# US 2014/0192368 A1 · Recording medium determination apparatus and recording medium determination method

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 2014/0192368 A1
- Document ID: US20140192368A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 14/149,005
- Filed: 2014-01-07
- Published: 2014-07-10
- Earliest claimed: 2013-01-07
- Assignees: Seiko Epson Corporation
- Applicants: Seiko Epson Corporation
- Inventors: Tsunenobu ENDO
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140192368A1

## CPC

- G01B 11/06: for measuring thickness {; e.g. of sheet material (thickness measurement by thermal means G01B21/085)}
- B41J 11/0035: {Handling copy materials differing in thickness (B41J11/20 takes precedence)}
- B41J 11/0095: {Detecting means for copy material, e.g. for detecting or sensing presence of copy material or its leading or trailing end}
- G01B: MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS
- B41J: TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS

## Abstract

A recording medium determination apparatus includes a light radiation unit which radiates light toward a recording medium; a light receiving unit which receives diffuse reflection light, which is light radiated from the light radiation unit and diffuse reflected by the recording medium; a reflection portion which can reflect transmitted light, which is radiated from the light radiation unit and transmitted through the recording medium, to cause the transmitted light to be incident to the recording medium again; a switching unit which switches a reflectance state such that a reflectance of the reflection portion changes; and a determination unit which determines a thickness of the recording medium on a basis of a value of a ratio between light amounts of a plurality of the diffuse reflection lights which are reflected by the reflection portion in different reflectance states and are received by the light receiving unit.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A recording medium determination apparatus, comprising:
a light radiation unit which radiates light toward a recording medium;
a light receiving unit which receives diffuse reflection light, which is light radiated from the light radiation unit and diffuse reflected by the recording medium;
a reflection portion which can reflect transmitted light, which is radiated from the light radiation unit and transmitted through the recording medium, to cause the transmitted light to be incident to the recording medium again;
a switching unit which switches a reflectance state such that a reflectance of the reflection portion changes; and
a determination unit which determines a thickness of the recording medium on a basis of a value of a ratio between light amounts of a plurality of the diffuse reflection lights which are reflected by the reflection portion in different reflectance states and are received by the light receiving unit.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The recording medium determination apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the determination unit determines the thickness of the recording medium on the basis of information relating to a correlation between values of ratios between the thickness of the recording medium and the light amount of the diffuse reflection light, which are obtained in advance for each type of the recording medium.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The recording medium determination apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the determination unit determines the thickness of the recording medium on the basis of the light amount of a wavelength component within the diffuse reflection light with a wavelength of 650 nm or more.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The recording medium determination apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the switching unit changes the distance of the reflection portion in relation to a support portion of the recording medium.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The recording medium determination apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the switching unit can change a relative positional relationship between the light radiation unit and the reflection portion.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The recording medium determination apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
a removal portion which removes foreign objects adhered to an opposing surface, which opposes the recording medium, of the reflection portion.

### Claim 7

A recording medium determination method, comprising:
radiating light toward a recording medium; and
determining a thickness of the recording medium on a basis of a value of a ratio between light amounts of a plurality of the diffuse reflection lights which are received in different reflectance states, such that a reflectance of transmitted light is different by switching a reflectance state, in which the transmitted light which is transmitted through the recording medium is reflected and incident to the recording medium again.