JP2005212270A - Image processor, image recording device, and image recording system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor which prevents ink shortage during image recording, stabilizes the quality of a printed product, and ensures good productivity, and to provide an image recording device, and an efficient image recording system. <P>SOLUTION: The image processor 7 is formed of a reception control means 70 for receiving image information, an image information storing means 79 for storing therein the image information, an image information control means 73 for controlling the contents of the image information storing means 79, a processing means 74 for converting the image information into data, a data storing means 80 for storing therein the data, a data control means 75 for controlling the contents of the data storing means 80, and a display and input means 71 for displaying jobs in a list and inputting instructions for respective processing items. The processing means 74 arithmetically operates the number of ink dots from the data obtained from arithmetic operation, and carries out simulation calculation for calculating the amount of ink consumption from the number of ink dots. Further the display and input means 71 displays a result of the calculation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image recording apparatus, and an image recording system, and more particularly to an image processing apparatus capable of appropriately performing ink management in order to stabilize product quality and maintain productivity. The present invention relates to an apparatus and an image recording system.

  In recent years, in the field of image recording on a recording medium using an image recording apparatus provided with a recording apparatus such as an ink jet printer and an image processing apparatus for controlling the recording apparatus, image information is transmitted from an external image information transmitting apparatus via a network. Development of an image processing apparatus, an image recording apparatus, or an image recording system for performing an image recording job in which the image processing apparatus receives the image information and records an image corresponding to the image information on a recording medium. It is out.

  For example, in order to avoid the complexity of transmitting image information for each image recording job, a plurality of pieces of image information used for the image job received by the image processing apparatus and stored in the storage unit are combined with the image information recorded by the recording apparatus. An image processing apparatus (see Patent Document 1) has been developed that includes display means for displaying a list of unrecorded image information in an identifiable state.

In particular, when such an image recording system is used for textile printing or the like, the arithmetic processing for converting the image information transmitted from the image information transmitting apparatus into dot image data that can be recorded on the recording medium is completed. In general, it takes a relatively long time. Therefore, instead of converting the image information into data for each image recording job, the data generated by the conversion is temporarily stored in the storage means, the data is read according to the user's instruction, and the image is recorded. Various image recording apparatuses and the like that store data in a storage means have been developed (see, for example, Patent Documents 2 and 3).
Japanese Patent No. 29984297 Japanese Patent No. 3092264 Japanese Patent No. 3392127

  However, in particular for textile printing, it is not uncommon to perform image recording with a length of several tens of meters or several hundreds of meters in one image recording job while splicing 2 to 30 meters of fabric. For this reason, the amount of ink used per image recording job is relatively large. However, in conventional image recording apparatuses, ink runs out during image recording, resulting in recording failure, or replacement of ink packs or the like. However, since the image quality of the images before and after the exchange is slightly different and image quality unevenness occurs, there is a problem that it is not always easy to stabilize the product quality.

  In addition, if the recording device such as an ink jet printer is temporarily stopped for the replacement of the ink pack, or if the image recording is performed by extending one portion that has become unusable due to recording failure or image quality unevenness, only that much is recorded. The image recording takes extra time and productivity is lowered. When viewed as the entire image recording system, the extra time required for each image recording job is accumulated, and the processing of the image recording jobs sequentially transmitted from the image information transmitting apparatus is delayed throughout the system. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to construct an efficient system.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus and an image recording apparatus that can appropriately perform ink management to prevent ink from running out during image recording, stabilize product quality, and maintain productivity. Is to provide a device. Another object of the present invention is to provide an efficient image recording system using them.

In order to solve the above problem, an image processing apparatus according to claim 1 is provided.
Receiving management means for receiving image information corresponding to an image to be used for an image recording job to a recording medium;
Image information storage means for storing the received image information for each image recording job;
Image information management means for managing the contents of the image information storage means;
Arithmetic processing means for performing arithmetic processing on the image information and converting the data into data recordable on the recording medium;
Data storage means for storing the data for each image recording job;
Data management means for managing the contents of the data storage means;
Display input means for displaying a list of the contents of the image recording job and inputting a processing instruction for each image recording job;
The arithmetic processing means is configured to calculate a number of ink dots from the converted data, and to perform a simulation calculation for calculating an ink usage amount from the number of ink dots,
In addition, the display input unit is configured to display a result of the simulation calculation of the ink usage amount.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the arithmetic processing means of the image processing device calculates the number of ink dots from the data obtained by the arithmetic processing of the image information in accordance with an instruction from the operator of the image processing device, and this ink The amount of ink used for the image recording job is calculated from the number of dots by simulation calculation. The result of the simulation calculation is displayed on the display input means of the image processing apparatus. Therefore, the operator can grasp the ink amount used for the image recording job before starting the image recording by looking at the display input means.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the display input unit is configured to display a simulation calculation result of the ink usage amount for each color of the ink. It is characterized by being.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the arithmetic processing means of the image processing device calculates the number of ink dots from the data obtained by the arithmetic processing of the image information in accordance with an instruction from the operator of the image processing device, and this ink From the number of dots, the ink amount used for the image recording job is calculated for each ink color by simulation calculation. The result of simulation calculation for each ink color is displayed on the display input means of the image processing apparatus. Therefore, the operator can grasp the ink amount used for the image recording job for each ink color before starting the image recording by looking at the display input means.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the result of the simulation calculation of the ink usage amount is an ink usage amount per unit area of the recording medium, the recording medium The ink usage amount per unit length or the ink usage amount for the entire image recording job is displayed.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the result of the simulation calculation of the ink use amount indicates that the ink use amount per unit area or unit length of the cloth that is the recording medium, or until one image recording job is completed. It is converted into the amount of ink used for the image and displayed on the display input means of the image processing apparatus.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the display input unit performs the simulation of the ink usage amount during the image recording job. An amount of ink consumed by cleaning and flushing is added and displayed.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the ink use amount obtained by adding the result of the simulation calculation of the ink use amount and the ink amount consumed in the cleaning and flushing performed during the image recording job is displayed on the image processing apparatus. Displayed on the input means.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the display input unit can input an instruction to perform a simulation calculation of the ink usage amount. It is characterized by.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the operator of the image processing apparatus can input the instruction to perform the simulation calculation of the ink use amount as described above from the display input unit, and does not input the instruction. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the simulation calculation from being performed.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the result of the simulation calculation of the ink usage amount is the data that can be recorded on the recording medium. Separately, it is configured to be stored in the data storage means.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, the dot image data that can be recorded on the recording medium obtained by converting the image information by the arithmetic processing means of the image processing apparatus, and the data obtained by the arithmetic processing of the arithmetic processing means. Then, the numerical value data of the ink usage calculated by calculating the number of ink dots from the ink and simulating from the number of ink dots is separately stored in the data storage means.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, an image recording apparatus includes the image processing apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects and a recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium. Features.

