WO2015041659A1

WO2015041659A1 - Multi-functional peripheral copy mode scan resolution

Info

Publication number: WO2015041659A1
Application number: PCT/US2013/060784
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dennis Alan Abramsohn; Roberta Gayle FOTHERGILL
Original assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
Priority date: 2013-09-20
Filing date: 2013-09-20
Publication date: 2015-03-26

Abstract

An MFP is disclosed. The MFP uses a first print speed when printing on a first type of media and a second different print speed when printing on a second different type of media. The MFP scanning at a first resolution when copying a document to the first type of media. The MFP scanning at a second different resolution when copying a document to the second type of media.

Description

Multi-iunetional peripheral copy mode scan resolution BACKGROUND

fOOOl] Multi-functional peripherals (MFP) typically have a printer and a scanner integrated into one device. The printer can be used as a stand-alone printer to print documents. The scanner can be used as a stand-alone scanner to scan documents and save them to a file, send them as email attachments, fas them, and the like. The printer and scanner can be used together as a copier to make copies of documents. When an MFP is used as a copier, the speed of the MFP is a function of the scanner speed as well as the speed of the print engine in the printer. MFPs are also known as all-in-one (AiO) devices, multi-functional devices (MFD) and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] FIG. 1 is a mechanical sectional side view of an example niulti- function peripheral (MFP) 100.

[0003] FIG. 2 an electrical block diagram of an example MFP 200.

[0004f FIG. 3 is an example block diagram of the processor 252 coupled to memory 254.

[00051 FIG. 4 is an example flow chart for copying a document.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0006] A miilii-fimciional peripheral (MFP) typically has a seamier and a printer integrated into one device. The printer has a print engine, for example such as a laser print engine or an Inkjet print engine. The print engine typically has a maximum print speed as well as a number of slower print speeds. Print speed is defined as the average number of pages per minute that a printer can feed from the fresh media input tray, print an image on. and then output to the print output tray. The print speed used to print a print job is dependent on a number of factors which may mclude: the type of media used for the print job. the speed at which the print job can be rendered, the environment inside the printer (for example the temperature and humidity),, t e resolution of the printing, and the like. A print job is defined as the images of one or more pages to be printed, as. well as the printer settings to be used when printing the images. The printer settings include; the media type, the media size, the number of copies, color or black and white, the print quality, and the like.

[0007J Printers are typically tuned such that they can print using the maximum print speed when printing a typical document using a standard type of office media. The print speed is typically reduced when printing onto transparent media, glossy media or thick media. The print speed is also typically reduced when printing a complex document, for example a slide presentation.

[0008] The scanner in the MFP may be a flatbed scanner with an attached automatic document feeder (ADF), only a flatbed scanner, or may be an ADF only scanner. Scanners typically have two components to then resolution. The first resolution component is along a process axis. The process axis is the axis of relative motion between the scan hea d and the page being scanned and is typically along the length of the page. The process axis is perpendicular to the length of the scan head. The relative motion between the scan head and the media can be due to either the motion of the scan head when using the flatbed scan platen or the motion of the media when using the ADF. The resolution along the process axis is based on the exposure time of the sensor in the scan head, the relative speed between the scan head and the page being scanned, the optical pr operties of the scan head, and the size and number of pixels in the sensor in the scan head.

[0009] The exposure time for the sensor in the scan head is typically a fixed time period. The length of the fixed time period is dependent on the area of the pixels in the scan sensor, the amount of light provided by the light source in the scanner and the optical characteristics of the scan head. Typically the cost of the scanner goes up as the exposure time goes down (i.e. faster scanners generally cost more money than slower scanners).

[O01OJ The scanner can change resolution in the process axis by increasing or decreasing the relative speed between the page and the scan head. When the speed between the scan head and page is reduced, the length of the segment of the page captured din ing each exposure is reduced thereby causing the resolution of the sca to increase. When the speed between the scan head and page is increased, the length of the segment of the page captured during each exposure is increased thereby causing the resolution of the scan to decrease.

