JP2000238239A - Self-supporting fabric printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To directly print a desired pattern on a fabric by providing a cash deposit sensing section, a stoker for storing preliminarily a material to be printed from a fabric material and a printing section for directly printing information just after the delivery of the material to be printed. SOLUTION: A selection input means 5 for selecting desired piece of information to be printed on a fabric by a user is provided on a display means 3. A main body 1 is constituted of a stoker 6 storing a plurality of T-shirt fabrics, a printing section 10 receiving fabrics delivered from the stoker 6 and a synthesizing means 15 digitally storing an image photographed by a camera 2 and synthesizing the stored image with another image. An input signal from the selection input means or a signal from a cash deposit sensing section is received by the stoker 6 and the fabrics are delivered through a carrying line, and printing is applied on the delivered fabrics by the printing section 10. A desired pattern can be printed directly on the fabrics by the arrangement.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a self-supporting fabric printing machine which is installed in a street corner, a game arcade, or the like, and has a function of providing guidance according to an operation procedure which can be performed without a skilled operator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A photo booth is known which is similar to a self-contained fabric printing machine of this type, in which a photograph of a user is photographed on the spot and a photographed image is reproduced by printing.

[0003] As a method for printing on a fabric such as a T-shirt, a method using an iron print seal has been proposed.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional photo booth, although a photograph of the user's face can be printed on a sticker, there is no such photo booth that can be printed on a cloth.

[0005] Further, although there is an iron seal which can be transferred to a cloth as the above-mentioned seal, there is no seal which directly prints on the cloth. With the method of transferring using an iron seal, there was a problem that it was necessary to print on the iron seal base paper first, and then transfer it to the fabric, which required extremely troublesome work and took time. .

[0006] This type of device installed in a game arcade or the like requires a long waiting time for the next user if the time for one user to play is long.
This is undesirable, and is an important point for the owner of a game arcade when introducing the device.

Further, in order to shorten the play time, the transfer to the fabric in the device is stopped, and the user is
Pay out only the iron sticker on which the desired pattern is printed,
If the user takes the paid-out iron seal back and transfers it to a favorite T-shirt or the like using an iron, it is not only a very troublesome and difficult task for a person unfamiliar with the transfer. There is also a problem that a person who does not own an iron at home cannot use it.

Even if it is possible to automatically transfer a desired image to a T-shirt or the like by thermal transfer, there is a risk of burns if a user touches the thermal transfer portion immediately after paying out the T-shirt or the like after the transfer. There is a problem that another problem to be solved, such as the necessity of taking measures against such burns.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a free-standing fabric printing machine capable of printing a desired picture directly on a fabric.

[0010]

In view of the above problems, the present invention employs the following configuration.

That is, a money input detecting unit for detecting the input of money, a stocker for storing a printing material made of a plurality of fabric materials in advance, and a printing unit for directly printing print information on the paid out printing material. And characterized in that:

It is preferable that the printing material is made of paper as described later, and is stored in a box having a window formed so that a printing portion of the printing material is exposed to the outside.

It is preferable that a sponge or the like having a certain degree of elasticity is housed in the box together so as not to wrinkle the printed material.

Further, in the self-contained fabric printing machine according to the first aspect, a storage unit in which a plurality of the printing information is stored in advance as digital information, and a selection input for a user to select desired printing information from the printing information. Means for printing the printing information selected by the user through the selection input means on the printing material made of the fabric material by the printing unit.

Further, the printing section is an ink jet printer.

[0016] In the self-standing fabric printing machine,
The transport path or the printing unit on which a printing material made of a fabric material is transported from the stocker to the printing unit, or the printing unit is provided with a fabric covering unit for stretching the surface of the printing unit of the fabric as the printing material. Features. The cloth covering means is for providing a certain degree of tension so that printing is easily performed on a portion to be printed which is a printing location. Stretching at least the portion to be printed of the printing material in this way is to deal with a specific problem caused by using a fabric that easily causes wrinkles or the like on the surface as the printing material.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a self-supporting fabric printing machine according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

Referring to FIG. 1, a self-standing cloth printing machine main body 1
A camera 2 for photographing a subject A who is a user of the self-supporting fabric printing machine, and an image photographed by the camera 2 to be printed on the fabric or an image prepared in advance to be described later. And the like.

A protective glass 1A is provided between the display means 3 and the subject A, and a half mirror 4 is provided between the display means 3 and the protective glass 1A. The image of the subject A is reflected by the half mirror 4 and photographed by the camera 2, and the image of the display unit 3 can be visually recognized by the subject A through the half mirror 4. . The half mirror 4
Has a function of partially reflecting light at a certain angle and transmitting light at a certain angle, and is referred to as “IEICE TRANS COMMU”.
N. , VOL. E77-B. NO. 2 FEBRUAR
Y 1994P. 226-231 ". Of course, the use of such a half mirror is not the gist of the present invention.

An illumination lamp 7 is provided above the half mirror 4, the camera 2 or the display means 3, and the subject A is illuminated by the light of the illumination lamp 7 and photographed by the camera 2. Things.

On the lower side of the display means 3 or the like, the user, who is the subject A, selects print information (for example, an image displayed on the display means 3) desired to be printed on the cloth. Selection input means 5 is provided. As the selection input unit 5, a well-known lever, button switch, or the like can be employed as shown in the figure.

