Patent Application
20200249889
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a printing apparatus, and a method of determining a print media type.
When images having high-definition quality are printed by printing apparatuses, printing is performed using control parameters corresponding to a print media type. In technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-215591, a plurality of characteristic values of a print medium on which printing is to be performed is measured and a print media type is determined to use appropriate control parameters in printing.
Some print media of different types have characteristic values similar to each other. The technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-215591 therefore sometimes fails to correctly determine a print media type due to measurement errors or the like. The failure can impair user convenience.
The present invention has been made in view of the above described issue and is directed to improvement in determination of a print media type to enhance user convenience.
According to an aspect of the present invention, an information processing apparatus includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire a measurement result obtained by a measurement unit that is configured to measure a characteristic of a print medium to be used in a printing apparatus, a notification control unit configured to cause a notification unit to provide notification of information indicating a print media type, and a storage unit configured to store information on a predetermined characteristic of each of a plurality of print media types, wherein, based on the measurement result acquired by the acquisition unit and usage history information indicating print media types used in the printing apparatus, the notification control unit causes the notification unit to provide notification of information indicating a print media type for which information on the predetermined characteristic stored in the storage unit corresponds to a characteristic indicated in the measurement result and which has a usage history indicated in the usage history information.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
An input/output unit 406 is disposed on an upper part of the printing apparatus 100. The input/output unit 406 is an operation panel and displays a remaining ink amount and a candidate or candidates of a print media type on a display device, and a user can select a print medium and input settings for printing using keys.
The carriage 101 includes an optical sensor 201 illustrated in
The print medium 105, such as roll paper, is conveyed on a platen 106 in the Y direction by conveyance rollers not illustrated. Ink droplets discharged from the print head 102 while the carriage 101 moves in the X direction on the print medium 105 conveyed on the platen 106 by the conveyance rollers so that printing is performed. When the carriage 101 reaches an edge of a print area on the print medium 105, the conveyance rollers convey the print medium 105 by a predetermined amount to move an area of the print medium 105 on which subsequent scan for printing is performed to a position where the print head 102 can perform printing. An image is printed through repetition of the above operation.
The second LED 302 is a light source having an irradiation angle of 60° in the Z direction with respect to the surface (measured surface) of the print medium 105. The first photodiode 304 receives light projected from the second LED 302 and reflected from the print medium 105 at an angle of 60° in the Z direction. More specifically, with the angle of light emission and the angle of light reception equal to each other, the optical sensor 201 is configured to have an optical system that detects what is called a specular reflection component of light reflected from the print medium 105.
The third LED 303 is a light source having an irradiation angle of the normal line (90°) with respect to the surface (measured surface) of the print medium 105. The second photodiode 305 and the third photodiode 306 receive light projected from the third LED 303 and reflected from the print medium 105. The amount of light received by the second photodiode 305 and the amount of light received by the third photodiode 306 are different from each other depending on a distance between the optical sensor 201 and the print medium 105, whereby the second photodiode 305 and the third photodiode 306 serve as range sensors that measure the distance between the optical sensor 201 and the print medium 105. Since the distance between the optical sensor 201 and the platen 106 is predetermined, the “paper thickness” of the print medium 105 can be acquired by measuring the distance between the optical sensor 201 and the print medium 105.
While the optical sensor 201 is mounted on the carriage 101 in the present exemplary embodiment, a different configuration may be employed. For example, an optical sensor may be fixed on a printing apparatus. Yet alternatively, an optical sensor may be provided as a measurement device separately from a printing apparatus. The measurement device measures characteristic values of diffused reflection, specular reflection, and the like of a print medium, and transmits characteristic values measured by the measurement device to the printing apparatus,
An I/F (interface) circuit 410 connects the printing apparatus 100 to an external network, such as a local area network (LAN). The printing apparatus 100 transmits and receives various jobs and various kinds of data via the I/F circuit 410 to and from an external apparatus, such as a host computer.
