# US 11,307,027 B2 · Determining a characteristic of a substrate

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- Number: US 11,307,027 B2
- Document ID: US11307027B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/475,626
- Filed: 2017-04-25
- Published: 2021-10-21
- Granted: 2022-04-19
- Earliest claimed: 2017-04-25
- Assignees: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
- Applicants: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
- Inventors: Peter Morovic; Jan Morovic; Hector Gomez Minano; Marcos Casaldaliga Albisu; Joan Jordi Coll Sicluna
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11307027B2

## CPC

- G01B 11/24: for measuring contours or curvatures
- G01B 11/303: {using photoelectric detection means}
- B41F 33/0036: {Devices for scanning or checking the printed matter for quality control}
- B41J 11/009: {Detecting type of paper, e.g. by automatic reading of a code that is printed on a paper package or on a paper roll or by sensing the grade of translucency of the paper}
- G01N 21/57: Measuring gloss
- G01N 21/86: Investigating moving sheets (G01N21/89 takes precedence)
- G01B: MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS
- B41F: PRINTING MACHINES OR PRESSES (manifolding devices or office printing machines B41L)
- B41J: TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q)

## Abstract

A method is described in which a reflection is obtained of a laser light pattern reflected from a substrate. A reflection of diffuse light may be obtained from the substrate. A first parameter may be determined, relating to the substrate from the reflected laser light pattern. A second parameter may be determined, relating to the substrate from the reflected diffuse light and a characteristic of the substrate may be determined from the first and second parameters. A print apparatus and a machine-readable medium are also disclosed.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method, comprising:
obtaining a reflection, from a substrate, of a laser light pattern;
obtaining a reflection, from the substrate, of diffuse light;
determining, using a processor, a first parameter relating to the substrate from the reflected laser light pattern;
determining, using the processor, a second parameter relating to the substrate from the reflected diffuse light; and
determining, using the processor, a characteristic of the substrate from the first and second parameters using a model generated from a machine learning process.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

A method as in claim 1, wherein the first parameter relates to a structural property of the substrate.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

A method as in claim 1, wherein the first parameter comprises one of:
substrate thickness;
a measure of a scatter of the reflected laser light, due to a profile of a surface of the substrate;
a measure of roughness of the surface of the substrate; and
a measure of a surface feature characteristic of a method of manufacture of the substrate.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

A method as in claim 1, wherein the second parameter relates to the color of the substrate.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

A method as in claim 1, comprising:
determining, using the processor, an LAB color space vector associated with the substrate; and
determining, using the processor, the characteristic of the substrate from the LAB color space vector.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

A method as in claim 1, herein the characteristic of the substrate comprises a substrate type.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

A method as in claim 6, comprising:
using the substrate type in a quality control process, said using comprising:
determining whether the substrate type matches a substrate type in a print job profile; and
performing an action responsive to determining that the substrate type does not match the substrate type in the print job profile.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

A method as in claim 1, wherein the first and second parameters are inputs to the machine learning process.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

A method as in claim 1, comprising:
detecting, from the reflected laser light pattern, a skew, crease or wrinkle in the substrate; and
performing an action in response to detecting the skew, crease or wrinkle.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

A method as in claim 1, comprising:
applying print agent to a surface of the substrate;
determining from the reflected diffuse light, a color of the applied print agent;
comparing the color of the applied print agent to a reference color; and performing an action if the color of the applied print agent is not within a tolerance of the reference color.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

A method as in claim 10 wherein comparing the color of the applied print agent comprises: computing, using the processor, a color difference metric; and
wherein performing the action comprises: pausing a print job if the color difference metric is greater than a threshold.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

A method as in claim 10, comprising:
detecting a defective region in the applied print agent; and
performing the action in response to detecting the defective region.

### Claim 13

A print apparatus, comprising:
a laser source to direct laser light onto a printable medium;
a diffuse light source to direct diffuse light onto the printable medium;
an image capture device to detect i) laser light reflected from the printable medium and ii) diffuse light reflected from the printable medium; and
processing circuitry to:
determine, from the reflected laser light, a first parameter relating to the printable medium;
determine, from the reflected diffuse light, a color relating to the printable medium; and
determine a characteristic of the printable medium based on the color and the first parameter relating to the printable medium.

### Claim 14

A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
obtain first image data relating to a reflection of laser light from a printable substrate;
obtain second image data relating to a reflection of diffuse light from the printable substrate;
determine from the first image data, a first parameter relating to the printable substrate;
determine from the second image data, a second parameter relating to the printable substrate; and
determine, using the first and second parameters, a characteristic of the printable substrate using a model generated from a machine learning process.