Scan Line Curve Correction Without Line Buffers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for correcting scan line curves in color image forming apparatuses require line buffers, leading to increased memory capacity and circuitry costs, making them costly and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
An image forming apparatus and method that corrects scan line curves using image data without the need for line buffers, employing a storage unit, data reading unit, setting unit, generating unit, control unit, halftone processing unit, and image forming unit to manage and process image data effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If line buffers are used to store bitmap data for blend processing, then scan line curve correction can be achieved, but memory capacity and circuitry costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential function of line buffers (storing bitmap data for blend processing) and implements it using a different mechanism - by storing only curve correction data (array A and array B) in memory, and generating corrected line addresses dynamically during processing. This eliminates the need for large line buffers while achieving the same correction effect.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of storing actual bitmap data in line buffers, the patent creates a copy or representation of the correction information (curve data) in a compressed form (arrays A and B with start addresses and line counts). This allows the system to reference and apply corrections without duplicating the full bitmap data.
2Manufacturing precision
If line buffers are used to store bitmap data for blend processing, then scan line curve correction can be achieved, but circuitry costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the complex line buffer circuitry and replaces it with simpler memory structures (arrays A and B) that store only correction parameters. The actual bitmap data remains in its original location, and the system uses address generation logic to apply corrections, significantly reducing circuit complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/physical line buffer structure with a computational approach using array data structures and address generation algorithms. This substitution of physical buffers with logical/address-based correction reduces hardware complexity while maintaining functionality.
3Reliability
If enough line buffers are secured to accommodate maximum variability, then registration errors are corrected, but memory capacity and costs rise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameters stored in memory from full bitmap data to compressed correction parameters (start addresses and line counts in arrays A and B). This parameter transformation allows the system to accommodate maximum variability in scan line curves while using minimal memory capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary calculation and storage of curve correction data (arrays A and B) before actual image processing. This preliminary action captures all necessary correction information in a compact form, eliminating the need for large buffers during subsequent processing operations.
Data Source
AI summary
In a line by line image forming apparatus, line switching information which depends on scan line curve and an overlap data length to be read that overlaps across a plurality of lines before and after a switching position instructed by line switching information are set in a register. If switching to the line above or below is instructed by the line switching information, an address generating unit, when reading image data from an image memory, generates the read address and read data length of the image memory in accordance with the line switching information and the overlap data length, and reads image data corresponding to a current line and the line above or below the current line in accordance with the generated data.