Patent Application
20240094138
This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-147756 filed Sep. 16, 2022.
The present disclosure relates to a printed-matter inspection system and a non-transitory computer readable medium.
Japanese Patent No. 5367016 discloses a data generating apparatus, a method for generating data, and a program which enable a finished sample to be made by using a print on demand (POD) system for small-lot printing, without defects in bookbinding, such as incorrect collating. First printed matter is formed on the basis of a first sheet, first imposition data corresponding to the first sheet, and page description data representing multiple pages. The data generating apparatus generates print data for simulatively reproducing, on a second sheet, the form of the final printed matter obtained by subjecting the first printed matter to a first processing sequence including a sheet folding process. The second sheet has a size different from that of the first sheet. The data generating apparatus includes a side-stitch binding determining unit, a job defining unit, and a data generating unit. The side-stitch binding determining unit refers to the first imposition data to determine whether the first processing sequence includes a side-stitch binding process. When the side-stitch binding determining unit determines that a side-stitch binding process is included, the job defining unit defines a job, including a printing process and the sheet folding process, for each folding section on which side-stitch binding is to be performed. The data generating unit generates print data, corresponding to the second sheet, for each job defined by the job defining unit.
The data generating apparatus includes the side-stitch binding determining unit which determines whether the first processing sequence includes a side-stitch binding process, and the data generating unit which, when a side-stitch binding process is included, generates print data, corresponding to the second sheet, for each job defined for the corresponding folding section on which side-stitch binding is to be performed. Jobs, each including a printing process and a sheet folding process, are registered one by one. Thus, even in a bookbinding form including side-stitch binding, the form of the final printed matter using the first sheet may be simulatively reproduced by using the second sheet, and a finished sample may be made by using a POD system without defects in bookbinding, such as incorrect collating.
In a printing factory, printed sheets as a print result may be inspected. When defects such as printing defects are detected from a result of inspection, a worker may visually inspect actual printed matter while referring to the inspection result displayed on a screen, for example, on a display device. When printed sheets as a print result are inspected, even if defects such as printing defects are detected at the time point of completion of printing, it is difficult to extract printed sheets in the way, for example, in an inline process including a machine which performs post-processing, such as folding, binding, and cutting, to which a printing process is connected. Thus, inspection is performed after post-processing.
Aspects of non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a technique which enables a worker to easily recognize defects in post-processed printed matter, compared with the case in which printing defects detected in inspection are displayed on scanned images, which are obtained by scanning printed matter, without consideration of post-processing performed on the printed matter.
Aspects of certain non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure address the above advantages and/or other advantages not described above. However, aspects of the non-limiting embodiments are not required to address the advantages described above, and aspects of the non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure may not address advantages described above.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a printed-matter inspection system comprising a processor that inspects printed matter; and a display device that displays a result of the inspection, wherein the processor is configured to: compare a scanned image with a reference image of an inspection-target page of the printed matter to perform inspection for at least one defect that is present in the scanned image, the scanned image being obtained by scanning the inspection-target page; and obtain information about post-processing that is to be performed on the printed matter, and, on a basis of the information about the post-processing, display, on the display device, the at least one defect in association with at least one simulated image of the printed matter obtained after the post-processing.
Exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail based on the following figures, wherein:
An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below on the basis of the drawings.
The print server 12 supplies, as a print instruction, print data of a print job to the printer 10. The print server 12, which includes a reference-image generating unit 121, generates reference-image data, which is different from print data, from the rasterization result of a print job, and supplies the reference-image data to the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14. The print server 12, which also includes an inspection-result display unit 122, receives collation results from the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14, and displays the received collation results as inspection results. The print server 12 may be formed of one or more server computers, each including one or more processors and a storage device. The print server 12 will be further described in detail below.
The printer 10, which includes an image forming unit 101, receives a print instruction from the print server 12, and performs printing on sheets on the basis of the print data included in the print instruction. The printed matter is discharged from a discharge tray of the printer 10. The printed matter printed by the printer 10 is an inspection target. The printer 10 includes an imaging unit (built-in scanner) 102 which scans printed matter, which is to be inspected, to generate scanned-image data. When the printed matter is obtained through duplex printing, in response to detection of this, the imaging unit 102 scans both sides of each sheet of the printed matter. The scanned-image data is supplied to the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14.
The configuration of the printer 10 is known, but will be described briefly.
The printer 10 prints images on print media such as sheets on the basis of a job (print job) obtained from the print server 12. A print job is a process unit of print operation requested by a single print instruction.
The printer 10 includes, in addition to the image forming unit 101, a holding unit, a conveying unit, a discharge unit, and a controller. The holding unit has a function of holding sheets supplied to the image forming unit 101, and includes holding trays on which sheets are loaded.
