Patent Application
20090067005
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to scanners and printers, and more particularly to an improved method of scanning documents to determine the optimum scanning resolution and print settings.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today's scanners have the ability to copy a variety of documents with one scanner. However, documents can vary in content from black and white text to full color pictures. Traditionally, three qualities are of particular importance when scanning and printing a document: (1) whether the document is black/white, grayscale or color; (2) whether the document has a large or small color gamut; and (3) whether the document is text or photo or a mixture of both. Depending on the properties of the documents, and the desired print quality, different scanning and print settings may be preferred. For example, a document with a large color gamut has a wider spectrum of colors than a document with a small color gamut. As appreciated in the art, the preferred print metrics (color tables, shingles modes, resolutions, etc.) for the large color gamut document will therefore differ from the print metrics for the small color gamut document.
As a result of diverse content, a current method to improve quality in copied documents is the use of “smart” copying. Smart copying fully pre-scans the document at a relatively reduced resolution to determine its content type and color qualities. After the content is identified, the document is rescanned at the optimal resolution and printed using the preferred print settings. This method is notably incorporated into combined scanners/printers often referred to as “all-in-ones.”
While smart copying improves the quality of copies by establishing optimum scan and print parameters on an individual basis, the full pre-scan costs additional time for the user. Each document is scanned twice; once for the full pre-scan and once for the full final scan. As such, there is a need for a more efficient method of determining the content type of documents. Accordingly, improved methods of scanning are desired.
The present invention relates to new and improved methods for scanning documents and printing copies using more efficient scanning techniques to determine the optimal scanning resolution and print settings.
One aspect of the present invention is to provide a method for scanning a document and printing a copy. The method comprises scanning the document with a first resolution, determining a content type of the scanned document while scanning at the first resolution and determining an optimum scanning resolution based on the content type. The method further comprises rescanning the document at the optimum resolution if the first resolution does not correlate with the optimum resolution, selecting a print setting based on the content type and printing the copy using the print setting.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a computer readable medium having a computer program embodied thereon, the computer program being executable by a machine to scan a document and print a copy. The machine executes the acts of scanning the document with a first resolution, determining a content type of the scanned document while scanning at the first resolution and determining an optimum scanning resolution based on the content type. The machine further executes the acts of rescanning the document at the optimum resolution if the first resolution does not correlate with the optimum resolution, selecting a print setting based on the content type and printing the copy using the print setting.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide an all-in-one printer for scanning a document and printing a copy. The all-in-one printer comprises a scanner adapted to scan a portion of the document at a first resolution. The scanner is further adapted to determine a content type of the document based on the scanned portion of the document, determine an optimum scanning resolution based on the content type and create an image by either continuing scanning of a remainder of the document if the first resolution is similar to the optimum resolution, or, rescanning the document with the optimum resolution if the first resolution is not similar to the optimum resolution. The all-in-one printer further comprising a memory adapted to temporarily store the image and a printer adapted to print a copy of the image using a print setting based on the content type.
The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The embodiments set forth in the drawing are illustrative in nature and not intended to be limiting of the invention defined by the claims. Moreover, the individual features of the drawings and the invention will be more fully apparent and understood in view of the detailed description.
It is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the figure. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless limited otherwise, the terms “connected,” “coupled,” and “mounted,” and variations thereof herein are used broadly and encompass direct and indirect connections, couplings, and mountings. In addition, the terms “connected” and “coupled” and variations thereof are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections or couplings.
In addition, it should be understood that embodiments of the invention include both hardware and electronic components or modules that, for purposes of discussion, may be illustrated and described as if the majority of the components were implemented solely in hardware.
However, one of ordinary skill in the art, and based on a reading of this detailed description, would recognize that, in at least one embodiment, the electronic based aspects of the invention may be implemented in software. As such, it should be noted that a plurality of hardware and software-based devices, as well as a plurality of different structural components may be utilized to implement the invention. Furthermore, and as described in subsequent paragraphs, the specific mechanical configurations illustrated in the drawings are intended to exemplify embodiments of the invention and that other alternative mechanical configurations are possible.
One exemplary method of the present invention is illustrated in
The optimum scanning resolution and print settings are determined from the first scan 200. The optimum scanning resolution and print settings depend on the content of the document and the user's input. For example, whether the document is black and white, grayscale or color and whether the color gamut is large or small may influence the optimum scanning resolution and print settings. Furthermore, a user may request a high quality copy or low quality copy that may effect the optimum resolution or print settings. Depending on the specific scanner and printer, other properties may also be determined and incorporated into the optimum scanning resolution and print settings.
One exemplary embodiment of the present invention, illustrated in
In reference to
If the first resolution does not correlate with the optimum resolution, the document is rescanned at the optimum resolution. In an exemplary embodiment, the completion amount of the scanner is determined 500. If the completion is less than a predetermined threshold (in one exemplary embodiment 50%), the scanner will return to its original starting position and rescan the document in first direction 600. However, if the completion is greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold, the scanner will rescan the document in a second, different direction 700. As seen in
Typically, the scanner aborts the scan and continues to the other end of the document so the document can be scanned in the reverse direction. This reduces the distance the scanner must travel before rescanning at the optimum resolution. Depending on the actual scanner, the target completion percentage may change. For instance, it may be more efficient to scan in a second direction even at a completion percentage lower than the predetermined threshold to avoid stopping and reversing the scanner on its first pass. Some scanners may also scan in a different direction other than reverse. For example, the first resolution scan may be from top to bottom and the optimum resolution scan may be from left to right.
Once the document is scanned at the optimum resolution, or the first resolution if the first resolution correlates to the optimum resolution, a copy of the document is printed using the print settings 800. In one exemplary embodiment, the printing process initiates before the scan completes to decrease the overall time between scanning and printing. Once the print settings are known, the printer can prepare accordingly without waiting for the final scan to complete. The printer may also start printing the copy while the scan bar is still completing its final pass.
The exemplary embodiment in
In yet another exemplary embodiment, the invention is a computer readable medium having a computer program embodied thereon, the computer program being executable by a machine to scan a document and print a copy. The machine executes the acts of scanning the document with a first resolution, determining a content type of the scanned document while scanning at the first resolution and determining an optimum scanning resolution based on the content type. The machine further executes the acts of rescanning the document at the optimum resolution if the first resolution does not correlate with the optimum resolution, selecting a print setting based on the content type and printing the copy using the print setting.
The foregoing description of several methods and embodiments of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise steps and/or forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto.
