JP2001028078A - Device and system for printing process, and recording medium where program of the device or the system is recorded - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable an advertiser to clearly grasp a printing state where its advertisement is additionally printed on photograph images of customers. SOLUTION: When a photograph imaged that a customer specifies through an operation part 5 among photograph images stored on a memory card inserted from a recording media inserting mechanism 10 is printed on a printer 18, a controller 7 of a printing process 1 adds and prints an image of advertisement information stored in a storage part 15, information on the printing state is stored in the storage part 15 each time the image is printed, and the stored information is outputted to a printer 18 through a printer control part 17 and printed according to operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print processing apparatus, a print processing system, and a recording medium storing a program for the apparatus or system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are known vending machines capable of issuing various prints for a fee. Some of these vending machines
There is also an automatic vending apparatus that can register image information such as a photograph image of a celebrity such as a movie star or a musician or an illustration image of a popular anime character in advance and print and sell image information desired by a customer. On the other hand, it has been proposed that an image of advertisement information is added to the printed matter and printed, and the advertiser bears the printing fee of the customer.

[0003]

However, it is difficult for an advertiser who bears a part or all of a customer's printing fee to grasp how much his / her advertisement has been added to a photographic image and printed. It is. An object of the present invention is to enable an advertiser to clearly understand how much of his or her advertisement has been additionally printed on a customer's photographic image.

[0004]

The configuration of the present invention is as follows. The print processing device according to claim 1, wherein the print control unit causes the image of the advertisement information to be added to the photographic image designated to be printed by the customer and prints the photographic image. And recording means for recording information on the printing status of the image of the advertisement information (this corresponds to step A20 in FIG. 5 in the embodiment).
And output means for reading and outputting the recorded information (this corresponds to the processing of the controller 7 in steps B4 and B6 in FIG. 8 in the embodiment). Configuration. In this case, a selection unit (which corresponds to the processing of the controller 7 in Step A14 of FIG. 5 in the embodiment) that selects an advertisement information image to be printed from a plurality of advertisement information images is selected. Aggregation means (this corresponds to the processing of the controller 7 in step B5 in FIG. 8 in the embodiment) for counting the number of times of printing for each advertiser for the image of the printed advertisement information may be provided. The recording medium according to claim 5, further comprising: a print processing procedure of adding an advertisement information image to a photographic image designated to be printed by a customer for printing; and a recording procedure of recording print status information of the advertisement information image. And an output procedure for reading and outputting the recorded information, and an image print processing program for executing the output procedure.

According to the first or fifth aspect of the invention, when a customer adds an image of advertisement information to a photographic image to be printed and prints the information, the information of the printing status is recorded and output. Therefore, the advertiser can clearly understand how much of his or her advertisement has been additionally printed on the customer's photographic image, and can obtain the effect of the advertisement and a guideline for future advertisement provision.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print processing system comprising a plurality of terminal devices for printing and selling photographic images and a terminal management device communicatively connected to each of the terminal devices. The terminal device adds the advertisement information image to the photographic image designated to be printed by the customer, prints the image, and records the printing status information. The terminal management device communicates with each terminal device and connects the terminal device to the terminal device. To transmit the information recorded in the. A recording medium according to claim 6, wherein in a system comprising a plurality of terminal devices for printing and selling photographic images and a terminal management device communicatively connected to each of the terminal devices, a first medium used for each terminal device is provided. And a second program used for the terminal management device. The first program includes: a print control procedure for adding an advertisement information image to a photographic image designated to be printed by a customer for printing; and a recording procedure for recording print status information of the advertisement information image, A communication procedure for communicatively connecting to each terminal device;
It includes a transmission request procedure for requesting transmission of information recorded in a communication-connected terminal device, and an output procedure for outputting received information.

