Recording material discrimination device, image forming apparatus and method therefor

• US 20050074248A1
• Filed: 09/28/2004
• Published: 04/07/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Umeda, Kengo, Okada, Tomoyuki, Aoki, Masaru, Akita, Masanori, Kokubo, Yoshitaka
• Granted Patent: US 7,149,441 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 399/45
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/5029 by measuring the copy material characteristics, e.g. weight, thickness
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/5062 by measuring the characteristics of an image on the copy material
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/6591 characterised by the recording material, e.g. plastic material, OHP, ceramics, tiles, textiles details transferring the toner pattern onto particular materials G03G15/1625
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/6594 characterised by the format or the thickness, e.g. endless forms
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/00447 Plural types handled
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/00751 of sheet type, e.g. OHP

Abstract

The invention is objected to perform fixing in an optimum fixing condition even with various kinds of recording materials or the like while improving usability by discriminating the kinds of recording materials An image reading sensor 123 includes a reflective LED 301, a transmissive LED 303 disposed on the opposite side relative to a recording material 304 for detecting the transmitted amount of light, a CMOS area sensor 211, and an imaging lens 1113. The light from the reflective LED 301 as a light source is applied toward the surface of the recording material 304, and the reflected light from the recording material 304 is collected via the lens 303 and an image is formed on the CMOS area sensor 211. The LED 301 is disposed so as to apply LED light to the surface of the recording material 304 diagonally at a predetermined angle.

Claims

1. A recording material discrimination device comprising:

a reflected light determination unit including an image reader for obtaining an image of a surface of a recording material by reading reflected light reflected from the surface of the recording material, and determining a first attribute of the recording material by the image of the surface of said recording material obtained by the image reader;

a transmitted light determination unit for determining a second attribute of said recording material by transmitted light transmitted through said recording material; and

a discrimination unit for discriminating a kind of said recording material based on said first attribute and said second attribute.

2. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 1, wherein said first attribute is smoothness of the surface of said recording material, and said reflected light determination unit determines said first attribute from a ratio of light and shade calculated within a predetermined area of the image of the surface of the said recording material.

3. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 2, wherein a density difference is obtained between adjacent pixels within said predetermined area with respect to each pixel included in said image reader and said ratio of light and shade is calculated based on the density difference.

4. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 1, wherein said second attribute is a material thickness of said recording material, and said transmitted light determination unit determines said second attribute based on an amount of said transmitted light.

5. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 1, further comprising an amount of reflected light determination unit for detecting an amount of the reflected light reflected from the surface of said recording material and determining a third attribute by the detected amount of light,

wherein said discrimination unit discriminates a kind of said recording material based on said first attribute, said second attribute, and said third attribute

6. A recording material discrimination device comprising:

a first irradiating member for irradiating a recording material with predetermined light so as to obtain reflected light reflected from a surface of the recording material;

a second irradiating member for irradiating said recording material with predetermined light so as to obtain transmitted light transmitted through said recording material;

a reader for receiving the reflected light or transmitted light from said recording material so as to read the light as an image and detect an amount of the light; and

a controller for discriminating a kind of said recording material based on the image and the amount of the transmitted light by allowing said first irradiating member and said second irradiating member to irradiate said recording material with light, and allowing said reader to read the reflected light obtained by said first irradiating member as an image and detect the amount of transmitted light obtained by said second irradiating member.

7. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 6, wherein said controller determines smoothness of the surface of said recording material from a ratio of light and shade calculated within a predetermined area of the image of the surface of the said recording material, and discriminates the kind of said recording material based on the determined smoothness and the amount of said transmitted light.

8. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 7, wherein a density difference is obtained between adjacent pixels within said predetermined area with respect to each pixel included in said image reader and said ratio of light and shade is calculated based on the density difference.

9. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 6, wherein said controller determines a material thickness of said recording material, and discriminates the kind of said recording material based on the determined material thickness and the amount of said transmitted light.

10. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 6 wherein said controller discriminates the kind of said recording material only by a pixel having no irregularity in the amount of light by allowing said second irradiating member to apply light without being transmitted through said recording material, and allowing said reader to directly receive the applied light without being transmitted through said recording material and read the image as an image, and selecting the pixel having no irregularity in the amount of light from the pixels included in said predetermined area.

11. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 10, wherein said pixel having no irregularity in the amount of light is a pixel having a density difference relative to that of an adjacent pixel being lower than a predetermined value in the image obtained by allowing said second irradiating member to apply light without being transmitted through said recording material.

12. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 8, wherein said reader further detects an amount of reflected light reflected from the surface of the said recording material, and

wherein said controller discriminates the kind of said recording material based on the read image by said reader, the detected amount of transmitted light, and the detected amount of reflected light.

13. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 8, further comprising a light guide located on an opposite side with said first irradiating member and said recording material of said reading material therebetween for guiding entering light in a desired direction,

wherein said second irradiating member is located on the same side as said first irradiating member and said recording material of said reading material, and said light guide is adjusted to receive the light applied from said second irradiating member as incident light and allow the received light to be transmitted through said recording material and enter said reader.

14. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 8, wherein said reader is a CMOS area sensor or a CCD sensor.

15. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 8, wherein said reader converts said read image into digital information and output the information.

16. A recording material discrimination method comprising:

a reflected light determination step for obtaining an image of a surface of a recording material by reading reflected light reflected from the surface of the recording material by an image reader, and determining a first attribute of the recording material by the obtained image of the surface of said recording material;

a transmitted light determination step for determining a second attribute of said recording material by transmitted light transmitted through said recording material; and

a discrimination step for discriminating a kind of said recording material based on said first attribute and said second attribute.

17. The recording material discrimination method according to claim 16, wherein said first attribute is smoothness of the surface of said recording material, and said reflected light determination step determines said first attribute from a ratio of light and shade calculated within a predetermined area of the image of the surface of the said recording material.

18. The recording material discrimination method according to claim 17, wherein a density difference is obtained between adjacent pixels within said predetermined area with respect to each pixel included in said image reader, and said ratio of light and shade is calculated based on the density difference.

19. The recording material discrimination method according to claim 16, wherein said second attribute is a material thickness of said recording material, and said transmitted light determination step determines said second attribute based on an amount of said transmitted light.

20. The recording material discrimination method according to claim 16, further comprising an amount of reflected light determination step for detecting an amount of the reflected light reflected from the surface of said recording material and determining a third attribute by the detected amount of light,

wherein a kind of said recording material is discriminated based on said first attribute, said second attribute, and said third attribute by said discrimination step.

21. The recording material discrimination method according to claim 20, wherein after the third attribute of said recording material is determined by said amount of reflected light determination step, the first attribute and the second attribute of said recording material are determined by said reflected light determination step and said transmitted light determination step.

22. The recording material discrimination method according to claim 21, further comprising a gain adjustment step for adjusting a gain of the image reader when the image is read in said reflected light determination step by the amount of reflected light detected by said amount of reflected light determination step.

23. The recording material discrimination method according to claim 16, wherein after the first attribute of said recording material is determined by said reflected light determination step, the second attribute of said recording material is determined by said transmitted light determination step.

24. The recording material discrimination method according to claim 16, wherein after the second attribute of said recording material is determined by said transmitted light determination step, the first attribute of said recording material is determined by said reflected light determination step.

25. An image forming apparatus including a latent image carrier for carrying a latent image, a developing part for visualizing said latent image as a developer image by providing a developer to the latent image carrier, a transfer part for transferring the developer image by the developing part onto a recording material carried in a predetermined direction, a fixing device for fixing said developer image on the recording material by heating and pressing said recording material on which said developer image has been transferred by the transfer part in a predetermined fixing treatment condition, comprising:

a reflected light determination unit including an image reader for obtaining an image of a surface of said recording material by reading reflected light reflected from the surface of the recording material, and determining a first attribute of the recording material by the image of the surface of said recording material obtained by the image reader before transfer by said transfer part;

a transmitted light determination unit for determining a second attribute of said recording material by transmitted light transmitted through said recording material; and

a control unit for discriminating a kind of said recording material based on said first attribute and said second attribute obtained before transfer by said transfer part and allowing said fixing device to fixing said developer image to the recording material in said fixing treatment condition corresponding to the discriminated kind.

26. The image forming apparatus according to claim 25, wherein said first attribute is smoothness of the surface of said recording material, and said reflected light determination unit determines said first attribute from a ratio of light and shade calculated within a predetermined area of the image of the surface of the said recording material.

27. The image forming apparatus according to claim 26, wherein a density difference is obtained between adjacent pixels within said predetermined area with respect to each pixel included in said image reader and said ratio of light and shade is calculated based on the density difference.