  According to the seventh aspect of the invention, the operator of the image recording apparatus inputs an instruction to perform a simulation calculation of the ink usage amount from the display input unit of the image processing apparatus as necessary, and based on the instruction, the operator of the image processing apparatus Let the arithmetic processing unit calculate the number of ink dots from the data obtained by the image information calculation processing, let the amount of ink used for the image recording job be calculated from the number of ink dots by simulation calculation, and display the result Display on the means. Accordingly, an appropriate amount of ink is prepared in advance, and an image is recorded on the recording medium by the recording device.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus according to the seventh aspect, the recording apparatus is an ink jet printer having a head for ejecting ink.

  According to the eighth aspect of the invention, in addition to the recording medium such as the cloth, it is possible to perform image recording on various recording media that are usually difficult to record by other image recording methods.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus according to the eighth aspect, the display input means of the image processing apparatus is configured to display the presence or absence of ink for each of the heads of the inkjet printer. It is characterized by being.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, since the presence / absence of ink for each head of the ink jet printer is displayed on the display input means of the image processing apparatus, the operator of the image recording apparatus determines the replacement timing of the ink pack, etc. it can.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in an image recording system, the image recording apparatus according to any one of the seventh to ninth aspects, an image information transmitting apparatus for transmitting the image information, and the image An information terminal for monitoring the production status of the recording apparatus is connected to a network.

  According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to transmit image information from the image information transmitting apparatus to the image recording apparatus via the network, and it is possible to perform image recording as a system. In addition, the client of the image information transmitting apparatus can monitor the production status of the image recording job in the image recording apparatus at the information terminal connected to the image recording apparatus via the network.

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the image recording system according to the tenth aspect, the information terminal displays a simulation calculation result of the ink usage amount displayed on the display input unit of the image processing apparatus. It is comprised so that it may be comprised.

  According to the eleventh aspect of the invention, the client of the image information transmitting apparatus that requests image recording can grasp the simulation result of the ink usage amount by looking at the display means of the information terminal.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the arithmetic processing means of the image processing device calculates the number of ink dots from the data obtained by the arithmetic processing of the image information in accordance with an instruction from the operator of the image processing device, and this ink The amount of ink used for the image recording job is calculated from the number of dots of the image by simulation calculation, and the result of the simulation calculation is displayed on the display input means of the image processing apparatus, so the operator looks at the display input means Thus, the amount of ink used for the image recording job can be grasped before the image recording is started. This makes it possible to properly determine the amount of ink required for an image recording job in advance and prepare an appropriate amount of ink in advance. It is possible to reliably prevent a situation in which the image quality before and after the ink pack replacement slightly changes and the image quality unevenness is generated, and the product quality can be stabilized. Further, it is not necessary to replace the ink pack or to perform image recording by extending one portion that is no longer used, so that productivity can be maintained and improved.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the arithmetic processing means of the image processing device calculates the number of ink dots from the data obtained by the arithmetic processing of the image information in accordance with an instruction from the operator of the image processing device, and this ink The amount of ink used for an image recording job is calculated from the number of dots for each ink color by simulation calculation, and the result of simulation calculation for each ink color is displayed on the display input means of the image processing apparatus. The operator can grasp the ink amount used for the image recording job for each ink color before starting the image recording by looking at the display input means. Therefore, the operator can accurately grasp the amount of ink consumed for each color, and appropriate ink management can be performed. For this reason, it is possible to more reliably prevent ink shortage during image recording.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the result of the simulation calculation of the ink use amount indicates that the ink use amount per unit area or unit length of the cloth that is the recording medium, or until one image recording job is completed. The amount of ink used for the image processing apparatus is displayed on the display input means of the image processing apparatus, so that the operator of the image processing apparatus can easily and directly grasp the amount of ink used for the image recording job. This makes it possible to perform ink management appropriately. For this reason, it is possible to more reliably prevent ink shortage during image recording.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, according to the invention described in claim 4, the result of the simulation calculation of the ink use amount and the ink amount consumed by the cleaning and flushing performed during the image recording job are added. Since the amount of ink used is displayed on the display input means of the image processing apparatus, the operator of the image processing apparatus can easily and more accurately grasp the amount of ink used for the image recording job. Ink management can be performed. For this reason, it is possible to more reliably prevent ink shortage during image recording.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the operator of the image processing apparatus can input the instruction to perform the simulation calculation of the ink use amount as described above from the display input unit, and does not input the instruction. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately select whether or not to perform the simulation calculation of the ink use amount based on own judgment, and it is possible to appropriately perform ink management. In addition, by performing simulation calculation only for image recording jobs that need simulation, it is possible to prevent the calculation time from becoming unnecessarily long, and the processing of image recording jobs can be performed smoothly and efficiently. It becomes possible.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, the dot image data that can be recorded on the recording medium obtained by converting the image information by the arithmetic processing means of the image processing apparatus, and the data obtained by the arithmetic processing of the arithmetic processing means. Since the numerical data of the ink usage calculated by calculating the number of dots from the ink and calculating from the number of dots of ink is stored separately in the data storage means, the result of the simulation calculation of a certain image recording job is required. In this case, it is not necessary to recalculate the image information, and the image recording job can be processed smoothly and efficiently.

  According to the seventh aspect of the invention, the operator of the image recording apparatus inputs an instruction to perform a simulation calculation of the ink usage amount from the display input unit of the image processing apparatus as necessary, and based on the instruction, the operator of the image processing apparatus The arithmetic processing unit calculates the number of ink dots from the data obtained by the calculation processing of the image information, calculates the ink amount used for the image recording job from the number of ink dots by simulation calculation, and displays the result as display input means To display. Accordingly, an image can be recorded on the recording medium by the recording apparatus by preparing an appropriate amount of ink in advance. For this reason, it is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of recording defects due to the loss of ink in the middle of image recording, or the occurrence of subtle variations in image quality before and after the ink pack replacement, and to stabilize product quality. Can do. Further, it is not necessary to replace the ink pack or to perform image recording by extending one portion that is no longer used, so that productivity can be maintained and improved.

  According to the eighth aspect of the invention, in addition to the recording medium such as the cloth, it is possible to perform image recording on various recording media that are difficult to record by other image recording methods. Can be applied to image recording on various recording media.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the presence / absence of ink for each head of the ink jet printer is displayed on the display input means of the image processing apparatus, and the operator of the image recording apparatus can accurately determine the replacement timing of the ink pack. Therefore, ink management can be performed more appropriately.

