JP3716782B2 - Printing system, printer control device, and image forming medium container - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a technique for automatically selecting color information used for color conversion or the like when performing color printing.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, with the widespread use of digital cameras and lower prices of color printers, it has become possible to capture color images on a computer and easily perform color printing. In particular, the spread of ink jet printers capable of color printing is remarkable.
[0003]
On the computer, the color information of the image data is composed of three colors of R (red), G (green), and B (blue). In an inkjet printer, C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), and K (black). ) Etc. Therefore, the control device that controls the printer performs color conversion when performing color printing. When performing this color conversion, the printer control device uses a color conversion table (Look Up Table; LUT).
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Currently, many manufacturers other than printer manufacturers manufacture and sell compatible inks. The user can freely select from a number of inks and use them with their own printers.
[0005]
Here, the color of the ink is usually slightly different depending on the type of ink or the manufacturer even if it is the same color. Therefore, in order to make the best use of ink characteristics, it is desirable to print using an LUT prepared by an ink manufacturer who knows the ink best.
[0006]
However, since the conventional printer control apparatus has only the LUT prepared by the printer manufacturer, when compatible ink is used, it can be said that printing is always performed taking full advantage of the characteristics of the ink. Absent.
[0007]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to automatically select color information suitable for the ink used by the user so that printing can be performed using the characteristics of the ink.
[0008]
Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to charge a usage fee for color information when the user selects color information suitable for the ink used.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The first to achieve the above objective is
According to one aspect of the present invention, a printing system including a printer and a printer control device is accommodated in the image forming medium container when the printer is equipped with an image forming medium container having a storage device. Determining means for determining whether control information necessary for the printer control device to use color information suitable for the image forming medium being stored is stored in the storage device, and electronic information indicating the determination result Transmitting means for transmitting the control information to the printer control device and storage means for storing the control information in the storage device, and the printer control device causes the printer to execute printing using color information. Print data generating means for generating print data for receiving, receiving means for receiving electronic information indicating the determination result, and the received electronic information in the storage device Setting means for setting the color information suitable for the image forming medium accommodated in the image forming medium container so that the print data generating means can use the control information when indicating that the control information is not stored; A charging processing unit that performs charging processing for the user based on user information relating to a user of the printer, and means for transmitting electronic information for instructing the printer to store the control information in the storage device Prepare.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system includes a host device 1, a printer 2, and a LUT (Look Up Table; color conversion table) server 3. An input device 4 such as a keyboard and a mouse and a display device 5 such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display are connected to the host device 1.
[0011]
The host device 1 and the LUT server 3 are both configured by, for example, a general-purpose computer system, and individual components or functions in the host device 1 and the LUT server 3 described below execute, for example, a computer program It is realized by. A computer is also installed in the printer 2, and for example, the processing described below is realized by executing a computer program and controlling predetermined hardware.
[0012]
The printer 2 is connected to the host device 1 via a host interface circuit (not shown). Further, the printer 2 includes a printing mechanism 25 and a printing mechanism control unit 26, and the ink cartridge 20 is detachably mounted.
[0013]
The ink cartridge 20 has a housing that stores an ink container (not shown), and a nonvolatile storage medium, for example, an EEPROM 21 is mounted on the housing. The printer 2 can access the EEPROM 21 with the ink cartridge 20 mounted. In the EEPROM 21 of the ink cartridge 20, information related to the ink cartridge 20, for example, cartridge identification information (for example, the manufacturer's identification number and model number) indicating the type of the ink cartridge 20, the date of manufacture of the ink cartridge 20, etc. The manufacturing serial number, the ink characteristic information (type, color, etc.) in the ink cartridge 20 and the information (ink remaining amount or ink usage) regarding the ink amount in the ink container are written. Information about the ink amount is updated every time it is used.
[0014]
The printing mechanism 25 executes printing under the control of the printing mechanism control unit 26 based on the print data transmitted from the host device 1. Although not shown, the printing mechanism 25 includes a print head, a carriage, a paper feeding device, a head maintenance device, and the like. A replaceable ink cartridge 20 for supplying ink to the print head is detachably mounted. .