28. The image forming apparatus according to claim 25, wherein said second attribute is a material thickness of said recording material, and said transmitted light determination unit determines said second attribute based on an amount of said transmitted light.

29. The image forming apparatus according to claim 25. further comprising an amount of reflected light determination unit for detecting an amount of the reflected light reflected from the surface of said recording material and determining a third attribute by the detected amount of light,

wherein said control unit discriminates a kind of said recording material based on said first attribute, said second attribute, and said third attribute.

30. An image forming apparatus including a latent image carrier for carrying a latent image, a developing part for providing a developer to the latent image carrier, a transfer part for transferring the developer image onto a recording material, a fixing device for fixing said developer image on the recording material by heating and pressing said recording material, and a control unit for allowing said developing part to visualize said latent image as a developer image, allowing said transfer part to transfer said visualized image on said recording material carried in a predetermined direction, allowing said fixing device to fix said transferred developer image in a predetermined fixing treatment condition, and discharging the fixed recording material, comprising:

a first irradiating member for irradiating a recording material with predetermined light so as to obtain reflected light reflected from a surface of the recording material;

a second irradiating member for irradiating said recording material with predetermined light so as to obtain transmitted light transmitted through said recording material; and

a reader for receiving the reflected light or transmitted light from said recording material so as to read the light as an image and detect an amount of the light;

wherein said control unit allows said first irradiating member and said second irradiating member to irradiate said recording material with light, and allows said reader to read the reflected light obtained by said first irradiating member as an image and detect the amount of transmitted light obtained by said second irradiating member before being transferred by said transfer part, and fixes said developer image to the recording material in said fixing treatment condition corresponding to the discriminated kind.

31. The image forming apparatus according to claim 30, wherein said control unit determines smoothness of the surface of said recording material from a ratio of light and shade calculated within a predetermined area of the image of the surface of the said recording material, and discriminates the kind of said recording material based on the determined smoothness and the amount of said transmitted light.

32. The image forming apparatus according to claim 31, wherein a density difference is obtained between adjacent pixels within said predetermined area with respect to each pixel included in said image reader and said ratio of light and shade is calculated based on the density difference.

33. The image forming apparatus according to claim 30, wherein said control unit determines a material thickness of said recording material, and discriminates the kind of said recording material based on the determined material thickness and the amount of said transmitted light.

34. The image forming apparatus according to claim 30, wherein said control unit discriminates the kind of said recording material only by a pixel having no irregularity in the amount of light by allowing said second irradiating member to apply light without being transmitted through said recording material, and allowing said reader to directly receive the applied light without being transmitted through said recording material and read the image as an image, and selecting the pixel having no irregularity in the amount of light from the pixels included in said predetermined area.

35. The image forming apparatus according to claim 34, wherein said pixel having no irregularity in the amount of light is a pixel having a density difference relative to that of an adjacent pixel being lower than a predetermined value in the image obtained by allowing said second irradiating member to apply light without being transmitted through said recording material.

36. The image forming apparatus according to claim 32, wherein said reader further detects an amount of reflected light reflected from the surface of the said recording material, and

wherein said control unit discriminates the kind of said recording material based on the read image by said reader, the detected amount of transmitted light, and the detected amount of reflected light.

37. The image forming apparatus according to claim 32, further comprising a light guide located on an opposite side with said first irradiating member and said recording material of said reading material there between for guiding entering light in a desired direction,

wherein said second irradiating member is located on the same side as said first irradiating member and said recording material of said reading material, and said light guide is adjusted to receive the light applied from said second irradiating member as incident light and allow the received light to be transmitted through said recording material and enter said reader.

38. The image forming apparatus according to claim 32, wherein said reader is a CMOS area sensor or a CCD sensor.

39. The image forming apparatus according to claim 32, wherein said reader converts said read image into digital information and output the information.

40. A recording material discrimination device comprising:

a reflected light determination unit for reading reflected light reflected from a surface of a recording material and determining a first attribute of said recording material;

a transmitted light determination unit for reading transmitted light transmitted through said recording material and determining a second attribute of said recording material; and

a discrimination unit for discriminating a kind of said recording material,

wherein said discrimination unit determines whether to discriminate the kind of said recording material by said transmitted light determination unit and said reflected light determination unit or discriminate the kind of said recording material not by said transmitted light determination unit but by said reflected light determination unit according to a determination result of said transmitted light determination unit.

41. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 40, wherein said discrimination unit determines to discriminate the kind of said recording material not by said transmitted light determination unit but by said reflected light determination unit in the case where said recording material is determined as being a predetermined kind of recording material by said transmitted light determination unit, and determines to discriminate the kind of said recording material by said transmitted light determination unit and said reflected light determination unit in the case where said recording material is determined as being not the predetermined kind of recording material.

42. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 41, wherein said predetermined kind of recording material includes an OHT.

43. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 40, further comprising a reader for reading said reflected light so as to further obtain an image of the surface of the recording material and reading said transmitted light so as to obtain an amount of transmitted light transmitted through said recording material.

44. A method for controlling a recording material discrimination device including a reflected light determination unit for reading reflected light reflected from a surface of a recording material and determining a first attribute of said recording material;

and a transmitted light determination unit for reading transmitted light transmitted through said recording material and determining a second attribute of said recording material, the method comprising;

a discrimination step for discriminating a kind of said recording material by said transmitted light determination unit; and

a selecting step for selecting, a first discrimination method for discriminating the kind of said recording material by said transmitted light determination unit and said reflected light determination unit or a second discrimination method for discriminating the kind of said recording material not by said transmitted light determination unit but by said reflected light determination unit according to a determination result of said discrimination step.

45. The method according to claim 44, wherein said selecting step includes a step of selecting said second discrimination method if said recording material is determined as being a predetermined kind of recording material in said determination step, and selecting said first discrimination method if said recording material is determined as being not the predetermined kind of recording material.

46. The method according to claim 45, wherein said predetermined kind of recording material includes an OHT.

47. An image forming apparatus including a latent image carrier for carrying a latent image, a developing part for developing said latent image, a transfer part for transferring a developer image onto a recording material, a fixing device for fixing said developer image on said recording material, which has been transferred by said transfer part, the image forming apparatus comprising:

a reflected light determination unit for reading reflected light reflected from a surface of a recording material and determining a first attribute of said recording material;

a transmitted light determination unit for reading transmitted light transmitted through said recording material and determining a second attribute of said recording material; and

a discrimination unit for discriminating a kind of said recording material,

wherein said discrimination unit determines whether to discriminate the kind of said recording material by said transmitted light determination unit and said reflected light determination unit or discriminate the kind of said recording material not by said transmitted light determination unit but by said reflected light determination unit according to a determination result of said transmitted light determination unit.

48. The image forming apparatus according to claim 47, wherein said discrimination unit determines to discriminate the kind of said recording material not by said transmitted light determination unit but by said reflected light determination unit in the case where said recording material is determined as being a predetermined kind of recording material by said transmitted light determination unit, and determines to discriminate the kind of said recording material by said transmitted light determination unit and said reflected light determination unit in the case where said recording material is determined as being not the predetermined kind of recording material.

49. The image forming apparatus according to claim 48, wherein said predetermined kind of recording material includes an OHT.

50. The image forming apparatus according to claim 47, further comprising a reader for reading said reflected light so as to further obtain an image of the surface of the recording material and reading said transmitted light so as to obtain an amount of transmitted light transmitted through said recording material.

51. The image forming apparatus according to claim 47, further comprising a controller for setting a fixing condition in said fixing device in response to the kind of said recording material discriminated by said discrimination unit.

52. A recording material discrimination device comprising:

a first irradiating member for irradiating a recording material with predetermined light so as to obtain reflected light reflected from a surface of the recording material;

a second irradiating member for irradiating said recording material with predetermined light so as to obtain transmitted light transmitted through said recording material;

a reader for receiving the reflected light or transmitted light from said recording material so as to read the light as an image and detect an amount of the light; and

a discrimination unit for discriminating a kind of said recording material based on a reading result of said reader by allowing said first irradiating member and said second irradiating member to irradiate said recording material with light,

wherein said discrimination unit determines whether to discriminate the kind of said recording material by said transmitted light determination unit and said reflected light determination unit or discriminate the kind of said recording material without using said transmitted light determination unit but by said reflected light determination unit according to whether said recording material is a predetermined recording material or not.

53. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 52, wherein said predetermined kind of recording material includes an OHT.

54. The recording material discrimination device according to claim 52, said reader reads said reflected light so as to further obtain an image of the surface of the recording material and reads said transmitted light so as to obtain an amount of transmitted light transmitted through said recording material.