[0011 The scan resolution is typically calculated as the number of dofcs-per-inch

(dpi) captured by the sensor in the scan head in a given direction. It can also be expressed as pixels-per-inch. Changing the resolution in the process axis changes the relative speed between the scan head and the page being scanned. Changing the resolution in the process axis changes how long it takes to complete a scan for a page. Therefore the scan speed is dependent on the scan resolution. For example on a scanner with a constant exposure time, scanning a page at 600 dpi along the process axis will take twice as long as scanning the page at 300 dpi along the process axis. The scan speed is defined as the number of pages per minute that the scanner can load from the document input tray, scan an image of it, and output the page to the ADF output tray.

[0012] The second resolution of a scanner is perpendicular to the process axis, typically across the width of the page. The second resolution is sometimes known as the opticai resolution and is based on the optical properties of the scan head and the size and number of pixels in the sensor inside the scan head. The second resolution can be decreased by adding or lumping pixels together or dropping pixels. The second resolution can be increased by interpolation between pixels. Scanners typically have an opticai resolution of 300 dpi, 600 dpi or 1200 dpi.

[0013] When an MFP is used as a copier, the seamier and printer work together to copy the document. The seamier captures an image of each page of the document that is loaded into the scanner and sends these images to the printer. The printer renders the images and sends the rendered image to the print engine. The print engine prints the rendered image of each page onto a blank page and outputs the printed page to the user. MFPs are typically tuned to use the maximum print speed when doing copies. The sca speed has to be at least as fast as the maximum print speed for the MFP to be able to use the maximum print speed. If the scan speed is slower than the maximum print speed, the print engine has to wait for the image from the scanner before it can begin printing the next page.

|0014] Some MFPs have a flatbed scanner with an attached ADF (Automatic

Document Feeder). When a user loads one or more pages into the ADF attached to the flatbed scanner, the MFP can copy the pages using the maximum print speed for the media selected. When the user uses the flatbed scanner to make a copy of a document, the time it takes the user to load the next page onto the platen will cause a delay in the print speed for the copy job. A copy job is defined as scanning an image of one or more pages from a document loaded into the MFP and printing the scanned images onto media.

[0015] Some MFPs have a scanner that uses a low resolution when the MFP is copying a document. The low resolution allows the scanner to scan using a fast scan speed that matches the maximum print speed. This aiiows the MFP to copy pages using the maximum speed of the print engine. This fast scan speed (low scan resolution) is used whenever the MFP is in a copy mode (i.e. when copying a document). When the user selects a different type of media for a copy job, for example a high quality paper or heav weight paper, the speed of the print engine is reduced to accommodate the special media type. In conventional MFPs, even though the print speed has been reduced, the scanner will still scan using the fast copy mode sca speed.

[0016] In one example of the invention, the scanner will change the resolution of the scan used when in copy mode, based on the media selected for the copy job. For media that requires a slower print speed, the seamier will scan using a slower scan speed. The slower scan speed will be selected such that the print engine ca operate using the print speed for the selected media type without waiting on the scanner for data (i.e. the scan speed will more closely match the print speed for that media type). Decreasing the scan speed increases the scan resolution, which can improve the image quality of the copied output. Increasing the scan resolution to match the media type selected, even when the user is using the flatbed scanner to make a copy, will increase the quality of the copied pages while minimally increasing the copy job time.

[0017] In some examples the scanner will only change the resolution along the process axis. In other examples the scanner will change the resolution in both the process axis and perpendicular to the process axis. Because most special media types require a slower print speed, the resolution of the scan will be increased. The increased scan resolution may increase the image quality of the copied pages.