  According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to transmit image information from the image information transmitting apparatus to the image recording apparatus via the network, and it is possible to perform image recording as a system. In addition, since the client of the image information transmitting apparatus can monitor the production status of the image recording job in the image recording apparatus at the information terminal connected to the image recording apparatus via the network, the client wants to perform image recording. An image recording apparatus can be selected as appropriate, and the image recording apparatus can perform image recording without causing ink shortage during image recording by performing a simulation calculation of the ink usage of the transmitted image recording job. it can. Therefore, when viewed as an entire image recording system, the image recording apparatus appropriately copes with image recording jobs transmitted one after another from the image information transmitting apparatus without causing recording failure, image quality irregularity, image recording delay, etc. As a result, it becomes a very efficient image recording system.

  According to the eleventh aspect of the invention, the client of the image information transmitting apparatus that requests image recording can grasp the simulation result of the ink usage amount by looking at the information terminal. The cost of can be calculated.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the image processing apparatus, the image recording apparatus, and the image recording system of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  First, the configuration of an image recording system in which the image processing apparatus and the image recording apparatus of the present embodiment are used will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an image recording system including an image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. An image recording system 1 according to this embodiment includes an image information transmitting device 3 that transmits image information corresponding to an image to be recorded on a recording medium A to a network 2 such as a LAN or the Internet, and an information terminal 4 that monitors the production status. And an image recording device 5 for receiving image information from the image information transmitting device 3 and recording an image on the recording medium A, etc., are connected. Further, the image recording device 5 receives the image information transmitted from the recording device 6 and the image information transmitting device 3 via the network 2, and records the image on the recording medium A based on the image information. 6 is provided.

  In the present embodiment, a case where a serial head type ink jet printer is used as the recording device 6 and an image is printed on the recording medium A such as a fabric is shown. In this specification, as shown in FIG. 2, it is recorded on the recording medium A [see FIG. 2A], or the display means 32 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3, the display input means 71 of the image processing apparatus 7, etc. The direction of the image [see FIG. 2B] and the direction with respect to the image shown in FIG. 2 are referred to as the main scanning direction or horizontal direction, and the direction of arrow Y as the sub-scanning direction or vertical direction.

  Next, the configuration of the image information transmission device 3 of the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image information transmitting apparatus of this embodiment. As the image information transmitting device 3, for example, a computer in which necessary image editing software is installed is used. However, the image information transmitting device 3 may be configured as a device including a dedicated CPU.

  The input means 30 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3 is configured to read image information corresponding to an image to be used for an image recording job to the recording medium A. Specifically, the input unit 30 is a drive or an image reading device of an information recording medium such as MO, CD-R, or DVD-R, and RGB data is transferred from the information recording medium to a format file such as TIFF, BMP, or JPEG. The image information written in the color space such as the index color, YMCK, and Lab can be read. In addition to this, as a method of inputting image information to the input means 30, for example, image information created by another computer is taken in via a network or directly, or is created directly on the image information transmitting apparatus 3. It is also possible to configure.

  In the present embodiment, an image editing unit 31 is connected to the input unit 30, and a display unit 32 such as a monitor is connected to the image editing unit 31. The image editing unit 31 can edit the image information so as to form an image used for an image recording job in the image recording apparatus 5 while viewing an image corresponding to the image information displayed on the display unit 32. Specifically, the image editing unit 31 is configured to be able to execute various image editing functions such as repeated image creation and pasting, automatic placement, and repetition. These functions are functions for making a pattern specific to textile printing, but other functions can be provided as necessary.

  First, the repeated image creation function is a function for editing image information so that images based on the image information are consistent even if they are arranged in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. In the case where there is no semicircular pattern on the corresponding opposite end side despite being cut in a semicircular shape, the image editing means 31 displays the corresponding semicircular pattern on the opposite end. Is configured to generate.

  The pasting function is a function for editing image information so that a maximum of two images are arranged and recorded on the recording medium A. Mainly, sample recording is performed on the recording medium A by adjusting the color of the image. The purpose is to determine the arrangement to do. Specifically, the pasting function, for example, records the images P and Q on the image information and the image Q corresponding to the image P in order to record the images P and Q on the recording medium A in a specific arrangement as shown in FIG. 4 is a function for editing the corresponding image information. As shown in FIG. 4B, the two image information are selected, and the colors of the images P and Q on the screen of the display means 32 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3 are selected. When the adjustment is performed and the arrangement of both images is determined, the image information for one image block and the images P, Q and the image information corresponding to the image block B, which is the smallest rectangular area including the images P, Q, and The layout information including the arrangement information and the like is created. In the present embodiment, the case where a maximum of two images are arranged has been shown, but it is also possible to configure to paste three or more images.

  The automatic arrangement function is a function for selecting up to eight images and automatically arranging them according to the width of the recording medium A, and is mainly intended to create a color arrangement sample. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the automatic arrangement function records eight pieces of image information corresponding to the images P1 to P8 in order to record the images P1 to P8 on the recording medium A in a parallel arrangement. When eight pieces of image information are selected, illustrations are omitted, but images P1 to P8 corresponding to the eight pieces of image information are displayed on the screen of the display unit 32 of the image information transmitting device 3. The images are automatically displayed in parallel, and the arrangement is changed so that all color samples fit within the cloth width according to the size, number, and cloth width of the image. The layout information for one image block including the arrangement information of each image P1 to P8 in the image block B (see FIG. 5) which is the smallest rectangular area including P1 to P8 is created. Yes. In the present embodiment, it is also possible to automatically display so-called different color arrangement images P2 to P8 that differ from the image P1 corresponding to one piece of image information together with the image P1. For the sake of convenience, FIG. 5 shows the case where the images P1 to P8 have the same dimensions. However, the images having different dimensions are automatically arranged as they are, or the images having different dimensions have the same vertical and horizontal lengths. It is also possible to configure so as to convert and automatically arrange them. In the present embodiment, in the field of textile printing, there are many cases in which a color sample of about 8 colors is usually created at most. Therefore, a case where up to 8 images are selected has been shown. It is also possible to configure the arrangement.

  The repeat function is a function for selecting a maximum of two images and repeatedly arranging them in the vertical or horizontal direction or repeating them in a zigzag pattern. It is configured to allow repetitions shifted by 1/3. Specifically, in the case where the images P and Q are repeated on the recording medium A in the vertical direction while being shifted by 1/2 to the right (see FIG. 6), when two pieces of image information are selected, the image information transmitting device 3 Images P and Q corresponding to these two pieces of image information are displayed on the screen of the display means 32, and vertical and horizontal image intervals (both in the case of FIG. 6 are set to 0 mm), etc. If the distance and the shift amount are set to 1/2, the images P and Q are displayed in a state where they are repeatedly arranged in the vertical direction, and in the horizontal direction, a repetition in which the image is shifted by half is displayed. . Then, new image information corresponding to the image block B necessary for repetition including the images P and Q is generated, and layout information for one image block including the arrangement information of the images P and Q is generated. ing. In the present embodiment, as described above, it can be repeatedly arranged in the horizontal direction and further shifted. FIG. 7 shows a case in which the images P and Q are repeatedly shifted in the horizontal direction and shifted by ½ in the right direction. In this case, the image block B is as shown in FIG. The generated layout information for one image block including the arrangement information of the images P and Q in the image block B is generated.