The input/output unit 406 includes an input unit and an output unit. The input unit receives a power-on instruction, a print execution instruction, and instructions about settings for the various functions from a user. The output unit displays various kinds of apparatus information such as a power saving mode and also displays screens about settings for the various functions that can be executed by the printing apparatus 100. In the present exemplary embodiment, the input/output unit 406 is an operation panel on the printing apparatus 100, and the input/output unit 406 is connected to a system bus 416 via an input/output control circuit 405 to transmit and receive data from and to the system bus 416. In the present exemplary embodiment, the CPU 401 controls information notification from the output unit.
The input unit may be a keyboard of an external host computer, and may receive user instructions from the external host computer. The output unit may be an LED display device, a liquid crystal display (LCD) display device, or a display device connected to a host apparatus. In a case where the input/output unit 406 is a touch panel, user instructions using software keys can be received. The input/output unit 406 may also be a speaker and a microphone and receive speech input from a user and provide audio output to a user.
An information processing apparatus that includes a CPU and a ROM that have the same functions as the CPU 401 and ROM 402 and is externally connected to the printing apparatus 100 may perform the print medium determination processing described below to determine a print media type to be used in the printing apparatus 100.
When the optical sensor 201 performs the measurement, the CPU 401 controls driving of an LED control circuit 407 to turn on a predetermined LED in the optical sensor 201. Each of the photodiodes 304 to 306 in the optical sensor 201 outputs signals based on received light. The signals are converted into digital signals by the analog-digital (A/D) conversion circuit 408 and are temporarily stored in the RAM 403. Data that is stored after power-off of the printing apparatus 100 is stored in the EEPROM 404b.
A print head control circuit 411 supplies drive signals according to print data to a nozzle driving circuit mounted on the print head 102 and including a selector and a switch, whereby the printing operation of the print head 102 such as a drive sequence of nozzles is controlled. For example, when data to be printed is transmitted from the outside to the I/F circuit 410, the data to be printed is temporarily stored in the RAM 403. The print head control circuit 411 then drives the print head 102 based on print data to be used for printing into which the data to be printed is converted. In the processing, a line feed (LF) motor driving circuit 412 drives a LF motor 413 based on the bandwidth of the print data and the like, whereby the conveyance rollers coupled to the LF motor 413 rotates and consequently conveys a print medium. A carriage (CR) motor driving circuit 414 drives a CR motor 415, whereby the carriage 101 performs scanning via the conveyance belt 103.
Data transmitted from the I/F circuit 410 includes data to be printed and also data on specific settings set in a printer driver. The data to be printed may be stored in a storage unit after reception from the outside via the I/F circuit 410 or may have been stored in advance in a storage unit, such as a hard disk. The CPU 401 controls an image processing circuit 409 to read image data from a storage unit and convert (binarize) the image data into print data for the print head 102. The image processing circuit 409 executes binarization of the image data and also various kinds of image processing, such as color space conversion, horizontal-to-vertical (HV) conversion, gamma correction, and image rotation.
The CPU 401 starts feeding the print medium 105 upon receiving a user instruction to start feeding a sheet via the operation panel included in the input/output unit 406.
After start of sheet feeding, the print medium 105 is conveyed by the conveyance rollers to a position on the platen 106 where the optical sensor 201 can perform detection. In step S101, the carriage 101 moves over the print medium 105 in the X direction to acquire a diffused reflection value, a specular reflection value, and a value for the thickness (hereinafter, paper thickness) of the print medium 105 ( ) as measurement values for characteristics of the print medium 105. A diffused reflection value corresponds to the whiteness of a print medium, a specular reflection value corresponds to the glossiness of a print medium. As a characteristic of a print medium, the width of the print medium in the X direction may be used to perform the print medium determination processing. The characteristics measurement of a print medium may be performed at one position on the print medium or may be performed at a plurality of positions to have an average of measurement results. The characteristics measurement may be performed while the optical sensor 201 is stopped or may be performed while the optical sensor 201 moves. Measurement values are temporarily stored in a memory, such as the RAM 403.