[0018| Figure 1 is a mechanical sectional side view of an example multi-functional peripheral (MFP) 100. MFP comprises a printer 142 and a scanner 140. Printer 142 comprises an input tray 102, an output tray 104, a pick roller 106, a media sensor 107, a pair of pinch rollers 108 and a print engine 144. A print engine is broadly defined as the components required to transfer a marking material onto media. The marking material may be toner, ink, gloss or the like.

[0019] Print engine 144 comprises a print dram i 10. a toner cartridge 112, a tiansfer roller 114, a fuser 116 and a pressure roller i i 8. Input tray 102 contains a stack of blank pa ges 124. The blank pa ges are moved, one page at a time, from the input tray 102 along a paper path to the output tray 104. The paper path runs from the input tray 102. past the media sensor 107, between the pair of pinch rollers 108, between the print drum 110 and the transfer roller 114, between the fuser 116 and pressure roller 118 and into the output tray 104. The pick roller 106 moves the top sheet 126 from the stack of pages 124 towards the pinch rollers 108. Page 126 is shown after it has been moved off the top of stack 124 and is passing by the media sensor 107.

[0020] Print drum I 10 rotates in the direction shown by the arrow. As the print dram rotates, toner from the toner cartridge 112 is deposited onto print drum 110 to fomi an image. In this example the toner cartridge 112 and the print drum 110 are shown as two separate parts. In other examples the toner cartridge 1 12 and print drum 110 are integrated into one unit. As a page passes between print drum 110 and tiansfer roller 114, the toner is transferred from the print drum 110 onto the top side of the page, forming the image on the page. The fuser 116 is heated to a predetermined temperature (which may be different for different media types). As a page with toner on its top surface passes between the fuser 116 and the pressure roller 118 , the toner is partially melted and fused to the page. The page is then deposited into the output tray 104. Page 119 is shown passing between the fuser 116 and the pressure roller 118 as it moves towards the output tray 104. δ

{00211 The print engine 144 described above is one example of a laser print engine, in other examples more than one print drum may be used. In some examples the toner may be loaded onto a belt before it is transferred to the media. In other examples various components of the print engine may be integrated into customer replaceable units. Print engines include inkjet print engines. Inkjet print engines include printhead that sweep across the media while depositing ink in a swath and page wide arrays that deposit ink across the width of the page as the page is moved underneath the printhead.

[0022] Print engine 144 has a plurality of printing speeds. In one example the print engine has a full or maximum speed, a half speed, a one third speed and a quarter speed. In other examples there may be fewer or additional print speeds. The print speed is adjusted dependent on the type of media being used. There are many different types of media, including; plain office paper (also known as normal paper), heavy paper, glossy paper, stiff paper, thin or onion paper, transparent media and the like. The print speeds are mapped into the different media types.

[0023] For example there may be 3 different types of heavy paper (heavy ! , heavv2 and heayy3), each with a different paper weight. Each type of heavy paper may be mapped to a different print speed. For example heavy ! may be mapped to half speed, heavy 2 may be mapped to the 1/3 speed and heavy3 may be mapped to the quarter speed. In general, for a laser print engine, the thicker or heavier the paper, the slower the print speed needed. The reason that thicker/higher weight paper needs to use a slower print speed is because it takes more energy for the fuser to heat up the paper and toner to the proper temperature to fuse the toner to the page. By moving the paper past the fuser at a slower speed the temperature of the paper and the toner can be increased to the correct fusing temperature, hi some examples multiple media types will be mapped into the same print speed.

[0024] Inkjet print engines don't have a fuser; they slow the print speed down for different reasons than a laser print engine based o the media type. For example, glossy media does not absorb the ink from an inkjet engine like normal paper, so the inkjet print engine slows the prmt speed down to allow more time for the ink to dry when printing on glossy media. In general, Inkjet print engines have a plurality of print speeds. These different print speeds are mapped into the differen types of media, but for different reasons than a laser print engine. Changing the scan resolution based on the media type used for a copy job is beneficial independent from the type of print engine used in the MFP.

