Apparatus and method for online establishment of print control parameters

An online printing parameter establishment apparatus for use with a xerographic printing device for printing high quality prints based upon a target value, the xerographic printing device capable of producing a print control patch on a photoreceptor and sensing a value of the print control patch, the xerographic printing device having a plurality of sets of inherent performance characteristic values, the online printing parameter establishment apparatus comprising:

• a controller device operative to produce a first database of different values sensed by the xerographic printing device with each sensed value associated with a respective one of the plurality of sets of inherent performance characteristic values based upon the target value, to produce a second database of different control values with each of the control values extracted from a respective one of the sensed values and the associated set of inherent performance characteristic values and to select one of the control values, the selected control value being comparable to the target value;
• and
• a switch device operably connected to the controller device and operative to move between an establishment parameter state and a print production state wherein, when the switch device is in the establishment parameter state, the controller device is operative to produce the first and second databases and to select the one control value with the associated set of inherent performance characteristic values while the xerographic printing device is incapable of printing prints and, when the switch device is in the print production state, the controller device is operative to provide the one control value to the xerographic printing device so that the xerographic printing device can print high quality prints without printing inferior quality prints.

A method for producing an image using an output device, comprising:

• providing at least one target value and at least one outut device performance characteristic;
• producing at leat one control patch based upon the at least one target value and the at least one output device performance characteristic;
• detecting, from the at least one control patch, at least one value associated with the at least one output device performance characteristic;
• extracting at least one control value from the at least one detected vallue and the associated at least one output device performance characteristic;
• and
• producing the image based on the at least one control value.

An output device for outputting an image, comprising:

• a controller, wherein the controller receives a target value for outputting the image;
• a first database of control patch values, each control patch value being associated with a respective one of a plurality of sets of output device performance characteristic values;
• a second database of control values, each one of the control values extracted from a respecitve one of the control patch values and the associated set of output device performance characteristic values;
• and
• an output part, wherein the controller selects at least one of the control values from the second database based on a comparison of the control values with the target value, and wherein the output part outputs the image based on the selected at least one control value.

An image output device, comprising:

• a controller;
• a sensor;
• and
• an output part, wherein the controller instructs the output part to output a control patch based upon at least one target value and at least one output device performance characteristic, the sensor senses, from the control patch, at least one sensed value, the controller extracts at least one control value from the at least one sensed value and the at least one output device performance characteristic, and wherein the output part produces an image based on the at least one control value.