A stocker 6 for storing a plurality of T-shirt fabrics B as shown in FIG. 3 and a printing unit 10 for receiving the fabrics B dispensed from the stockers 6 are provided inside the main body 1. And a synthesizing unit 15 for temporarily storing a video image captured by the camera 2 digitally and synthesizing the stored video image with another video image.
The digital video data transmitted from the synthesizing unit 15 to the printing unit 10 corresponds to the print information of the present invention. Other print information includes digital data of a digital camera, which has been widely used recently, digital data selected from an Internet line, and video data recorded on a video tape that can be photographed by a video camera. Is equivalent to

The stocker 6 pays out the fabric B through a transport path in response to an input signal from the selection input means or a signal from a money input detecting unit which will be described later. 10, printing is performed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the application example of FIG.

In FIG. 1, a synthesizing means 15 includes a first frame memory 16 for temporarily storing a video image captured by the camera 2 and a background / character title such as a landscape or a character title.
An image storage unit 17 for digitally storing a foreground image; and a synthesizing unit 18 for synthesizing an image stored in the first frame memory 16 and an image stored in the image storage unit 17.
The data synthesized by the synthesizing unit 18 is transmitted to the printing unit 10 described later. The video (digital data) transmitted from the synthesizing unit 18 to the printing unit 10 may be only the video stored in the first frame memory 16 or only the video stored in the image storage unit 17.
The selection and input means 5 can be selected by the user by appropriately inputting the selection and input means 5 only to those that use the video captured by the camera 2 without combining the background and the foreground. Of course, on the contrary, only the background and foreground are selected by the selection input means 5.
You can also select with.

The printing section 10 temporarily stores a composite image and the like transmitted from the synthesizing section 18 and receives data from the second frame memory 11 to receive an image. A printer control unit 12 for transmitting the image of the second frame memory 11 to the head 13 in a predetermined data format has a main configuration.

The printer control unit 12 is connected to a money counting means 14 for detecting whether or not a user has inserted a predetermined amount.
Is configured to start printing by the inkjet printer head 13 in response to detecting whether a predetermined amount of money has been inserted into the money counting means 14.

A T-shirt B as a printing material to be printed by the printer head 13 is sent from the stocker 6 to the printer head 13 via a transport path 6A. The size of the T-shirt B to be sent is
The size of the T-shirt B is determined by the user appropriately inputting with the selection input unit 5 in accordance with the operation procedure of the self-supporting fabric printing press displayed on the display unit 3.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the box 20 showing a state in which a T-shirt B as a printing material is housed inside.

In the box 20, the stored T-shirt B
A window 21 is formed so that a portion to be printed B1 is exposed to the outside.
Prints the printing information on the printing portion B1 of the T-shirt B by ejecting the color ink.

As is apparent from the sectional view of FIG.
Reference numeral 22 denotes a sponge, and the sponge 22 is sealed in order to prevent a wrinkled printing material made of a fabric material such as the T-shirt B from wrinkling.
When printing, a pusher 25 is inserted as a cloth covering means from a pusher insertion hole 23 provided on the back side of the window 21 to forcibly wrinkle the printed portion B1. It is. Reference numeral 26 denotes the pusher 2
5 is a holding member for preventing the entire box 20 from being pushed up when pushed up. The pusher 25 and the holding member 26 constitute the fabric covering means of the present invention.

In this way, the printing portion B1 is stretched to make it easy to print, and the printing portion B1
The print head 13 is moved relative to the print head 13 in the X and Y directions to perform printing. That is, FIG.
As shown in the figure, the relative movement in the X direction is to move the print head 13 in the X direction along the X rail of 13A under the control of the printer control unit 12, and the relative movement in the Y direction is the box 20. Is moved by a second pusher 6B for moving the print portion B1 on the transport path 6A.
Is moved relative to the print head 13.

The letter T in FIG. 1 is a character for shielding unintentional light from the outside, for displaying what kind of games can be enjoyed with the self-supporting fabric printing machine, and for easily appealing how to play. And figures are printed on the curtain T made of resin. It is necessary to replace such a character or figure on the curtain T with a curtain T on which a different figure or character is printed each time the foreground or background data is replaced. In this embodiment, rewritable electronic ink is used for printing the curtain T in order to solve the above-described problem of replacement. Such electronic ink can be supplied from E Ink Corporation of the United States, and is generally printed with electronic ink, and rewritten in a very small capsule on a plastic layer. The dot display is performed by expanding the wrapped dots by using the action of electric charge.

[0034]

According to the present invention having the above-described structure, as described above, it is possible to provide a free-standing cloth printing machine capable of printing a desired pattern directly on a cloth.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a self-supporting fabric printing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a control block of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a T-shirt as a printing material.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the box showing a state where a T-shirt is stored.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a printing state on a printing target portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

5 ... selection input means, 6 ...
Printing unit, 13 ... inkjet printer head, 1
4 ... Money input detection unit, 17 ... Storage unit, 25 ...
-Pusher, B ... T-shirt.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A money insertion detection unit for detecting money insertion,
A self-contained fabric printing machine, comprising: a stocker for storing a plurality of printing materials formed of a plurality of fabric materials in advance; and a printing unit for directly printing print information on the discharged printing materials. 2. A self-contained textile printing press according to claim 1, wherein said storage unit stores a plurality of said print information as digital information in advance, and a selection input means for a user to select desired print information from said print information. Wherein the printing unit prints the printing information selected by the user with the selection input means on a printing substrate made of the fabric material. 3. The self-supporting fabric printing press according to claim 1, wherein the printing unit is an inkjet printer head. 4. The self-supporting fabric printing machine according to claim 1, wherein a printing path or a printing section on which a printing material made of a fabric material is transferred from the stocker to the printing section. It is characterized in that a fabric covering means is provided for covering the surface of the portion to be printed of the printed fabric.