JP2003187325A - Automatic photographing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic photographing device enabling a user to effectively utilize waiting time for print processing. <P>SOLUTION: The photographing device is provided with a photographing means for photographing the user, a print means for printing an image on a print paper sheet and a control means for controlling the photographing means and the print means. The user is photographed with the photographing means and the photographed image is printed with the print means. The photographing device is provided with an information reporting means for providing the user with services of information during the print processing with the print means and an information reporting function controlling the information reporting means so as to report the information to the user with the information reporting means during the print processing by using the print means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention mainly relates to an automatic photographic device for automatically taking a photograph for identification and a photograph for composition.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an automatic photographing apparatus of this kind, which is installed at a storefront such as a supermarket, has a self-standing box, an illuminator, a CCD camera as a photographing means for photographing a user, and this CCD camera. A printer as a printing means for printing the image taken in 1. and a control device for mainly controlling the CCD camera and the printer are mounted, and the image of the user sitting at a predetermined position in the box is CCD. The printer automatically prints the ID photo and the like according to the print conditions adjusted by the camera.

[0003]

By the way, in the above-mentioned automatic photographing device, when the photographing by the CCD camera is finished and the printing process is started, it takes a predetermined time until the printing process is finished.

The user has to wait until the photo is finished inside or outside the box of the automatic picture taking device until the printing process is completed. Since it is installed in a high-traffic place such as a street or a concourse at a train station, there is a problem that users feel anxious about waiting time longer than necessary.

The present invention has been developed in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic photography apparatus which enables a user to effectively use the waiting time of the printing process. is there.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a photographing means for photographing a user, a printing means for printing an image on a printing paper, In a photographic device having a photographing means and a control means for controlling the printing means, the user photographing the user with the photographing means and printing the photographed image with the printing means, during the printing process by the printing means. An information notifying unit for providing information services to the user, and an information notifying function for controlling the information notifying unit to notify the user of the information by the information notifying unit during the printing process by the printing unit. It has a structure.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the automatic photography apparatus according to the first aspect, the information notifying means is constituted by a display means for displaying an image or character data.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the automatic photography apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the control means has a print type determining function that enables selection of a print type, and an information notifying function. The information notifying function is configured to control the information notifying unit so as to notify information related to the print type determined based on the print type determining function.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 schematically shows an automatic photography apparatus that can be installed outdoors.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an operating portion of the automatic photography device.

This automatic photograph taking apparatus 1 is designed to allow a user to take photographs mainly used for passports, licenses, etc. Basically, a self-standing box 2 formed in a box shape is used. The inside of the box 2 is partitioned by a partition plate 21, and an imaging room S1 is formed on one side of the box 2 and an equipment storage room S2 is formed on the other side.

In the equipment storage room S2, as shown in FIG. 1, a CCD camera 3 as a photographing means for photographing the user and a printing means for printing the image photographed by the CCD camera 3 are provided. A color printer 4, a control device 5 serving as control means having image processing software, a color monitor 6 for displaying processing contents, and a half mirror for reflecting various information images displayed on the color monitor 6. 7 and are installed.

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 it. And above the lower illuminator 24,
An operation unit 25 including a plurality of operation buttons 25a is provided.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A charge collection unit 26 having a coin slot 26a and a bill slot 26b, a photo outlet 27 for taking out a finished photograph, and a receipt outlet 28 for taking out a receipt.
Is provided.

The box 2 is provided with an entrance / exit for the user to enter and exit the photographing room S1.
A chair 29 for a user to sit in is provided inside. Although not shown, a curtain is usually provided at the entrance / exit portion.

In addition to the CCD camera 3, the color printer 4, the color monitor 6, and the control device 5 described above, the equipment storage chamber S2 is provided with a receipt preparation printer (not shown) for preparing a receipt. And control device 5
Is a microcomputer, and the color printer 4 is a full digital thermal sublimation type.

