Integration of a line-scan camera on a single pass inkjet printer
AssigneeElectronics for Imaging, Inc.
InventorsSteven A. Billow, Ghilad Dziesietnik, John A. Weismantel, Darin Schick, Boris Liberman, Noam Rabin, Hsinchia Chen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed is an industrial single-pass inkjet printer/press incorporating a line-scan camera. The line-scan camera enables system software to inspect every sheet for quality assurance purposes. These inspection results are tied back to a digital printer to take one or more of several possible actions. Actions include ensuring a particular number of acceptable prints are generated and sorted. Actions further include performing nozzle checks without pausing or interrupting production orders.
Claims33
A method of operating a single-pass production line printer, wherein a single-pass inkjet is positioned along a production line, the single-pass inkjet configured to print on a print medium as the print medium is passed through the single-pass inkjet, wherein the improvement comprises:
- placing a consistent pattern of identifying marks outside of an enclosed area on said print medium to identify either regions for specific printheads across in a line printer cross-process direction or regions for specific rows in a process/print output direction;
- identifying, via a scan of an image printed on a print medium generated by a line scan camera positioned along the production line after the single-pass inkjet, a region within said print medium that is uniquely defined by identifying marks placed within a grid comprising the line printer's cross-process direction and the line printer's process/print output direction;
- locating individual regions of interest within said print medium;
- and
- orienting a view of said print medium as captured by said scan for any of skew, zoom, and rotation.
A method of operating a single-pass production line printer, wherein a single-pass inkjet is positioned along a production line, the single-pass inkjet configured to print on a print medium as the print medium is passed through the single-pass inkjet, wherein the improvement comprises:
- placing a consistent pattern of identifying marks within an enclosed area on said print medium to identify either regions for specific printheads across in a line printer cross-process direction or regions for specific rows in a process/print output direction;
- identifying via a scan of an image printed on a print medium generated by a line scan camera positioned along the production line after the single-pass inkjet, a region within said print medium that is uniquely defined by identifying marks placed within a grid comprising the line printer's cross-process direction and the line printer's process/print output direction;
- locating individual regions of interest within said print medium;
- and
- orienting a view of said print medium as captured by said scan for any of skew, zoom, and rotation.
A method of operating a single-pass production line printer, wherein a single-pass inkjet is positioned along a production line, the single-pass inkjet configured to print on a print medium as the print medium is passed through the single-pass inkjet, wherein the improvement comprises:
- identifying via a scan of an image printed on a print medium generated by a line scan camera positioned along the production line after the single-pass inkjet, a region within said print medium that is uniquely defined by identifying marks placed within a grid comprising the line printer's cross-process direction and the line printer's process/print output direction;
- locating individual regions of interest within said print medium:
- orienting a view of said print medium as captured by said scan for any of skew, zoom, and rotation;
- and
- for any one or more identified regions, determining whether the scan is in within a variance threshold of a reference that matches each portion of the user-input image data, wherein the reference is based on a set of ad-hoc print run instructions and the scan is matched up with a portion of the reference that corresponds to a respective portion of the ad-hoc print instructions.
A printer comprising:
- a production line configured to move a series of print media corresponding to a print run of a set of custom print instructions through the printer;
- a single-pass inkjet, positioned along the production fine and having a plurality of nozzles configured to print the set of custom print instructions on the series of print media;
- and
- a line scan camera positioned after the single-pass inkjet on the production line to identify, via a scan of an image printed on a print medium generated by a line scan camera positioned along the production line after the single-pass inkjet, a region within said print medium that is uniquely defined by identifying marks placed within a grid comprising the line printer's cross-process direction and the line printer's process/print output direction;
- wherein said identifying marks locate individual regions of interest within said print medium to orient a view of said print medium as captured by said scan for any of skew, zoom, and rotation;
- and
- wherein a consistent pattern of identifying marks is placed outside of an enclosed area on said print medium to identify either regions for specific printheads across in a line printer cross-process direction or regions for specific rows in a process/print output direction.
A printer comprising:
- a production line configured to move a series of print media corresponding to a print run of a set of custom print instructions through the printer;
- a single-pass inkjet positioned along the production line and having a plurality of nozzles configured to print the set of custom print instructions on the series of print media;
- and
- a line scan camera positioned after the single-pass inkjet on the production line to identify, via a scan of an image printed on a print medium generated by a line scan camera positioned along the production line after the single-pass inkjet, a region within said print medium that is uniquely defined by identifying marks placed within a grid comprising the line printer's cross-process direction and the line printer's process/print output direction;
- wherein said identifying marks locate individual regions of interest within said print medium to orient a view of said print medium as captured by said scan for any of skew, zoom, and rotation;
- and
- wherein a consistent pattern of identifying marks is placed within an enclosed area on said print medium to identify either regions for specific printheads across in a line printer cross-process direction or regions for specific rows in a process/print output direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.