JP2003173471A - Automatic photographing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a user to print a necessary number of frames at a price matching the number of frames and to allow a seller to print the designated frame number of images while gaining an advertisement fee without any loss. <P>SOLUTION: This photographing device is provided with a photographing means, a printing means printing a photographed image on print paper, and a control means controlling the photographing means and the printing means. The printing means capable of printing a plurality of image frames on a single sheet of the print paper is provided with a frame number inputting means for deciding the number of image frames to be printed on the single sheet of the print paper. The control means is provided with a frame number decision function for deciding the number of frames to be printed on the single sheet of the print paper, a print fee computing function for computing a fee according to the number of frames decided by the frame number decision function, and an information print processing function for printing various information in the empty frame position on the print paper if the number of frames to be printed is smaller than a maximum number of the frames. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an automatic photographing apparatus for automatically photographing an identification photograph or a composition photograph. 2. Description of the Related Art An automatic photographing apparatus of this type generally installed at a storefront such as a supermarket includes a self-standing box, an illuminator, a CCD camera as photographing means for photographing a user, and A printer as a printing means for printing an image taken by the CCD camera,
It is equipped with a control device for mainly controlling these CCD cameras and printers, captures an image of a user sitting at a predetermined position in the box with a CCD camera, and generates a certification photograph etc. according to adjusted printing conditions. Print processing is automatically performed by a printer. The above-described automatic photographing apparatus generally prints an image of a user on a single print sheet as a plurality of image frames, for example, four image frames. It is supposed to. [0004] However, the user does not always need all the image frames (four frames), and there is a problem that unnecessary image frames are wasted, and as a result, the user is not required. The impression that the image frame is printed will give the user the impression that the ID photo will be relatively expensive. [0005] On the other hand, even if the seller reduces the number of image frames to be printed on one print sheet, it is not easy to change the size of the print sheet by the number of frames due to the structure of the photographic apparatus. Is the same size. As a result, the photographing fee cannot be reduced just because the number of frames is reduced. [0006] The present invention has been developed in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and the purpose is to allow a user to print a required number of frames at a charge corresponding to the number of frames, while also enabling a seller to obtain commercial information. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic photographing apparatus capable of printing an image of a specified number of frames without reducing profit by reducing a printing fee by obtaining a publication fee, for example, an advertising fee. [0007] In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a photographing means for photographing a user and an image photographed by the photographing means are printed on print paper. A photographing device which comprises a printing means for processing, and a control means for controlling the photographing means and the printing means, wherein the user is photographed by the photographing means and the photographed image is printed by the printing means. A printing means for enabling a plurality of image frames to be printed on one print sheet, and a frame number input means for determining the number of image frames to be printed on one print sheet; Is a frame number determination function that determines the number of frames based on the input result of the input means, and a pre-calculation function that calculates a fee according to the frame number determined by the frame number determination function. And a print function for printing various kinds of information at a vacant frame position of the print paper when the number of frames to be printed is smaller than the maximum number of frames. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 schematically shows an automatic photographing apparatus which can be installed outdoors.
FIG. 3 is a view showing an operation portion of the automatic photographing device. The automatic photographing apparatus 1 is designed to enable a user to take a photograph mainly used for a passport, a license, or the like. Basically, a self-supporting box 2 formed in a box shape is used. The inside of the box 2 is partitioned by a partition plate 21, and a photographing room S1 is formed in one of the boxes 2 and a device storage room S2 is formed in the other. As shown in FIG. 1, a CCD camera 3 as a photographing means for photographing a user and a printing means as a printing means for printing an image photographed by the CCD camera 3 are provided in the equipment storage room S2. A color printer 4, a control device 5 serving as control means equipped with image processing software and the like, a color monitor 6 for displaying processing contents, and a half mirror for reflecting various information images displayed on the color monitor 6 7 is mounted. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the partition plate 21 is provided with a window 22 covered with transparent glass.
An upper illuminator 23 and a lower illuminator 24 are provided above and below, respectively. And on the upper part of the lower illuminator 24,
An operation unit 25 including a plurality of operation buttons 25a is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the partition plate 21 has
A fee collection unit 26 having a coin slot 26a and a bill slot 26b, a photo outlet 27 for taking out a finished photo, and a receipt outlet 28 for taking out a receipt.