  6 and 7 show the case where the images P and Q have the same dimensions for the sake of convenience, it is possible to use the images P and Q having different dimensions also in this repeated case. For example, the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the image Q are converted so as to be the dimensions of the image P, or the shorter dimension in the vertical and horizontal directions of the images P and Q is set to the longer image. The image P or Q having different dimensions is converted to the same dimension, and the process is repeated by adjusting the size of the image to the size of the image, or conversely, adjusting the size of the image having the longer length to the size of the image having the shorter length. It is also possible to do. In the present embodiment, the case where a maximum of two images are arranged has been shown, but it is also possible to configure to paste three or more images.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the image editing means 31 is connected to a storage means 33 such as a hard disk, and the storage means 33 has the layout information and image information edited and created by the image editing means 31 as they are. Or in a reversible compressed state. In this embodiment, when the image information is stored, the arrangement information and the like are written in the header portion. Although not shown, a simple printer for confirming the edited image may be connected to the image editing unit 31.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the image editing means 31 is connected to a bridge 34 that is a means for connecting to the network 2, and the image information transmitting apparatus 3 is connected to the network 2 outside the apparatus via the bridge 34. ing. The image information and layout information edited by the image editing means 31 are configured to be transmitted to the image processing device 7 (see FIG. 1) of the image recording device 5 via the bridge 34.

  In the present embodiment, the bridge 34 sets image recording conditions and the like for the image recording apparatus 5 that records an image on the recording medium A based on the layout information including the image information and the image arrangement information. It is possible to do. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a setting screen displayed on the display unit of the image information transmitting apparatus when the bridge 34 is called.

  The setting screen 35 selects an image processing apparatus 7 of the image recording apparatus 5 for transmitting the layout information and the image information and performing an image recording job from the image processing apparatuses 7 connected to the network 2. It is configured to be able to. In other words, the bridge 34 is configured to broadcast to the entire network 2, and specifically, data in a predetermined format is transmitted to specific TCP / IP ports of all devices connected to the network 2. Deliver. When receiving the predetermined data from the predetermined TCP / IP port, the image processing apparatus 7 is configured to return its name and IP address as a correct response, and the bridge 34 adds the predetermined data to the predetermined data. If there is a device that has made a correct response, the device is configured to recognize that the device is a predetermined image processing apparatus 7. Thereby, the bridge 34 can recognize the image recording device 5 in operation and prompt the user of the image information transmission device 3 (that is, a client described later) to select it. In the present embodiment, a list of image processing devices 7 connected to the network 2 is displayed when a pull-down button in the “print server” (same as an image processing device) field on the setting screen 35 is pressed. Yes.

  Further, in the setting screen 35, in the “recording mode” column, it is possible to specify an ink amount restriction for selecting a cloth type, a recording image quality, a color gamut, and an ink amount. In the “server setting” column, it is possible to enter a job name and a job comment for an operator who manages an image recording job.

  Further, in the “recording job setting” on the setting screen 35, calculation and ink usage amount simulation calculation (hereinafter referred to as ink usage amount simulation) is performed for processing of image information and the like in the image processing device 7 of the image recording device 5. In the “data processing” column, only calculation, only ink use amount simulation, and calculation and ink use amount simulation can be specified. In addition, it is possible to make settings such as automatically starting image recording after transmission of image information, or deleting an image recording job after the end of recording, by a check box below the check box.

  The setting of the ink use amount simulation on the setting screen 35 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3 is mainly performed for the purpose of calculating the cost of the ink used for the image recording job. Further, the ink usage amount simulation means that when an image is recorded on the recording medium A based on image information, each color ink used for image recording is recorded per unit length or unit area, or in the entire image recording job. It is to perform calculation for estimating how much to use from the dot image data converted to be recordable on the recording medium A by calculating the image information. In the present embodiment, the ink usage amount simulation is performed by the image processing device 7 of the image recording device 5 selected on the setting screen 35 as described later.

  In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the ink usage amount simulation performed by the image processing apparatus 7 simultaneously simulates the ink usage amount used in the entire image recording job and the ink usage amount per unit area of the recording medium A. Therefore, on the setting screen 35, it is only possible to set whether or not to perform ink usage amount simulation. However, for example, by adding a pull-down menu in the “data processing” column of the setting screen 35, the result of the ink use amount simulation is obtained for the ink use amount used for the entire image recording job and the unit area of the recording medium A. In addition to the ink usage amount of the recording medium A, it may be set to be displayed in terms of the ink usage amount per unit length of the recording medium A or the like. Ink is also consumed during head cleaning and flushing performed by the recording device 6 during image recording, and the total ink consumption is calculated by adding such ink amount to the result of ink usage simulation. It may be set to be able to.

  In the present embodiment, as an option for setting the image recording condition performed by the bridge 34, it is possible to set the image recording condition more finely. For example, it is possible to reset the repetitive recording and the recording. Whether to record an image for the cloth size in the longitudinal direction and the lateral direction of the fabric, which is the medium A, specify a recording length, or a pattern (the images P and Q arranged in the longitudinal direction in the repeated arrangement in the longitudinal direction) This means that in the repeated arrangement in the horizontal direction, the images P and Q arranged in the horizontal direction are designated.) It is possible to select whether the image is recorded by designating the number and interval. In addition, various options can be set. Here, the image recording for the cloth size is to record an image by repeating the pattern up to the cloth size, and if the recording device 6 is set to perform the image recording for the cloth size in the vertical direction, the recording device 6 will end the cloth. It is configured to continue image recording until the image is detected.

  When the detailed processing contents of the image recording as described above are set, the bridge 34 is configured to write the contents in the layout information and output the layout information and the image information on the network 2.

  Next, as described above, the information terminal 4 (see FIG. 1) is a terminal for monitoring the production status. As in the case of the image information transmitting apparatus 3, for example, necessary production monitoring software is used. Although a computer in which the wear is installed is used, it can be configured as a device having a dedicated CPU. In the present embodiment, production monitoring software is installed in a computer used as the image information transmitting device 3, and the image information transmitting device 3 and the information terminal 4 are used in the same computer. .

  The information terminal 4 is provided with a display means (not shown) such as a monitor. The information terminal 4 corresponds to the image processing device 7 selected on the setting screen 35 (see FIG. 8) of the image information transmitting device 3. Then, an inquiry signal for inquiring the production status, that is, the recording status in the recording device 6, the input status of the image recording job in the image processing device 7, the progress status of the arithmetic processing, etc. is transmitted via the network 2. Receive information from the image processing device 7 such as the length of the recorded image, the elapsed recording time, the recording start time, the scheduled recording end time, the remaining ink amount, the remaining amount of fabric, the error content, the error avoiding method, etc. The information is displayed on the display means.

