Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Takuya Mukaibara

Kazushi Ino

Takashi Fukuhara

Naoki Nishimura

Kazutaka Yaguchi

Hiroshi Kita

Kenichi Fujii

Junya Azami

Atsuhiko Yamaguchi

Osamu Nagasaki

Shuhei Watanabe

Satoru Koyama

Keisuke Nakano

Hiroshi Mano

Mitsugu Tanaka

Chihiro Nagura

Hiroyuki Yamazaki

Hidetoshi Hanamoto

Toshikazu Tsuchiya

Tadashi Okanishi

Eiichiro Teshima

Noriyuki Monden

Shinji Hosoya

An apparatus can obtain an amount of color misregistration based on a plurality of test images. Among these test images, the first test image has one line segment of a first color and another line segment of the first color. The second test image has one line segment of the first color and another line segment of a second color or has one line segment of the second color and another line segment of the first color. The third test image has one line segment of the second color and another line segment of the second color. The fourth test image has one line segment of the second color and another line segment of a third color or has one line segment of the third color and another line segment of the second color. The fifth test image has one line segment of the third color and another line segment of the third color.

Image forming apparatus that generates test image group having plurality of test images

A housing includes a first opening and a second opening, and encloses a light-emitting element and a first light receiving unit. The first opening is provided in a first light guide path, and is arranged so that light output from the light-emitting element travels toward a target surface. The second opening is provided in a second light guide path arranged between the target surface and the first light receiving unit. The first opening is an exit opening of a through-hole provided penetrating through the housing, and a shape of the through-hole is a shape in which diffracted light of the +1st order and higher orders and diffracted light of the &#x2212;1st order and higher orders produced at the target surface to be irradiated are not incident on the first light receiving unit.

Structure of optical sensor having light-emitting element and light-receiving element

A housing includes a first opening and a second opening, and encloses a light-emitting element, a first light receiving unit, and a second light receiving unit. The first opening is provided in a first light guide path arranged between the light-emitting element and a first irradiated region of the target surface, and is arranged so that light output from the light-emitting element travels toward the first irradiated region. The second opening is provided in a second light guide path arranged between the first irradiated region and the first light receiving unit, and is arranged so that diffused reflection light from the toner image passes through when the toner image passes the first irradiated region.

Structure of optical sensor having light-emitting element and plurality of light-receiving elements

A toner detection unit (optical sensor) includes a first light receiving element configured to receive specular reflection light of first irradiating light, and a second light receiving element configured to receive diffused reflection light of second irradiating light, and a separation component configured to separate irradiating light emitted from an LED into the first and second irradiating light. A housing forms a first opening through which the first irradiating light and the second irradiating light pass and the diffused reflection light to be received by the second light receiving element passes, and a second opening through which the specular reflection light to be received by the first light receiving element passes.

Optical sensor having an irradiating light separation component and image forming apparatus thereof

A toner detection unit is configured by an LED that irradiates light toward an intermediate transfer belt, first and second light receiving elements that respectively receive specular reflection light and diffused reflection light of light irradiated toward the intermediate transfer belt from the LED, a circuit board, and a housing. The LED and the light receiving elements are mounted in a line on the circuit board. The housing is configured to guide, to the first light receiving element, the specular reflection light from a first region within an irradiation region on which light is irradiated from the LED on the intermediate transfer belt, and to guide, to the second light receiving element, the diffused reflection light from a second region which is different from the first region within the irradiation region.

Optical sensor and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus performs misregistration correction based on a detection result of a detection pattern. The detection pattern includes basic patterns arranged at a first interval in a sub-scanning direction. Each basic pattern includes N image groups arranged at a second interval. In the N image groups, a first group including an image at a first angle and a second group including an image at a second angle are arranged alternately in the sub-scanning direction. The first interval corresponds to a distance that a surface of an image carrier moves in a period of M times a first period corresponding to a rotation period of a rotational member, and the second interval corresponds to a distance that a surface of the image carrier moves in a period of 1/(N&#x2212;1) of the first period.