Is provided. The box 2 is provided with an entrance for a user to enter and leave the photographing room S1, and the box 2 is provided with a doorway.
Is provided with a chair 29 for a user to sit on. Although not shown, a curtain is usually provided at the entrance. In the equipment storage room S2, in addition to the CCD camera 3, the color printer 4, the color monitor 6, and the control device 5, a receipt creation printer (not shown) for creating a receipt is provided. Control device 5
Is composed of a microcomputer, and the color printer 4 is a full digital thermal sublimation type. The automatic photographing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment displays various information on the window 22 through the half mirror 7 by the color monitor 6 and, in the photographing room S1 of the box 2, operates the operation unit described later by the user. 25 operation buttons 25a
, The user sitting on the chair 29 is automatically photographed by the CCD camera 3 and printed by the color printer 4. In the above-described automatic photographing apparatus, in the present embodiment, the color printer 4 as the printing means is
A plurality of image frames can be printed on one print sheet P, and a frame number input means for determining the number of image frames to be printed on one print sheet P to be printed by a user is provided. ing. In this embodiment, the printing paper P is
Although the thermal paper is used, it can be changed according to the configuration of the printing means such as a photosensitive material such as photographic paper, paper for an ink jet printer, and the like. In the present embodiment, the number-of-frames input means is constituted by an operation unit 25 provided on the partition plate 21, and is used to determine the number of frames to be printed on one print sheet P on the color monitor 6. The image is displayed and the operation unit 25 is displayed.
The number of frames to be printed on one print sheet P is selected and determined by the above operation. In particular,
The user can select a desired number of frames from one to four. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a print type determining function 51, a frame number determining function 52, a print charge calculating function 53, an information print processing function 54
And an image print processing function 55. The print type determination function 51 instructs the color monitor 6 to display the type of print, for example, for a passport, for a car license, for a resume, etc., on the color monitor 6. When a desired print type is selected by an input operation, the type of print to be subjected to print processing is determined. The frame number determination function 52 instructs the color monitor 6 to display the maximum number of frames that can be displayed on print paper based on the determination result of the print type determination function 51. By selecting the desired number of frames, the number of frames of an image to be displayed on one print sheet P is determined. A print charge calculation function 53 calculates a print charge corresponding to the number of frames to be printed based on the result of the determination by the frame number determination function 52, and instructs the calculated print charge to be displayed on the color monitor 6. It has become. The method of calculating the print fee is as follows.
The maximum number of image frames to be printed on one print sheet P is four, the print fee for printing four frames is 600 yen, and a discount of 50 yen per frame is made for each reduction of one frame. Then, the print fee is calculated. Therefore, when the user selects four frames, the fee is 600 yen, when three frames are selected, 550 yen, when two frames are selected, 500 yen, and when one frame is selected, 45 yen.
It will be 0 yen. Here, the discounted amount can be supplemented as a profit by printing an advertisement and obtaining an advertisement fee from an advertiser. In the calculation of the fee, the discount may be made in proportion to the number of frames not to be printed as described above, or a discount of 50 yen for three prints and a discount of 80 yen for two prints. A discount amount according to the number of frames to be printed may be set, such as a discount of 100 yen for one frame print. The information print processing function 54, based on the number of frames determined by the number-of-frames determining function 52, when the number of print frames is less than the maximum number of print frames, puts various information such as a commercial advertisement in a vacant frame position. The color printer 4 is instructed to print. As for the contents of the commercial advertisement, a plurality of advertisements are recorded in the information print processing function 54 in advance, and priorities for advertisement are set according to the number of frames to be printed.
An instruction is issued to print an advertisement at a vacant frame position according to the priority order according to the selected number of frames. [0029] Commercial advertisements may be provided not only with advertisements but also with special benefits such as discount coupons. Further, when information of a plurality of advertisements is accumulated, the order in which the advertisements are to be posted may not only be set in the order of priority as described above, but may also be set at random. Depending on the type of print, for example, when printing a resume photo ID photo, place an advertisement for recruitment, and when printing a passport size ID photo, post a travel discount coupon. You may. When the priorities are set, it is preferable to periodically change the priorities. The image print processing function 55 is configured to instruct the color printer 4 to print the determined number of image frames according to the selected print type. As described above, in the present embodiment, the image and the advertisement of the number of frames selected by the user are stored in the control device 5.