  In addition, the display means of the information terminal 4 includes the bridge 34 displayed on the display means 32 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3 described above, in addition to the ink remaining amount and the remaining amount of cloth in the selected image recording apparatus 5. A setting screen 35 (see FIG. 8), a printer screen 84 (see FIG. 11), an input job screen 85 (see FIG. 12) displayed on the display input means 71 (to be described later) of the selected image processing apparatus 7, calculation properties Setting screen 86 (see FIG. 13), calculation job screen 87 (see FIG. 14), recording property setting screen 88 (see FIG. 15), recording job screen 89 (see FIG. 16), output assignment setting screen 90 (see FIG. 17) , Property confirmation screen 91 (see FIG. 19), expected ink usage confirmation screen 92 (see FIG. 20), preview screen 93 (see FIG. 21), output allocation information confirmation screen 94 (see FIG. 22) Etc. are configured to be displayed a screen similar, and is capable of monitoring the production status of the image recording apparatus 5 in these screens. In particular, on the same screen as the expected ink usage confirmation screen 92 displayed on the information terminal 4, the result of the ink usage simulation displayed on the display input means 71 of the image processing device 7 of the image recording device 5 is displayed. Based on this, it is possible to calculate the cost of ink used for the image recording job.

  The display means of the information terminal 4 includes not only the production status of the selected image recording device 5 but also the production status of all the image recording devices 5 connected to the information terminal 4 via the network 2. It is also possible to configure so that is displayed.

  The information terminal 4 is for confirming such information, and in this embodiment, the information terminal 4 cannot perform operations such as changing the setting contents of the screen display. In the image recording system 1 of the present embodiment, these contents are changed by the image information transmitting apparatus 3 or an image processing apparatus 7 described later. The information terminals 4 do not change the setting contents of each image recording device 5 or give an operation instruction to the recording device 6 because these terminals are usually located away from the image recording device 5. In other words, since the actual situation of the recording medium A, which will be described later, and the exact situation of the unwinder, dryer, winder, etc. cannot be grasped, remote operation via the network 2 is useless. This is because an image may be recorded or a head of an ink jet printer as the recording device 6 may be damaged. However, for example, the recording device 6 or the unwinder can be configured to be remotely operated by providing a monitoring device or the like.

  Next, the configuration of the image recording apparatus 5 of the present embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image recording device 5 receives the image information transmitted from the recording device 6 and the image information transmitting device 3 via the network 2, and sends an image to the recording medium A based on the image information. And an image processing device 7 for controlling the recording device 6 so as to perform recording.

  In the present embodiment, the recording device 6 uses a serial head type ink jet printer as described above. Although not shown, the recording apparatus 6 is equipped with two sets of eight heads for ejecting ink toward the recording medium A, for a total of 16 heads. A carriage 61 [see FIGS. 9A and 9B] that is reciprocally movable in the scanning direction is provided. Each head has two ink packs, and the ink set includes yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) sets and those with light YMCK. Alternatively, a special color set of YMCK, orange, violet, and red can be used.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 9A, the recording medium A is on the upstream side in the transport direction of the recording medium A of the recording apparatus 6 with respect to the head mounted on the carriage 61 of the ink jet printer as the recording apparatus 6. A detection unit 62 that detects the seam S of the fabric is provided. When the detection unit 62 detects the joint S of the recording medium A, the recording apparatus 6 records an image for a distance L from the detection unit 62 to the carriage 61 and then releases the carriage 61 from the recording medium A in the main scanning direction. Then, the recording medium A is fed by a certain amount, and then the carriage 61 is returned onto the recording medium A to resume the ink jet recording. Since a certain amount of feeding when the recording medium A is fed by escaping the carriage 61 differs depending on how the recording medium A is spliced, as described later, the recording property setting displayed on the display input means 71 of the image processing apparatus 7 The screen 88 can be set for each image recording job.

  The detection unit 62 includes a rod-like detector 64 that can be moved up and down by a guide 63, and a wheel that is rotatable at the lower end of the detector 64 in accordance with the conveyance of the fabric while being in contact with the fabric. 65 is attached, and an electrical contact structure 66 electrically connected to the image processing apparatus 7 is provided on the upper end side. Since the seam S of the fabric is thicker than the other parts of the fabric, according to this detection unit 62, the wheel 65 is pushed upward by the seam S of the fabric, and the detector 64 moves upward in conjunction therewith. Thus, the electrical contact structure 66 is turned on, and the joint can be detected.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9B, the detection unit 62 can be configured by, for example, an ultraviolet irradiation lamp 67 and a light receiving element 68 that are electrically connected to the image processing apparatus 7. The detection unit 62 is provided at a position similar to that shown in FIG. 9A with respect to the head, and the ultraviolet irradiation lamp 67 is disposed at a position and a direction in which ultraviolet rays can be applied to the cloth as the recording medium A. The light receiving element 68 is provided at a position and a direction in which fluorescence from the fabric can be received. According to this detection unit 62, the light receiving element 68 detects the fluorescence emitted from the yarn of the joint S by the ultraviolet irradiation by the ultraviolet irradiation lamp 67 by keeping the seam S of the fabric not sewn with the yarn containing the fluorescent dye. As a result, the seam of the fabric can be detected.

  Note that it is possible to provide a plurality of detection units 62 as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B in the width direction of the recording medium A, that is, in the main scanning direction. Further, it is also possible to detect the seam and the end of the fabric by the detection unit 62 using a method other than the method shown in FIG. 9A or 9B. In the present embodiment, the recording device 6 is provided with a storage unit (not shown) including a memory or the like, and the storage unit records an image from the number of joints of the recording medium A detected by the detection unit 62 and the joints. Is configured to store the measured length.

  The recording device 6 is provided with a detection means (not shown) that detects wrinkles of the fabric. Further, the recording apparatus 6 is forced to wipe the nozzles provided in the head 61 and suck the ink from the nozzles whose nozzles are clogged with ink and the ink discharge function is reduced (so-called nozzle missing state). A cleaning mechanism (not shown) is provided for cleaning the nozzle by discharging the nozzle and recovering the discharge function of the nozzle. As the cleaning mechanism, in addition to the suction operation, the head 61 is supplied with an electrical signal to eject ink droplets to blow off foreign matter adhering to the vicinity of the nozzle, and after adhering to the nozzle surface after suction or flushing, etc. A mechanism for performing wiping to eliminate the ink droplets is also provided.

