Page Image Ink Tracking in Image Forming Units
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image forming apparatuses cannot manage ink consumption in units of page images formed on sheets.
Innovation Solution
The image forming apparatus includes a sheet conveying portion, an execution processing portion, an acquisition processing portion, and a storage processing portion to manage ink consumption in page image units by counting ink droplet discharges and storing the consumption data in predetermined storage portions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If ink consumption is not tracked per page image, then the management system is simpler, but ink consumption cannot be managed in page image units
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments ink consumption data by page image units, creating separate tracking for each page's ink usage. The storage portion divides consumption information into page-specific records, enabling precise measurement of ink used for each individual page image while maintaining an organized structure that prevents system overload.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary storage portion that acts as a mediator between the image forming processing and the consumption tracking system. This storage component receives ink consumption data from the image forming apparatus and maintains it in an organized manner, allowing precise tracking without requiring direct complex interactions between all system components.
2Loss of information
If ink consumption data is stored for each page image, then tracking accuracy improves, but storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by storing ink consumption data specifically for page images that have been successfully formed and discharged. Rather than uniformly tracking all pages regardless of status, the system selectively stores consumption information only where relevant (for completed pages), optimizing storage usage while maintaining complete information for tracked items.
Data Source
AI summary
An image forming apparatus includes a sheet conveying portion, an execution processing portion, an acquisition processing portion, and a storage processing portion. The sheet conveying portion conveys sheets. The execution processing portion executes image forming processing for forming a page image on each of the sheets sequentially conveyed by the sheet conveying portion. The acquisition processing portion acquires an ink consumption used for forming the page image for each of the page images formed by the image forming processing. The storage processing portion stores the ink consumption acquired by the acquisition processing portion in a predetermined first storage portion.