Image forming apparatus performing misregistration correction control based on detection results of detection pattern

An image forming apparatus includes a light-receiving unit that includes light-receiving elements arranged along a movement direction of a target formed on an image carrier, and is arranged so as to receive light emitted from a light-emitting unit and specularly reflected off the image carrier; a member configured to limit a size, in the movement direction, of diffused reflection light that is incident on the light-receiving unit; a selection unit configured to select whether or not each of the light-receiving elements in the light-receiving unit is an effective light-receiving element; a generation unit configured to generate a detection signal from an output of the effective light-receiving element; and a detection unit configured to detect a target formed on the image carrier based on the detection signal.

Image forming apparatus and optical sensor detecting target formed on image carrier or recording medium using effective light-receiving elements

Image forming apparatus and optical sensor detecting target formed on image carrier or recording medium

A toner detection unit includes an LED and a light receiving element that outputs a current in accordance with a received light amount. A current/voltage converter circuit converts the current outputted from the light receiving element into a voltage and outputs the voltage. A voltage amplifier circuit amplifies a difference between the voltage outputted from the converter circuit and a reference voltage and outputs the amplified difference as a voltage corresponding to the received light amount. A microcomputer measures the voltage outputted from the voltage amplifier circuit by causing the LED to emit light, under a measurement condition under which the reflected light is not incident on the light receiving element through an opening formed in a housing of the toner detection unit, and adjusts the reference voltage used in the voltage amplifier circuit based on the obtained measured voltage.

Image forming apparatus including optical sensor

An image forming apparatus includes an irradiation unit for irradiating an image carrier having a detection image with light; a light-receiving unit for receiving reflected light of the light irradiated by the irradiation unit and outputting a detection signal corresponding to a light-receiving amount of the reflected light including a specular-reflected light component; and a detection unit for detecting one of position information and density information of the detection image based on a signal corresponding to a difference between a value of the detection signal corresponding to the light-receiving amount of the reflected light from a first position where the detection image is formed and a value of the detection signal corresponding to the light-receiving amount of the reflected light from a second position different from the first position.

Image forming apparatus and detection apparatus for detecting position or density information of detection image

An image forming apparatus includes a detector for detecting one of position and density information of a detection image based on a signal corresponding to a difference between a value of a detection signal corresponding to a first position of one of the detection image on an image carrier and a surface of the image carrier and an average value of a value of the detection signal corresponding to a second position on a downstream side with respect to the first position in a moving direction of the detection image and a value of the detection signal corresponding to a third position on an upstream side with respect to the first position in the moving direction during a time when the detection image formed on the image carrier passes through an irradiation region of an irradiation device.

Image forming apparatus and detection apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes an irradiation unit for irradiating an image carrier having a formed detection image with light, the irradiation unit being capable of switching a size of a light-emitting region; a light-receiving unit for receiving reflected light of the light irradiated by the irradiation unit and outputting a detection signal corresponding to a light-receiving amount of the reflected light including a specular-reflected light component; a detection unit for detecting one of position information and density information of the detection image based on the detection signal; and a control unit for controlling to switch the size of the light-emitting region to detect one of the position information and the density information of the detection image.

The reflection detection apparatus includes multiple light-receiving elements configured to detect a pattern formed on an object by receiving a reflected light from the object, and a selector configured to select a first light-receiving element group from the multiple light-receiving elements. The selector is configured to select the first light-receiving element group that includes one or more light-receiving elements each mainly receiving a specularly reflected light from an area of the object where no pattern is formed among the multiple light-receiving elements, on a basis of outputs from the multiple light-receiving elements. The detection of the pattern is made on a basis of an output from the first light-receiving element group.

Reflection detection apparatus and apparatus using the same

An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, an image forming unit for forming a patch image on the image carrier, a light emitting unit, a plurality of light receiving units adjacently arranged so as to receive light reflected from the patch image when light is irradiated by the light emitting unit onto the patch image which moves with movement of the image carrier and each including one or more light receiving elements, and an output unit for outputting an output signal that depends on a difference between a received light quantity of a first light receiving unit and a received light quantity of a second light receiving unit that are respectively odd-numbered and even-numbered in the arrangement order of the light receiving units.

Growing community of inventors

Susono, Japan

Takuya Mukaibara