  The recording apparatus 6 used in the present embodiment is an ink jet printer that performs image recording while carrying a fabric, which is a recording medium A, on a conveyance belt. Although a specific configuration is not shown, an endless conveyance belt (not shown) on which the recording medium A is placed on the front side is supported from the back side by a flat platen below the carriage on which the head is mounted. Various rollers such as a driving roller, a guide roller, and a tension roller are in contact with the conveying belt at both ends and below the platen. Further, a belt cleaner that is a roller for cleaning the surface of the conveyor belt is detachably abutted on the conveyor belt from the outside of the conveyor belt. A plurality of belt cleaners may be provided as necessary.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, an unillustrated unwinding machine for unwinding the recording medium A in a wound state is provided on the upstream side in the transport direction of the recording medium A of the recording apparatus 6. On the downstream side of the recording medium A in the conveying direction, a dryer for drying the recording medium A on which an image is recorded and a winder (both not shown) for winding the dried recording medium A are provided. .

  Next, the configuration of the image processing device 7 of the image recording device 5 of the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image processing apparatus of this embodiment. As the image processing apparatus 7, for example, a computer in which necessary software is installed is used, as in the case of the image information transmitting apparatus 3 described above, but it can also be configured as an apparatus having a dedicated CPU. is there.

  The reception management means 70 is connected to the network 2 and is configured to receive the image information and the layout information corresponding to an image to be used for an image recording job from the network 2 to the recording medium A. A display input unit 71 having a monitor or the like is connected to the reception management unit 70, and the reception management unit 70 and the display input unit 71 are configured to communicate with each other using the TCP / IP protocol. The display input means 71 is configured to display a list of image recording job contents and to input processing instructions for each image recording job.

  Further, job management means 72 for managing various processes performed in the image processing apparatus 7 is connected to the reception management means 70. In addition to the reception management means 70, the job management means 72 includes image information management means 73. Arithmetic processing means 74, data management means 75, output management means 76, printer status management means 77, and LUT (Look Up Table) management means 78 are connected.

  When the job management unit 72 receives a processing request from the display input unit 71, the job management unit 72 causes the image information management unit 73 and the like to perform the requested processing, and at the same time receives necessary information from the received information through the reception management unit 70. Are sent to the display input means 71. Further, when the inquiry signal for inquiring about the production status is transmitted from the information terminal 4 (see FIG. 1), the status of the recording device 6, that is, the recorded length, remaining ink amount, error, etc., is sent to the printer status management means 77. Information such as contents is acquired and notified, and the information is returned to the information terminal 4 via the reception management means 70 and the network 2. As described above, the display unit of the information terminal 4 displays a screen similar to the printer screen 84 (see FIG. 11) displayed on the image processing apparatus 7, but in response to the inquiry signal, Information necessary for displaying on each screen from the job management means 72 to the information terminal 4 is also transmitted at the same time.

  Connected to the image information management means 73 is an image information storage means 79 for storing image information and layout information received by the reception management means 70 and sent via the job management means 70 for each image recording job. Yes.

  The image information management unit 73 is configured to manage the contents of the image information storage unit 79. Specifically, the image information management unit 73 generates a unique job ID different from the job name when storing the image information or the like in the image information storage unit 79, and uses the image information and layout information as the job ID. The job ID and the like are sent to the display input unit 71 via the job management unit 72 and displayed. When the image information management unit 73 receives an instruction to delete a specific image recording job from the display input unit 71, the image information storage unit 79 obtains image information and layout information associated with the job ID of the image recording job. It is configured to be erased. Further, the image information management unit 73 is configured to manage the free space and usage rate of the image information storage unit 79. The job ID generated by the image information management means 73 is returned to the image information transmission apparatus 3 that has transmitted the image information and the like through the network 2 via the job management means 72 and the reception management means 70. Yes.

  In addition to the job management means 72 and the image information storage means 79, arithmetic processing means 74 is connected to the image information management means 73, and data management means 75 is further connected to the arithmetic processing means 74.

  The arithmetic processing means 74 is configured to perform arithmetic processing on the image information and convert it into data recordable on the recording medium A. More specifically, the arithmetic processing unit 74 receives the arithmetic processing instruction for the specific image recording job from the display input unit 71 via the image information management unit 73 in response to the instruction from the job management unit 72. The image information associated with the job ID is read from the image information storage unit 79, and the image information is converted into dot image data that can be recorded on the recording medium A by performing arithmetic processing such as color conversion, enlargement, and error diffusion. Then, the result is reversibly compressed by the run length method, and stored in the data storage unit 80 connected to the data management unit 75 via the data management unit 75 for each image recording job. It should be noted that the image information quantization method may be a combination of such error diffusion and other methods, and when reducing the image information, processing may be performed in the order of reduction, color conversion, and error diffusion. Is possible.

  Further, as described above, when the ink usage amount simulation is selected on the setting screen 35 (see FIG. 8) of the image information transmitting apparatus 3, or on the calculation property setting screen 86 (see FIG. 13) described later, the ink usage amount simulation is performed. Is selected, the arithmetic processing means 74 calculates the number of ink dots (that is, the number of ink droplets) from the data obtained by the arithmetic processing, and calculates the ink use amount from the number of ink dots. It is comprised so that the simulation calculation to perform can be performed. In this embodiment, since the volume of one drop of ink ejected from the head of the ink jet printer which is the recording apparatus 6 is known (in this embodiment, 20 pl per drop), the number of dots of the ink described above is used. As described above, it is possible to estimate the ink amount of each color used for image recording per unit length, per unit area, or in the entire image recording job. In this embodiment, from the viewpoint of improving the accuracy of ink usage simulation, the ink amount is calculated from the number of dots of the dot image data converted as described above. For example, RGB, YMCK, etc. A table for color conversion can be created in advance by finding the correspondence between the combination of colors and YMCK after color conversion, error diffusion, etc. and color combinations such as the special color set or the photo mode for each color. For example, without using arithmetic processing such as color conversion and error diffusion, the ink usage of each color is quickly calculated from image information expressed by a combination of RGB, YMCK, and the like by a simple three-dimensional or four-dimensional LUT calculation. It becomes possible.

  Furthermore, the present embodiment is configured to simulate the ink usage amount used automatically in the entire image recording job for each ink color and the ink usage amount per unit area of the recording medium A. However, the setting screen 35 or the like is set so as to be displayed in terms of ink usage per unit length of the recording medium A, or the amount of ink consumed by head cleaning or flushing as a result of ink usage simulation If it is set to calculate the total consumption amount of ink added with each ink color, it is also possible to perform a simulation calculation that meets the requirement.

