Web inspection module including contact image sensors
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A web inspection module for scanning an imprinted web in a printing press, wherein the web which has been imprinted with different colors at a plurality of printing units of the printing press is moving in a longitudinal direction, and a lateral direction is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, the module comprising:
- a light source for illuminating a portion of the web;
a housing;
a contact image sensor mounted within the housing and having a plurality of sensing elements arranged in the lateral direction, wherein each sensing element measures light reflected by a corresponding image region on the web to produce image data representative of the corresponding image region printed on the web, wherein a width of each sensing element is substantially equal to a width of the corresponding image region measured in the lateral direction; and
a processor for receiving and processing image data representative of the imprinted web, the processor comparing image data representative of the corresponding image region printed on the web with stored reference image data corresponding to a desired image region printed on the web to detect at least one of an ink color error and a color registration error.
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Abstract
A web inspection module is described for scanning an imprinted web in a printing press. The web inspection module includes a light source for illuminating a portion of the web, a contact image sensor having a plurality of sensing elements, and a processor for receiving and processing image data representative of the imprinted web.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A web inspection module for scanning an imprinted web in a printing press, wherein the web which has been imprinted with different colors at a plurality of printing units of the printing press is moving in a longitudinal direction, and a lateral direction is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, the module comprising:
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a light source for illuminating a portion of the web; a housing; a contact image sensor mounted within the housing and having a plurality of sensing elements arranged in the lateral direction, wherein each sensing element measures light reflected by a corresponding image region on the web to produce image data representative of the corresponding image region printed on the web, wherein a width of each sensing element is substantially equal to a width of the corresponding image region measured in the lateral direction; and a processor for receiving and processing image data representative of the imprinted web, the processor comparing image data representative of the corresponding image region printed on the web with stored reference image data corresponding to a desired image region printed on the web to detect at least one of an ink color error and a color registration error. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A web inspection module for scanning an imprinted web in a printing press, wherein the web is moving in a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, the module comprising:
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a light source for illuminating a portion of the web which has been imprinted with different colors at a plurality of printing units of the printing press; a contact image sensor having a plurality of photodiode sensing elements arranged in the lateral direction, wherein each sensing element measures light reflected by a corresponding image region on the web, wherein a width of each sensing element is substantially equal to a width of the corresponding image region measured in the lateral direction; a lens array in optical communication with the web for optically coupling light reflected by the web to the sensing elements; a sensor interface circuit for receiving signals from the sensing elements and for processing the signals to produce image data representative of an image printed on the web along at least a portion of the width of the web; and a processor for receiving reference image data, processing the image data, and comparing the image data printed on the web with the stored reference image data corresponding to a desired image region on the web to detect at least one of an ink color error and a color registration error. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A web inspection system for scanning an imprinted web in a printing press, wherein the web is moving in a longitudinal direction, and a lateral direction is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, the system comprising:
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a light source for illuminating the web which has been imprinted with different colors at a plurality of printing units of the printing press; and a plurality of web inspection modules mounted to scan the entire width of the web, wherein each web inspection module includes a contact image sensor having a plurality of sensing elements arranged in the lateral direction, wherein each sensing element measures light reflected by a corresponding image region on the web, wherein a width of each sensing element is substantially equal to a width of the corresponding image region measured in the lateral direction, a lens array in optical communication with the web for optically coupling light reflected by the web to the sensing elements, a sensor interface circuit for receiving signals from the sensing elements and for processing the signals to produce image data representative of an image printed on the web along at least a portion of the width of the web, and a processor for comparing reference image data corresponding to a desired image region imprinted on the web with image data representative of the imprinted web to detect at least one of an ink color error and a color registration error.
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Specification