Electrostatographic printing machine and method

Abstract: An electrostatographic printing machine having an imaging member, operating components, and a control system including a sensor, compensator, and look up table (110) for adjusting the operating components. The sensor signal (V h , V l ) provides a suitable indication of an operating component condition such as a developer unit or a photoreceptor charging device. A compensator responds to the sensor signal to provide a non-linear adjustment signal and the look up table (110) converts the non-linear adjustment signal to a linear adjustment signal. A device such as a charging corotron or developer power supply responds to the linear adjustment signal to appropriately adjust the operating component.

Description: This invention relates generally to an electrostatographic printing machine and, more particularly, concems a process to adjust a xerographic control. The surface of the photoconductive member must be charged by a suitable device prior to exposing the photoconductive member to a light image. This operation is typically performed by a corona charging device. One type of corona charging device comprises a current carrying electrode enclosed by a shield on three sides and a wire grid or control screen positioned thereover, and spaced apart from the open side of the shield. Biasing potentials are applied to both the electrode and the wire grid to create electrostatic fields between the charged electrode and the shield, between the charged electrode and the wire grid, and between the charged electrode and the (grounded) photoconductive member. These fields repel electrons from the electrode and the shield resulting in an electrical charge at the surface of the photoconductive member roughly equivalent to the grid voltage. The wire grid is located between the electrode and the photoconductive member for controlling the charge strength and charge uniformity on the photoconductive member as caused by the aforementioned fields. Control of the field strength and the uniformity of the charge on the photoconductive member is very important because consistently high quality reproductions are best produced when a uniform charge having a predetermined magnitude is obtained on the photoconductive member. If the photoconductive member is not charged to a sufficient level, the electrostatic latent image obtained upon exposure will be relatively weak and the resulting deposition of development material will be correspondingly decreased. As a result, the copy produced by an undercharged photoconductor will be faded. If, however, the photoconductive member is overcharged, too much developer material will be deposited on the photoconductive member. The copy produced by an overcharged photoconductor will have a gray or dark background instead of the white background of the copy paper. In addition, areas intended to be gray will be black and tone reproduction will be poor. Moreover, if the photoconductive member is excessively overcharged, the photoconductive member can become permanently damaged. A useful tool for measuring voltage levels on the photosensitive surface is an electrostatic voltmeter (ESV) or electrometer. The electrometer is generally rigidly secured to the reproduction machine adjacent the moving photosensitive surface and measures the voltage level of the photosensitive surface as it traverses an ESV probe. The surface voltage is a measure of the density of the charge on the photoreceptor, which is related to the quality of the print output. In order to achieve high quality printing, the surface potential on the photoreceptor at the developing zone should be within a precise range. In a typical xerographic charging system, the amount of voltage obtained at the point of electrostatic voltage measurement of the photoconductive member, namely at the ESV, is less than the amount of voltage applied at the wire grid of the point of charge application. In addition, the amount of voltage applied to the wire grid of the corona generator required to obtain a desired constant voltage on the photoconductive member must be increased or decreased according to various factors which affect the photoconductive member. Such factors include the rest time of the photoconductive member between printing, the voltage applied to the corona generator for the previous printing job, the copy length of the previous printing job, machine to machine variance, the age of the photoconductive member and changes in the environment. One way of monitoring and controlling the surface potential in the development zone is to locate a voltmeter directly in the developing zone and then to alter the charging conditions until the desired surface potential is achieved in the development zone. However, the accuracy of voltmeter measurements can be affected by the developing materials (such as toner particles) such that the accuracy of the measurement of the surface potential is decreased. In addition, in color printing there can be a plurality of developing areas within the developing zone corresponding to each color to be applied to a corresponding latent image. Because it is desirable to know the surface potential on the photoreceptor at each of the color developing areas in the developing zone, it would be necessary to locate a voltmeter at each color area within the developing zone. Cost and space limitations make such an arrangement undesirable. In a typical charge control system, the point of charge application and the point of charge measurement is different The zone between these two devices loses the immediate benefit of charge control decisions based on measured voltage error since this zone is downstream from the charging device. This zone may be as great as a belt