Image forming apparatus having an image-quality correction function

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a photoreceptor;
• image forming means which includes the photoreceptor;
• and which carries out an operation for forming an image;
• density detection means for detecting a density of a toner image that is formed on the photoreceptor;
• initial-density storage means for storing a density of the toner image in an initial state, the stored density having been detected by the density detection means;
• density-change detection means for detecting a change in density between the density stored in the initial density storage means and the density of a toner image that is detected by the density detection means after a plurality of image forming operations have been carried out by the image forming means;
• density-change storage means for storing the change in density that has been detected by the density-change detection means;
• operation-number counting means for counting the number of accumulated operations as to the image forming means since the initial state of the density of the toner image;
• and
• picture-quality compensating means for learning a relationship between input data and teaching data, the input data being derived from the change in density stored in the density-change storage means and the number of accumulated operations on the image forming means that has been detected by the operation-number counting means, the teaching data being derived from a compensating amount that matches the change in density and the number of accumulated operations as to the image forming means for a control value to be given to the image forming means, and for calculating a compensating amount for a control value that is suitable for the change in density stored in the density-change storage means and the number of accumulated operations that has been calculated by the operation-number counting means, in accordance with the contents of the learning, upon executing an image forming operation;
• wherein the image-quality compensating means includes a neurocomputer of perceptron type that is constituted of an input layer, a hidden layer and an output layer.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• image-information reading means for reading out image information of a document image;
• image forming means for carrying out an operation for forming an image based on the image information read by the image-information reading means;
• image-quality condition input means for inputting conditions on image quality for image formation;
• control means for controlling the image forming means based on the set conditions on image quality;
• and
• image-quality condition setting means made up of a neurocomputer for learning a relationship between input data and teaching data, the input data being derived from the image information read by the image-information reading means, the teaching data being derived from the conditions on image quality that have been inputted through the image-quality condition input means, and for setting conditions on image quality that are suitable for the image information read by the image-information reading means by conducting operations in accordance with the contents of the learning, upon copying the image of the document.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• image-information reading means for reading out image information of a document image;
• image forming means for conducting an operation for forming an image based on the image information read by the image-information reading means;
• image-quality condition input means for inputting conditions on image quality for image formation;
• converting means for converting the image-quality conditions inputted through the image-quality condition input means into parameters that are suitable for the control on the image forming means;
• control means for controlling the image forming means based on the parameters that have been set;
• and
• parameter setting means made up of a neurocomputer for learning a relationship between input data and teaching data, the input data being derived from the image information read by the image-information reading means, the teaching data being derived from the parameters from the converting means, and for setting parameters that are suitable for the image information read by the image-information reading means by conducting operations in accordance with the contents of the learning, upon copying the document image.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• image-information reading means for reading out image information of a document image;
• image forming means for conducting an operation for forming an image based on the image information read by the image-information reading means;
• image-quality condition input means for inputting conditions on image quality for image formation;
• control means for controlling the image forming means based on the set conditions on image quality;
• and
• image-quality condition setting means made up of a neurocomputer for learning a relationship between input data and teaching data in correlation with an identification number, the input data being derived from the image information read by the image-information reading means, the teaching data being derived from the image-quality conditions inputted thereto from the image-quality condition input means, and for setting image-quality conditions that are suitable for the image information read by the image-information reading means by conducting operations in accordance with the contents of the learning that corresponds to the specified identification number, upon copying the document image.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• image-information reading means for reading out image information of a document image;
• image forming means for conducting an operation for forming an image based on the image information read by the image-information reading means;
• image-quality condition input means for inputting conditions on image quality for image formation;
• control means for controlling the image forming means based on the set conditions on image quality;
• image-quality condition setting means for learning a relationship between input data and teaching data in correlation with an identification number, the input data being derived from the image information read by the image-information reading means, the teaching data being derived from the image-quality conditions inputted thereto from the image-quality condition input means, and for setting image-quality conditions that are suitable for the image-information read by the image-information reading means by conducting operations in accordance with the contents of the learning that corresponds to the specified identification number, upon copying the document image;
• a processing section for executing operations in accordance with the learning and the contents of the learning;
• a plurality of learned-contents storage sections, each installed for each identification number, for storing the contents of learning that has been executed by the processing section;
• and
• a connecting section for connecting the learned-contents storage section corresponding to the specified identification number to the processing section.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• image-information reading means for reading out image information of a document image;
• image forming means for conducting an operation for forming an image based on the image information read by the image-information reading means;
• image-quality condition input means for inputting conditions on image quality for image formation;
• control means for controlling the image forming means based on the set conditions on image quality;
• and
• image-quality condition setting means for learning a relationship between input data and teaching data in correlation with an identification number, the input data being derived from the image information read by the image-information reading means, the teaching data being derived from the image-quality conditions inputted thereto from the image-quality condition input means, and for setting image-quality conditions that are suitable for the image-information read by the image-information reading means by conducting operations in accordance with the contents of the learning that corresponds to the specified identification number upon copying the document image;