In the invention described in claim 4 or claim 6, when a customer adds an advertisement information image to a photographic image for which printing is specified and prints the information, the printing status information is recorded. Then, the terminal management device is communicatively connected to each terminal device, and transmits and outputs the recorded information. Accordingly, the advertiser can clearly understand how much of his or her advertisement has been additionally printed on the customer's photographic image, and can obtain the effect of the advertisement and a guideline for future advertisement provision. Since there is no need to dispatch a service person, labor costs can be greatly reduced. Further, since the information of the printing status is transferred by calling and communicating with each terminal device from the terminal management device, it is not necessary to keep the communication line constantly connected, and the communication cost can be reduced.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, first and second embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows the first
FIG. 1 is an external view of a print processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment. A recording medium insertion port 2 for inserting a recording medium for photographic image data (hereinafter abbreviated as “photographic image”) photographed by a digital camera is provided at an upper portion of the apparatus 1. In this embodiment, a CF capable of storing a photographic image of several megabytes to several tens of megabytes as a recording medium.
A memory card called a (compact flash) card is used. Other recording media include PC card, smart media, MO (magneto-optical disk), F
D (floppy disk) or the like can be used. At another position on the upper part of the apparatus 1, there is provided a charge insertion / return port 3 for inserting a printing charge with bills and coins, or returning a charge or change at the time of cancellation. At the lower part of the apparatus 1, there is provided a print photo take-out port 4 for discharging a print of a photo image. At the top of the apparatus 1, there are provided an operation unit 5 composed of various buttons for the customer to operate, and a display unit 6 for displaying a message for operation and a fee.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the device 1. The controller 7 includes a ROM that stores a program, a control unit that controls the entire device 1 by the program, and various registers necessary for control. The interface (I / F) 8 detects the on / off state of each button of the operation unit 5 according to the scanning signal from the controller 7 and inputs the same to the controller 7.
The display control unit 9 develops the image data supplied from the controller 7 into one screen, outputs the image data to the display unit 6, and displays the image data. The recording medium insertion mechanism 10 includes a mechanism for loading and unloading a memory card, a driving unit thereof, and an image reading unit that reads a photographic image recorded on the loaded memory card.

The interface 11 includes a controller 7
The recording medium insertion mechanism 10 is controlled by the control command from the controller 10, and the photographic image read by the recording medium insertion mechanism 10 is input to the controller 7. The charge insertion / return mechanism 12 detects, sorts, and inspects the inserted bills and coins, and discharges the returned bills and coins. The interface 13 inputs a detection signal, a selection signal, and an inspection signal from the fee insertion / return mechanism 12 to the controller 7.

The fee management unit 14 stores data of a plurality of types of fee systems as a table. Controller 7
Refers to this table based on the data input from the operation unit 5 and selects a corresponding fee system. The storage unit 15 stores image data of a plurality of types of advertisement information (hereinafter, simply referred to as “advertisement information images”), and stores a photographic image read from a memory card mounted on the recording medium insertion mechanism 10. Remember temporarily. The image processing algorithm unit 16 executes an image processing algorithm for the photo image and the advertisement information image. In addition, regarding this image processing algorithm, when the processing speed of the arithmetic processing unit constituting the control unit of the controller 7 is high,
Even if the image processing algorithm unit 16 is not provided as hardware, the image processing algorithm unit 16 can be realized by software using the storage unit 15 and the controller 7 that executes a program.

The printer control unit 17 is connected to the
It controls the printers 18 and outputs a print command and print data from the controller 7 to the printer 18. The print photograph discharge sensor 19 determines whether or not the printed matter printed by the printer 18 has been discharged to the print photograph take-out port 4. The interface 20 is a print photo discharge sensor 1
9 is input to the controller 7. As shown in FIG. 3, each printer 18 has an interface 22 for transmitting and receiving print commands and other commands to and from the printer control unit 17 and print data, and a print data storage unit 23 for temporarily storing print data. And a printing mechanism 24 for performing printing. The control unit 25 develops the print data supplied from the printer control unit 17 via the interface 22 into a print format, stores the print format in the print data storage unit 23, reads out the print data, and outputs it to the print mechanism unit 24. The transmission / reception unit 21 shown in FIG. 2 is composed of a general-purpose PHS or a mobile phone, and can be connected to a public communication network by a telephone number that is unique identification information.

Next, the operation of the image printing apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG.
5 is a flow of a start button process executed when the start button of the operation unit 5 is turned on in a main process (not shown). First, an instruction message for inserting a memory card is displayed on the display unit 5 (step A1).
Then, it waits for the insertion of the memory card via the interface 11. When the customer inserts the memory card (step A2), the image file in the memory card, that is, the photographic image taken by the digital camera is read out and stored in the storage unit 15 (step A3). In this case, since the format of the photographic image differs depending on the camera manufacturer, the name of the manufacturer may be input from the customer. However, in the present embodiment, the format is automatically detected by the controller 7 based on the index of the memory card. Then, image processing adapted to the format is performed and stored in the storage unit 15.

