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EP-4262182-B1 - INSPECTION SYSTEM, INSPECTION APPARATUS, AND CONTROL METHOD OF INSPECTION APPARATUS

EP4262182B1EP 4262182 B1EP4262182 B1EP 4262182B1EP-4262182-B1

Inventors

  • AZUMA, Erika

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230210

Claims (11)

  1. An inspection apparatus (0106) comprising: receiving means for receiving an image to be registered as a reference image together with a job setting; a display means (0245) for displaying an inspection setting screen (1101) if the job setting is a new setting and not displaying the inspection setting screen if the job setting is a predetermined job setting ; reception means for receiving an inspection setting for the received reference image wherein the reception means is configured to receive the inspection setting including a setting of at least an inspection region to be inspected and an inspection level for an image displayed on the inspection setting screen (1101); storage means for storing an inspection setting corresponding to the predetermined job setting in a storage device, wherein the inspection setting is preregistered by a user; and inspection means for, if a scan image obtained by scanning of a printed matter is received and the job setting is a new setting, inspecting the scan image based on the received inspection setting, wherein, if the job setting is the predetermined job setting, the inspection apparatus executes inspection based on the inspection setting stored in the storage device without the reception means receiving the inspection setting.
  2. The inspection apparatus (0106) according to claim 1, wherein the inspection means executes inspection by comparing the scan image and the reference image.
  3. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, if the predetermined job setting and execution of only registration are set in the job setting, the reference image is registered in the inspection apparatus, and execution of printing in the printing apparatus and inspection of a printed matter in the inspection apparatus are not performed.
  4. An inspection system comprising the inspection apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, and an information processing apparatus (0109), wherein the information processing apparatus comprises: reception means for receiving the job setting; and transmission means for transmitting the reference image together with the job setting to the inspection apparatus.
  5. The inspection system according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined job setting is a job setting for using an inspection setting having been prestored by the storage means and received by the reception means.
  6. The inspection system according to claim 4 or 5, further comprising a printing apparatus, wherein the scan image is an image obtained by scanning of a printed matter printed by the printing apparatus.
  7. A control method of an inspection apparatus, wherein the inspection apparatus executes: receiving a reference image together with a job setting; displaying an inspection setting screen (1101) if the job setting is a new setting and not displaying the inspection setting screen if the job setting is a predetermined job setting; receiving an inspection setting for the received reference image, wherein the inspection setting includes a setting of at least an inspection region to be inspected and an inspection level for the reference image displayed on the inspection setting screen (1101); and if a scan image obtained by scanning of a printed matter is received and the job setting is a new setting, inspecting the scan image based on the received inspection setting, and wherein, if the job setting is the predetermined job setting, the scan image is inspected based on an inspection setting corresponding to the predetermined setting stored in a storage device, wherein the inspection setting is preregistered by a user, without receiving an inspection setting.
  8. A computer program comprising instructions for controlling an inspection apparatus according to the method of claim 7.
  9. The inspection apparatus (0108) according to claim 1 to 6, wherein the predetermined setting is preset.
  10. The inspection apparatus (0108) according to claim 9, wherein the storage means stores a plurality of inspection settings corresponding to a plurality of presets.
  11. The inspection apparatus (0108) according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the storage means further stores an inspection setting to set the inspection region to an entire region of the reference image as a default setting.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inspection system, an inspection apparatus, and a control method of an inspection apparatus. Description of the Related Art There has been known an inspection apparatus that reads a printed matter printed by an image forming apparatus (printing apparatus) and inspects the printed matter for a quality level. The inspection apparatus can detect an image defect such as a stain and a missing image. In such inspections, a method is employed where a printed matter is compared with an image including no defect that is registered as a reference image. For this reason, it is necessary to initially register a reference image in an inspection apparatus, and processing for registration will be referred to as a reference image registration job. Subsequently, a user makes an inspection setting of setting a detection region in which a defect is to be detected in a main print job, and a threshold value for the reference image. When the inspection setting ends, the user executes the main print job of detecting a defect by comparing an actual printed matter with the registered reference image. A print job to be inspected in an inspection apparatus will be referred to as an inspection job. The execution of the inspection job is performed in the following three steps. * Execution of a reference image registration job* Inspection setting* Execution of a main print job Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2021-115744 discusses a technique of receiving input from a user for a reference image as a method of making an inspection setting. US2021/409551A1, US2021/398262A1 and US2021/303844A1 are other background art documents in the field of printed image inspection. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is defined by the independent claims. The dependent claims define advantageous embodiments. Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating configurations of an information processing apparatus, an inspection apparatus, and a printing apparatus.Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of configurations of the information processing apparatus, the inspection apparatus, and the printing apparatus.Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of internal configurations of the information processing apparatus, an inspection unit, the printing apparatus, and a large-capacity stacker.Figs. 4A and 4B illustrate examples of setting screens of the inspection apparatus to designate an operation mode of the inspection apparatus and the inspection unit.Fig. 5 illustrates an example of a screen of an inspection status to be displayed on the inspection apparatus at the time of inspection.Fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation to be performed by the inspection apparatus at the time of reference image registration.Fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an inspection operation to be performed by the inspection apparatus according to an embodiment.Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an inspection operation to be performed by the information processing apparatus according to an embodiment.Fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an overall operation to be performed by the inspection apparatus according to an embodiment.Fig. 10 illustrates an example of a screen of a print setting to be displayed on the information processing apparatus.Figs. 11A, 11B, and 11C illustrate examples of inspection setting screens to be displayed on the inspection apparatus.Fig. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation to be performed by an inspection apparatus when the inspection apparatus receives an inspection setting according to an embodiment.Fig. 13 illustrates another example of an inspection setting screen to be displayed on the inspection apparatus. DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be appreciated that, unless otherwise specified, the present embodiment can be applied to both a single device and an inspection apparatus including a plurality of devices as long as a function according to the present embodiment is implemented. In addition, unless otherwise specified, an inspection apparatus may perform processing using the devices connected via a network such as a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN) as long as the function according to the present embodiment is implemented. In other words, a configuration of a system to which various terminals are connected to be described in the following embodiment is an example, and it should be appreciated that there are various configuration examples depending on a use application and a purpose. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an inspection s