Xerox Corporation

Song-Feng Mo

Stephen F Randall

Wendy K Apton

Patrick James Walker

Jennifer R Wagner

Patricio G Medina

David Clark Craig

Yongsoon Eun

Eric Michael Gross

Patricia Joanne Donaldson

Michael John Martin

Daniel W Costanza

Michael C Mongeon

Ralph A Shoemaker

Jeffrey William Drawe

David Sekovski

John F O'Brien

Jing Qing Song

Timothy James Garwood

Antariksh De

Richard A Aman

A system and method are provided for operating an image forming device in a first processor-controlled toner control operating mode to maintain a substantially constant dispense rate of toner material from a toner source or bottle. The disclosed systems and methods improve toner material dispensing from the toner source or bottle in the image forming device by transitioning to a second processor-controlled toner control operating mode as an amount of toner material in the toner source or bottle is determined to be in a depleted, or nearly-exhausted, state. The disclosed systems and methods compensate for a determined decrease in a toner dispense rate occurring as an amount of toner material remaining in the toner source or bottle is nearly depleted. One or more toner control parameters, including a pixel count gain, are modified in the second processor-controlled toner control operating mode.

Systems and methods for implementing advanced toner dispensing and emptying of toner cartridge components in image forming devices

A tandem printing system for imaging a media web includes a first and second print engines. A controller identifies a change in a position over time of a bottom of the media web in a loop box that is placed in the media path between the first and second print engines. The controller identifies an effective diameter of a drive roller in one of the print engines with reference to the change in position of the bottom of the media web. The controller modifies a rotational velocity of the drive roller with reference to the effective diameter to maintain velocity of the media web at a predetermined level and control a position of the bottom of the media web in the loop box.

System and method for online web control in a tandem web printing system

A tandem printing system for imaging a continuous web of material includes a first printer serially coupled to a second printer wherein the speed of the web can be adjusted to maintain image quality and to compensate for a change in a diameter of a driver drum. The change in the diameter of the driver drum can be derived from characteristics of the printing system including the amount of sag of the continuous web of material moving between the first printer and the second printer.

Tandem printing system having a web transport controller with a derived drum diameter

A method of duplex printing forms on a media web. The method includes identifying leading edges of a first side of the forms being printed in a first print zone and identifying leading edges of a second side of the forms being printed in a second print zone. The leading edges in the first print zone being identified with reference to a form length variation parameter and a drift parameter and the leading edges in the second print zone being identified with reference to another form length variation parameter and another drift parameter based on identification of leading edges in the first print zone.

System and method for process direction alignment of first and second side printed images

A method of printhead registration in a duplex printer enables process direction registration of a first group of printheads and a second group of printheads in a single print zone that print first and second sides of a print medium concurrently. The first group of printheads is registered to a first reference printhead based on the process direction locations of a first plurality of marks printed by the first group of printheads at a first time between printed images on the first side of the print medium. The second group of printheads is registered to a second reference printhead based on the process direction locations of a second plurality of marks printed by the second group of printheads at a second time between printed images on the second side of the print medium.

System and method for first and second side process registration in a single print zone duplex web printer

Disclosed is a system and method for gradually adjusting a look-up table (LUT) for a print engine in order to improve the regulation of color quality of printed images. The LUT is updated so that a target value for a particular color is achieved. This corrects for a measured or predicted change in a tone reproduction curve. Depending upon the severity of the required adjustment, a series of incremental adjustments rather than a single adjustment can be made to the LUT table over a period of time. Each adjustment in the series can be limited to a predetermined maximum delta so that any corrections made to the LUT following the generation and evaluation of one test image and before the generation and evaluation of the next test image for the same target color are gradually and imperceptibly implemented (i.e., unnoticeable).

System and method for gradually adjusting a look-up table for a print engine in order to improve the regulation of color quality of printed images

A system and method for printing target colors includes a print-engine interface and a neural network component. The print-engine interface is in operative communication with a print engine of a printing system. The neural network component is calibrated to the print engine for printing a target color on a substrate. The neural network is in operative communication with the print-engine interface and communicates a parameter associated with printing the target color on the substrate utilizing the print engine.

System and method for printing target colors with process colors utilizing parallel feedforward neural networks

A system and method control a consistent color quality of overlay colors and single separations of color. The method determines a first error for a first separation of a first color, wherein the first error has a first sign. The method identifies a second error for a second separation of a second color, wherein the second color is a different color than the first color, wherein the second error is based on an actual density value for toner particles printed transferred from the second separation, wherein the second error has a second sign. The method compares the first sign of the first error and the second sign of the second error. The method converges the actual density value of the second separation to a target position when the first sign is a different sign than the second sign.