In step S102, the CPU 401 then reads out the acquired measurement values from the memory and compares the measurement values with the characteristic values of the various print media types that are previously determined and stored in the EEPROM 404b. In this processing, a print media type that has characteristics corresponding to characteristics indicated by the measurement values is extracted. Details are as described below.
In step S104, the CPU 401 then determines whether a print media type is extracted.
In a case where no print media type is extracted (NO in step S104), which means that there is no applicable print media type, the processing proceeds to step S109. In step S109, all of the categories are displayed on the operation panel as illustrated in
In a case where there is a print medium extracted in step S104 (YES in step S104), the processing proceeds to step S105. In step S105, the CPU 401 extracts a print media type having a value difference of 5 or less from the acquired diffused reflection value and the acquired specular reflection value from among the print media types stored in the EEPROM 404b. In step S106, the CPU 401 determines whether a print media type is extracted. In a case where no print media type is extracted (NO in step S106), the processing proceeds to step S109. In step S109, the categories are displayed on the operation panel as illustrated in
In a case where a print medium is extracted in step S106 (YES in step S106), the processing proceeds to step S107. In step S107, the CPU 401 determines whether there is a usage history for the extracted print media type based on the history information stored in the EEPROM 404a. As illustrated in
In step S107, in a case where the CPU 401 determines that there is no usage history for the extracted print media type (NO in step S107), the processing proceeds to step S109. In step S109, the CPU 401 displays the categories as illustrated in
Alternatively, as illustrated in
In step S110, in a case where the user has selected a print media type using the input/output unit 406 (YES in step S110), the processing proceeds to step S111. In step S1.11, the CPU 401 updates the chronological order in the history stored in the EEPROM 404a based on the print media type selected in step S110. The print medium determination processing ends upon completion of step S110.
Upon completion of preparation for printing after completion of the print medium determination processing, the CPU 401 shifts to a waiting state to receive a printing job from the user. The CPU 401 then starts printing upon receiving a printing job. The updating of the chronological order in the history in step S111 may be performed when a printing job is transmitted from a host computer. The CPU 401 may not to update the history information stored in the EEPROM 404a when a print media type selected and input by the user using the input/output unit 406 is different from a print media type in the job transmitted from the host computer to the printing apparatus 100.
In the print medium determination processing in
In a case where the optical sensor 201 is included in a measurement device provided separately from the printing apparatus, the characteristic values of a print medium set on the measurement device are acquired by the measurement device and transmitted to the printing apparatus 100. The CPU 401 in the printing apparatus 100 may extract a print media type based on the transmitted characteristic values and notify the input/output unit 406 of a candidate.
The print medium determination processing is described below using a specific example. When the characteristics of the print medium 105 acquired in step S101 are (diffused reflection value, specular reflection value, paper thickness)=(103, 98, 190), a range of paper thicknesses of print media types to be extracted is 140 to 230 μm as illustrated in
Ranges of diffused reflection values and specular reflection values of print media types to be extracted in step S105 are 98 to 108 and 95 to 103, respectively. From among the three print media types extracted in step S103, the standard glossy paper and the standard semi-glossy paper, which have characteristic values within these ranges are extracted.
When the chronological order in the history in the history information stored in the EEPROM 404a is as illustrated in
For example, when the characteristics of the print medium 105 acquired in step S101 are (diffused reflection value, specular reflection value, paper thickness)=(88, 150, 90), a range of paper thicknesses of print media types to be extracted is 40 to 130 μm as illustrated in
Ranges of diffused reflection values and specular reflection values of print media types to be extracted in step S105 are 83 to 93 and 145 to 155, respectively. Neither of the three print media types extracted in step S103 is not a print media type having characteristic values in these ranges. The processing therefore proceeds to step S109, the categories are displayed on the input/output unit 406 as illustrated in
As described above, characteristic values of a print medium that has been fed are acquired, and a print media type used more recently are displayed with a higher rank among the candidates for a print media type. With the configuration, the user can be notified of a print media type more likely to be used by the user in a prioritized manner and whereby a workload of the user for selecting a print media type desired by the user can be reduced.
