Patent ID: 7533954
Filing Date: 2009-05-19
Classification: B41J,G01N

Abstract:
1. A printing media type discriminating apparatus comprising: first detecting means for detecting a fiber orientation in a surface of a printing medium by using a plurality of light receiving devices, the plurality of light receiving devices being positioned so as to receive a plurality of reflection light beams that have been reflected by the printing medium surface at the same reflection angle different from an incident angle, the plurality of reflection light beams being reflected in different directions; second detecting means for detecting a gloss level in the surface of the printing medium by using at least one of the plurality of light receiving devices; and discriminating means for discriminating printing media types based on the fiber orientation and gloss level in the printing medium surface detected by the first and second detecting means, wherein when the gloss level, detected by the second detecting means, is equal to or greater than a predetermined level, the discriminating means discriminates the printing media types based on the gloss level, and when the gloss level is less than the predetermined level, the discriminating means discriminates whether the printing medium is plain paper based on the fiber orientation detected by the first detecting means.