[0015]
When the ink cartridge 20 is attached to the printer 2, the printing mechanism control unit 26 can read data from the EEPROM 21 and write data to the EEPROM 21. The printing mechanism control unit 26 notifies the information read from the EEPROM 21 to the host device 1. For example, the printing mechanism control unit 26 determines whether or not charged data is stored in the EEPROM 21 when the printer is turned on or the ink cartridge 20 is mounted, and the determination result is read from the EEPROM 21. The host device 1 is notified together with the cartridge identification information that has been read. Further, the printing mechanism control unit 26 writes charged data, which will be described later, into the EEPROM 21 based on an instruction from the host device 1.
[0016]
The LUT server 3 has a network interface (not shown), and is connected to the host device 1 via the network 9. The LUT server 3 includes a LUT storage unit 31 that stores a dedicated LUT for each ink of various types or manufacturers, and a registration table 32 that manages the LUT stored in the LUT storage unit 31. The registration table 32 stores the ink cartridge identification information and the LUT in association with each other. Additional registration can be performed in the LUT storage unit 31 and the registration table 32. The additional registration can be performed, for example, from an input device (not shown) connected to the LUT server 3 or online from another device (not shown) connected to the network 9. As will be described later, the host device 1 can download a necessary LUT from the LUT server 3.
[0017]
The host device 1 is connected to the printer 2 via a printer interface circuit (not shown). Further, the host device 1 includes an ink management unit 11, a charging processing unit 12, a download processing unit 13, a registered LUT list 14, a print data generation unit 15, a display processing unit 16, an LUT storage unit 17, And a plurality of application programs (AP) 18.
[0018]
The LUT storage unit 17 stores an LUT (color conversion table). The LUT can be added by being read from a CD-ROM or the like by a CD-ROM reader (not shown) or downloaded from the LUT server 3. Downloading from the LUT server 3 will be described later. Any of the LUTs stored in the LUT storage unit 17 is used by the print data generation unit 15.
[0019]
The print data generation unit 15 receives the print request from the AP 18 and generates print data for the printer to execute printing. The print data generation unit 15 includes a use LUT storage unit 15a. The use LUT storage unit 15a stores LUT identification information used when the print data generation unit 15 performs color conversion when generating print data. Then, the print data generation unit 15 acquires the LUT determined by the used LUT storage unit 15a from the LUT storage unit 17, and performs color conversion (for example, from RGB to CMYK) using this.
[0020]
Here, even if the image forming medium such as ink or toner has the same color, the color is slightly different depending on the type and manufacturer. For this reason, by performing color conversion using a dedicated LUT corresponding to each ink or the like, it becomes possible to print with the best color utilizing the characteristics of the ink. Here, when a predetermined LUT usage fee is paid for each ink cartridge, the dedicated LUT corresponding to the ink cartridge is made usable. The “charged data” is written in the EEPROM 21 of the ink cartridge 20 in which the LUT usage fee charging process (described later) performed by the charging processor 12 is completed. The ink cartridge 20 can be used for a plurality of printers by attaching it to a printer and using it to some extent and then removing it and reattaching it to another printer. As a result, the ink cartridge 20 in which the charged data is stored in the EEPROM 21 can perform color conversion using a dedicated LUT even when it is mounted on another printer. As will be described later, the ink management unit 11 manages the LUT used by the print data generation unit 15, and the charging processing unit 12 performs a charging process for the LUT usage fee.
[0021]
The download processing unit 13 downloads the LUT from the LUT server 3. For example, based on the cartridge identification information received from the ink management unit 11, the LUT corresponding to this identification information is acquired from the LUT server 3. The download processing unit 13 stores the downloaded LUT in the LUT storage unit 17 and adds cartridge identification information to the registered LUT list 14.
[0022]
The registered LUT list 14 is a list of LUTs stored in the LUT storage unit 17. By referring to the registered LUT list 14 by the ink management unit 11, the LUT already stored in the host device 1 can be known.
