Eastman-kodak Company

Sterling Winthrop Inc.

Randy Eugene Armbruster

Christopher M Muir

James Alan Katerberg

Matthias Hermann Regelsberger

W Charles Kasiske, Jr

Bradley S Bush

Thomas Niertit

Nathan J Turner

Michael Joseph Piatt

Gregory L Zwadlo

Harsha Sanjeewa Bulathsinghalage

Terry Anthony Wozniak

James Michael Enge

John Leonard Hryhorenko

Timothy John Hawryschuk

Brad Smith

Daniel J DeVivo

Bruce J Semmler

Peter Stolt

Peter Affolter

Ruth H Parker

Christopher G Staudt

Jeffrey Charles Robertson

Domingo Rohde

Clark E Harris

David James Cornell

William C Wendlandt

Bradley C DeCook

Dennis James O'Dea

Eckhard Bauer

William F Dassero

Bradley A Phillips

Richard T Liebert

Neil H Brown

Bonnie J Patterson

Raymond P Chapman

Guenter H Loose

Steven A Lamy

Thomas M Pack

Michael Decker

Thomas Koester

Blanchard M Brock

Timothy L Bushnell

A web-guiding system for guiding a web of media along a transport path including a web-guiding roller located in proximity to a fixed web-guiding structure having a pattern of air holes formed through its exterior surface. The web of media travels around the web-guiding roller with the web of media contacting the web-guiding roller through a wrap angle of less than 5 degrees, and travels around the fixed web-guiding structure through a wrap angle of more than 10 degrees. An air source provides an air flow through the air holes formed lifting the web of media away from the web-guiding structure such that the web of media is substantially not in contact with the web-guiding structure.

Air shoe with roller providing lateral constraint

A method and system for reducing tension fluctuations in a printing system are disclosed. A plurality of tension zones is defined in the printing system. Tension on the web in one tension zone is controlled independently of the tension on the web in the other tension zones. The printing system also includes at least one roller for each tension zone. The rollers receive tension control commands and control the amount of tension on the web in their respective tension zones. The printing system is used to print a first copy of the print job on the web and tension on the web in each tension zone is measured. Tension control adjustments are computed for each tension zone based on the tension measurements. The tension control adjustments are used to adjust the tension control commands to the rollers to print a second copy of the print job.

Reducing tension fluctuations using isolated tension zones

A method for correcting color registration errors for a print job including one or more documents having a plurality of color planes. A color registration error model is used to predict a color registration error value for a document as a function of ink coverage characteristics for the document, wherein the color registration error model is a parametric model having one or more parameters. An image plane correction value is determined based on the predicted color registration error, and the document is printed using the determined image plane correction value.

Document registration using registration error model

A method and system for reducing registration errors in a printing system are disclosed. A plurality of tension zones is defined in the printing system. Tension on the web in one tension zone is controlled independently of the tension on the web in the other tension zones. The printing system also includes at least one roller for each tension zone. The rollers receive tension control commands and control the amount of tension on the web in their respective tension zones. The printing system is used to print a first copy of the print job on the web and a plurality of registration errors is determined. Tension control adjustments are computed for each tension zone based on the registration errors. The tension control adjustments are used to adjust the tension control commands to the rollers to print a second copy of the print job, thereby reducing registration errors.

Reducing print artifacts using isolated tension zones

A method for correcting color registration errors for a color printer that prints color image data on a continuous web of media. A color registration error model is used to predict a color registration error value for a particular in-track position as a function of ink coverage characteristics for an image region including the particular in-track position, wherein the color registration error model is a parametric model having one or more parameters. An image plane correction value is determined based on the predicted color registration error, and the color image data for the particular in-track position is printed using the determined image data correction values.

