Systems and methods for supply quality measurement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10369825-B2
Application number	US-201715614854-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 6, 2017
Priority date	Jun 6, 2017
Publication date	Aug 6, 2019
Grant date	Aug 6, 2019

Abstract

Example systems and related methods may provide improved defect detection and resolution for a plurality of printing devices. An example method includes receiving information indicative of at least one aspect of a printing device from among a plurality of printing devices. The plurality of printing devices is communicatively coupled to a server. Each printing device of the plurality of printing devices includes a sensor configured to provide information indicative of at least one aspect of the respective printing device. The method also includes, based on the received information, accumulating, at the server, historical data corresponding to the at least one aspect of the plurality of printing devices. The method yet further includes comparing the accumulated historical data with model reference data. The method additionally includes, based on the comparison, determining highlighted data and causing a display device to display the highlighted data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a server;
a display device;
a plurality of printing devices communicatively coupled to the server, wherein each printing device of the plurality of printing devices comprises a sensor configured to provide information indicative of at least one aspect of the respective printing device; and
a controller, wherein the controller comprises at least one processor and a memory, and wherein the at least one processor executes instructions stored in the memory so as to carry out operations, the operations comprising:
receiving, at a quality measurement service, information indicative of the at least one aspect of the respective printing device from at least a portion of the plurality of printing devices;
based on the received information, accumulating historical data corresponding to the at least one aspect of the plurality of printing devices;
comparing the accumulated historical data with model reference data;
based on the comparison, determining highlighted data; and
causing the display device to display the highlighted data.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving information indicative of a shipment decision; and
in response to the shipment decision, causing a supply replenishment service to initiate a replenishment action.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving, from the supply replenishment service, information indicative of shipment decisions, wherein the shipment decisions comprise a last replacement date corresponding to at least one aspect of each respective printing device; and
partitioning the historical data into at least a training data set and a reference data set, wherein the training data set comprises historical data accumulated prior to a threshold date, wherein the threshold date is prior to the last replacement date, and wherein the reference data set comprises historical data accumulated on or after the threshold date.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the operations further comprise:
based on the training data set, determining a predicted replacement date;
comparing one or more actual shipment dates of the shipment decisions with the predicted replacement date;
based on the comparison, determining a shipment error condition and an error type; and
in response to determining the shipment error condition, adjusting at least one aspect of the supply replenishment service based on the error type.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the adjusting at least one aspect of the supply replenishment service comprises determining a corrective action, wherein the corrective action is configured to reduce or eliminate a difference between one or more future shipment dates and corresponding predicted replacement dates, wherein the operations further comprise:
causing the server to distribute a patch to at least a target portion of the printing devices, wherein the patch is operable to carry out the corrective action among the target portion of printing devices.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
partitioning the historical data into at least a training data set and a reference data set, wherein the training data set comprises historical data accumulated prior to a threshold date, wherein the threshold date is prior to a subsequent date, and wherein the reference data set comprises historical data accumulated on or after the subsequent date
based on the training data set, determining the model reference data, wherein comparing the accumulated historical data with the model reference data comprises comparing the model reference data with the reference data set; and
based on the comparison, determining a reference data error condition and an error type, wherein the highlighted data corresponds to the reference data error condition.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to provide information indicative of a printing device toner level, wherein the operations further comprise:
determining, based on an analysis of the historical data, a toner level measurement error condition;
in response to determining the toner level measurement error condition, determining a corrective action, wherein the corrective action is configured to correct the toner level measurement error condition; and
causing the server to distribute a patch to at least a target portion of the printing devices, wherein the patch is operable to carry out the corrective action among the target portion of printing devices.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise:
comparing at least a portion of the historical data to a set of known measurement error patterns, wherein the set of known measurement error patterns comprises a D-shaped toner level shape or an L-shaped toner level shape, wherein determining the toner level measurement error condition is based on the comparison.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining unusual toner data from the historical data, wherein the highlighted data comprises the unusual toner data; and
prior to causing the display device to display the highlighted data, applying a prefilter to the unusual toner data.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the highlighted data comprises a plurality of tiles, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of tiles is representative of the prefiltered unusual toner data.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the corrective action comprises at least one of: adjusting a toner level offset point, adjusting a toner level usage slope, adjusting a dot-counting multiplier, adjusting a counter bit resolution, adjusting a page coverage multiplier, or adjusting a color printing multiplier.

12. A method comprising:
receiving information indicative of at least one aspect of a printing device from among a plurality of printing devices, wherein the plurality of printing devices is communicatively coupled to a server, wherein each printing device of the plurality of printing devices comprises a sensor configured to provide information indicative of at least one aspect of the respective printing device;
based on the received information, accumulating, at the server, historical data corresponding to the at least one aspect of the plurality of printing devices;
comparing the accumulated historical data with model reference data;
based on the comparison, determining highlighted data; and
causing a display device to display the highlighted data.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
receiving information indicative of a shipment decision; and
in response to the shipment decision, causing a supply replenishment service to initiate a replenishment action.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
receiving, from the supply replenishment service, information indicative of shipment decisions, wherein the shipment decisions comprise a last replacement date corresponding to at least one aspect of each respective printing device; and
partitioning the historical data into at least a training data set and a reference data set, wherein the training data set comprises historical data accumulated prior to a threshold date, wherein the threshold date is prior to the last replacement date, and wherein the reference data set comprises historical data accumulated on or after the threshold date.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
based on the training data set, determining a predicted replacement date;
comparing one or more actual shipment dates of the shipment decisions with the predicted replacement date;
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Assignees

• Kyocera Document Solutions Inc

Inventors

• Osadchyy Oleksandr
• Yamaguchi Tetsuji

Classifications

• G03G15/5079

  for maintenance · CPC title

• B41F33/025

  Counters · CPC title

• B41F33/00

  Indicating, counting, warning, control or safety devices (arrangements of counting devices in platen presses B41F1/00 {, B41F1/58; arrangements of counting devices} in cylinder presses B41F3/84; ink supply or metering devices B41F31/02) · CPC title

• B41J11/006

  Means for preventing paper jams or for facilitating their removal · CPC title

• B41J29/393 Primary

  Devices for controlling or analysing the entire machine {; Controlling or analysing mechanical parameters involving printing of test patterns} · CPC title