Image Forming Apparatus Warm-Up Control via Lightness Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image forming apparatuses face instability in machine body state due to changes in usage environment and over time, leading to inconsistent print quality, as they lack effective methods to ensure the machine is in a stable state for high-quality printing.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus outputs a series of printed materials with a density adjustment image, reads the printed materials to calculate variations in lightness values, and continues printing until all variations are within a threshold, stabilizing the machine body state for accurate adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If warm up printing is performed more to stabilize the machine body state, then print quality stability is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to increased printing time and material consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The system reads the printed material and calculates standard deviation of lightness values to determine whether the machine body state is stable. This feedback mechanism allows the system to adaptively control the number of warm-up prints needed, rather than using a fixed large number, thus resolving the contradiction between ensuring stability and maintaining productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The image forming apparatus autonomously determines its own readiness for high-quality printing by evaluating the stability of its machine body state through reading and analyzing printed materials. The system self-regulates the warm-up process without external intervention, optimizing both quality and efficiency
2Measurement precision
If the number of printed materials for density adjustment is increased to ensure accurate measurement, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time increases due to additional printing and reading operations
Solution Approach 1:
The system calculates the standard deviation of lightness values from read printed materials and uses this feedback to determine whether density adjustment should proceed. By evaluating stability criteria rather than requiring a fixed large number of samples, the system achieves accurate measurement while minimizing time consumption
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring a large fixed number of printed materials for density adjustment, the system performs the minimum necessary action by evaluating stability based on calculated standard deviation. This partial action approach achieves sufficient measurement precision without excessive time investment
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach ensures the image forming apparatus is in a stable state for high-quality printing by determining the required number of warm-up prints needed, reducing unnecessary warm-up cycles and improving print quality.
Implementation Method 1
a reading unit configured to read the first number of printed materials output from the forming unit to acquire the first number of pieces of scanned image data
Implementation Method 2
calculating, for each scanned image data group having as a unit a second number of pieces of scanned image data consecutive in order of being read among the first number of pieces of scanned image data, variations in the lightness values of a predetermined number of specific pixels
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus outputs a first number of printed materials, reads the first number of printed materials output to acquire the first number of pieces of scanned image data, the first number being two or more, and controls a density of output printed materials by calculating variations in lightness values in the respective pieces of scanned image data included in scanned image data groups for each scanned image data group having as a unit a second number of pieces of scanned image data consecutive in order of being read among the first number of pieces of scanned image data, the second number being two or more, so that the printed materials are further output until all the variations in the lightness values are less than a first threshold value.