revolution or more due to charge averaging schemes. This problem is especially evident in aged photoreceptors because their cycle-to-cycle charging characteristics are more difficult to predict. Charge control delays can result in improper charging, poor copy quality and often leads to early photoreceptor replacement. Thus, there is a need to anticipate the behavior of a subsequent copy cycle and to compensate for predicted behavior beforehand. Various systems have been designed and implemented for controlling processes within a printing machine. For example, US-A-5,243,383 discloses a charge control system that measures first and second surface voltage potentials to determine a dark decay rate model representative of voltage decay with respect to time. The dark decay rate model is used to determine the voltage at any point on the imaging surface corresponding to a given charge voltage. This information provides a predictive model to determine the charge voltage required to produce a target surface voltage potential at a selected point on the imaging surface. US-A-5,243,383 discloses a charge control system that uses three parameters to determine a substrate charging voltage, a development station bias voltage, and a laser power for discharging the substrate. The parameters are various difference and ratio voltages. Process loops are designed to keep control of the electrostatics and the development system. They track setpoints for developed mass per unit area on the paper. To achieve the tracking of setpoints actuator parameters, grid voltage, laser power and donor voltages are varied in a controlled way with the help of compensator algorithms. These algorithms use the measured voltages on the photoreceptor and the toner mass. The process in US-A-5243383, generally, is nonlinear for the complete range over which the printer is expected to operate. A further example of a non-linear process is disclosed in US-A-5523831. The paradigm of the printing process, in fact, is non-linear, time varying, noisy and unfortunately, multivariable. Such systems are generally hard to control. On the other hand, using the assumption of linearity, process loops can be designed using modem multivariable linear control techniques. The linearized version of the nonlinear system gives good results at one operating point about which the system is approximately linear. Outside of that point, however, the control system performance will be different, which results in loss of print quality. Fordesigning control algorithms, it would be useful if the nonlinear process would be converted to a linear process at different operating points. This can be done in accordance with the present invention by artificially generating inverse system functions. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a linear approach to control, in particular, in which the linearization is done by using estimated lookup tables. The lookup tables would be obtained from experimental data once during a setup process. The look up table would act like an additional gain table in a multivariable control system. New values would be accessed from the table each time the operating point moves, thus preserving the linearity. It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to be able to linearly adjust a xerographic system requiring multiple changes in various system integrators and compensators. It is another object of the present invention to be able to convert a non-linear response system to a linear response system over a wide range of operating variables. Accordingly, in a first aspect, the present invention consists in an electrostatographic printing machine having an imaging member with a surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ) on a portion thereof, the electrostatographic printing machine including operating components, a control system having set point parameters (V t h ,V t l ) with operating ranges and a sensor to measure the surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ), and a device for changing the set point parameters (V t h ,V t l ), characterised in that the control system includes a first look up table responsive to the changing of the set point parameters (V t h ,V t l ) by the device to provide a first adjustment to the surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ), the first adjustment to the surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ) placing the control system in a modified, non-linear operating range, and a second look up table operatively connected to the first look up table and responsive to the changing of the set point parameters by the device to provide a second adjustment to the surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ), the second adjustment to the surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ) placing the control system in a relatively linear control mode within the modified, non-linear operating range. The sensor signal provides a suitable indication of an operating component condition such as a developer unit or a photoreceptor charging device. A compensator responds to the sensor signal to provide a non-linear adjustment signal and the look up table converts the non-linear adjustment signal to a linear adjustment signal. A device such as a charging corotron or developer power supply responds to the linear adjustment signal to appropriately adjust the charging device or developer unit. In a further aspect, the invention consists in a method of linearly adjusting the surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ) of an imaging member in an electrostatographic printing machine including a control system having a sensor and a compensator, including the steps of: storing a reference signal (V t h ,V t l ), sensing the surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ) with the sensor, using the compensator to provide a non-linear adjustment signal for adjusting the surface voltage potential in response to the reference signal (V t h ,V t h ) and the surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ), and linearising the non-linear adjustment signal. The present invention will be described further, by way of examples, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a diagram of a typical prior art electrostatic feedback control system; FIG. 2 illustrates a technique to implement the elements of a linearization look up table in an electrostatic control system in accordance with the present invention; and FIG. 3 illustrates a technique to implement the elements of a linearization look up table in a development control system in accordance with the present invention. A prior art diagrammatic representation of the system currently under practice for most xerographic print engines is shown in Figure 1. Block 102 represents the charging and exposure systems. The block 104 representing compensators usually contains suitable integrators such as 106, 108 with some weighting. Here V h represents the voltage on the unexposed photoreceptor and V l represents the voltage after the exposure. V t h and V t l are the desired states for the voltages V h and V l and E h is the error generated by subtracting from the V t h values those measured by the ESV. Similarly, E l is the error generated by subtracting from the V t l values those measured by the ESV. U g and U l are the control signals to vary the grid voltage and laser power respectively. When the setpoint changes, there is a large error created by the system. Within a few prints V h and V l settle to new target values depending on the integrator weights. The difficult problem is in tuning the controller weights to trace the V h and V l target values so that the best print quality is preserved even if the electrostatic system drifts with time. The problem becomes even more difficult when there are many gains involved in the controller. In accordance with the present invention, linearization techniques are first discussed for electrostatic control. After that similar techniques are extended for implementing control for tracking Area Coverage or DMA setpoints. Unearization lookup tables are obtained from a small signal model disclosed In US-A-5717978. If B 11 B 12 and B 22 are the slopes of the curves of photoreceptor voltage versus grid voltage and laser power at given operating points on the curves, then the small signal model is written as: In the small signal model shown in Equation 1. V h = voltage on unexposed photoreceptor, V l = voltage on photoreceptor after exposure, U g = control signal to vary grid voltage, and, U 1 = control signal to vary laser power. Equation 1 also contains the input matrix B to describe the model of the electrostatic system. To have the model valid for the full operating region, feedforward lookup tables are implemented as shown in US-A-5717978. With this scenario the linearization of the system involves merely finding the inverse of the B matrix. This can be written In terms of the constituent elements as follows: From suitable curves, the parameters of the B matrix can be extracted at one operating point They are shown below: B 11 = 1.0039 B 21 = 0.86641 B 12 = 0 B 21 = -662.5 The elements B 11i , B 12i , B 21i , B 22i form an estimated lookup table for linearizing the non-linear system around one operating point. Similarly, when we move to another operating point over the curve, new elements of the B -1 matrix are obtained. The change in operating points are initiated when a change takes place in the target value. Likewise, satisfactory numbers of data points are initiated when a change takes place in the target value. Likewise, satisfactory numbers of data points are selected to describe the complete operating region. Having all the elements of the B -1 matrix the overall system used for controller design is transformed algebraically into a linear design, fully or partially. This will enable the application of linear control techniques. After implementing the linearization look up table, the overall system for designing controllers becomes linear. Before implementing the linear look up table, the state-space model of the system is set forth to: x 1k + l = A x k + BU k After implementing the inverse B matrix table the new state space model of the system cancels the B matrix. Due to numerical approximation in the lookup table, one would not get an exact cancellation. Those small effects can be cured by robust controllers. The new state space model of the system becomes equal to: x 1k + = A x k + IU k In equation 7, matrices A and I are identity matrices. The B matrix is now mathematically converted to become the identity matrix, I . As can be seen, this type of approach holds good only when the B matrix is invertible. In our xerographic printing system, models for electrostatics contained invertible B matrices for the full operating range. In Figure 2, a technique to implement the elements of estimated look up table 110 including elements B 21i , B 12i , B 11i , and B 22i is shown in diagrammatic form. The actuator signals ΔU g and ΔU l are passed through lookup table 110 and then added to the feedforward actuator signals U go and U lo at summing nodes 114 and 116 to generate U g and U l to control charging and exposure systems illustrated at 112. This type of formulation basically tums out to be one type of controller with gains obtained directly from the measurements on the electrostatic subsystem rather than by convention trial and error methods of the past. Look up tables 118 and 120 are formed from system