System and method for controlling consistent color quality

Density or reflectance targets for respective first and second marking engines of a document processing system are determined. A series of control patches is printed with the respective first and second marking engines. Relative reflectance values of each control patch printed with the first and second engines are determined. First marking engine relative reflectance error values of each control patch and second marking engine relative reflectance error values of each control patch are determined correspondingly based at least on (a) corresponding first engine relative reflectance value and target relative reflectance value and (b) corresponding second engine relative reflectance value and target relative reflectance value. Based at least on one of the first and second marking engine relative reflectance error values, at least one of the first and second engine relative reflectance targets is adjusted. Based at least on the adjusted target, an image quality control of the document processing system is improved.

Process controls methods and apparatuses for improved image consistency

A method by which the target of a toner concentration (TC) sensor can be set up based on the equivalent developability concept without using an expensive patch generator. First, use a black toner area coverage (BTAC) sensor to measure the relative reflectance (RR) of a 100% area coverage developed patch (ROS generated) at a series of development levels (Vor V) to generate a pseudo development curve and estimate Vin real-time (Vis the Vlevel that starts to develop toner onto the photoreceptor belt.) Then, add a nominal delta Vto Vto get the development level (V) needed to generate 100% area coverage gray patch. Finally, using a BTAC sensor to measure the RR level of a 100% area coverage (AC) gray patch, move the target of the TC sensor, and converge the sensor's reading to the sensor's target continuously until the RR level of the gray patch hits the RR target (predefined) within the tolerance range. Thus, the target of the TC sensor is set for the xerographic system automatically.

System and method for setup of toner concentration target for a toner concentration sensor

A method of using toner concentration (TC) as an active actuator in the tonal reproduction curve (TRC) controller, so that not only will the TRC controller maintain the TRC of the output, but also all the electrostatic actuators will not diverge, and the toner concentration will be within the latitude range of the xerographic system. The process ensures that the target of the toner concentration (TC) sensor will be changed properly in direction (up/down) and amplitude to compensate the TRC output of the print engine based on either reflective reactance readings and/or the level of the electrostatic actuators.

Method and system for using toner concentration as an active control actuator for TRC control

A method of controlling the solid developed mass per unit area and the tone reproduction curve in a printing machine by reading data from a sensor, comparing the data to an acceptable range of data values, where the data is not within the acceptable range of data values, updating a plurality of control actuators, determining whether the discharge ratio is within an acceptable range of discharge ratio values, where the discharge ratio is within the acceptable range of discharge ratio values, applying new control actuators to a power supply in the printing machine, and where the discharge ratio is not within the acceptable range of discharge ratio values, adjusting raster output scanner exposure per an exposure formula.

Tone reproduction curve and developed mass per unit area control method and system

Systems and methods for setting up grid voltage for a tandem pin charging device for charging a photoreceptor in a xerographic printing machine. A charge-generating emitter ratio of a first charging unit is determined and a first grid voltage is set based on the charge-generating emitter ratio of the first charging unit. A charge-generating emitter ratio of a offset voltage is then determined and a second grid voltage is set, based on the determined charge-generating emitter ratio of the offset voltage. A final voltage of a photoreceptor is then compared with a final target voltage.

Systems and methods for setting up grid voltages in a tandem pin charging device

In a hybrid jumping (HJD) or hybrid scavengeless (HSD) development station used in xerography, a control system avoids arcing conditions in a gap between a donor member and an image receptor. In a set-up operation, a series of test patches are produced while incrementing the AC amplitude in the gap. A change in reflectivity of the patches as a function of the AC amplitude in the gap is measured and the actual width of the gap is thus estimated. An accurate estimate of the gap width can then be used in a control algorithm.

Xerographic development system where a gap between a donor member and a photoreceptor is estimated

A method and apparatus are provided to calibrate a xerographic print engine toner concentration sensor to accurately control the toner concentration to a specified operating target. At least two control patches are imaged onto a photoreceptor. Each patch has a different voltage level where the voltage levels are the difference between the exposure discharge voltage and the developmental roll voltage. The relative reflectivity of each patches is obtained. The latent patches are repeatedly developed at different toner concentrations. The reflectivities of the patches formed at the same toner concentration are combined to obtain a combined reflectivity for that toner concentration. As a result, a toner concentration curve is obtained that has an improved response relative to the toner concentration curves that correspond to each of the individual voltage levels.

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Webster, NY, United States of America

Song-Feng Mo