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US 6,270,178 B1Granted
Method and apparatus for measuring the amount of discharged ink, printing apparatus, and method of measuring the amount of ink discharged in the printing apparatus
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsSatoshi Wada, Nobuhito Yamaguchi, Makoto Akahira, Hideto Yokoi, Hiroshi Fujiike, Tadao Saito
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of instantly measuring the amount of ink discharged from a nozzle of an ink-jet type printhead in a single discharging operation comprises: a density measuring step of measuring the density of an ink dot formed by ink discharged from the printhead onto a glass plate 10, and a determining step of determining the amount of the discharged ink on the basis of the density of the ink dot measured in the measuring step.
Claims81
A method of determining an amount of ink discharged from a single nozzle of an ink-jet head in a single discharging operation, said method comprising:
- a density information obtaining step of obtaining information corresponding to a density of at least one ink dot formed by ink discharged from the single nozzle of ink-jet head on a predetermined material;
- and
- an ink discharging amount information obtaining step of obtaining information corresponding to an amount of ink discharged in a single discharging operation based on the information corresponding to density of the ink dot obtained in said density information obtaining step and calibration data representing correlation between an amount of discharged ink and a density of an ink dot.
A method of measuring an amount of ink discharged from a single nozzle of an ink-jet head in a single discharging operation, said method comprising:
- a preliminary measuring step of preliminarily measuring an amount of ink discharged from each of a plurality of ink-discharging nozzles of the ink-jet head in a single discharging operation under a predetermined condition;
- a first density measuring step of measuring densities of ink dots made of ink discharged from at least two different ink-discharging nozzles which discharge different amounts of ink from each other out of the plurality of ink-discharging nozzles onto a predetermined material under the predetermined condition;
- a calibration data generating step of generating a calibration data representing correlation between an amount of ink discharged in a single discharging operation and a density of an ink dot based on data on the densities of the ink dots, measured in said first density measuring step, formed with the ink discharged from the at least two ink-discharging nozzles and data on the amount of ink, measured in said preliminary measuring step, discharged from the at least two ink-discharging nozzles;
- a second density measuring step of measuring a density of at lest one ink dot formed by ink discharged from an arbitrary single nozzle of the ink-jet head under an arbitrary condition;
- and
- a determining step of determining an amount of ink discharged from the arbitrary single nozzle under the arbitrary condition based on the data on the density of the ink dot, obtained in said second density measuring step, and the calibration data.
3 more elements
An apparatus for determining an amount of ink discharged from a single nozzle an ink-jet head in a single discharging operation, said apparatus comprising:
- receiving medium for receiving ink discharged from the ink-jet head;
- density information obtaining means for obtaining information corresponding to a density of at least one ink dot formed by ink discharged from the single nozzle of the ink-jet head on the receiving medium;
- memory means for storing a calibration data representing correlation between an amount of discharged ink and a density of an ink dot formed by the discharged ink on the receiving medium;
- and
- operation means for finding an amount of the discharged ink in a single discharging operation based on the information corresponding to density of the ink dot obtained by said density information obtaining means and the calibration data.
2 more elements
A printing apparatus having a function of determining an amount of ink discharged from a single nozzle of an ink-jet head which prints by discharging ink from the ink-jet head in a single discharging operation, said apparatus comprising:
- density information obtaining means for obtaining information corresponding to a density of at least one ink dot formed by ink discharged from the single nozzle of the ink-jet head on a receiving medium for receiving the discharged ink;
- memory means for storing a calibration data representing correlation between an amount of discharged ink and a density of an ink dot formed by the discharged ink on the receiving medium;
- and
- operation means for finding an amount of the discharged ink in a single discharging operation based on the information corresponding to density of the ink dot obtained by said density information obtaining means and the calibration data.
1 more element
A method of determining an amount of ink discharged from a single nozzle of an ink-jet head adopted by a printing apparatus having the ink-jet head, said method comprising:
- a density information obtaining step of obtaining information corresponding to a density of at least one ink dot formed by ink discharged from the single nozzle of the ink-jet head on a receiving medium for receiving the discharged ink;
- and
- an ink discharging amount information obtaining step of obtaining information corresponding to an amount of ink discharged in a single discharging operation based on the information corresponding to density of the ink dot obtained in said density information obtaining step and calibration data representing correlation between an amount of discharged ink and a density of an ink dot.