Next, a thumbnail, which is a reduced image of all the photographic images of the stored photographic images, is displayed. After the customer selects printing, a fee system menu is displayed (step A4). Menu 1 is a case of pay printing in which a predetermined printing fee is paid, and menu 2 is
This is the case of free printing in which the advertiser bears the printing fee, and menu 3 is the case of stopping printing. When the customer selects any menu (step A5), the selected menu is determined (step A6).

When the menu 1 for pay printing is selected, a fee corresponding to the number of photographic images designated for printing is displayed (step A7), and the displayed amount is inserted from the fee insertion / return port 3. (Step A)
8). If there is no input of the displayed amount even after the lapse of the predetermined time, the process proceeds to step A4 and the fee system menu is displayed again. When the displayed amount is input, the selected photographic image is printed (step A).
9). Then, it is determined whether or not printing of all the selected photographic images has been completed (step A10). If there are still photographic images to be printed, the printing process in step A9 is continued. When printing of all the selected photographic images is completed, the memory card is ejected (step A).
11) Return to the main processing.

At step A6, menu 3 for cancellation
If is selected, the process immediately returns to the main process. If the menu 2 for free printing is selected, a message to input customer information is displayed in the flow of FIG. 5 (step A12). Next, the customer sets the age, gender,
When the customer information of interest is input (step A1
3) Based on the input information, refer to a table corresponding to the customer information and the advertisement number shown in FIG. 6, and extract a plurality of target advertisement numbers of the advertisement number from the advertisement file shown in FIG. 7 (step A14). ). Then, the photo images of the plurality of extracted advertisement numbers are sequentially read (step A15),
A photographic image to be printed is designated (step A16). Next, the photograph image is cut out (step A1).
7). That is, the image data of the portion of the photographic image corresponding to the region where the images of the plurality of advertisement information are sequentially printed is deleted. Next, the two images are combined by the image processing algorithm unit 16 (step A18), and the printer control unit 17
The composite image is output and printed by the printer 18 designated via the printer (step A19). If the number of images of the advertisement information is smaller than the number of photo images specified by the customer, the image of the advertisement information may be repeatedly added, or the next candidate target advertisement number may be specified.

Then, it is determined whether or not printing of all the photographic images specified by the customer has been completed (step A21). If there is any photographic image to be printed, the process proceeds to step A15, and the processing up to step A20 is repeatedly executed. When printing of all the specified photographic images is completed, the memory card is ejected (step A).
22), end this flow. Each time the controller 7 instructs free printing, the controller 7 stores the advertisement number, the print date and time, and data representing the advertiser in the log file area of the storage unit 15 as print status information.

The service person of the image printing apparatus in the area in charge operates the output button of the operation unit 5 of the apparatus in charge after a predetermined date has passed or as required, and outputs an advertisement log. FIG. 8 is a flow of an advertisement log output process. When the output button is turned on, the controller 7 reads the contents of the advertisement log file in the storage unit 15 (step B1), and classifies the log data by advertiser (step B2). Next, an advertiser of the classified log data is designated (step B3). Then, the log data of the journal portion, which is information such as the advertisement number and the print date and time, corresponding to the advertiser is read out and output to the printer control unit 17 to instruct printing (step B4). Further, the number of times of printing the advertisement of the advertisement number is counted (step B5). Then, the log data of the tally portion is output to the printer control unit 17 to instruct printing (step B6).

Next, it is determined whether or not the printing of the journal portion and the tallying portion has been completed for all the advertisers. The advertiser is designated, and the processing up to step B6 is repeated. When printing is completed for all advertisers, the process returns to the main processing. FIG. 9 shows a print result for each advertiser. As shown in this figure, a journal portion indicating information on an advertisement number and a print date and time for each advertiser, and a tally portion indicating the number of times of printing of all advertisements of the advertiser and the number of times of printing of each advertisement number are included. Printed.

