Image Processing With Mixed-Color Charts for Defect Cause Detection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image diagnosis techniques struggle to accurately distinguish between white dropout image defects caused by a developing unit or a secondary transfer unit in image forming apparatuses, particularly in multicolor patches, leading to difficulty in identifying the precise cause of the defect.
Innovation Solution
An image processing apparatus and method that utilizes a test chart with mixed-color and single-color patches, combined with image readers and comparison processing, to identify the cause of image defects by distinguishing between pre-transfer and post-transfer issues through feature extraction and analysis of scanned images.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a test chart with single-color patches is used for image diagnosis, then the diagnosis process is simplified and can be performed with fewer resources, but the ability to accurately distinguish between developing unit defects and secondary transfer unit defects is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The test chart is segmented into multiple patches with different color combinations (single-color patches for each process color and mixed-color patches for combinations). This segmentation allows the diagnosis system to isolate and identify defects in specific units by analyzing which patches are affected, thereby resolving the contradiction between simplified diagnosis and accurate defect cause identification.
2Measurement precision
If multiple test charts are used to accurately identify defect causes, then defect diagnosis precision is improved, but the time and resources required for diagnosis increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple test charts with different color combinations are merged into a single comprehensive test chart that contains all necessary patches. This allows the diagnosis system to perform accurate defect cause identification using one chart instead of multiple separate charts, thereby reducing diagnosis time while maintaining high precision.
3Measurement precision
If comprehensive test charts with mixed-color patches are used, then the ability to identify secondary transfer unit defects is improved, but the complexity of the test chart and processing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The test chart is designed with patches having different local qualities in terms of color composition. Single-color patches are optimized for detecting developing unit defects, while mixed-color patches are optimized for detecting secondary transfer unit defects. This local differentiation allows the system to achieve high detection accuracy for specific defect types without requiring the entire chart to be complex.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
An image processing apparatus (109) obtains a scanned image by scanning an image of a chart on which a test image has been printed (S405), detects an image defect included in the scanned image (S411), obtains a feature of the detected image defect (S415), and identifies a cause of occurrence of the image defect based on the feature (S416). The test image includes at least one mixed-color image of multinary colors, which are a secondary or higher-order color.