Image Forming Apparatus External Data Acquisition for Media Adaptability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Image forming apparatuses face difficulties in adjusting settings for various recording media, especially with the increasing number of media types available, leading to potential image quality issues and user inconvenience.
Innovation Solution
An image forming apparatus equipped with a detection section to measure physical properties of recording media, an acquisition section to gather external data, and a hardware processor to control operations based on detected values and acquired data, allowing for automatic setting of optimal image forming conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the image forming apparatus stores condition settings for various recording media in advance, then it can support more recording media types, but the device complexity and data storage requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an external server as an intermediary to store recording medium data. The image forming apparatus communicates with this external server to acquire necessary data about recording media, rather than storing all data locally. This mediator approach allows the apparatus to support various media types without increasing its own storage complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent shifts the data storage dimension from local (within the image forming apparatus) to external (on a separate server system). By moving the data repository to another dimension (external network storage), the apparatus maintains adaptability for multiple media types while keeping its own structure simple.
2Ease of operation
If the image forming apparatus uses automatic setting based on sensor measurement, then user effort is reduced, but it may not cover all recording media types that change frequently in the market
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the sensor measures physical properties of the recording medium, this information is used to query the external server for matching recording medium data, and the acquired data is then used to automatically set optimal image forming conditions. This closed-loop feedback system enables both ease of operation and adaptability to various media types.
Solution Approach 2:
The external server pre-stores condition settings and physical property data for various recording media in advance. When a recording medium is placed in the apparatus, the sensor quickly identifies it by comparing measured properties against the pre-stored data, enabling automatic setting without requiring the apparatus itself to maintain extensive pre-configured settings for every possible media type.
3Device complexity
If the image forming apparatus relies only on pre-stored condition settings, then operation is simple, but it cannot adapt to new recording media that are not in the stored database
Solution Approach 1:
The external server acts as a dynamic knowledge base that can be updated with new recording medium data independent of the image forming apparatus. When new media types are introduced to the market, the server database can be updated accordingly, and the apparatus automatically gains the ability to handle these new media through its communication interface, maintaining operational simplicity while improving reliability for new media types.
Data Source
AI summary
An image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium includes a detection section, an acquisition section, and a hardware processor. The detection section detects a physical property of the recording medium. The acquisition section acquires predetermined data related to the recording medium from an outside of the image forming apparatus. The hardware processor controls an operation in the image forming apparatus based on a detection value detected by the detection section and the predetermined data acquired by the acquisition section.