Image forming apparatus, image forming system, and image formation control program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10139765-B1
Application number	US-201815959513-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Apr 23, 2018
Priority date	May 23, 2017
Publication date	Nov 27, 2018
Grant date	Nov 27, 2018

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes: an image former that forms an image on a transfer paper sheet; a colorimeter that reads the image; a conveyor that conveys the transfer paper sheet in the image formation and the reading of the image; and a controller that controls the formation of the image, and the reading and the conveyance of the image, wherein when a first conveyance velocity is a velocity at which the transfer paper sheet is conveyed when the image is formed by the image former, a second conveyance velocity is a velocity that is lower than the first conveyance velocity, and a long paper sheet having a longer transfer sheet length than a predetermined threshold value is used as the transfer paper sheet in an adjustment mode, the controller controls the image former and the conveyor, and controls the colorimeter and the conveyor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
an image former that forms an image on a transfer paper sheet;
a colorimeter that reads the image formed on the transfer paper sheet;
a conveyor that conveys the transfer paper sheet in the image formation at the image former and the reading of the image at the colorimeter; and
a controller that controls the formation of the image on the transfer paper sheet, and the reading and the conveyance of the image,
wherein
when a first conveyance velocity is a velocity at which the transfer paper sheet is conveyed when the image is formed by the image former, and is higher than a velocity set for conveying the transfer paper sheet when the image is read by the colorimeter,
a second conveyance velocity is a velocity that is lower than the first conveyance velocity and is set as a velocity at which the transfer paper sheet is conveyed when the image is read by the colorimeter, and
a long paper sheet having a longer transfer sheet length in a conveying direction than a predetermined threshold value is used as the transfer paper sheet in an adjustment mode in which an adjustment image formed on the transfer paper sheet is read by the colorimeter, the controller
controls the image former and the conveyor, to form the adjustment image on the transfer paper sheet being conveyed at the second conveyance velocity, and
controls the colorimeter and the conveyor, to read the adjustment image formed on the transfer paper sheet while the transfer paper sheet is being conveyed at the second conveyance velocity.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein,
when obtained information about a length of the transfer paper sheet in the conveying direction shows that the adjustment image can be elongated in the conveying direction of the transfer paper sheet,
the controller
controls the image former and the conveyor, to form the adjustment image elongated in the conveying direction on the transfer paper sheet being conveyed at the first conveyance velocity, and
controls the colorimeter and the conveyor, to read the adjustment image elongated and formed on the transfer paper sheet while the transfer paper sheet is being conveyed at the first conveyance velocity.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the controller controls the image former, to form the adjustment image elongated in the conveying direction of the transfer paper sheet being conveyed at the first conveyance velocity, and to enable the colorimeter to perform reading the same number of time when the adjustment image elongated and formed on the transfer paper sheet is read while the transfer paper sheet is being conveyed at the first conveyance velocity, and when the adjustment image formed on the transfer paper sheet without elongation is read while the transfer paper sheet is being conveyed at the second conveyance velocity.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein,
when the lowest conveyance velocity during image formation by the image former is higher than the second conveyance velocity,
the controller
controls the image former to form the adjustment image while conveying the transfer paper sheet at a higher conveyance velocity than the second conveyance velocity, and
controls the colorimeter to read the adjustment image while conveying the transfer paper sheet at a higher conveyance velocity than the second conveyance velocity through elongation of the adjustment image or a small number of reading times.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein,
when obtained information about a length of the transfer paper sheet in the conveying direction shows that it is not possible to elongate the adjustment image in the conveying direction of the transfer paper sheet, the controller
controls the image former and the conveyor, to form the adjustment image on the transfer paper sheet being conveyed at the first conveyance velocity, the adjustment image being the same as the adjustment image in a case where the transfer paper sheet is conveyed at the second conveyance velocity, and
controls the colorimeter, to read the adjustment image on the transfer paper sheet being conveyed at the first conveyance velocity a smaller number of times than a number of times the adjustment image on the transfer paper sheet being conveyed at the second conveyance velocity is read.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the controller
determines the threshold value in accordance with a distance between a position at which the transfer paper sheet being conveyed is nipped by the image former and a position at which the transfer paper sheet is nipped by the colorimeter, and,
when the length of the transfer paper sheet in the conveying direction of the transfer paper sheet is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the transfer paper sheet is determined to be a long paper sheet.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the image former forms on the transfer paper sheet the adjustment image including colorimetric patches in different colors and trigger patches formed to have a predetermined positional relationship with the colorimetric patches,
the colorimeter includes a colorimetric sensor that reads the colorimetric patches, and a trigger sensor that reads the trigger patches, and
the colorimetric sensor reads one of the colorimetric patches after a predetermined time has elapsed since reading of one of the trigger patches by the trigger sensor.

8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the colorimeter reads the adjustment image after a predetermined time has elapsed since detection of the top edge of the transfer paper sheet being conveyed.

9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the colorimeter is formed with a spectrophotometer to read the adjustment image formed on the transfer paper sheet, and performs reading a predetermined number of times determined for each of the colorimetric patches included in the adjustment image.

10. An image forming system comprising:
an image former that forms an image on a transfer paper sheet;
a colorimeter that reads the image formed on the transfer paper sheet;
a conveyor that conveys the transfer paper sheet during the image formation at the image former and the reading of the image at the colorimeter; and
a controller that controls the formation of the image on the transfer paper sheet, and the reading and the conveyance of the image,
the image forming system being provided in different devices to which the image former and the colorimeter are connected,
wherein
when a first conveyance velocity is a velocity at which the transfer paper sheet is conveyed when the image is formed by the image former, and is higher than a velocity set for conveying the transfer paper sheet when the image is read by the colorimeter,
a second conveyance velocity is a velocity that is lower than the first conveyance velocity and is set as a velocity at which the transfer paper sheet is conveyed when the image is read by the colorimeter, and
a long paper sheet having a longer transfer sheet length in a conveying direction than a predetermined threshold value is used as the transfer paper sheet in an adjustment mode in which an adjustment image formed on the transfer paper sheet is read by the colorimeter, the controller
controls the image former and the conveyor, to form the adjustment image on the transfer paper sheet being conveyed at the second conveyance velocity, and
controls the colorimeter and the conveyor, to read the adjustment image formed on the transfer paper sheet while the transfer paper sheet is being conveyed

Assignees

• Konica Minolta Inc

Inventors

• Nakamura Mitsunori

Classifications

• G03G2215/00556

  Control of copy medium feeding · CPC title

• G03G2215/00603

  Control of other part of the apparatus according to the state of copy medium feeding · CPC title

• G03G15/6591

  characterised by the recording material, e.g. plastic material, OHP, ceramics, tiles, textiles (details transferring the toner pattern onto particular materials G03G15/1625) · CPC title

• G03G15/5062 Primary

  by measuring the characteristics of an image on the copy material · CPC title

• G01J2003/503

  Densitometric colour measurements · CPC title