The conveying unit has a function of conveying a sheet, which is held in the holding unit, to the image forming unit 101. The conveying unit includes, for example, a feeding roller, which feeds a sheet from the holding unit, and multiple pairs of conveying rollers which are disposed along the conveyance path from the holding unit to the image forming unit 101.
The image forming unit 101 has a function of printing an image on a sheet. The image forming unit 101 prints an image on a sheet, for example, by using an electrophotographic system. That is, the image forming unit 101 prints an image on a sheet through the processes of charging, exposure to light, developing, transfer, and fixing. In addition, the image forming unit 101 has a function of reversing and conveying a sheet so that images are printed on both the front and back faces of the sheet.
The discharge unit is a part on which a printed sheet is discharged. For example, the discharge unit includes multiple sites disposed vertically, and a sheet is discharged to the site designated in a print job.
The controller controls operations of the units of the printer 10 on the basis of a received print job. When the controller receives multiple print jobs, the controller uses a spooler to control the order of the print jobs. In addition, the controller controls the operations of the imaging unit 102, and generates scanned-image data through scanning printed matter, which is printed by the image forming unit 101, by turning on the operation of the imaging unit 102 for all the pages included in a job or pages which are set as inspection targets.
For pages which are among all the pages included in a job and which are not set as inspection targets, the operation of the imaging unit 102 is turned off, and scanned-image data is not generated.
The printed-matter inspection apparatus 14, which includes a scanned-image collating unit 142, obtains reference-image data from the print server 12 and scanned-image data from the printer 10, and compares, for collation, both pieces of image data with each other to detect defects which have occurred in the printing. In a scanned image, a part different from that in a reference image, more particularly, a part having a difference between the images which is greater than or equal to a threshold, is detected as a defect. In addition, the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14, which includes a collation-result generating unit 141, generates collation results on the basis of processing results from the scanned-image collating unit 142. A collation result includes a reference image, a scanned image corresponding to the reference image, and information, which is the result of collation, about whether defects are present and their positions. Such collation results are provided to the print server 12. The printed-matter inspection apparatus 14 may be formed of one or more computers, each including a processor and a storage device.
As described above, the reference-image generating unit 121 generates reference-image data from the rasterization result of a print job. The rasterization process is known, and is a process of generating raster data (image data) through a drawing process on the basis of intermediate-format data. The rasterization process includes a data-format conversion process of performing conversion from a page description language (PDL) format to a raster format, and a color-matching process using ICC profiles. The reference-image data is expected image data that is to be printed, that is, image data of a ground-truth image without defects.
For each print job, the page-configuration managing unit 123 manages information about the pages included in the print job, information, for each of the pages, about whether the page is to be inspected, and the inspection result of each page. The inspection result of each page is a collation result received from the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14.
The imposition-information managing unit 124 manages imposition information of each print job. The imposition refers to the state in which multiple pieces of print data are arranged in a single print sheet.
The inspection-result display unit 122 receives collation results supplied from the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14, and displays the received collation results as inspection results. Specifically, the inspection-result display unit 122 displays a scanned image of each page or both a reference image and a scanned image side by side on the basis of the configuration of the pages in a print job. When a collation result includes a defect, an area, in which the defect is detected, of a scanned image is highlighted for display. The form of highlight display may be any. Examples of this include, but not particularly limited to, surrounding with a rectangle or a circle, display in a specific color, blinking for display, and display of characters.
The finishing-result display unit 125 displays simulated images of the final output of a print job. That is, simulated images of a bound book are displayed on the basis of the page configuration by using the scanned images of the pages. Simulated images of a bound book are images in which the pages of a book, which indicates the final output of a print job and which is the final product, are simulatively reproduced sequentially in two dimensions. For example, the image on page 1 is first displayed; and the images on page 2 and page 3 are then displayed sequentially in accordance with a user's paging operation on the book, and so on. Simulated images of a bound book are known as a so-called electronic book. In the present exemplary embodiment, simulated images of a bound book are illustrated as simulated images of post-processed printed matter. This may encompass, not only two-dimensional display, but also three-dimensional display.
The “bound book” in the present exemplary embodiment means a bound book formed through post-processing, such as folding, binding, and cutting, performed on printed sheets, and is softcover in most cases, but may be casebound.
The one or more processors 12b read programs stored in the ROM 12c or the storage device 12g, and use the RAM 12d as a working memory to implement various functions. The processors 12b implement the reference-image generating unit 121, the page-configuration managing unit 123, and the imposition-information managing unit 124 in
The communication I/F 12e supplies the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14 with a print instruction including print data. The communication I/F 12e outputs reference-image data to the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14, and receives collation results from the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14. The communication I/F 12e outputs the received collation results to the processors 12b. The processors 12b generate inspection-result images and a finishing-result images on the basis of the collation results.