[0025] The printer shown in figure 1 only has one input tray. In other examples the printer may have multiple input trays loaded with different types of media. When a printer has only one input tray, the user needs to load the desired type of media into the input tray if it is different than what is currently loaded. In some examples, the printer may have a media sensor that automatically determines the type of media loaded into the input tray. In other examples, the user may be required to enter the loaded media type into the MFP control panel. When the printer has multiple input trays, the user can select the type of media by selecting the input tray to use. Even with multiple input trays, the user may be required to identify the media which is loaded into each tray.

[0026] The printer shown in figure 1 has a media sensor 107. Media sensor 107 is used to determine the type of media loaded into input tray 102. There are a number of different sensor types than may be included in media sensor 107. Some of the sensor types include; an optical sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a weight sensor, a capaciiive sensor and the like. An optical sensor may be used to measure the reflectance off the surface of the media and the transparency of the media . This can determine whether the media is normal, glossy or transparent. An ultrasonic sensor can be used to determine the thickness (and therefore weight) and stiffness of the media. The weight sensor can be used to determine the weight and thickness of the media. A capaciii ve sensor c an be used to determine the weight of the media. In other examples the amount of current required by the pick roller 106 to move the top page 126 off the stack of pages 124 can be used to determine media properties.

[0027] Scanner 140 comprises an input tray 120, an output tray 122, a pick roller

124, a first pair of pinch rollers 126, a scan head 132 and a second pair of pinch rollers 128. Input hay 120 contains a stack of pages from a document to be scanned 134. The pages are moved, one page at a time, from the input tray 120 along a paper path to the output tray 122. The paper path runs from the input tray 120, between the first pair of pinch rollers 126, past the scan head 132, between the second pair of pinch rollers 128 and into the output, tray 122. The pick roller 127 moves the fop sheet 136 from the stack of pages 134 towards the pinch rollers 126. Page 136 is shown after it has been moved off the top of stack 134. Page 138 is shown as it is passing the scan head 132 and is between the second, pair of pinch rollers 128. As the page passes the scan head 132, the scan head captures an image of the top side of the page. In other examples a second scan head may be located underneath scan head 132. This would allow the scanner to capture an image of both the top and bottom sides of the document as it passed through the scanner.

[0028] Figure 2 is an electrical block diagram of an example MFP 200. MFP 200 comprises a processor 252, memory 254, input/output (I/O) module 256, print engine 258, formatter 260, control panel 266 and a scanner 264 all coupled together on bus 262. In some examples MFP 200 may also have a user interface module, an input device, and the like, but these items are not shown for clarity. Processor 252 may comprise a central processing unit (CPU), a micro-processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a combination of these devices. Memory 254 may comprise volatile memory, non-volatile memory, and a storage device. Memory 254 is a non-transitory computer readable medium. Examples of non-volatile memoiy include, but ar e not limited to, electrically erasable programmable read only memoiy (EEPROM) and read only memory (ROM). Examples of vola tile memory include, but are not limited to, static random access memory (SRAM), and dynamic random access memoiy (DRAM). Examples of storage devices include, but are not limited to, hard disk drives, compact disc drives, digital versatile disc drives, optical drives, and flash memory devices.

[0029] I/O module 256 is used to couple MFP 200 to other devices, for example the Internet or a computer. MFP 200 has computer executable code, typically called firmware, stored in the memory 254. The firmware is stored as computer readable instructions in the non-transitory computer readable medium (i.e. the memoiy 254). Processor 252 generally retrieves and executes the instructions stored in the non- transitory computer-readable medium to operate MFP 200 and to execute functions. In one example processor 252 executes code that copies a document loaded into the scanner. |0030J Figure 3 is an example block diagram of the processor 252 coupled to memory 254, Memory 254 contains firmware 370. Firmware 370 contains a copy module 372. The processor 252 executes the code in copy module 372 to copy a document loaded in the scanner.

|0031] Figure 4 is an example flow chart for copying a document. Flow starts at

480 where the media type for the copy job is determined. Flow continues at 482 where the print speed is selected fr om a plurality of print speeds dependent on the media type. Flow continues at 484 where t e scan resolution is selected fr om a plurality of scan resolutions, based on the print speed selected. Flow continues at 486 where the document is copied using the selected print speed and scan resolution.