A method of measuring an amount of ink discharged from a single nozzle of an ink-jet head adopted by a printing apparatus having the ink-jet head, said method comprising:
- a preliminary measuring step of preliminarily measuring an amount of ink discharged from each of a plurality of ink-discharging nozzles of the ink-jet head in a single discharging operation under a predetermined condition;
- a first density measuring step of measuring densities of ink dots made of ink discharged from at least two different ink-discharging nozzles which discharge different amounts of ink from each other out of the plurality of ink-discharging nozzles onto a receiving medium for receiving ink under the predetermined condition;
- a calibration data generating step of generating a calibration data representing correlation between an amount of ink discharged in a single discharging operation and a density of an ink dot based on data on the densities of the ink dots, measured in said first density measuring step, formed with the ink discharged from the at least two ink-discharging nozzles and data on the amount of ink, measured in said preliminary measuring step, discharged from the at least two ink-discharging nozzles;
- a second density measuring step of measuring a density of at least one ink dot formed by ink discharged from an arbitrary single nozzle of the ink-jet head under an arbitrary condition;
- and
- a determining step of determining an amount of ink discharged from the arbitrary single nozzle under the arbitrary condition based on the data on density of the ink dot, obtained in said second density measuring step, and the calibration data.
3 more elements
A method of determining an amount of ink discharged from a single nozzle of an ink-jet head in a single discharging operation, said method comprising:
- a density information obtaining step of obtaining information corresponding to a density of a line of a line pattern formed with ink discharged from the single nozzle of the ink-jet head on a predetermined material;
- and
- an ink discharging amount information obtaining step of obtaining information corresponding to an amount of ink discharged in a single discharging operation based on the information corresponding to density of the line of the line pattern obtained in said density information obtaining step and calibration data representing correlation between an amount of discharged ink and a density of an ink dot.
A method of measuring an amount of ink discharged from a single nozzle of an ink-jet head in a single discharging operation, said method comprising:
- a preliminary measuring step of preliminarily measuring an amount of ink discharged from each of a plurality of ink-discharging nozzles of the ink-jet head in a single discharging operation under a predetermined condition;
- a first density measuring step of measuring densities of ink dots made of ink discharged from at least two different ink-discharging nozzles which discharge different amounts of ink from each other out of the plurality of ink-discharging nozzles onto a predetermined material under the predetermined condition;
- a calibration data generating step of generating a calibration data representing correlation between an amount of ink discharged in a single discharging operation and a density of an ink dot based on data on the densities of the ink dots, measured in said first density measuring step, formed with the ink discharged from the at least two ink-discharging nozzles and data on the amount of ink, measured in said preliminary measuring step, discharged from the at least two ink-discharging nozzles;
- a second density measuring step of measuring a density of a line of a line pattern formed with ink discharged from an arbitrary single nozzle of the ink-jet head under an arbitrary condition;
- and
- a determining step of determining an amount of ink discharged from the arbitrary single nozzle under the arbitrary condition based on the data on the density of the line of the line pattern, obtained in said second density measuring step, and the calibration data.
3 more elements
An apparatus for determining an amount of ink discharged from a single nozzle of an ink-jet head in a single discharging operation, said apparatus comprising:
- receiving medium for receiving ink discharged from the ink-jet head;
- density information obtaining means for obtaining information corresponding to a density of a line of a line pattern formed with ink discharged from the single nozzle of the ink-jet head on the receiving medium;
- memory means for storing a calibration data representing correlation between an amount of discharged ink and a density of an ink dot formed by the discharged ink on the receiving medium;
- and
- operation means for finding an amount of the discharged ink in a single discharging operation based on the information corresponding to density of the line of the line pattern obtained by said density information obtaining means and the calibration data.
2 more elements
A method of measuring an amount of ink discharged from a single nozzle of an ink-jet head in a single discharging operation, comprising:
- a line pattern forming step of forming a line pattern on a predetermined material by discharging ink from the single nozzle of the ink-jet head onto the predetermined material;
- a first image-sensing step of sensing the line pattern by an image sensing device;
- a second image-sensing step of sensing a portion other than the line pattern on the predetermined material by the image sensing device;
- a density calculating step of calculating density of each pixel of the ink pattern by dividing a luminance value of the portion sensed in said second image-sensing step by a luminance value of the line pattern sensed in said first image-sensing step pixel by pixel of the image sensing device, and calculating a common logarithm thereof;
- an integrating step of integrating the density of each pixel of entire line pattern calculated in said density calculating step;
- and
- an ink-discharge-amount determining step of obtaining the amount of discharged ink based on the integrated density calculated in said integrating step and calibration data representing correlation between an amount of ink discharged in a single discharging operation and a density of an ink dot.
