US5243383A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Image forming apparatus with predictive electrostatic process control system
Assignee: Xerox Corp
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Filing: 1992-06-26
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Granted: 1993-09-07
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Expires: 2012-06-26
Abstract
Abstract An electrostatographic printing machine having a charge control system incorporated therein, wherein first and second surface voltage potentials on the imaging surface are measured to determine a dark decay rate model representative of surface voltage potential decay on the imaging surface with respect to time, and the dark decay rate model is used to determine the surface potential voltage at any point on the imaging surface corresponding to a given charge voltage. This information is used for providing a predictive model to determine the charge voltage required to produce a target surface voltage potential at a selected point on the imaging surface.
Inventors
- 👤 Michael A. Parisi
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 05:49
CPC Classifications
G; G03; G03G; G03G15/00; G03G15/50; G03G15/5033; G03G15/5037; G03G15/02; G03G15/0266
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 27
Claim 1
Independent Claim
146 words
An electrostatographic printing machine having an imaging member with a surface voltage potential on a portion thereof, said electrostatographic printing machine including a charge control system, comprising: first means at a first location for measuring a first surface voltage potential on the imaging member to provide an initial surface voltage potential measurement; second means at a second location for measuring a second surface voltage potential on the imaging surface to provide a second surface voltage potential measurement; means, responsive to said initial surface voltage potential measurement and said second surface voltage potential measurement, for determining a dark decay rate model representative of surface voltage potential decay with respect to time; and means, responsive to said dark decay rate model, for determining, at a selected location, the surface voltage potential as a function of charge voltage generated to apply the surface voltage potential on the imaging member.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
146 words
An electrostatographic printing machine having an imaging member with a surface voltage potential on a portion thereof, said electrostatographic printing machine including a charge control system, comprising: first means at a first location for measuring a first surface voltage potential on the imaging member to provide an initial surface voltage potential measurement; second means at a second location for measuring a second surface voltage potential on the imaging surface to provide a second surface voltage potential measurement; means, responsive to said initial surface voltage potential measurement and said second surface voltage potential measurement, for determining a dark decay rate model representative of surface voltage potential decay with respect to time; and means, responsive to said dark decay rate model, for determining, at a selected location, the surface voltage potential as a function of charge voltage generated to apply the surface voltage potential on the imaging member.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
32 words
The electrostatographic printing machine of claim 1, further including means for providing a predictive model to determine the charge voltage required to produce a predetermined surface voltage potential at the selected location.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
232 words
An electrostatographic printing machine having an imaging member with a surface voltage potential on a portion thereof, said electrostatographic printing machine including a charge control system, comprising: first means at a first location for measuring a first surface voltage potential on the imaging member to provide an initial surface voltage potential measurement; second means at a second location for measuring a second surface voltage potential on the imaging surface to provide a second surface voltage potential measurement; means, responsive to said initial surface voltage potential measurement and said second surface voltage potential measurement, for determining a dark decay rate model representative of surface voltage potential decay with respect to time; means, responsive to said dark decay rate model, for determining, at a selected location, the surface voltage potential as a function of charge voltage generated to apply the surface voltage potential on the imaging member; and means for providing a predictive model to determine the charge voltage required to produce a predetermined surface voltage potential at the selected location, wherein said predictive model is determined in accordance with the following equation: ##EQU3## where V GRID represents the charge voltage at the charging device; V TARGET represents the target surface voltage potential; a represents a system gain parameter; t represents time; and b 0 and b 1 represent estimates of field independent and field dependent components of the dark decay rate model, respectively.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
232 words
An electrostatographic printing machine having an imaging member with a surface voltage potential on a portion thereof, said electrostatographic printing machine including a charge control system, comprising: first means at a first location for measuring a first surface voltage potential on the imaging member to provide an initial surface voltage potential measurement; second means at a second location for measuring a second surface voltage potential on the imaging surface to provide a second surface voltage potential measurement; means, responsive to said initial surface voltage potential measurement and said second surface voltage potential measurement, for determining a dark decay rate model representative of surface voltage potential decay with respect to time; means, responsive to said dark decay rate model, for determining, at a selected location, the surface voltage potential as a function of charge voltage generated to apply the surface voltage potential on the imaging member; and means for providing a predictive model to determine the charge voltage required to produce a predetermined surface voltage potential at the selected location, wherein said predictive model is determined in accordance with the following equation: ##EQU3## where V GRID represents the charge voltage at the charging device; V TARGET represents the target surface voltage potential; a represents a system gain parameter; t represents time; and b 0 and b 1 represent estimates of field independent and field dependent components of the dark decay rate model, respectively.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
27 words
The electrostatographic printing machine of claim 3, including updating means for updating the values of b 0 and b 1 each time the charging means is activated.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
51 words
The electrostatographic printing machine of claim 4, including regression means for smoothing said updated values of b 0 and b 1 by using previous values of b 0 and b 1 with current values for both b 0 and b 1 to obtain estimates of b 0 and b 1 .
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
56 words
The electrostatographic printing machine of claim 5, wherein said regression means includes means for exponentially smoothing said updated values of b 0 and b 1 by exponentially weighting the previous values of b 0 and b 1 with current values of b 0 and b 1 to obtain estimates of b 0 and b 1 .