• wherein the image-quality condition setting means includes a data storage section for storing pairs of the input data and the teaching data for use in the learning as learning data;
• wherein the image-quality condition setting means starts the learning after a predetermined amount of the learning data has been accumulated in the data storage section;
• wherein the image-quality condition setting means starts the learning after a predetermined amount of the learning data has been accumulated in the data storage section;
• and
• wherein the data storage section stores only the learning data that was last inputted thereto with respect to the same document.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• image-information reading means for reading out image information of a document image;
• image forming means for conducting an operation for forming an image based on the image information read by the image-information reading means;
• image-quality condition input means for inputting conditions on image quality for image formation;
• control means for controlling the image forming means based on the set conditions on image quality;
• image-quality condition setting means for learning relationship between input data and teaching data in correlation with an identification number, the input data being derived from the image information read by the image-information reading means, the teaching data being derived from the image-quality conditions inputted thereto from the image-quality condition input means, and for setting image-quality conditions that are suitable for the image information read by the image-information reading means by conducting operations in accordance with the contents of the learning that corresponds to the specified identification number upon copying the document image;
• wherein the image-quality condition setting means includes a plurality of neurocomputers, each installed for each identification number.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• image-information reading means for reading out image information of a document image;
• image forming means for conducting an operation for forming an image based on the image information read by the image-information reading means;
• image-quality condition input means for inputting conditions on image quality for image formation;
• control means for controlling the image forming means based on the set conditions on image quality;
• image-quality condition setting means for learning a relationship between input data and teaching data in correlation with an identification number, the input data being derived from the image information read by the image-information reading means, the teaching data being derived from the image-quality conditions inputted thereto from the image-quality condition input means, and for setting image-quality conditions that are suitable for the image information read by the image-information reading means by conducting operations in accordance with the contents of the learning that corresponds to the specified identification number, upon copying the document image;
• wherein the image-quality condition setting means is connected to an external apparatus so as to share the contents of the learning, the external apparatus being provided with the same function as the image-quality condition setting means.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• image-information reading means for reading out image information of a document image;
• image forming means for conducting an operation for forming an image based on the image information read by the image-information reading means;
• image-quality condition input means for inputting conditions on image quality for image formation;
• converting means for converting the image-quality conditions inputted through the image-quality condition input means into parameters that are suitable for the control on the image forming means;
• control means for controlling the image forming means based on the parameters that have been set;
• and
• parameter setting means made up of a neurocomputer for learning a relationship between input data and teaching data in correlation with an identification number, the input data being derived from the image information read by the image-information reading means, the teaching data being derived from the parameters from the converting means, and for setting parameters that are suitable for the image information read by the image-information reading means by executing operations in accordance with the contents of the learning that corresponds to the specified number, upon copying the document image.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• image-information reading means for reading out image information of a document image;
• image forming means for conducting an operation for forming an image based on the image information read by the image-information reading means;
• image-quality condition input means for inputting conditions on image quality for image formation;
• converting means for converting the image-quality conditions inputted through the image-quality condition input means into parameters that are suitable for the control on the image forming means;
• control means for controlling the image forming means based on the parameters that have been set;
• parameter setting means for learning a relationship between input data and teaching data in correlation with an identification number the input data being derived from the image-information read by the image information reading means, the teaching data being derived from the parameters from the converting means, and for setting parameters that are suitable for the image information read by the image-information reading means by executing operations in accordance with the contents of the learning that corresponds to the specified number, upon copying the document image;
• a processing section for executing operations in accordance with the learning and the contents of the learning;
• a plurality of learned-contents storage sections, each installed for each identification number, for storing the contents of learning that has been performed by the processing section;
• and
• a connecting section for connecting the learned-contents storage section corresponding to the specified identification number to the processing section.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• image-information reading means for reading out image information of a document image;
• image forming means for conducting an operation for forming an image based on the image information read by the image-information reading means;
• image-quality condition input means for inputting conditions on image quality for image formation;
• converting means for converting the image-quality conditions inputted through the image-quality condition input means into parameters that are suitable for the control on the image forming means;
• control means for controlling the image forming means based on the parameters that have been set;
• and
• parameter setting means for learning a relationship between input data and teaching data in correlation with an identification number, the input data being derived from the image-information read by the image information reading means, the teaching data being derived from the parameters from the converting means, and for setting parameters that are suitable for the image information read by the image-information reading means by executing operations in accordance with the contents of the learning that corresponds to the specified number, upon copying the document image;
• wherein the parameter setting means includes a data storage section for storing as learning data pairs of the input data and the teaching data for use in the learning;
• and
• wherein the data storage section stores only the learning data that was last inputted thereto with respect to the same document.

An image forming apparatus comprising;

• image-information reading means for reading out image information of a document image;
• image forming means for conducting an operation for forming an image based on the image information read by the image-information reading mean;
• image-quality condition input means for inputting conditions on image quality for image formation;
• converting means for converting the image-quality conditions inputted through the image-quality condition input means into parameters that are suitable for the control on the image forming means;
• control means for controlling the image forming means based on the parameters that have been set;
• and
• parameter setting means for learning a relationship between input data and teaching data in correlation with an identification number, the input data being derived from the image-information read by the image information reading means, the teaching data being derived from the parameters from the converting means, and for setting parameters that are suitable for the image information read by the image-information reading means by executing operations in accordance with the contents of the learning that corresponds to the specified number, upon copying the document image;
• wherein the parameter setting means includes a plurality of neurocomputers, each installed for each identification number.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• image-information reading means for reading out image information of a document image;
• image forming means for conducting an operation for forming an image based on the image information read by the image-information reading means;
• image-quality condition input means for in putting conditions on image quality for image formation;
• converting means for converting the image-quality conditions inputted through the image-quality condition input means into parameters that are suitable for the control on the image forming means;
• control means for controlling the image forming means based on the parameters that have been set;
• and
• parameter setting means for learning a relationship between input data and teaching data in correlation with an identification number, the input data being derived from the image-information read by the image information reading means, the teaching data being derived from the parameters from the converting means, and for setting parameters that are suitable for the image information read by the image-information reading means by executing operations in accordance with the contents of the learning that corresponds to the specified number, upon copying the document image;
• wherein the parameter setting means is connected to an external apparatus so as to share the contents of the learning, the external apparatus being provided with the same function as the parameter setting means.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• image-information reading means for reading out image information of a document image;
• image forming means for conducting an operation for forming an image based on the image information read by the image-information reading means;
• image-quality condition input means for inputting conditions on image quality for image formation;
• control means for controlling the image forming means based on the set conditions on image quality;
• and
• basic-learning operation means for learning a reference relationship between image information and image-quality conditions beforehand, and for calculating image-quality conditions in accordance with the contents of the learning;
• subtraction means for calculating a difference between an output of the basic-learning operation means and the image-quality conditions forming teaching data that are inputted thereto from the image-quality condition input means;
• difference-learning operation means for learning a relationship between input:
• data and difference-teaching data in correlation with an identification number, the input data being derived from the image information read by the image-information reading means, the difference-teaching data being obtained from an output of the subtraction means, and for calculating a difference between the image-quality conditions and an output of the basic-learning operation means in accordance with the contents of the learning that corresponds to the specified number, upon copying the document image;
• and
• addition means for adding an output of the difference-learning operation means and an output value of the basics-learning operation means.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• image-information reading means for reading out image information of a document image;
• image forming means for conducting an operation for forming an image based on the image information read by the image-information reading means;
• image-quality condition input means for inputting conditions on image quality for image formation;
• converting means for converting the image-quality conditions inputted through the image-quality condition input means into parameters that are suitable for the control on the image forming means;
• control means for controlling the image forming means based on the parameters that have been set;
• basic-learning operation means for learning a reference relationship between image information and parameters beforehand, and for calculating parameters in accordance with the contents of the learning;
• subtraction means for calculating a difference between an output of the basic-learning operation means and the parameters forming teaching data that are inputted thereto from the converting means;
• difference-learning operation means for learning a relationship between input data and difference-teaching data in correlation with an identification number, the input data being derived from the image information read by the image-information reading means, the difference-teaching data being obtained from an output of the subtraction means, and for calculating a difference between the parameters and an output of the basic-learning operation means in accordance with the contents of the learning that corresponds to the,specified number, upon copying the document image;
• and
• addition means for adding an output of the difference-learning operation means and an output value of the basic-learning operation means.