4 more elements
A method of measuring an amount of ink discharged from a single nozzle of an ink-jet head in a single discharging operation, comprising:
- a preliminary measuring step of preliminarily measuring an amount of ink discharged from each of a plurality of ink-discharging nozzles of the ink-jet head in a single discharging operation under a predetermined condition;
- a first density measuring step of measuring densities of ink dots made of ink discharged from at least two different ink-discharging nozzles which discharge different amounts of ink from each other out of the plurality of ink-discharging nozzles onto a predetermined material under the predetermined condition;
- a calibration data generating step of generating a calibration data representing correlation between an amount of ink discharged in a single discharging operation and a density of an ink dot based on data on the densities of the ink dots, measured in said first density measuring step, formed with the ink discharged from the at least two ink-discharging nozzles and data on the amount of ink, measured in said preliminary measuring step, discharged from the at least two ink-discharging nozzles;
- a line pattern forming step of forming a line pattern on the predetermined material by discharging ink from an arbitrary single nozzle of the ink-jet head onto the predetermined material under an arbitrary condition;
- a first image-sensing step of sensing the line pattern by an image sensing device;
- a second image-sensing step of sensing a portion other than the line pattern on the predetermined material by the image sensing device;
- a density calculating step of calculating density of each pixel of the line pattern by dividing a luminance value of the portion sensed in said second image-sensing step by a luminance value of the line pattern sensed in said first image-sensing step pixel by pixel of the image sensing device, and calculating a common logarithm thereof;
- an integrating step of integrating the density of each pixel of the entire line pattern calculated in said density calculating step;
- and
- an ink-discharge-amount determining step of obtaining the amount of ink discharged from the arbitrary single nozzle under the arbitrary condition based on the integrated density calculated in said integrating step and the calibration data.
7 more elements
An apparatus for measuring an amount of ink discharged from a single nozzle of an ink-jet head in a single discharging operation, comprising:
- a receiving medium for receiving ink discharged from the ink-jet head;
- an image sensing device for sensing a line pattern, formed with ink discharged from the single nozzle of the ink-jet head on the receiving medium, and a portion other than the line pattern;
- first calculating means for calculating density of each pixel by dividing a luminance value of the portion other than the line pattern by a luminance value of the line pattern sensed by said image sensing device pixel by pixel, calculating a common logarithm and integrating the obtained density;
- memory means for storing a calibration data representing correlation between the amount of discharged ink and density of an ink dot formed on the receiving medium with discharged ink;
- and
- second calculating means for calculating the amount of discharged ink based on the integrated density of the line pattern obtained by said first calculating means and the calibration data.
3 more elements
A printing apparatus, having a function for measuring an amount of ink discharged from a single nozzle of an ink-jet head in a single discharging operation, for performing printing by utilizing the ink-jet head which discharges ink by ink-jet method, comprising:
- a receiving medium for receiving ink discharged from the ink-jet head;
- an image sensing device for sensing a line pattern, formed with ink discharged from the single nozzle of the ink-jet head on the receiving medium, and a portion other than the line pattern;
- first calculating means for calculating density of each pixel by dividing a luminance value of the portion other than the line pattern by a luminance value of the line pattern sensed by said image sensing device pixel by pixel, calculating a common logarithm and integrating the obtained density;
- memory means for storing a calibration data representing correlation between the amount of discharged ink and density of an ink dot formed on the receiving medium with discharged ink;
- and
- second calculating means for calculating the amount of discharged ink based on the integrated density of the line pattern obtained by said first calculating means and the calibration data.