[0032] In one example the media type is determined at 480 using a media sensor.

In another example the media type is selected by the user using the control panel on the MFP. At 484 the scan resolution is selected such that the scan speed matches the print speed selected for that media type. For example, if the scan resolution used for the maximum print speed is 300 dpi along the process axis, then the scan resolution for the half speed printing speed would be 600 dpi along the process axis. In some examples only the scan resolution along the process axis would be dependent on the print speed, hi other examples both the scan resolution along the process axis and the scan resolution perpendicular to the process axis would be dependent on the selected print speed.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A multⁱfunctional peripheral (MFP), comprising:

a print engine to print image s onto at least one piece of media, the print engine having a plurality of different print speeds including a first print speed for a first media type, and a second slower print speed for a second media type, different than the first media type;

a scanner to send an image of at least one scanned pa ge to the print engine when the MFP is in a copy mode;

the scanner to scan at a first resoiotion in the copy mode when the print engine is to print on the first media type;

the scanner to scan at a second higher resolution in the copy mode when the print engine is to print on the second media type;

wherein the first resolution and the second resolution are along a process axis.

2. The prin ter of claim. 1 , wherein the first, print, speed is a maximum prin t speed.

3... The printer of claim 1 , wherein a scan speed of the second higher resolution scan is at least as fast as the second slower print speed.

4. The printer of claim 1, wherein the scan resolution along a axis perpendicular to the process ax s stays the same when the print engine is to print on the first media type and when the print engine is to print on the second media type.

5. The printer of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of different media types, where at least one of the plurality of different media types is mapped into each of the plurality of different print speeds; and

a plurality of different scan resolutions, along the process axis, with each one of the plurality of scan resolutions mapped into one of the plurality of different print speeds. such that for each of the plurality of different prmt speeds the scanner will scan at one of the plurality of different scan resolutions.

6. The printer of claim 5, wherein a scan speed of each of the plurality of scan resolutions mapped into one of the plurality of print speeds, decreases as the print speed decreases.

7. The printer of claim.5, wherein the plurality of different media types comprise ; normal media, at least one heavy media, at least one glossy media, transparent media, stiff media and tough media .

8. The printer of claim.5, wherein the media type to be printed on is selected by the user.

9. The printer of claim 5, wherein the print engine is a laser print engine

10. A method of operating an MFP, comprising:

determining one of a plurality of different media types to be used;

selecting one of a pluralit of different print speeds, based on the media type to be used;

selecting a first one of a plurality of different scan resolutions, along a process axis, when the selected prmt speed is a first one of the plurality of print speeds;

selecting a second different one of a plurality of different scan resolutions, along a process axis, when the selected prmt speed is a second different one of the plurality of print speeds;

copying each page in the document using the selected scan speed and the selected print speed.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of print speeds comprise a

maximum speed, a half speed, a one third speed and a one quarter speed.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the scan resolution, along the process axis, selected for each of the plurality of print speeds increases as the print speed decreases.

13. The method of claim .10, wherein the plurality of different media types comprise: normal media, at leas one heavy media, at least one glossy media, transparent media- stiff media and tough media .

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the media type is determined using a media sensor.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing computer executable instructions, that ^'when executed by a processor in an MFP, performs the following method, comprising :

determining one of a plurality of different media types to be used in a copy job: selecting one of a plurality of different print speeds, based on the media type to be used;

selecting a first one of a plurality of different scan resolutions, along a process axis, when the selected print speed is a first one of the plurality of prmt speeds;