As described above, in the first embodiment, when the customer adds the image of the advertisement information to the photographic image to be printed and prints, the information of the printing status is recorded and output. Therefore, the advertiser can clearly understand how much of his or her advertisement has been additionally printed on the customer's photographic image, and can obtain the effect of the advertisement and a guideline for future advertisement provision.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 10 shows a system configuration in which a plurality of print processing apparatuses 1 are connected to a server device via a public communication network. Each print processing apparatus 1 is the same as that described in the first embodiment, but is wirelessly connected to the nearest base station 26 via the transmission / reception unit 21 shown in FIG. The plurality of base stations 26 are connected to a public communication network 27 by wire (line). A server device 28 is also connected to the public communication network 27. Therefore, the server device 28 can be individually or simultaneously connected to each print processing device 1 via the public communication network 27 and the base station 26. That is, each print processing apparatus 1 constitutes a terminal device, and the server device 28 constitutes a terminal management device that manages the plurality of terminal devices through communication connection.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the server device 28. The communication interface 29 connects the public communication network 26 shown in FIG. The CPU 30 performs a calling process for each terminal device (each print processing device 1) via the communication interface 29 connected by the internal bus. The server device 28 transmits and receives commands and data to and from the input device 31, the RAM 32, the display device 33, the storage device 34, and the printing device 35 which are connected by the internal bus.
Take control of the whole.

The input device 31 inputs registration information in response to a registration request from an advertiser, and inputs an image of advertisement information provided by the advertiser. The input registration information and advertisement information image are stored in the storage device 34 as master file data. In this case, the advertiser
The terminal device to be advertised is designated and registered. The master file is divided for each terminal number, and the advertisement content (advertisement information image), advertiser,
The registration date and the expiration date of the advertisement are specified. The expired record is deleted from the master file, but is not immediately deleted from the storage device 34.
It is stored in an expired file in another area, and is saved in a state where it can be restored in response to re-registration from an advertiser.
The CPU 30 creates data of the advertisement file, data of the search table, and data of the terminal management table of the terminal device based on the master file.

Next, the operation of the image printing system according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart of a server device which is a terminal management device. FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the advertisement log collection process of the server device 28. First, a terminal device for collecting an advertisement log is designated (step C1),
Referring to a table of terminal devices classified by region code as shown in FIG. 13, a call (dialing) is made to the terminal device based on a communication connection number corresponding to the terminal number, that is, a telephone number. Request a communication connection (step C2). Then, it waits for a response of the connection approval from the terminal device (step C3). If there is a response indicating that the connection has been accepted, a request is made to transfer an advertisement file, which is printing status information recorded in the terminal device (step C4).
Then, it waits for the reception of the advertisement file from the terminal device (step C5), and records the received advertisement file in the master advertisement log file of the storage device 34 with the terminal number added thereto (step C6).

Then, it is determined whether or not the acquisition of the advertisement file from all the terminal devices has been completed (step C7),
If there is a terminal device to which the advertisement file has not been transmitted yet, the process proceeds to step C1, where the terminal device is designated, and the processing up to step C6 is repeated. When the acquisition of the advertisement file from all the terminal devices is completed, the master advertisement file is classified by the advertiser (step C).
8). FIG. 14 shows a master advertisement log file classified by advertiser. After completing the acquisition of the advertisement file from all the terminal devices, the server device 28 performs a tallying process.

When the administrator operates the output button of the server device 28 or automatically at a predetermined date and time, the server device 28 displays the journal report shown in FIG. 15A and the journal report shown in FIG. The printing device 35 is instructed to print and output the tabulated report shown.
As shown in the journal report, information on the advertisement number, print date and time, region, and terminal number is output for each advertiser.
In addition, as shown in the summary report, a list of printed regions corresponding to each advertiser is output.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the print processing apparatus 1, which is a plurality of terminal devices, prints by adding the advertisement information image to the photographic image for which the customer specifies the printing, and determines the printing status. The server device 28, which is a terminal management device, stores information and communicates with each terminal device, and transmits and outputs the stored information. Therefore,
The advertiser can clearly understand how much of his or her advertisement has been additionally printed on the customer's photographic image, and can obtain the effect of the advertisement and a guideline for future advertisement provision. Also, there is no need to dispatch a service person to each terminal device,
Labor costs can be significantly reduced. Further, since the server device 28 makes a call to each of the print processing devices 1 and makes a communication connection to transfer the print status information, it is not necessary to keep the communication line constantly connected, and the communication cost is reduced. it can.

In the first embodiment, the operation of the image printing process is performed by a program stored in the print processing apparatus 1 in advance. Processing device 1,
The operation of the image printing system is performed by a program pre-installed in the server device 28 as a terminal management device.
It is also possible to realize the medium invention by adopting a configuration in which the program is recorded on a general-purpose recording medium such as a CD or an MD. That is, in order to realize the invention in the first embodiment, a print processing procedure for adding an advertisement information image to a photographic image designated to be printed by a customer and printing the photographic image, and printing status information of the advertisement information image are recorded. An image print processing program for executing a recording procedure for causing the image recording apparatus to read out and output the recorded information is recorded on a general-purpose recording medium.