3 more elements
A method of measuring an amount of ink discharged from a single nozzle of an ink-jet head in a printing apparatus having the ink-jet head, comprising:
- a line pattern forming step of forming a line pattern on a predetermined material by discharging ink from the single nozzle of the ink-jet head onto the predetermined material;
- a first image-sensing step of sensing the line pattern by an image sensing device;
- a second image-sensing step of sensing a portion other than the line pattern on the predetermined material by the image sensing device;
- a density calculating step of calculating density of each pixel of the line pattern by dividing a luminance value of the portion sensed in said second image-sensing step by a luminance value of the line pattern sensed in said first image-sensing step pixel by pixel of the image sensing device, and calculating a common logarithm thereof;
- an integrating step of integrating the density of each pixel of the entire line pattern calculated in said density calculating step;
- and
- an ink-discharge-amount determining step of obtaining the amount of discharged ink based on the integrated density calculated in aid integrating step and calibration data representing correlation between an amount of ink discharged in a single discharging operation and a density of an ink dot.
4 more elements
A method of measuring an amount of ink discharged from a single nozzle of an ink-jet head in a printing apparatus having the ink-jet head, comprising:
- a preliminary measuring step of preliminarily measuring an amount of ink discharged from each of a plurality of ink-discharging nozzles of the ink-jet head in a single discharging operation under a predetermined condition;
- a first density measuring step of measuring densities of ink dots made of ink discharged from at least two different ink-discharging nozzles which discharge different amounts of ink from each other out of the plurality of ink-discharging nozzles onto a predetermined material under the predetermined condition;
- a calibration data generating step of generating a calibration data representing correlation between an amount of ink discharged in a single discharging operation and a density of an ink dot based on data on the densities of the ink dots, measured in said first density measuring step, formed with the ink discharged from the at least two ink-discharging nozzles and data on the amount of ink, measured in said preliminary measuring step, discharged from the at least tow ink-discharging nozzles;
- a line pattern forming step of forming a line pattern on the predetermined material by discharging ink from an arbitrary single nozzle of the ink-jet head onto the predetermined material under an arbitrary condition;
- a first image-sensing step of sensing the line pattern by an image sensing device;
- a second image-sensing step of sensing a portion other than the line pattern on the predetermined material by the image sensing device;
- a density calculating step of calculating density of each pixel of the line pattern by dividing a luminance value of the portion sensed in said second image-sensing step by a luminance value of the line pattern sensed in aid first image-sensing step pixel by pixel of the image sensing device, and calculating a common logarithm thereof;
- an integrating step of integrating the density of each pixel of the entire line pattern calculated in said density calculating step;
- and
- an ink-discharge-amount determining step of obtaining the amount of ink discharged from the arbitrary single nozzle under the arbitrary condition based on the integrated density calculated in said integrating step and the calibration data.
7 more elements
A method of measuring an amount of ink discharged from a single nozzle of an ink-jet head in a single discharging operation, comprising:
- a line pattern forming step of forming a line pattern on a predetermined material by discharging ink from the single nozzle of the ink-jet head onto the predetermined material;
- a first image-sensing step of sensing the line pattern by an image sensing device;
- a second image-sensing step of sensing a portion other than the line pattern on the predetermined material by the image sensing device;
- a density calculating step of calculating density of each pixel of the line pattern by dividing a luminance value of the portion sensed in said second image-sensing step by a luminance value of the line pattern sensed in said first image-sensing step pixel by pixel of the image sensing device, and calculating a common logarithm thereof;
- an integrating step of integrating the density of each pixel of the entire line pattern calculated in said density calculating step;
- and
- an ink-discharge-amount determining step of determining the amount of discharged ink on the basis of the integrated density calculated in said integrating step and calibration data representing correlation between an amount of discharged ink and a density of an ink dot.
4 more elements
A method of measuring an amount of ink discharged from a single nozzle of an ink-jet head in a printing apparatus having the ink-jet head, comprising:
- a line pattern forming step of forming a line pattern on a predetermined material by discharging ink from the single nozzle of the ink-jet head onto the predetermined material;
- a first image-sensing step of sensing the line pattern by an image sensing device;
- a second image-sensing step of sensing a portion other than the line pattern on the predetermined material by the image sensing device;
- a density claculating step of calculating density of each pixel of the line pattern by dividing a luminance value of the portion sensed in said second image-sensing step by a luminance value of the line pattern sensed in said first image-sensing step pixel by pixel of the image sensing device, and calculating a common logarithm thereof;
- an integrating step of integrating the density of each pixel of the entire line pattern calculated in said density calculating step;
- and
- an ink-discharge-amount determining step of determining the amount of discharged ink on the basis of the integrated density calculated in said integrating step and calibration data representing correlation between an amount of discharged ink and a density of an ink dot.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.