[0023]
Next, setting processing and charging processing of the used LUT storage unit 15a will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG.
[0024]
The ink management unit 11 receives information indicating the determination result as to whether or not charged data is stored in the EEPROM 21 and the cartridge identification information from the printer 2 (S11). The ink management unit 11 analyzes whether the determination result indicated by the received information indicates the presence or absence of charged data (S12). When “charged data exists” is indicated (S12: Yes), the process skips to step S18. This is because “charged data exists” indicates that the ink cartridge has already been charged, so that the dedicated LUT can be used without charging again. When “no charged data” is indicated (S12: No), the dedicated LUT of the ink cartridge 20 mounted on the printer 2 is in an unusable state, so the user is asked whether to set it to be usable. That is, the ink management unit 11 instructs the display processing unit 16 to display the LUT setting confirmation screen 100 (see FIG. 3) on the display device 5. The display processing unit 16 displays the LUT setting confirmation screen 100 on the display device 5.
[0025]
As shown in FIG. 3, the LUT setting confirmation screen 100 includes a message and ink cartridge information display area 101 for the user, a “use” button 102 for a dedicated LUT, and a “do not use” button 103. When the user does not wish to use the dedicated LUT, that is, when the button 103 is pressed (S13: No), the process ends. When a user who wishes to use the dedicated LUT presses the button 102 (S13: Yes), the display control unit 18 accepts this and notifies the ink management unit 11 of that fact.
[0026]
The ink management unit 11 that has received the notification searches the registered LUT list 14 using the cartridge identification information received from the printer 2 as a key, and finds a LUT dedicated to the ink cartridge 20 mounted on the printer 2. Then, it is confirmed whether it is already registered in the LUT storage unit 17 (S14). If not registered (S14: No), the ink management unit 11 instructs the download processing unit 13 to download the dedicated LUT, and the download processing unit 13 executes the download process based on the instruction (S15). If registered (S14: Yes), it is not necessary to download again, so step S15 is skipped. When the dedicated LUT has been registered or after the download process is completed, the ink management unit 11 instructs the charging processing unit 12 to perform the charging process, and the charging processing unit 12 that has received the instruction executes the charging process. (S15). Specifically, the charging process is performed as follows. That is, the charging processing unit 12 instructs the display control unit 12 to display the charging screen 300. As shown in FIG. 4, the billing screen 300 includes a cartridge identification information display area 301 and a payment information input area 302. Here, an example of settlement by credit card is shown. When the user presses the payment button 303 after inputting predetermined information, the display control unit 18 notifies the charging processing unit 12 of the input information. The charging processing unit 12 transmits necessary information to a computer of a credit card company (not shown) connected via the network 9 and charges the user. The charging processing unit 12 notifies the ink management unit 11 of the completion of the charging process.
[0027]
When the ink management unit 11 receives a notification of the end of charging, the ink management unit 11 notifies the printer 2 of a charged data setting instruction (S17). Further, the ink management unit 11 registers the dedicated LUT of the ink cartridge 20 mounted on the printer 2 in the use LUT storage unit 15a (S18).
[0028]
As a result, printing can be performed using the LUT dedicated to the ink cartridge 20 mounted on the printer 2, and the characteristics of the ink to be used can be best extracted for printing.
[0029]
The above-described embodiments of the present invention are examples for explaining the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to those embodiments. Those skilled in the art can implement the present invention in various other modes without departing from the gist of the present invention.
[0030]
For example, in the above-described embodiment, a dedicated LUT for each ink can be used as color information. In addition to this, information dedicated to each ink is used for functions related to color reproduction such as dot diameter modulation. You may be able to do it. Further, although the printing mechanism control unit 26 of the printer 2 determines whether or not charging data is stored in the EEPROM 21, this may be performed in the ink management unit 11 of the host device 1.
[0031]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, it is possible to automatically select and print color information suitable for the ink used by the user.
[0032]
In addition, when the user selects color information suitable for the ink to be used, a charge for using the color information can be charged.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in the host apparatus 1;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an LUT setting confirmation screen 100. FIG.