charging and photo induced discharge curves or equations. Look up tables 118 and 120 place the system in a correct operating range, but look up table 110 provides precise, linear control for a given operating range. Operating alone, look up table 110 provides precise, linear control in a given operating range such as direct, linear control of the charging and exposure system 112. Operating in conjunction with feed forward look up tables 118 and 120, a control is provided by look up table 110 that puts the system at a correct operating point and also linearizes the system within that operating point. The technique described above also applies to development systems for control. For development control, because of three different area coverage (or DMA) measurements, there are nine elements in the matrix. The small signal model for developability control is written as: Where Δ V h , ΔV 1 and Δ V d are the small control signals expected to change first level V h and V 1 target values and the donor voltage, V d . They correspond to small signals Δ U 1 , ΔU 2 , and ΔU 3 , in Figure 3 describing implementation of the estimated lookup table for linearizing a non-linear system for development control. Also Δ D 1 , A D 2 , and ΔD 3 are small deviations around the operating point D 1o D 2o and D 3o of the Area Coverage or DMA targets. In Figure 3 the linearization lookup table is shown by 130. The elements of the B matrix are extracted from the model curves to generate a linearizing look up table, called an estimated lookup table. The matrix is given by: The elements of B 11i , B 12i ,B 33i are implemented in a similar way as that shown for the first level electrostatic control in Figure 2. With reference to Figure 3, signals derived from Multi Input/Output compensator 124 in response to signals from ETACs or OCD sensors measuring toner mass, and D1, D2, and D3 represent these different DMA measurements. These nominal actuator values are linearized by look up table 130 to control subsystem 128. An option is also to provide signals from feed forward look up table 126 to summing nodes 132 to place the control in a correct operating range as well as to provide linearization. With the implementation of the linearization look up table, the system can be modeled with state space equation of the type shown in equation 7. With this approach, the controller gains are fixed. When the Area Coverage or DMA setpoints change, the operating points also change. For a new operating point, new sets of inverse B matrices are used. In this way the system as seen by the controller remains linear and is immune to changes in the operating points. It is, therefore, apparent that there has been provided in accordance with the present invention, a charge control system that fully satisfies the aims and advantages hereinbefore set forth.

Claims: An electrostatographic printing machine having an imaging member with a surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ) on a portion thereof, the electrostatographic printing machine including operating components, a control system having set point parameters (V t h ,V t l ) with operating ranges and a sensor to measure the surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ), and a device (104) for changing the set point parameters (V t h ,V t l ), characterised in that the control system includes a first look up table (118,120) responsive to the changing of the set point parameters (V t h ,V t l ) by the device to provide a first adjustment to the surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ), the first adjustment to the surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ) placing the control system in a modified, non-linear operating range, and a second look up table (110) operatively connected to the first look up table (118,120) and responsive to the changing of the set point parameters by the device (104) to provide a second adjustment to the surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ), the second adjustment to the surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ) placing the control system in a relatively linear control mode within the modified, non-linear operating range. An electrostatographic printing machine as claimed in claim 1, including summing nodes (114,116) responsive to the changing of the set point parameters (V t h ,V t l ) to provide the linear control mode within the modified, non-linear operating range. An electrostatographic printing machine as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the second look up table (110) is an estimated look up table. An eledrostatographic printing machine as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, including a summing node interconnected to a reference signal representing a set point parameter (V t h ,V t l ) and the output of the sensor measuring said surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ). A method of linearly adjusting the surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ) of an imaging member in an electrostatographic printing machine including a control system having a sensor and a compensator (104), Including the steps of: storing a reference signal (V t h ,V t l ), sensing the surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ) with the sensor, using the compensator (104) to provide a non-linear adjustment signal from a first look up table for adjusting the surface voltage potential in response to the reference signal (V t h ,V t h ) and the surface voltage potential (V h ,V l ), and linearising the non-linear adjustment signal with a second look up table

Inventors: MESTHA LINGAPPA K, MESTHA, LINGAPPA K.
Applicants: XEROX CORP, XEROX CORPORATION
Application year: 1997
Main classification: G03G15
IPC codes: G03G15, B41J2