Incremental printing of symbolic information – Thermal marking apparatus or processes – Density control
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-29
2004-12-21
Feggins, K. (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Thermal marking apparatus or processes
Density control
Reexamination Certificate
active
06833852
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to printing methods wherein a print image carrier, for example paper, is printed upon employment of printing parameters that have been set and predetermined. The invention is also directed to printer devices or, respectively, copier devices for the implementation of the printing or, respectively, copying methods. The printer devices are explained in greater detail below.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printing methods that, for example, work according to the electrographic, magnetographic or some other non-mechanical principle are known. In an electrographic printing method, the printing parameters include the charge potential of the photoconductor, the auxiliary potential in the development station and other physical setting points that influence the printing process.
It is known to set the printing parameters dependent on the light sensitivity, the age or the temperature of a photoconductor employed in the printing. What is achieved by a control of the actual printing parameters is that the predetermined rated printing parameters to be set are also adhered to given disturbances, for example given fluctuating ambient em or altered atmospheric humidity, with the result that the printing conditions remain the same. It has been shown, however, that print images of the same high print quality are not always produced even given identical printing conditions.
Japanese published application JP-08-058081 A discloses an ink jet printer wherein the moisture content of the print image carrier is acquired. The amount of ink employed for printing is set dependent on the acquired moisture content in order to avoid a “bleeding” of the print image.
Japanese Published Application JP-06-115061 A discloses an ink jet printer wherein the amount of ink employed in printing is to be set dependent on the absorbency of the paper, on the permeability or on the surface temperature. A sensor electronically acquires the thickness of the fully saturated paper. Heating resistors that serve for the ejection of ink droplets are driven dependent on the acquired thickness.
German Published Application DE 34 31 484 A1 explained a color ink jet printer wherein, using an optical sensor, a distinction is made between normal paper and a transparent film to be printed. Dependent on the acquired print image carrier, fewer printing points per picture element to be presented are generated in a first operating mode for normal paper than when printing film.
German Letters Patent DE 40 17 850 C1 is directed to a method and an apparatus for regulating the radiation dose of laser radiation when processing materials.
European Patent Document EP-A-0660589 discloses a method for operating a printer, or copier. An input unit is provided in a first exemplary embodiment into which the type of recording medium, for example normal paper, bond paper OHP sheets (overhead paper), smooth paper or recycling paper, is manually input. This input is automated in further exemplary embodiments in that an optical sensor acquires the transmission, the surface condition or the thickness of the recording medium and automatically determines the type of recording medium dependent on the identified values. An optimization of the printing event is then undertaken dependent on the identified type of recording medium in that the illumination level is modified. Further, an adaptation can ensue in view of the hue and the color saturation.
Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 1995, no. 09, 31 October 1995 & JP 07 162695 A (Canon, Inc.), 23 Jun. 1995, discloses a color image processor with whose assistance an optimum color balance can be achieved by measuring spectroscopic properties of a recording material. A sensor acquires the light that passes through a recording paper. An RGB sensor measures the color parts of an image of an original master. A computer carries out an RGB correction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,146 discloses an ink printing method with colored ink in order to print a multi-color image. A sensor acquires surface parameters, for example coefficients of friction, the surface roughness, the light reflection of the print paper or a combination thereof. The type of paper employed is then identified on the basis of the sensor signals and printing parameters are defined.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide printing or, respectively, copying methods wherein the quality of the print images is improved further. Another object of the invention is to provide printer devices that print printed images with high printing quality.
This and other objects of the invention are provided by a method for operating a printer or copier device, whereby at least one optical property of the print image carrier to be printed with a print image is acquired with a sensor, at least one printing parameter is set dependent on the sensor output signal of the sensor, and whereby the print image carrier is printed in a printing event upon employment of the print parameter that has been set step, characterized in that, given a black-and-white printing with gray levels, the gray scale value of the print image carrier is acquired with the assistance of a brightness sensor; and in that at least one printing parameter that influences the generation of the gray levels is set dependent on the output signal of the gray scale value sensor; in that a multi-level character generator is employed when exposing a photoconductor in an electrographic printer or copier device; and in that the illumination energies of the character generator allocated to specific light-coding values are set dependent on the sensor output signal, whereby gray transformation relationships that indicate the illumination energies allocated to the light-coding values dependent on the gray scale value are preferably employed, the gray transformation relationships belonging to specific sensor output signals.
The invention also provides a method for operating a printer or copier device, whereby at least one optical property of the print image carrier to be printed with a print image is acquired with a sensor, at least one printing parameter is set dependent on the sensor output signal of the sensor, and whereby the print image carrier is printed in a printing event upon employment of the print parameter that has been set, characterized in that, given color printing, the color locus of the print image carrier is acquired with the assistance of a color sensor; in that the rated color densities of the colors to be printed are determined with predetermined color transformation relationships that allocate rated color densities for the color separations employed in the printing to the acquired color loci; in that the transformation relationships are empirically determined before the printing event, and are stored as analytical equations or as table in a memory of the printer or, a respectively, copier device.
Further, the invention provides a method for operating a printer or copier device, whereby at least one mechanical property of the print image carrier to be printed with a print image is acquired with a sensor, at least one printing parameter is set dependent on the sensor output signal of the sensor, and whereby the print image carrier is printed in a printing event upon employment of the print parameter that has been set, characterized in that, the roughness of the surface of the print image carrier is acquired with a roughness sensor; in that the toner quantity to be applied onto the print image carrier is set dependent on the output signal of the roughness sensor, whereby the charge potential of a photoconductor collaborating in the printing event and the auxiliary potential of an allocated development station are simultaneously modified. The printing parameters may be modified such that the size of the picture elements of the print image on the print image carrier remains approximately the same.
An additional aspect of the invention provides a method for operating a printer or copier device, w
Maess Volkhard
Schleusener Martin
Feggins K.
Oce Printing Systems GmbH
Schiff & Hardin LLP
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