The automatic photography apparatus 1 of the present embodiment displays characters, images and the like on the window 22 through the half mirror 7 by the color monitor 6 and, on the other hand, in the photography room S1 of the box 2, the user will describe later. Operation button 2 of operation unit 25
By appropriately operating 5a, a user sitting on the chair 29 is automatically photographed by the CCD camera 3 and the color printer 4 prints it.

In this embodiment, the color printer 4, which is a printing means, can print a plurality of image frames on one print sheet. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the thermal paper is used as the printing paper, but it can be used in various ways depending on the configuration of the printing means, such as a photosensitive material such as printing paper, paper for an inkjet printer, or the like.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3, a print type determining function 51 and a print charge calculating function 52 are provided on the program of the microcomputer constituting the control device 5.
The photographing processing function 53 and the printing processing function 54 are constructed so that the automatic photographing apparatus 1 can perform the printing processing.

The print type determination function 51 instructs the color monitor 6 to display the type of print, for example, for passport, for automobile license, for resume, on the operation unit 25 by the user. A desired print type is selected by an input operation, thereby determining the print type to be printed.

The print charge calculation function 52 calculates a print charge according to the type of print and instructs the color monitor 6 to display the calculated print charge.

The photographing processing function 53 instructs the CCD camera 3 to photograph in order to photograph the user with the CCD camera 3.

The print processing function 54 instructs the color printer 4 to print an image with a pattern of the selected print type.

As described above, in the present embodiment, printing is performed on the printing paper through the respective functions 51 to 54 of the control device 5 according to the type of printing selected by the user.

In the present embodiment, the information notifying means 6 for providing the information service to the user during the print processing by the color printer 4 is provided, and the user is notified during the print processing by the color printer 4. An information notifying function 55 for controlling the information notifying means 6 so as to notify information is built in the control device 5.

Notifying the user of information during the printing process means various information to the user, such as part-time job information, overseas travel information, and introductory information of a driving school, etc. until the photograph is finished after the photographing is finished. Is provided by the information notifying means 6.

In the present embodiment, the information notifying means 6 is composed of a color monitor 6 which is a display means for displaying an operation procedure for print processing in the form of an image or character data. , Information composed of moving images is displayed.

The information notifying means 6 is not limited to the color monitor 6 for displaying the operating procedure for the print processing, but a monitor for displaying service information may be provided separately from the color monitor 6. Good
A speaker for providing information service by voice may be provided. Further, the information service may be provided by the image and the sound.

Further, the information notifying function 55 built in the control device 5 controls the color monitor 6 so as to notify the user of the information by the color monitor 6 during the printing process by the color printer 4.

Specifically, the information notifying function 55 displays the color monitor 6 with information related to the print type determined based on the print type determining function 51 similarly built in the control device 5. It controls the monitor 6.

The information relating to the print type determined based on the print type determining function 51 is information relating to the use of the print type selected by the user. That is, information related to the use of the print type selected by the user, such as part-time job information when the print type is selected as the ID photo size for resume and overseas travel information when the passport size is selected. This is because overseas safety information is often needed or needed by users.

The information displayed on the color monitor 6 is not limited to the information provided to the user, but may be a questionnaire, and the market research information can be obtained by taking the questionnaire to the user.

The service information is recorded and stored in the recording unit 56 of the control device 5 in advance, and the information can be input to the recording unit 56 from a recording medium such as a flexible disk. This is done by inputting by remote communication means.

Then, the information recorded and stored in the recording unit 56 is associated with the print type selected by the user, and the information is displayed on the color monitor 6 for each print type.

As a method of providing service information, information related to the type of print is provided. However, regardless of the type of print, the user can arbitrarily select from among a plurality of service information. You may choose.

In the automatic photograph taking apparatus having the above construction, when taking an identification photograph, first, as shown in FIG. 4, among several kinds of prints displayed on the screen of the color monitor 6. When the user selects a desired one, the print type is determined based on the print type determining function 51 (step 1).

Next, by the print charge calculation function 52,
The print fee according to the type of printing is calculated, and the calculated print fee is displayed on the color monitor 6 (step 2).