Are printed on the print paper P via the respective functions 51 to 55. In the automatic photographing apparatus having the above configuration, when photographing the ID photograph, first, as shown in FIG. 4, the photograph is displayed on the screen of the color monitor 6 based on the print type determining function 51. When the user selects a desired one from among several print types, the print type is determined based on the print type determination function 51 (step 1). Next, a screen for selecting the number of frames of the image to be printed is displayed on the color monitor 6 based on the number-of-frames determining function 52, and when the user selects the required number of frames by operating the operation unit 25, The number of frames is determined (step 2). Then, based on the determination result of the frame number determination function 52, the print charge calculation function 53 calculates a print charge corresponding to the number of frames to be printed, and displays the calculated print charge on the color monitor 6 ( Step 3). When the user pays the fee displayed on the color monitor 6 from the fee collection unit 26 (step 4), C
Photographing is performed by the CD camera 3 (step 5). Further, if the number of frames determined based on the frame number determination function 52 is less than the maximum number of print frames, a commercial advertisement or the like is placed on a vacant frame position based on the information print processing function 54. Is output from the control device 5 to the color printer 4 so as to print the various information. Then, based on the image print processing function 55, the image taken by the CCD camera 3 in the selected print type is printed on the print paper P by the color printer 4 by the determined number of frames. If the number of image frames is less than four, the advertisement is printed in accordance with the priority order at the vacant frame position based on the frame number determination function 52 as shown in FIG. It is discharged to the outlet 27 (step 6). Thus, according to the automatic photographing apparatus described above, the color printer 4 can print a plurality of image frames on one print sheet P. The number of frames of an image to be printed on one print sheet P is input, the number of frames to be printed is determined by each of the functions 51 to 55 of the control device 5, and a fee is set according to the determined number of frames. If the number of frames to be printed is smaller than the maximum number of frames, the user controls the required number of frames by printing various types of information at vacant frame positions on the print paper P. Can be printed at a price appropriate for the seller, and the seller can also reduce the printing fee by obtaining a commercial information publication fee, for example, an advertising fee, and specify it without losing profit. Number of frames of images can be printed. In the above embodiment, CC is used as the photographing means.
Although the D camera 3 is used and the color printer 4 is used as the printing means, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a monochrome printer may be used as the printing means. As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the printing means enables a plurality of image frames to be printed on one print sheet, while the printing means prints on a single print sheet. A frame number input unit for determining the number of image frames to be printed is provided, and the control unit determines a frame number based on an input result of the input unit and a frame number determination function. A print fee setting function that sets the fee according to the number of frames, and an information print processing function that prints various information at empty frame positions on the print paper when the number of frames printed is less than the maximum number of frames With this configuration, the user can print the required number of frames at a rate appropriate for the number of frames, while the seller also obtains a commercial information publication fee, for example, an advertising fee. As a result, the print fee can be reduced, and the image of the designated number of frames can be printed without losing the profit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing an embodiment of an automatic photographing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view showing a partition plate of the automatic photographic apparatus of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a control system of the automatic photographing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the automatic photographing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an example of a photograph printed by the automatic photographing apparatus of the present invention. [Description of Signs] 1 Automatic photographing device 25 Operation unit (input means) 3 CCD camera (photographing means) 4 Color printer (printing means) 5 Control device (control means) 52 Frame number determination function 53 Print charge calculation function 54 Information Print processing function

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A photographing means for photographing a user, a printing means for printing an image photographed by the photographing means on a print sheet, and controlling these photographing means and printing means. Control means for photographing a user by the photographing means and printing the photographed image by the printing means, wherein the printing means prints a plurality of image frames on one print sheet. On the other hand, frame number input means for determining the number of image frames to be printed on one print sheet is provided, and the control means determines the number of frames based on the input result of the input means. Determination function, a print fee calculation function that calculates the fee according to the number of frames determined by the frame number determination function, and the number of frames printed less than the maximum number of frames. An automatic photographing apparatus having an information print processing function of printing various information at a vacant frame position of a print sheet when there is no print paper.