In the above exemplary embodiment, the chronological order of the print media types recently used is stored as the history information. However, the history information is not limited to this example. As the history information, the number of times of each of the print media types having been used may be stored. In the print medium determination processing, when print media types are extracted, the user is notified of the names of the print media types in descending order of the numbers of times of the print media types having been used.
In the first exemplary embodiment, the user is notified of the names of print media types stored in the history information among the print media types extracted in step S105 that are in the history information. In a second exemplary embodiment, a print media type that is not in the history information is also notified by the input/output unit 406 if the print medium has been extracted. In the below description, the same parts as those in the first exemplary embodiment is omitted.
In step S201, the CPU 401 acquires the diffused reflection value, the specular reflection value, and the paper thickness of the print medium 105 using the optical sensor 201. In step S202, the CPU 401 then reads out the acquired measurement values from the memory and compares these measurement values with the characteristic values of the print media types that have been previously determined and stored in the EEPROM 404b. The CPU 401 then extracts a print media type having characteristics corresponding to characteristics indicated by the acquired measurement values. In step S203, the CPU 401 extracts a print media type stored in the EEPROM 404b having a paper thickness difference of 50 μm or less from the acquired paper thickness. In step S204, the CPU 401 determines whether any print media type is extracted. In a case where no print media type is extracted (NO in step S204), which means that no print media type has been determined to be applicable, the processing proceeds to step S214. In step S214, the categories are displayed on the operation panel as illustrated in
In a case where any print media type is extracted in step S204 (YES in step S204), the processing proceeds to step S205. In step S205, the CPU 401 extracts a print media type stored in the EEPROM 404b having a value difference of 5 or less in the diffused reflection value and the specular reflection value from the acquired diffused reflection value and specular reflection value. In step S206, the CPU 401 then determines whether any print media type is extracted. In a case where no print media type is extracted (NO in step S206), the processing proceeds to step S214. In step S214, the categories are displayed on the operation panel as illustrated in
In a case where a print media type is extracted in step S206 (YES in step S206), the processing proceeds to step S207, in step S207, the CPU 401 determines whether the history information stored in the EEPROM 404a contains the extracted print media type. As illustrated in
In a case where none of the extracted print media types are in the history information in step S207 (NO in step S207), the processing proceeds to step S213. In step S213, the CPU 401 displays the extracted print media types in order of determination of how close the characteristic values of each of the extracted print media types are to the characteristic values of the print medium 105 that have been acquired in step S201.
In a case where the extracted print media type is in the history information in step S207 (YES in step S207), the processing proceeds to step S208. In step S208, the CPU 401 determines whether any field in which a print media type is to be displayed is still available if the names of the extracted print media types that are in the history information are displayed on the operation panel, in a case where a field is not available (NO in step S208), the processing proceeds to step S215. In step S215, the CPU 401 displays the names of all of the extracted print media types that are in the history information on the operation panel in chronological order in the history.
In a case where a field is available (YES in step S208), the processing proceeds to step S209. In step S209, the CPU 401 determines whether the print media types extracted in step S205 include a print media type that is not in the history information. In a case where the extracted print media types do not include a print media type that is not in the history information (NO in step S209), the processing proceeds to step S215. In step S215, the CPU 401 displays the names of the extracted print media types that are in the history information on the operation panel in chronological order in the history. In a case where the extracted print media types include a print media type that is not in the history information (NO in step S209), the processing proceeds to step S210. In step S210, the CPU 401 displays the names of the extracted print media types that are in the history information in chronological order in the history from the top of the list. Further, below the names of the extracted print media types that are in the history information, the CPU 401 displays the names of the extracted print media types that are not in the history information in order of determination of how close the characteristic values of each of the print media types are to the characteristic values of the print medium 105 that have been acquired in step S210.