4 is a diagram showing an example of a billing screen 300. FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Host apparatus 2 ... Printer 3 ... LUT server 9 ... Network 11 ... Ink management part 12 ... Charge processing part 13 Download processing part 15 ... Print data generation part 20 ... Ink cartridge 21 ... EEPROM
25 ... Printing mechanism 26 ... Printing mechanism controller

Claims (7)

In a printing system comprising a printer and a printer control device,
The printer is
Control necessary for the printer control device to use color information suitable for the image forming medium accommodated in the image forming medium container when the image forming medium container having the storage device is mounted. Determining means for determining whether information is stored in the storage device;
Transmitting means for transmitting electronic information indicating the determination result to the printer control device;
Storage means for storing the control information in the storage device,
The printer control device includes:
Print data generating means for generating print data for causing the printer to execute printing using color information;
Receiving means for receiving electronic information indicating the determination result;
When the received electronic information indicates that the control information is not stored in the storage device, color information suitable for the image forming medium accommodated in the image forming medium container is obtained as the print data generating means. A setting means for setting so that can be used,
A charging processing unit that performs charging processing for the user based on user information regarding the user of the printer;
A printing system comprising: electronic information for instructing the printer to store the control information in the storage device. A printer control device for controlling a printer,
Print data generating means for generating print data for causing the printer to execute printing using color information;
When an image forming medium container equipped with a storage device is mounted on the printer, control information necessary for using color information suitable for the image forming medium accommodated in the image forming medium container Means for receiving from the printer electronic information indicating whether it is stored in the storage device;
When the received electronic information indicates that the control information is not stored in the storage device, color information suitable for the image forming medium accommodated in the image forming medium container is obtained as the print data generating means. A setting means for setting so that can be used,
A charging processing unit that performs charging processing for the user based on user information regarding the user of the printer;
A printer control device comprising: means for transmitting electronic information for instructing to store the control information in the storage device to the printer. When the received electronic information indicates that the control information is stored in the storage device, the print data generation means is color information suitable for the image forming medium accommodated in the image forming medium container. The printer control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein print data is generated using a printer. The setting means includes
When the printer control device has color information suitable for the image forming medium accommodated in the image forming medium container, the color information is registered as color information used by the print data generating unit,
When the printer control device does not have color information suitable for the image forming medium accommodated in the image forming medium container, the color information suitable for the image forming medium accommodated in the image forming medium container The printer control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the downloaded color information is registered as color information used by the print data generation unit. A program for operating a computer as a printer control device for controlling a printer,
The printer control device is
Print data generating means for generating print data for causing the printer to execute printing using color information;
When an image forming medium container equipped with a storage device is mounted on the printer, control information necessary for using color information suitable for the image forming medium accommodated in the image forming medium container Means for receiving from the printer electronic information indicating whether it is stored in the storage device;
When the received electronic information indicates that the control information is not stored in the storage device, color information suitable for the image forming medium accommodated in the image forming medium container is obtained as the print data generating means. A setting means for setting so that can be used,
A charging processing unit that performs charging processing for the user based on user information regarding the user of the printer;
A program for causing a computer to operate so as to include means for transmitting electronic information for instructing to store the control information in the storage device to the printer. A storage medium storing a computer program for operating a computer as an apparatus for controlling a printer,
The computer program is
When an image forming medium container equipped with a storage device is mounted on the printer, control information necessary for using color information suitable for the image forming medium accommodated in the image forming medium container Receiving from the printer electronic information indicating whether it is stored in the storage device;
When the received electronic information indicates that the control information is not stored in the storage device, print data is generated with color information suitable for the image forming medium accommodated in the image forming medium container. Set it to be available when
Charge the user based on user information about the user of the printer;
A recording medium, wherein a computer is operated to transmit electronic information for instructing to store the control information in the storage device to the printer. An image forming medium container that stores an image forming medium used by a printer,
Image forming medium container comprising a storage device having an area for storing control information necessary for the printer control device to use color information suitable for the image forming medium housed in the image forming medium container vessel.

Images