When the user pays the fee displayed on the color monitor 6 from the fee collection section 26 (step 3), the CCD camera 3 takes an image by the image pickup processing function 53 (step 4).

Then, with the determined print type, the image taken by the CCD camera 3 by the print processing function 54 starts to be printed on the print paper by the color printer 4 (step 5).

When the printing process is started by the color printer 4, the color monitor 6 displays information related to the type of print selected by the user (step 6).

When the printing process is completed (step 7), the finished photograph is discharged to the photo outlet 27, and the information display by the color monitor 6 is also completed (step 8).

Thus, according to the above-mentioned automatic photographing device, the color monitor 6 for providing the information service to the user during the printing process by the color printer 4.
Since the control device 5 is provided with the information notification function 55 that drives and controls the color monitor 6 so as to notify the user of the information service during the printing process by the color printer 4, The user is not bored during the waiting time, the added value is added to the automatic photography device 1, and the automatic photography device 1 is added.
You can improve the attractiveness of itself.

Further, when the information to be serviced is a commercial advertisement, the photography seller can make a profit as an advertisement fee, so that the price of the certification photograph can be set low.

In addition to providing information, by taking a questionnaire to the user, it is possible to analyze the results of the questionnaire and provide the user with new information that the user needs.

Further, since the information notifying means 6 is constituted by the color monitor 6 which is a display means for displaying the image and character data, the user can surely obtain the information visually. Since the information service can be provided by the color monitor 6 in the same posture as that after the photographing process of the photograph, the mental burden is small.

Further, the control device 5 is provided with a print type determining function 51 for selecting the print type and an information notifying function 55, and the information notifying function 55 is determined based on the print type determining function 51. Since the information notifying unit is controlled so as to notify the information related to the type of print, the information required by the user can be provided.

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 unit, the present invention is not limited to this, and a monochrome printer may be used as the printing unit, for example.

Further, in the above embodiments, the automatic photo-taking device dedicated to the ID photo-taking has been described. However, the automatic photo-taking device capable of reading the image recorded on the image recording medium such as the flexible disk and printing the image. The present invention can also be applied to a photographing device.

[0048]

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, during the print processing by the print means, the information notifying means for providing the information service to the user and the print processing by the print means are in progress. In addition, since the information notifying means is provided with the information notifying function for controlling the information notifying means so as to notify the user of the information, the user is not bored during the waiting time until the completion of the ID photograph. , Add value to the automatic photography device and improve the attractiveness of the automatic photography device itself.

Further, when the information to be served is a commercial advertisement, the photography seller can make a profit as an advertisement fee, so that the price of the ID photograph can be set low.

The invention described in claim 2 is the same as claim 1
In the automatic photography device described in, the information notification means,
Since the display means for displaying the image and the character data is used, the user can surely obtain the information visually.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the automatic photograph taking apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the control means has a print type determination function that enables selection of the print type, and an information notification function. In addition, since the information notification function is configured to control the information notification means so as to notify the information related to the print type determined based on the print type determination function, the user needs Information can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing an embodiment of an automatic photography apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a partition plate of the automatic photography apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a control system of an automatic photography apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the automatic photographing apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Automatic photography device 3 CCD camera (photographing means) 30 color monitor (information notification means) 4 color printer (printing means) 5 Control device (control means) 54 Print processing function 55 Information notification function

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A photographing means for photographing a user, a printing means for printing an image on a print sheet, and a control means for controlling the photographing means and the printing means. In a photographic device for photographing with a photographing means and printing the photographed image with a printing means, an information notifying means for providing information service to a user during a printing process by the printing means, and a printing means An automatic photography apparatus having an information notifying function for controlling the information notifying means so as to notify the user of the information during the printing process by the user. 2. The automatic photograph taking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information notifying means is constituted by a display means for displaying an image or character data. 3. The control means is provided with a print type determining function for making it possible to select a print type and an information notifying function, and the information notifying function sets the print type determined based on the print type determining function. The automatic photography apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the information notifying unit is controlled to notify relevant information.