The display device 12f is formed of a display, such as a cathode-ray tube (CRT), a liquid-crystal display, or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, and displays inspection-result images and finishing-result images in accordance with a display control signal from the processors 12b. The display device 12f causes the inspection-result display unit 122 and the finishing-result display unit 125 in
The storage device 12g is formed of a nonvolatile memory, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD). The storage device 12g stores, in addition to programs, various types of image data and collation results. The image data includes reference-image data and scanned-image data corresponding to the reference-image data.
In the embodiment above, the term “processor” refers to hardware in a broad sense. Examples of the processor include general processors (e.g., CPU: Central Processing Unit) and dedicated processors (e.g., GPU: Graphics Processing Unit, ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit, FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array, and programmable logic device).
In the embodiment above, the term “processor” is broad enough to encompass one processor or plural processors in collaboration which are located physically apart from each other but may work cooperatively. The order of operations of the processor is not limited to one described in the embodiment above, and may be changed.
The configuration of the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14, which is not illustrated, is substantially the same as that in
In the description above, the print server 12 displays inspection results and a finishing result. Alternatively, instead of the print server 12, or in addition to the print server 12, the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14 may generate inspection-result images and finishing-result images on the basis of the collation results, and may display these images on the display device of the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14. Similarly, the page-configuration managing unit 123 and the imposition-information managing unit 124 may be included in the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14. In this case, the inspection-result display unit 122 and the finishing-result display unit 125 are included in the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14.
In short, in the printed-matter inspection system according to the present exemplary embodiment, the function of comparing, for collation, a reference image with a scanned image is included in the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14. In contrast, the function of displaying collation results may be included in either one or both of the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14 and the print server 12.
In the printed-matter inspection system according to the present exemplary embodiment, a reference image is compared, for collation, with a scanned image to detect whether defects such as smudges due to printing, which occur in printed matter, are present. Removal of defective sheets, in which defects have occurred, at the time point of completion of printing may affect a post-processed bound book. This is because removal of defective sheets results in incomplete sheet sets, easily leading to a mistake in the cutting process. In addition, if the printing process is connected in an inline process (an environment in which the processes are connected automatically until the post-processing), it is originally difficult to remove defective sheets in the way.
Therefore, defective sheets are removed in an inspection after post-processing, that is, after bookbinding. The page order of scanned images, the positions of arranged images, and the like are changed after bookbinding. Thus, it is not always easy to find out at which positions on which pages the defects are present in a bound book.
As illustrated in
When, at the time point of completion of printing, it is detected that a defect has occurred at a lower-right position of the back face of the bifold paper 22-1 which is the first sheet in the printing process, the defect occurs on page 15, which is surrounded by a circular mark in
Assume the following case: a reference image is compared, for collation, with a scanned image; a defect is detected in the scanned image; and the scanned image, in which the defect is detected, is simply displayed on a display device for presentation to a user. In this case, although the user recognizes that a defective sheet is present somewhere in the printed matter, the user has difficulty in locating the defect after bookbinding, which may lead to difficulty in inspection after bookbinding.
Therefore, in the present exemplary embodiment, simulated images of a bound book as a finishing result are generated from the obtained scanned images, and are displayed on the display device 12f. Detected defects are displayed in association with the simulated images of a bound book.
When the processors 12b are to form simulated images of a bound book, the processors 12b exclude so-called register marks and margins, which are to be cut, from the simulated images of a bound book, and do not reflect such marks and parts in the images. In addition, cutting causes occurrence of shifts between the positions of defects in the sheets after the printing process and the positions of the defects after cutting. Thus, the processors 12b calculate again the positions of detected defects in consideration of the parts that are to be cut. The processors 12b calculate the finishing width and height, that is, the width and height after bookbinding from the bookbinding method and the sheets (the output-sheet size, the layout, the finishing size, and the finishing orientation), and reflect the calculated results to the finishing result.
A screen displayed by the inspection-result display unit 122 and a screen displayed by the finishing-result display unit 125 will be described more specifically below.
At an upper-left position of the screen, select menus of
On the left side of the screen, a select menu for sheets after the printing process is displayed. For example,
At an upper-right position of the screen, a button 38 for making a transition to a finishing-result screen is displayed. When a user is to visually check the finishing-result screen, that is, a simulated image of a bound book, the user selects the button 38. The user visually checks the screen in
On the left side of the screen in
At the bottom of the screen in
The configuration information and imposition information of all the pages of a print job are obtained (S101, S102).
