Patent Application
20130094868
The presently disclosed embodiments are directed toward methods and systems for printing, reproducing or displaying images. More particularly, the teachings disclosed herein are applicable to methods and apparatuses that adjust a high-frequency service indicator (HFSI) counter in an environmental sensor as a function of ambient humidity to increase corona device lifespan.
In conventional marking modules, printing machine, and the like, ambient humidity can affect device longevity and print quality. Excessive humidity may cause pin growths and/or grid corrosion, and thus limit the useful life of a corona device employed in the printer. Conversely, in low-humidity conditions, a corona device may last beyond a scheduled replacement interval, but such extended life is not quantifiable using conventional approaches.
For example, a corona device may have a manufacturer-suggested replacement interval of one million corona charges, because the particular corona device is factory-proven to be able to produce high-quality images for one million charges in the factory (e.g., at 70% humidity or some other known humidity level in the factory). However, if the printer employing the corona device is then shipped to an arid region and used in an environment of, for example, 20% humidity, the a corona device replacement signal triggered at the one million charge mark may be premature.
There is a need in the art for systems and methods that facilitate extending corona device lifespan and improving print quality while overcoming the aforementioned deficiencies.
In one aspect, a computer-implemented method adjusting a high-frequency service indicator (HFSI) counter increment as a function of local relative humidity in order to adjust corona device lifespan comprises setting an adjustment factor for each of a plurality of predefined humidity levels, identifying a curve that defines the adjustment factors as a function of humidity level, and identifying a quadratic equation that defines the curve. The method further comprises receiving humidity measurement information describing a local humidity level in the vicinity of a corona device, and applying an adjustment factor that corresponds to a measured humidity level to an HFSI counter increment to adjust the HFSI counter increment.
In another aspect, a system that facilitates adjusting a high-frequency service indicator (HFSI) counter increment as a function of local relative humidity in order to adjust corona device lifespan comprises a marking module comprising a high-frequency service indicator (HFSI) counter and a corona device. The system further comprises a humidity sensor and a processor configured to set an adjustment factor for each of a plurality of predefined humidity levels, identify a curve that defines the adjustment factors as a function of humidity level, and to identify a quadratic equation that defines the curve. The processor is further configured to receive humidity measurement information describing a local humidity level in the vicinity of a corona device and, upon receipt of the humidity measurement information, apply an adjustment factor that corresponds to a measured humidity level to an HFSI counter increment to adjust the HFSI counter increment.
In yet another aspect, a computer-implemented method for adjusting a high-frequency service indicator (HFSI) counter increment as a function of local relative humidity in order to adjust corona device lifespan comprises storing in non-volatile memory an adjustment factor for each of a plurality of predefined humidity levels, detecting a local relative humidity level in the vicinity of a corona device of printer, and periodically applying an adjustment factor that corresponds to a detected humidity level to an HFSI counter increment to adjust the HFSI counter increment.
The above-described problem is solved by continuously modifying a count value on a charge counter (i.e., an HFSI counter) for a corona device in a printer or marking module as a function measured local humidity, so that the corona device is not discarded prematurely. For instance, conventional approaches to corona device replacement in a printer involve replacing the corona device with the HFSI records a predetermined count value (e.g., one million). However, when relative humidity in the local environment in which the printer is employed is low (10% to 20% Rh), the corona device can perform within specification well beyond the usual one million replacement interval. Using conventional approaches, many corona devices are potentially being replaced because the HFSI counter hit the one million mark, upon which an operator is signaled to replace the corona device. The described systems and methods facilitate delaying the triggering of a replacement indication by multiplying the HFSI count by an adjustment factor. It will be appreciated that the described systems and methods are not limited to extending corona device life, but rather can be applied to any device that is affected by humidity.
It will be appreciated that the method of
The computer 30 can be employed as one possible hardware configuration to support the systems and methods described herein. It is to be appreciated that although a standalone architecture is illustrated, that any suitable computing environment can be employed in accordance with the present embodiments. For example, computing architectures including, but not limited to, stand alone, multiprocessor, distributed, client/server, minicomputer, mainframe, supercomputer, digital and analog can be employed in accordance with the present embodiment.
The computer 30 can include a processing unit (see, e.g.,
The computer 30 typically includes at least some form of computer readable media. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by the computer. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data.
Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above can also be included within the scope of computer readable media.
A user may enter commands and information into the computer through an input device (not shown) such as a keyboard, a pointing device, such as a mouse, stylus, voice input, or graphical tablet. The computer 30 can operate in a networked environment using logical and/or physical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer(s). The logical connections depicted include a local area network (LAN) and a wide area network (WAN). Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet.
