IP Library Granted Patent US 12711606
Granted Patent B2
US 12711606 · App. 18/432,965 · Granted Aug 18, 2026

Inspection apparatus, inspection system, and inspection method

Inventor: Katsuyuki Murakami (Chiba, JP)
Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
G06T7/001G06T3/4023H04N1/00045G06T2207/10008G06T2207/30144
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12711606
App. No.
18/432,965
Granted
Aug 18, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

An inspection apparatus configured to inspect a print product obtained by an image forming apparatus performing print on a recording sheet, includes one or more controllers having one or more processors and one or more memories. The one or more controllers are configured to acquire an image and information about a non-print region as a region in which no image is printed on the recording sheet by the image forming apparatus, register an image having been processed based on the information about the non-print region, as a correct answer image, and inspect, in response to acquiring a scan image obtained by scanning the print product with an image printed on the recording sheet, the scan image based on the correct answer image.

Claims (24)

1 . An inspection apparatus configured to inspect a print product obtained by an image forming apparatus performing print on a recording sheet, the inspection apparatus comprising:

one or more controllers having one or more processors and one or more memories, the one or more controllers being configured to:

acquire an image and information about a non-print region as a region in which no image is printed on the recording sheet by the image forming apparatus;

perform registration to register an image having been processed based on the information about the non-print region, as a correct answer image;

inspect, in response to acquiring a scan image obtained by scanning the print product with an image printed on the recording sheet, the scan image based on the correct answer image;

receive a first image generated by an image processing apparatus configured to perform image generation through image processing, the inspection apparatus being communicably connected to the image processing apparatus; and

generate a second image from the first image based on size information for the print product printed by the image forming apparatus,

wherein, in the registration, the second image is registered as the correct answer image.

2 . The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are configured so that, in the registration, the image having been subjected to processing for adding white pixels based on the information about the non-print region is registered as the correct answer image.

3 . The inspection apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the one or more controllers are configured so that, in the processing for adding white pixels, white pixels are added for even distances in the vertical and horizontal directions.

4 . The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the information about the non-print region corresponds to a size of the recording sheet.

5 . The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are configured so that, in the inspection, the scan image is inspected based on a comparison between the scan image and the correct answer image.

6 . The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image is bitmap image data.

7 . The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are configured to add, in a case where a size indicated by the size information for the print product is larger than a size of the first image based on a comparison between the size indicated by the size information and the size of the first image, white pixels to the first image to generate the second image.

8 . The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are configured to trim, in a case where a size indicated by the size information for the print product is smaller than a size of the first image based on a comparison between the size indicated by the size information and the size of the first image, the first image to generate the second image.

9 . The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the size information for the print product includes a number of pixels in a main scanning direction and a number of pixels in a sub scanning direction.

10 . A method for controlling an inspection apparatus configured to inspect a print product obtained by an image forming apparatus performing print on a recording sheet, the method comprising:

acquiring information about a non-print region as a region in which no image is printed on the recording sheet by the image forming apparatus;

processing an image based on the information about the non-print region;

performing registration to register the processed image as a correct answer image;

inspecting, in response to acquiring a scan image obtained by scanning the print product with an image printed on the recording sheet, the scan image based on the correct answer image;

receiving a first image generated by an image processing apparatus configured to perform image generation through image processing, the inspection apparatus being communicably connected to the image processing apparatus; and

generating a second image from the first image based on size information for the print product printed by the image forming apparatus,

wherein, in the registration, the second image is registered as the correct answer image.