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
26 words
The electrostatographic printing machine of claim 1, further including charging means for generating a charge voltage to apply the surface voltage potential on the imaging surface.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
15 words
The electrostatographic printing machine of claim 7, wherein said charging means includes a control grid.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
20 words
The electrostatographic printing machine of claim 8, wherein said first means for measuring surface voltage potential includes said control grid.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
22 words
The electrostatographic printing machine of claim 1, wherein said first and second means for measuring surface voltage potential include electrostatic voltmeters, respectively.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
36 words
The electrostatographic printing machine of claim 2, including a plurality of developer housings positioned along a path of travel of the imaging member, wherein the selected location corresponds to one of said plurality of developer housings.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
127 words
An apparatus for controlling charge voltage adapted to generate a surface voltage potential on an imaging surface, comprising: first means, at a first location, for measuring a first surface voltage potential on the imaging surface to provide an initial surface voltage potential measurement; second means, at a second location, for measuring a second surface voltage potential on the imaging surface to provide a second surface voltage potential measurement; means, responsive to said initial surface voltage potential measurement and said second surface voltage potential measurement, for determining a dark decay rate model representative of surface voltage potential decay with respect to time; and means, responsive to said dark decay rate model, for determining at a selected location, the surface voltage potential as a function of the charge voltage.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
127 words
An apparatus for controlling charge voltage adapted to generate a surface voltage potential on an imaging surface, comprising: first means, at a first location, for measuring a first surface voltage potential on the imaging surface to provide an initial surface voltage potential measurement; second means, at a second location, for measuring a second surface voltage potential on the imaging surface to provide a second surface voltage potential measurement; means, responsive to said initial surface voltage potential measurement and said second surface voltage potential measurement, for determining a dark decay rate model representative of surface voltage potential decay with respect to time; and means, responsive to said dark decay rate model, for determining at a selected location, the surface voltage potential as a function of the charge voltage.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
30 words
The apparatus of claim 12, further including means for providing a predictive model to determine the charge voltage required to produce a predetermined surface voltage potential at the selected location.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
213 words
An apparatus for controlling charge voltage adapted to generate a surface voltage potential on an imaging surface, comprising: first means, at a first location, for measuring a first surface voltage potential on the imaging surface to provide an initial surface voltage potential measurement; second means, at a second location, for measuring a second surface voltage potential on the imaging surface to provide a second surface voltage potential measurement; means, responsive to said initial surface voltage potential measurement and said second surface voltage potential measurement, for determining a dark decay rate model representative of surface voltage potential decay with respect to time; means, responsive to said dark decay rate model, for determining at a selected location, the surface voltage potential as a function of the charge voltage; and means for providing a predictive model to determine the charge voltage required to produce a predetermined surface voltage potential at the selected location, wherein said predictive model is determined in accordance with the following equation: ##EQU4## where V GRID represents the charge voltage at the charging device; V TARGET represents the target surface voltage potential; a represents a system gain parameter; t represents time; and b 0 and b 1 represent estimates of field independent and field dependent components of the dark decay rate model, respectively.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
213 words
An apparatus for controlling charge voltage adapted to generate a surface voltage potential on an imaging surface, comprising: first means, at a first location, for measuring a first surface voltage potential on the imaging surface to provide an initial surface voltage potential measurement; second means, at a second location, for measuring a second surface voltage potential on the imaging surface to provide a second surface voltage potential measurement; means, responsive to said initial surface voltage potential measurement and said second surface voltage potential measurement, for determining a dark decay rate model representative of surface voltage potential decay with respect to time; means, responsive to said dark decay rate model, for determining at a selected location, the surface voltage potential as a function of the charge voltage; and means for providing a predictive model to determine the charge voltage required to produce a predetermined surface voltage potential at the selected location, wherein said predictive model is determined in accordance with the following equation: ##EQU4## where V GRID represents the charge voltage at the charging device; V TARGET represents the target surface voltage potential; a represents a system gain parameter; t represents time; and b 0 and b 1 represent estimates of field independent and field dependent components of the dark decay rate model, respectively.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
25 words
The apparatus of claim 14, including updating means for updating the values of b 0 and b 1 each time the charging means is activated.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
49 words
The apparatus of claim 15, including regression means for smoothing said updated values of b 0 and b 1 by using previous values of b 0 and b 1 with current values for both b 0 and b 1 to obtain estimates of b 0 and b 1 .
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
54 words
The apparatus of claim 16, wherein said regression means includes means for exponentially smoothing said updated values of b 0 and b 1 by exponentially weighting the previous values of b 0 and b 1 with current values of b 0 and b 1 to obtain estimates of b 0 and b 1 .
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
26 words
The electrostatographic printing machine of claim 12, further including charging means for generating a charge voltage to apply the surface voltage potential on the imaging surface.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said charging means includes a control grid.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
18 words
The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said first means for measuring surface voltage potential includes said control grid.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
20 words
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said first and second means for measuring surface voltage potential include electrostatic voltmeters, respectively.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
116 words
A method for providing control of discrete functions in an iterative process, comprising the steps of: generating successive input conditions; monitoring output conditions resulting from each successive input condition to collect a plurality of data points corresponding to each successive input condition and the output conditions related thereto; analyzing said plurality of data points for each successive input condition to generate a model representing a relationship between input conditions and output conditions; generating a predictive model in response to said analyzing step to determine the input condition necessary to provide a selected output condition; and updating said model with each said monitoring and analyzing step to maintain an up-to-date relationship between input conditions and output conditions.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
116 words
A method for providing control of discrete functions in an iterative process, comprising the steps of: generating successive input conditions; monitoring output conditions resulting from each successive input condition to collect a plurality of data points corresponding to each successive input condition and the output conditions related thereto; analyzing said plurality of data points for each successive input condition to generate a model representing a relationship between input conditions and output conditions; generating a predictive model in response to said analyzing step to determine the input condition necessary to provide a selected output condition; and updating said model with each said monitoring and analyzing step to maintain an up-to-date relationship between input conditions and output conditions.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US4355885A
Cited
US4319544A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1996-09-06 | 1997-03-08 | 1997-09-07 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2000-09-06 | 2001-03-08 | 2001-09-07 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2004-09-06 | 2005-03-08 | 2005-09-07 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |