Image Forming Apparatus Copy Condition Enforcement via Embedded Priority Patterns
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image forming apparatuses face challenges in properly setting and enforcing copy conditions for documents with embedded information, as these conditions may not be consistently permitted due to apparatus state or user restrictions.
Innovation Solution
An image forming apparatus and method that includes a scanner for obtaining image data, an output device for printing, and a controller to generate and combine background patterns with image data, allowing for the acceptance and prioritization of copy conditions, and the detection and restoration of embedded information to determine the appropriate copy conditions for output.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If copy conditions are embedded in documents as background patterns, then copy control information is preserved, but the copy conditions may not be consistently enforced due to apparatus state or user restrictions
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by embedding copy control information in the background pattern before copying occurs. The apparatus detects this embedded information in advance, restores the original copy conditions, and compares them with current apparatus settings before executing the copy operation, ensuring reliable enforcement of intended copy restrictions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by detecting the background pattern, restoring embedded copy conditions, comparing them with current apparatus settings, and then deciding whether to permit or restrict copying based on this comparison. This feedback loop ensures that copy conditions are consistently enforced according to the document owner's intentions while adapting to current apparatus state and user authorization.
2Ease of operation
If multiple copy conditions are set with different priorities, then proper copy control decision-making is enabled, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments copy conditions into multiple priority levels, with each condition assigned a specific priority rank. This segmentation allows the apparatus to systematically evaluate and enforce copy controls by processing conditions in order of priority, making the decision-making process more manageable and operationally clear despite multiple conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of copy conditions by assigning numerical priority ranks to different control conditions. This parameterization transforms qualitative copy restrictions into quantifiable, comparable values that the apparatus can systematically evaluate and enforce according to their priority order, simplifying the management of multiple conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
In an image forming apparatus outputting a document, a copy condition of the output document and the order of priority among the set copy condition, a condition on the part of the machine, and a condition input by the user to be actually decided on as a copy condition are set. The information is then embedded and output. In an image forming apparatus making a copy, the output printed material is scanned and the embedded copy condition and order of priority are extracted and restored. Then, for each item of the copy conditions, a condition having a higher priority among the aforementioned conditions is decided on as a copy condition of the printed material, so that the printed material is copied under the decided condition.