Recording material discriminating apparatus, image forming apparatus, and method of controlling recording material discriminating apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019171149-A1
Application number	US-201816181610-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 6, 2018
Priority date	Dec 1, 2017
Publication date	Jun 6, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

A recording material discriminating apparatus includes: a hardware processor that: detects a physical property of a recording material in different ways; and when transmittance of the recording material is within a first range, discriminates a type of the recording material by using a detection result from the hardware processor, and when the transmittance of the recording material is within a second range different from the first range, discriminates the type of the recording material by using a detection result from the hardware processor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A recording material discriminating apparatus comprising:
a hardware processor that: detects a physical property of a recording material in different ways; and when transmittance of the recording material is within a first range, discriminates a type of the recording material by using a detection result from the hardware processor, and when the transmittance of the recording material is within a second range different from the first range, discriminates the type of the recording material by using a detection result from the hardware processor.

2 . The recording material discriminating apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the hardware processor includes: an identificator that, when the transmittance of the recording material is within the first range, identifies a physical property of the recording material with the hardware processor, and when the transmittance of the recording material is within the second range, identifies the physical property of the recording material with the hardware processor; and a type discriminator that discriminates the type of the recording material based on alienation state of the physical property identified by the identificator from a reference value.

3 . The recording material discriminating apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein the type discriminator discriminates the type of the recording material among at least plain paper and label paper, and the label paper is a recording material that includes a material to a back of which an adhesive is deposited, and a mount to which the material is attached, and whose material is allowed to be attached to an object by peeling the material off the mount.

4 . The recording material discriminating apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein the hardware processor further includes a plotter that plots a point indicating the transmittance of the recording material and the physical property identified by the identificator on two-axis coordinates, and the type discriminator discriminates the type of the recording material based on alienation state of the point plotted by the plotter from a reference curve on the two-axis coordinates, the reference curve indicating a change in the reference value corresponding to a change in the transmittance of the recording material.

5 . The recording material discriminating apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the hardware processor detects the physical property of the recording material based on an amount of light that is transmitted through the recording material, and the hardware processor detects the physical property of the recording material based on an amount of an ultrasonic wave that is transmitted through the recording material.

6 . The recording material discriminating apparatus according to claim 5 ,
wherein the first range is greater than a first threshold value, and the second range is less than the first threshold value.

7 . The recording material discriminating apparatus according to claim 6 ,
wherein the hardware processor includes a displacement member, and detects the physical property of the recording material based on a displacement amount of the displacement member at a time when the recording material passes through a detection position of the displacement member, when the transmittance of the recording material is within a third range different from the first and second ranges, the hardware processor discriminates the type of the recording material by using a detection result from the third physical property detector, and the second range is greater than a second threshold value that is less than the first threshold value, and the third range is less than the second threshold value.

8 . The recording material discriminating apparatus according to claim 5 ,
wherein the hardware processor includes an outputter that outputs a voltage value corresponding to an amount of light that is transmitted through the recording material at a position along a transportation direction of the recording material, the hardware processor calculates an average value obtained by averaging the voltage value output by the outputter, the hardware processor further includes a detector that detects the physical property of the recording material based on the average value calculated by the hardware processor, when a variation amount of the voltage value output by the outputter is greater than a predetermined amount, the hardware processor determines that the recording material is back paper without calculating an average value at the hardware processor, and the back paper is plain paper only one surface of which is printed.

9 . The recording material discriminating apparatus according to claim 8 ,
wherein the outputter outputs a voltage value corresponding to an amount of light that is transmitted through an entire region in a direction perpendicular to the transportation direction of the recording material.

10 . The recording material discriminating apparatus according to claim 8 , further comprising a storage that stores a recording material,
wherein, when back paper has been stored in the storage before the recording material is stored and the variation amount of the voltage value output by the outputter is greater than a predetermined amount, the hardware processor determines that the recording material is the back paper without calculating an average value at the hardware processor.

11 . The recording material discriminating apparatus according to claim 5 ,
wherein, when an amount of an ultrasonic wave that is transmitted through the recording material is less than a predetermined ultrasonic-wave-amount threshold value, the hardware processor determines that the recording material is an envelope.

12 . An image forming apparatus comprising:
the recording material discriminating apparatus according to claim 1 ; and a printer that performs printing on the recording material under a printing condition according to the type of the recording material discriminated by the hardware processor.

13 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 12 ,
wherein the printer sets a printing speed of the recording material in a case where the hardware processor determines that the recording material is label paper at a value different from a printing speed of the recording material in a case where the hardware processor determines that the recording material is plain paper.

14 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 12 , further comprising a resist roller that transports the recording material to a printing position of the printer according to a timing of printing with the printer,
wherein detection position of the hardware processor is on a more upstream side of a transportation route of the recording material than that of the resist roller.

15 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 12 , further comprising a receptor that receives print setting for the recording material,
wherein, when the hardware processor determines that the recording material is back paper, the receptor does not receive setting for duplex printing.

16 . A method of controlling a recording material discriminating apparatus including a hardware processor that detects a physical property of a recording material in different ways, the method comprising,
when transmittance of the recording material is within a first range, discriminating a type of the recording material by using a detection result from the hardware processor, and when the transmittance of the recording material is within a second range different

Assignees

• Konica Minolta Inc

Inventors

• Tsujimoto Takahiro
• Tamada Takeshi
• Takatsu Hiroaki
• Xu Tianhua

Classifications

• G03G15/5029 Primary

  by measuring the copy material characteristics, e.g. weight, thickness · CPC title

• G03G2215/00759

  of sheet image, e.g. presence, type · CPC title

• G03G2215/00738

  of sheet thickness or rigidity · CPC title

• G03G2215/00514

  Envelopes · CPC title

• G03G2215/00497

  Overhead Transparency, i.e. OHP · CPC title