Generated reference-image data is supplied to the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14, and inspection results are obtained from the printed-matter inspection apparatus 14 as a result of comparison, for collating, between the reference-image data and scanned-image data (S103). The inspection results are inspection results for all the pages selected as inspection targets. The inspection results include position information of all the defects. The position information of a defect is obtained by using, as the reference, the reference point of a scanned image, for example, the upper-left point of a rectangular scanned image.
The page-configuration information of the print job is used to calculate the finishing size for one page (S104), and to calculate the start-coordinates position of the finishing size (S105). The finishing size corresponds, for example, to the size of the image 34 in
After the finishing size and its start-coordinates position are calculated, the calculated size and start-coordinates position are used to cut a finishing image from a scanned image (S106). The scanned image corresponds, for example, to the image 32 in
The process proceeds to
If defects are present (YES in S107), it is determined, for each of the defects, whether the position of the defect corresponds to a register mark or a margin (S108). “Register marks” are known as trim marks; center register marks indicate the centers at the top, bottom, left, and right of the finishing position; corner register marks serve as marks for positions for cutting using a cutter. If the position of a detected defect corresponds to a register mark or a margin (YES in S108), such a register mark or margin is removed in bookbinding. Thus, the defect, which is located at such a position, is deleted, and is excluded from display targets (S109).
After defects, which are located at register marks or in margins, are deleted, or if no defects are present at register marks or margins (NO in S108), the display-start-coordinates positions of the defects are calculated again in consideration of shifts of the positions of the defects due to cutting (S110). The finishing image is stored for each page along with the position information of its defects (S111).
The process described above is repeatedly performed for all the pages in the finishing images (repeatedly performed by returning to S106 until NO is determined in S112). The positions of defects which are present in the finishing images are adjusted, and the finishing images are displayed in page order after bookbinding in association with their defects (S113).
When a defect 36 is present in the area of a finishing image 34, the coordinates of the position of the defect 36 are determined by using, as the reference, the upper-left point P1 of the scanned image 42. Thus, to display the defect 36 at the correct position in the finishing image 34, the coordinates of the defect 36 are calculated again to obtain the coordinates using, as the reference, the upper-left point P2 of the finishing image 34.
In the process in
In the present exemplary embodiment, the case of saddle-stitch bookbinding is described as an example. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. The present disclosure may be similarly applied to other imposition patterns, for example, side-stitch binding, catalog printing, 4-up, and cut and stack. The “side-stitch binding” is a bookbinding method of stapling sheets with wires at about one to three positions of about 5 mm from the end of the sheets. The “cut and stack” is a bookbinding method in which input pages, whose number has been set, are arranged in each sheet in the following manner: when printed sheets are stacked and are then cut to obtain stacks of pages which are stacked on top of one another, the arrangement of the resulting pages is in the page order.
In the present exemplary embodiment, the position of a detected defect is displayed by being surrounded by a rectangle. In addition to this, the type of a defect may be displayed, for example, by using a figure or characters. The type of a defect may be classified on the basis of the shape and size of the detected defect. The types of defects may include a dot, a streak, and a folded corner of a sheet.
The present exemplary embodiment also encompasses a printed-matter inspection system including a processor that inspects printed matter, and a display device that displays the result of the inspection. The processor compares a scanned image, which is obtained by scanning an inspection-target page in the printed matter, with a reference image, which is generated by using rasterization data of the inspection-target page, to perform inspection for defects which are present in the scanned image. Among the defects, the processor displays, on the display device, a defect which is present in a visible area obtained in the assumption that the printed matter is bound. The present exemplary embodiment also encompasses a program which causes a processor to execute a process including comparing a scanned image, which is obtained by scanning an inspection-target page in printed matter, with a reference image, which is generated by using rasterization data of the inspection-target page, to perform inspection for defects which are present in the scanned image; and, among the defects, displaying, on a display device, a defect which is present in a visible area obtained in the assumption that the printed matter is bound.
The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the disclosure and its practical applications, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the disclosure for various embodiments and with the various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the disclosure be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.
(((1)))
A printed-matter inspection system comprising:
The printed-matter inspection system according to (((1))),
The printed-matter inspection system according to (((2))),
The printed-matter inspection system according to any one of (((1))) to (((3))),
The printed-matter inspection system according to (((4))),
The printed-matter inspection system according to (((1))) or (((2))),
The printed-matter inspection system according to (((6))),
The printed-matter inspection system according to any one of (((1))) to (((7))),
A program causing a computer to execute a process comprising:
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-147756 | Sep 2022 | JP | national |