  The result of the ink use amount simulation is stored in the data storage unit 80 via the data management unit 75 separately from the data. In this embodiment, the result of the ink use amount simulation is data that cannot be used for image recording by the recording device 6 unlike the data that can be recorded on the recording medium A because the data amount needs to be as light as possible. It is an attribute. Further, as described above, in the “recording job setting” of the bridge 34 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3, it is possible to specify only calculation, only ink usage simulation, and calculation and ink usage simulation for image information processing. Therefore, two data, that is, data used for image recording and a result of simulation calculation can be generated from one image recording job. Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to manage data and simulation calculation results separately, new job IDs are generated at the stage of arithmetic processing in the arithmetic processing means 74, and are associated with different new job IDs. Are stored in the data storage means 80.

  The data management means 75 is configured to receive the arithmetically processed data and the ink use amount simulation result from the arithmetic processing means 74 as described above, and store the data in the data storage means 80 and manage the contents of the data storage means 80. Has been. In the present embodiment, all or part of the arithmetic processing performed by the arithmetic processing means 74 is configured to be executed by the bridge 34 (see FIG. 3) of the image information transmitting apparatus 3 described above. In such a case, the contents are written in the header portion such as image information. Therefore, when all the arithmetic processing is performed by the bridge 34, it is not necessary to perform the arithmetic processing by the image processing apparatus 7 (see FIG. 10), and the job management unit 72 reads the header portion such as the received image information. The image information (that is, the data in this case) is sent to the data management means 75 and stored in the data storage means 80 by determining that the data has already been converted into data that can be recorded on the recording medium A. The data management means 75 is configured to manage the free capacity and usage rate of the data storage means 80.

  In addition to job management means 72, arithmetic processing means 74 and data storage means 80, output processing means 76 is connected to the data management means 75, and a printer port driver 81 is further connected to the output processing means 76. ing. The recording device 6 is connected to the printer port driver 81 via the USB driver 82.

  The output processing unit 76 is configured to read out data that can be recorded on the recording medium A from the data storage unit 80, sequentially arrange the data, and output the data to the recording apparatus 6 via the printer port driver 81 or the like. Specifically, first, when the job management means 72 receives an output processing instruction for a specific image recording job from the display input means 71, an output list of data to be output processing used for the image recording job is displayed. Create and read the arrangement information in the layout information associated with the newly generated job ID and the processing content of the image recording, or output in accordance with the new output format input by the display input means 71 An output instruction is output to the processing means 76 together with the output list. In response to the output instruction, the output processing unit 76 reads one or a plurality of data from the data storage unit 80 via the data management unit 75 based on the output list. For example, the output processing unit 76 repeats the horizontal arrangement (see FIG. 7), the data is sequentially arranged and output to the recording device 6 by copying one line on the memory or the like.

  In addition to the USB driver 82, printer status management means 77 is connected to the printer port driver 81, and job management means 72 is connected to the printer status management means 77 as described above.

  The printer status management unit 77 acquires the status of the recording apparatus 6 through the printer port driver 81 and the USB driver 82 at regular intervals or in response to a request from the job management unit 72 and notifies the job management unit 72 of the status. It is configured as follows.

  A CMS (Color Management System) management unit 83 is connected to the LUT management unit 78. The LUT management unit 78 and the CMS management unit 83 are configured to respond with an appropriate LUT according to the calculation processing conditions from the job management unit 72. In this embodiment, a color conversion LUT (sRGB, RGB photo, YMCK conversion 3DLUT), a liquid amount correction LUT, and the like are registered as the LUT. When adding an LUT, media can be inserted into the image processing apparatus 7 and the information can be read and added.

  Since the LUT for CMS used for each fabric as the recording medium A and the bidirectional correction value, the head height adjustment value, the feed amount, etc. of the inkjet printer described later are different, in this embodiment, these are different for each fabric type. The information is stored in a storage unit (not shown) of the image processing apparatus 7 and managed. That is, when a new fabric type is registered in the storage means, the LUT, the bidirectional correction value, etc. are stored as an input set corresponding to the fabric type. In addition, the storage means has a management function that allows the setting contents of similar cloth types to be copied and edited to be registered as a new cloth type or to be deleted.

  As described above, the display input unit 71 is configured to display a list of the contents of the image recording job and to input a processing instruction for each image recording job. The display input means 71 can display a list of the reception status, calculation processing status, and output processing status of the image recording job separately. Hereinafter, reception of image information, calculation processing, and output by the image processing device 7 will be described based on a screen displayed on the display input unit 71.

  When the image processing apparatus 7 is turned on, the display input unit 71 is configured to display a printer screen 84 for displaying the state of the recording apparatus 6 as shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the “printer status” column of the printer screen 84 includes the cloth type of the recording medium A set in the recording apparatus 6, the head height adjustment value, and the total recording amount from the start of operation of the recording apparatus 6. The detection unit 62 of the recording device 6 described above (see FIGS. 9A and 9B) detects the fabric seam count, the recording amount from the fabric seam, and the belt cleaner of the recording device 6 described above. It is configured to display the state of contact / release of the belt to the conveyor belt. In the “option status” column, for example, the above-described unwinder status, winder status, dryer status, and temperature status are set to be displayed. In response to an inquiry automatically transmitted from the display input unit 71 to the job management unit 72 at regular intervals, the job management unit 72 sends the information from the printer state management unit 77 to the recording device 6 or the unwinder. Such information is received and returned, and is automatically updated at regular intervals. It should be noted that in “Memo 1” and “Memo 2”, the operator can describe a memo such as that the image recording is for testing. In addition, when registering the cloth type described above, it is possible to register the characteristics of the cloth as a part of the input set, and to display it on the “memo 1” and “memo 2”.

  In the “ink state” column on the right side of the printer screen 84, YMCK and light YMCK (LY in the figure) are displayed for a total of 32 ink packs, each of which is mounted on each of the 16 heads. , LM, LC, LK), etc., the presence / absence of ink in the ink pack, the ink being used, the presence / absence of the ink pack itself, unused / not connected, etc. are displayed using colors and marks. It has become so. In this embodiment, in particular, “no ink” indicating that there is an ink pack but no ink is displayed in red, and “no ink pack” indicating that there should be no ink pack itself is a red X on a white background. It is marked with a mark and is configured to alert the operator.

  Below the printer screen 84, there are provided columns for displaying the status of the recording apparatus 6 and information of the image recording job being recorded, and the communication status, online status, operating status of the recording apparatus 6 and the like are shown. It has become. This field is always displayed without switching even when switching to another screen. Further, in this column, the job name set on the setting screen 35 of the bridge 34 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3 and the job comment for the operator are displayed for the image recording job being recorded. Furthermore, on the right side of the column, the total recording amount recorded for each image recording job is displayed relatively large so that it can be easily seen by the operator. It is configured to be displayed in red to call attention.