Further, in order to realize the invention of the second embodiment, a first program used for a print processing device as a terminal device and a second program used for a server device as a terminal management device are stored in a general-purpose recording medium. Record. The first program includes: a print control procedure for adding an advertisement information image to a photographic image designated to be printed by a customer for printing; and a recording procedure for recording print status information of the advertisement information image, The second program, a communication procedure for communication connection to each terminal device, a transmission request procedure for requesting transmission of information recorded in the communication-connected terminal device, an output procedure for outputting the received information, Contains.

In the first and second embodiments, an example has been described in which an image of advertisement information is printed when a customer prints a photographic image taken with a digital camera. For example, when printing a photograph image of a famous talent or an illustration image of the main character of an animation, an image of advertisement information is added and printed, a printing status is recorded each time the printing is performed, and the recorded printing status is recorded. It is needless to say that the print processing apparatus and the print processing system of the present invention can be applied to output information.

[0031]

According to the print processing apparatus or program of the present invention, when a customer adds an image of advertisement information to a photographic image to be printed and prints, the information of the printing status is recorded and output. Therefore, the advertiser can clearly understand how much of his or her advertisement has been additionally printed on the customer's photographic image, and can obtain the effect of the advertisement and a guideline for future advertisement provision.

According to the print processing system or program of the present invention, when a customer adds an image of advertisement information to a photographic image to be printed and prints it on a plurality of terminal devices,
The terminal management device records the information on the printing status, connects to each terminal device for communication, transmits the recorded information, and outputs the information. Accordingly, the advertiser can clearly understand how much of his or her advertisement has been additionally printed on the customer's photographic image, and can obtain the effect of the advertisement and a guideline for future advertisement provision. Since there is no need to dispatch a service person, labor costs can be greatly reduced. Further, since the information of the printing status is transferred by calling and communicating with each terminal device from the terminal management device, it is not necessary to keep the communication line constantly connected, and the communication cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a print processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the print processing apparatus in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the printer in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a start button process of the controller of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a start button process following FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing data of a table of customer information.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing data of a table of advertisement contents.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an advertisement log output process of the controller of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a view showing an output result of printing status information in the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the server device of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an advertisement log collection process of the CPU in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a table of terminal devices classified by region code.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a master advertisement log file classified by advertiser.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an output result of printing status information according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Print processing apparatus 5 Operation part 7 Controller 10 Recording medium insertion mechanism 15 Storage part 17 Printer control part 18 Printer

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A print control unit for adding an advertisement information image to a photographic image designated to be printed by a customer for printing, a recording unit for recording print status information of the advertisement information image, And an output means for reading and outputting the information. 2. The print processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the photographic image designated to be printed by the customer is a photographic image photographed by a predetermined camera device. 3. A selecting means for selecting an advertisement information image to be printed from a plurality of advertisement information images, and a totaling means for totalizing the number of times of printing for each advertiser for the selected and printed advertisement information image. The image printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: 4. A system comprising a plurality of terminal devices for printing and selling photographic images and a terminal management device communicatively connected to each of the terminal devices, wherein each of the terminal devices performs printing by a customer. The image of the advertisement information is added to the designated photographic image and printed, and the information of the printing status is recorded, and the terminal management device is connected to each terminal device and communicates the information recorded in the terminal device. An image printing system for transmitting and outputting. 5. A print processing procedure for adding an advertisement information image to a photo image designated to be printed by a customer for printing, a recording procedure for recording print status information of the advertisement information image, and And an output procedure for reading and outputting the output information, and a print medium storing a print processing program for executing the output procedure. 6. A system comprising a plurality of terminal devices for printing and selling photographic images and a terminal management device communicatively connected to each of the terminal devices, wherein a first program used for each of the terminal devices and A recording medium recording a second program used in a terminal management device, wherein the first program is a print control procedure for adding an image of advertisement information to a photographic image designated to be printed by a customer and printing the image, A recording procedure for recording information on a printing status of the image of the advertisement information, wherein the second program is recorded in a communication procedure for communication connection with each of the terminal devices, and in a terminal device connected for communication. A transmission request procedure for requesting transmission of the information and an output procedure for outputting the received information are included.