With continued reference to
According to another example, the following exemplary environmental zones are employed for illustrative purposes:
In this example, GOM values range from approximately 10 to approximately 123. Low GOM is favorable for extending the life of the Charge device. GOM values of 64 and above may cause pin growths and/or grid corrosion, and thus limit the useful life of the corona device to the typical 1 million panels. Accordingly, in this example, the quadratic curve is fitted at 12 to provide a 50% increase in life at low GOM, with a 0% modification GOM levels from 64 to 123 GOM. The resulting quadratic equation is used to modify and vary the charge HFSI counter increment, at 20.
To prevent confusion to machine operators and field systems engineers, the algorithm can operate in the background (i.e., without the operator's knowledge). If for instance, the printing machine is in a low GOM environment, the algorithm modifies the HFSI counter increment to count the charge panels more slowly. An HFSI GUI screen still counts up to one million panels and signals the operator to replace the corona device once the one million count mark is reached, but in actuality the device may have printed up to 1.5 million panels. Because the algorithm is operating in the background, the operator or field systems engineer does not have to do any math conversions or environment checking. Rather the operator or engineer replaces the corona device at the 1M panel indicator as usual.
According to one aspect, the described approach can be tuned via non-volatile memory (NVM) values to “dial in” potential future corona device life extensions if desired. For instance, the quadratic equation can be tuned to automatically slow the HFSI counter increments so that the 1M count that triggers a replacement indicator is not achieved until a desired number of panels has been printed (e.g., 1.2M, 1.5M, etc.).
According to another aspect, the adjustment factor is updated after each photoreceptor cycle (e.g., every 6 prints or the like), although the adjustment factor updates can be performed more or less frequently (e.g., after each print, once a day, every 5 minutes, etc.).
With continued reference to
Table 1 shows an example of a quadratic equation as it may be stored in non-volatile memory for use in adjusting the HFSI counter increment as described herein. As
Table 2 shows a working example of the herein-described quadratic equation algorithm and adjustment factors such as may be set for a given GOM level and applied to the HFSI counter increment.
The table includes a non-volatile memory description of the value stored in the non-volatile memory, an NVM address or location of the value, and an input value stored at each given NVM address. For instance, a GOM value received from an environmental sensor coupled to the printer may be 15.00 GOM. From the curve developed at 12 (
The printer 102 comprises a corona device 110 that is charged to generate one or more prints, and an HFSI counter 112 that counts each charge on the corona device 102. The printer also comprises and/or is operably coupled to an environmental sensor 114 that senses local relative humidity in the vicinity of the printer 102 by measuring or monitoring GOM levels. GOM measurement data 116 is stored in the memory 106. A non-volatile memory (NVM) component 118 is also comprised by the memory 106 and stores HFSI counter increment adjustment factor settings 120 and quadratic equation information 122 (e.g., as described with regards to
According to an example, the environmental sensor may register a local GOM level of 25 GOM. The adjustment factor for a local humidity reading of 25 GOM may be 0.800. In this case, the HFSI counter increments will be multiplied by 0.800, so that an end-of-life value of 1,000,000 charges of the corona device will be reached at approximately 1,250,000 corona charges (assuming the 25 GOM humidity level is detected at the beginning of the corona device's life and remains constant throughout the life of the corona device). In another example, the adjustment factor applied to the HFSI counter increment values is varied over the lifetime of the corona device as a function of the local humidity level at any given time.
Additionally, the memory stores an original (i.e. true) up-to-date HFSI counter value 128 and an adjusted HFSI counter value 130 to which an adjustment factor has been applied. To generate the adjusted HFSI count, the processor 104 applies to the counter increment a first adjustment factor that is identified as corresponding to a first humidity level. If a second humidity reading indicates that the adjusted HFSI increment is to be recalibrated, then the HFSI increment is multiplied by a second adjustment factor that corresponds to the subsequent humidity level.
As stated above, the system 100 comprises the processor 104 that executes, and the memory 106 that stores one or more computer-executable modules (e.g., programs, computer-executable instructions, etc.) for performing the various functions, methods, procedures, etc., described herein. Additionally, “module,” as used herein, denotes a set of computer-executable instructions, software code, program, routine, or other computer-executable means for performing the described function, or the like, as will be understood by those of skill in the art. Additionally, or alternatively, one or more of the functions described with regard to the modules herein may be performed manually.
The memory may be a computer-readable medium on which a control program is stored, such as a disk, hard drive, or the like. Common forms of non-transitory computer-readable media include, for example, floppy disks, flexible disks, hard disks, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic storage medium, CD-ROM, DVD, or any other optical medium, RAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, FLASH-EPROM, variants thereof, other memory chip or cartridge, or any other tangible medium from which the processor can read and execute. In this context, the systems described herein may be implemented on or as one or more general purpose computers, special purpose computer(s), a programmed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuit elements, an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a hardwired electronic or logic circuit such as a discrete element circuit, a programmable logic device such as a PLD, PLA, FPGA, Graphical card CPU (GPU), or PAL, or the like.
The exemplary embodiments have been described with reference to the preferred embodiments. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the exemplary embodiments be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.