Reducing registration errors using registration error model

A web-guiding system for guiding a web of media travelling from upstream to downstream along a transport path in an in-track direction. A web-guiding structure includes an exterior surface having a pattern of alternating ridges and recesses formed into the exterior surface. The web of media travels past the web-guiding structure with the first side of the web of media contacting at least some of the ridges on the exterior surface of the web-guiding structure. The ridges and recesses are formed into the exterior surface of the web-guiding structure such that the exterior surface has a continuous and smooth surface profile in the cross-track direction having a specified maximum slope magnitude and a specified minimum radius of curvature magnitude.

Web guiding structure with continuous smooth recesses

A method for performing color-to-color correction while printing multiple copies of a print job having one or more documents includes printing one or more copies of the print job and determining at least one color registration error for at least one type of color registration error produced during the printing of the one or more copies of the print job. A color plane correction value is then determined for each document in the print job and for each color plane error produced during the printing of the one or more copies of the print job. One or more subsequent copies of the print job is printed using the color plane correction values, where the color plane correction values used for each document are the correction values determined for that document. The color plane correction values can be updated periodically, at select times, or after each copy is printed.

Color-to-color correction in a printing system

A web-guiding system for guiding a web of media along a transport path comprising a drive roller rotated by a motor and a plurality of nip rollers. The drive roller includes a first section, a second section and a third section along the length of the roller, the second section being located between the first section and the third section. A diameter of a surface envelope around the exterior surface of the drive roller is substantially constant within the second section, and is larger in the first section and the third section than in the second section. The nip rollers are aligned with the second section of the drive roller, with the web of media passing between the drive roller and the nip rollers.

Drive roller configuration providing reduced web wrinkling

A method for performing color-to-color correction for printing multiple copies of a print job having one or more documents is disclosed. A first copy of the print job is printed using a plurality of color planes. A first plurality of color registration errors produced during the printing of the first copy of the print job is determined. For each document in the print job, a processor is used to determine a first plurality of local color plane correction values for each color registration error produced during the printing of the first copy of the print job. Each of the first plurality of local color plane correction values corresponds to one of the first plurality of color registration errors. A second copy of the print job is printed using the local color plane correction values for each document in the print job.

A method for performing color-to-color correction for printing multiple copies of a print job having one or more documents is disclosed. A first copy of the print job is printed using a plurality of color planes. A first plurality of color registration errors produced during the printing of the first copy of the print job is determined. For each document in the print job, one or more processors are used to determine a global color plane correction value for each color plane error based on the first plurality of color registration errors. The global color plane correction values are adjusted locally based on the first plurality of local color plane correction values. A second copy of the print job is printed using the locally adjusted global color plane correction values for each document in the print job.

A printing system for printing multiple copies of a print job having one or more documents is disclosed. A plurality of printheads prints each of a plurality of color planes of a first copy of the print job. One or more processors determine a first plurality of color registration errors produced during the printing of the first copy of the print job. Global color plane correction values for each document of the print job are determined. The global color plane correction values are adjusted locally for each document based on the first plurality of local color plane correction values. The plurality of printheads prints a second copy of the print job using the locally adjusted global color plane correction values for each document in the print job.

A printing system for printing multiple copies of a print job having one or more documents is disclosed. A plurality of printheads prints each of a plurality of color planes of a first copy of the print job. A processor is used to determine a first plurality of color registration errors produced during the printing of the first copy of the print job. A first plurality of local color plane correction values for each document of the print job is determined. Each of the first plurality of local color plane correction values corresponds to one of the first plurality of color registration errors. The plurality of printheads prints a second copy of the print job using the local color plane correction values for each document in the print job.

Methods and systems for performing color-to-color correction for printing multiple print jobs comprise receiving a first print job, wherein the first print job has one or more documents, receiving a second print job, wherein at least a portion of one of the documents in the second print job is different from a corresponding document in the first print job, and printing a copy of the first print job. One or more processors are used to determine a plurality of color plane registration errors produced during the printing of the copy of the first print job, local color plane correction values based on the plurality of color registration errors, and a difference between the corresponding documents in the first print job and second print job. When the amount of difference is less than a predetermined threshold, the local color plane correction values are used to print the second print job.

Growing community of inventors

Rochester, NY, United States of America

Randy Eugene Armbruster