Granted Patent B2

US 9,791,378 · App. 14/877,880 · Granted Oct 17, 2017

Abstract

Claims (50)

1. A computer implemented method for automatic substrate detection, comprising:

with a spectral sensor, automatically detecting what type of substrate is in a printer by measuring each of reflectance, transparency, and gloss from a plurality of angles using a light source comprising any of one visible light source similar to daylight or at least two colored light sources;

responsive to said substrate detection, any of automatically loading a new technical setup into said printer and providing a warning to a user;

wherein a combination of all information obtained by said measurements results in a unique ID for each substrate; and

processing said measurements to estimate any of:

substrate color [REFCLR];

substrate opacity [TRINT];

substrate gloss/mat scale [GULVL]; and

substrate roughness or texture [TXTLVL].

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

measuring substrate color with a 45/0° geometry in a colorimetric mode using a three RGB sensor, or in spectral reflectance mode;

computing colorimetric data from spectral reflectance data; and

saving said data in CIEL*a*b* (D50/2°), or in another colorimetric space if needed.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

measuring substrate opacity with one band or with three bands; and

saving resulting data as a measure of relative density.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

measuring substrate gloss with one sensor and one source light or with more than one sensor and/or light; and

saving resulting data as a measure of relative density and/or relative intensity and/or gloss/unit, standardized after an internal calibration with an official standard.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

measuring substrate roughness or texture with one D sensor and a uniform light source in the visible spectrum or a 2D sensor and a uniform light source in the visible spectrum.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

finding a similar or nearest media type by comparison with existing values saved in a data base, based upon the values [REFCLR, TRINT, GULVL, TXTLVL] measured for a medium.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

using a kd-tree algorithm to find said similar or nearest media type.

8. An apparatus for automatic substrate detection, comprising:

a spectral sensor for automatically detecting what type of substrate is in a printer by measuring each of reflectance, transparency, and gloss from a plurality of angles using a light source comprising any of one visible light source similar to daylight or at least two colored light sources;

a processor configured for, responsive to said substrate detection, any of automatically loading a new technical setup into said printer and providing a warning to a user;

said processor configured for a combination of all information obtained by said measurements to generate a unique ID for each substrate; and

said processor configured for processing said measurements to estimate any of:

substrate color [REFCLR];

substrate opacity [TRINT];

substrate gloss/mat scale [GULVL]; and

substrate roughness or texture [TXTLVL].

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising:

said processor measuring substrate color with a 45/0° geometry in a colorimetric mode using a three RGB sensor, or in spectral reflectance mode;

said processor computing colorimetric data from spectral reflectance data; and

said processor saving said data in CIEL*a*b* (D50/2°), or in another colorimetric space if needed.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising:

said processor measuring substrate opacity with one band or with three bands; and

said processor saving resulting data as a measure of relative density.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising:

said processor measuring substrate gloss with one sensor and one source light or with more than one sensor and/or light; and

said processor saving resulting data as a measure of relative density and/or relative intensity and/or gloss/unit, standardized after an internal calibration with an official standard.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising:

said processor measuring substrate roughness or texture with one D sensor and a uniform light source in the visible spectrum or a 2D sensor and a uniform light source in the visible spectrum.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising:

said processor finding a similar or nearest media type by comparison with existing values saved in a data base, based upon the values [REFCLR, TRINT, GULVL, TXTLVL] measured for a medium.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising:

said processor using a kd-tree algorithm to find said similar or nearest media type.

Assignments (12)