In step S211, in a case where user selection of a print media type is received via the operation panel which is the input/output unit 406 (YES in step S211), the selection is input to the CPU 401. In step S212, the CPU 401 updates the chronological order in the history stored in the EEPROM 404a based on the print media type selected in step S211. The print medium determination ends upon completion of step S212.
Description using a specific example is given below. In the example, the characteristics of the print medium 105 acquired in step S201 have the same values as those in the example described in the first exemplary embodiment, which are (diffused reflection value, specular reflection value, paper thickness)=(103, 98, 190) when the EEPROM 404a has the history information as illustrated in
With the above described configuration, a print media type not in the history information is also displayed, whereby a workload of the user for selecting a print media type desired by the user can be reduced even when a desired print media type has not been used.
In the first and the second exemplary embodiments, the user is notified of candidates with print media types in the history information ranked higher that have been used. In a third exemplary embodiment, weights are assigned to characteristic values and the history information with respect to each print media type, and the user is notified of candidates with a print media type ranked higher that has a larger weighting index value. Description of the same parts as those in the first and the second exemplary embodiments is omitted.
In the present exemplary embodiment, in addition to the chronological order of usage, information as the history information on how recently each print media type has been used and also information on how long it has passed up to the current execution of print medium determination since the last usage of each print media type are stored in the EEPROM 404a, in association with the corresponding print media type.
When print medium determination processing is executed, weighting index values are assigned to print mediums stored in the EEPROM 404a in accordance with how recently each print media type has been used. In this assignment, a larger weighting index value is assigned to a print media type if a shorter period of time has passed since the last usage. The weighting index values are assigned by the CPU 401 and temporarily stored in the RAM 403.
When the print medium 105 is fed, the optical sensor 201 acquires the characteristic values of the print medium 105. The CPU 401 compares the acquired characteristic values of the print medium 105 with the characteristic values of each of the print media types stored in the EEPROM 404b and extracts print media types that have characteristics corresponding to characteristics indicated by measurement values. A weighting index value that indicates how close the characteristic values of each of the extracted print media types are to the characteristic values of the print medium 105 is assigned to the corresponding print media type and temporarily stored in the RAM 403.
The weighting index values assigned to each of the extracted print media types based on the history information of the extracted print media types and the weighting index values assigned based on the characteristic values are summed, and the user is notified of the extracted print media types using the input/output unit 406 in descending order of the summation results.
Each of the methods discussed in the above-described exemplary embodiments is a method for selecting a print media type in the “user determination mode” that includes notifying the input/output unit 406 of a plurality of print media types, notifying a user of candidates, and then prompting the user to determine a print media type. In a fourth present exemplary embodiment, an “automatic determination mode” is executed. In the “automatic determination mode”, if the user does not make a selection within certain period of time after being notified of a plurality of print media types, the print media type ranked the highest is determined to be a selection. Description of the same parts as those in the above-described exemplary embodiments is omitted.
The same processing as that in steps S101 to S109 in the print medium determination processing in
The same processing as that in steps S201 to S210 and S213 to S215 in the print medium determination processing in
Among the automatic determination mode and the user determination mode, a mode may be selected and set by the user using the input/output unit 406. The automatic determination may be performed when a print media type having characteristic values that are closest to measurement values is ranked highest, and the automatic determination may be not performed when such a print media type is ranked second highest or lower. With this configuration, the automatic determination is performed when the reliability of detection of a print medium is high, whereby user convenience is enhanced.
As described above, the names of a plurality of print media types are displayed and a print media type ranked highest is selected if the user does not start any operation within the certain period of time, whereby a workload of the user for selecting a print media type can be further reduced.
While the printing apparatus according to the above-described exemplary embodiments is an ink jet printing apparatus that discharges ink as a printing agent, an electrophotographic printing apparatus that uses powder toner as a printing agent may be used.
Embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a ‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or that includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). The computer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network of separate computers or separate processors to read out and execute the computer executable instructions. The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.
According to the above described exemplary embodiments, user convenience in print medium determination can be improved.
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary, embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 019-016168, filed Jan. 31, 2019, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-016168 | Jan 2019 | JP | national |
