AUTOMATIC ADJUSTMENT OF AREA COVERAGE DETECTOR POSITION

A method to automatically adjust the timing of a process control toner patch reading in an electrophotographic printing machine. A solid area patch of width "X" is generated by the ROS at the time "T" from pitch reset. Theoretically, the centerline of this patch (X/2) should arrive at the BTAC location in a time of "T+distance from pitch reset to BTAC". A series of evenly spaced reads are taken by the BTAC of the solid area patch. This sampling generates a waveform. The area of this waveform is calculated and the center of moment is found This "real" centerline of the patch is then compared to the theoretical centerline and the delta (+or -) is stored in memory. This provides a read adjustment to maintain accurate process controls.