement rule and a second dot placement rule, respectively; or (ii) a change mode of forming the dot image of the rectangle by unifying dot placement rules into either of the two dot placement rules and placing the internal dot group and the contour dot group; and an image formation control unit (321) causes, in the change mode, the dot image forming unit (331) to unify the dot placement rules into either of the two dot placement rules and to place the internal dot group and the contour dot group.