  Next, when a tag (not shown) for switching the screen in the printer screen 84 is pressed, the display input means 71 displays a list of reception statuses of image recording jobs as shown in FIG. 12 for each image recording job, so-called input. A job screen 85 is configured to be displayed. Specifically, as described above, when image information or the like is sent from the image information transmitting apparatus 3 via the network 2, a job ID is given to the image information or the like by the image information management unit 73, and this job ID The information recorded in the header portion of the image information associated therewith is sent to the display input means 71 and registered. Therefore, when image information is transmitted to the image processing device 7, the job ID corresponding to the transmitted image information and the image associated therewith are displayed on the input job screen 85 of the display input means 71 shown in FIG. The job name, cloth type, output size, etc. of the recording job are automatically added. In this case, the priority order of the image recording job is configured to be the lowest of all the image recording jobs displayed in the list.

  The display input unit 71 is configured to cause the image information management unit 73 to transmit information regarding the reception status of the image recording job via the job management unit 72 at regular intervals. In response to the reception status inquiry, the image information management unit 73 obtains information such as the degree of progress of storage of the image information associated with each job ID stored from the image information storage unit 79, and displays it. It is configured to reply to the means 71. For this reason, the “input progress” and “data size (Mbyte)” on the input job screen 85 are automatically updated at regular intervals, and the display in the “status” column is automatically updated at regular intervals accordingly. It is configured to be updated.

  Further, the display input means 71 reports the free capacity and usage rate of the image information storage means 79 and data storage means 80 to the image information management means 73 and data management means 75 via the job management means 72 at regular intervals. The result is displayed in the lower left part of the input job screen 85. In the lower left display, the image information storage unit 79 is displayed as “primary spool”, and the data storage unit 80 is displayed as “secondary spool”.

  On the lower right side of the input job screen 85, buttons for “calculation start”, “delete”, “property setting”, “priority up”, and “priority down” are provided. Selecting one or more image recording jobs from the list display of image recording jobs and pressing the “Delete” button deletes the image recording job from the list display, and the image information associated with the job ID, etc. Are deleted from the image information storage means 79. If you select an image recording job from the list of image recording jobs and press the “Up Priority” button, the priority of the image recording job can be raised, and the image recording job in the list display can be increased. When the position of the job is raised and the “down priority” button is pressed, the priority of the image recording job is lowered, and the position of the image recording job in the list display is also lowered.

  When an input image recording job is selected from the list display of image recording jobs and the “property setting” button is pressed, a calculation property setting screen 86 as shown in FIG. 13 is displayed. Yes. The calculation property setting screen 86 displays the contents of the calculation processing set on the image editing means 31 and the setting screen 35 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3, and the numerical values and conditions can be changed. . In the recording property column, the image recording conditions set by the image information transmitting apparatus 3 are displayed and can be similarly changed. Further, manual / automatic recording operation and manual / automatic data deletion can be set.

  Further, on the calculation property setting screen 86, it is possible to select whether or not to perform simulation calculation of the ink usage amount. In this embodiment, by checking the “Calculate” checkbox, It is configured to be able to perform a simulation calculation of the ink use amount in the process of the calculation process. As described above, when the ink usage amount simulation is selected on the setting screen 35 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3, the check box is already checked.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, as the ink usage amount simulation performed by the image processing apparatus 7, the ink usage amount used for the entire image recording job for each ink color and the ink usage amount per unit area of the recording medium A are used. In the calculation property setting screen 86, it is only possible to set whether or not to perform ink usage simulation. However, for example, by increasing the number of check boxes or using a radio button selection method, the ink usage amount simulation can be used for the ink usage amount used in the entire image recording job or the ink usage per unit area of the recording medium A. It may be possible to set not only the amount but also the converted amount of ink used per unit length of the recording medium A. Further, even if it is settable to calculate the total ink consumption by adding the ink consumption consumed by the head cleaning or flushing performed by the recording device 6 during image recording to the result of the ink usage simulation. Good.

  It should be noted that the ink usage amount simulation setting on the calculation property setting screen 86 is performed by the ink usage amount simulation selected on the setting screen 35 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3 described above for the cost calculation of ink used mainly for the image recording job. The purpose of this is to predict the amount of ink required for an image recording job in advance, and to prevent the ink from being consumed during image recording. It is.

  When an image recording job is selected from the image recording job list displayed on the input job screen 85 shown in FIG. 12 and the “calculation start” button is pressed, the image recording job is transferred to the arithmetic processing. Yes. Specifically, as described above, when an image recording job is selected and the “calculation start” button is pressed, the job management unit 72 instructs the calculation processing unit 74 to perform calculation processing. 74 reads the image information associated with the job ID from the image information storage unit 79 via the image information management unit 73, records the image information by performing arithmetic processing such as color conversion, enlargement, and error diffusion. The image data is converted into dot image data that can be recorded on the medium A, and the result is reversibly compressed by the run length method and associated with the newly generated job ID and connected to the data management means 75 via the data management means 75. The data storage unit 80 is configured to store each image recording job.

  Further, when the bridge 34 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3 is designated to perform the ink usage amount simulation, the number of ink dots is calculated from the data obtained by the calculation process, and the ink number is calculated from the number of ink dots. A simulation calculation for calculating the usage amount is performed, and the result of the simulation calculation is associated with a newly generated job ID different from the data that can be recorded on the recording medium A, and the data storage unit 80 via the data management unit 75. Is configured to be stored in

  The progress of this arithmetic processing is not displayed on the input job screen 85 shown in FIG. When the “calculation job” radio button at the top of the input job screen 85 is pressed, the screen is switched to the calculation job screen 87 as shown in FIG. 14, and the display input means 71 displays the calculation processing status of the image recording job. The calculation job screen 87 is configured to display a list.

  In this calculation job screen 87, similarly to the above-described input job screen 85 (see FIG. 12), a list of newly generated job IDs, job names, cloth types, output sizes, etc. are displayed for each image recording job. As described above, the image recording job selected on the input job screen 85 and having the “calculation start” button pressed is added to the bottom of the list display. More specifically, at the bottom of the list display of the calculation job screen 87, new data about data that can be recorded on the recording medium A when only the calculation is designated by the bridge 34 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3 is displayed. When one column of job ID is displayed and only ink usage simulation is specified, a new job ID or the like for the simulation calculation result is displayed and one column is displayed, and calculation and ink usage simulation are specified. Are configured to additionally display two columns, such as a new job ID for data that can be recorded on the recording medium A and a new job ID for the result of simulation calculation.

  In addition, the display input unit 71 calculates the processing status of the image recording job with respect to at least one of the processing unit 74 and the data management unit 75 via the job management unit 72 at regular time intervals. The calculation processing means 74 and the data management means 75 report information such as the progress of the calculation processing and the expected calculation time in response to the calculation processing status inquiry, and display input means. It is comprised so that it may reply to 71. Therefore, the “calculation progress” and “data size (Mbyte)” on the calculation job screen 87 are automatically updated at regular intervals, and the display of the “status” column is automatically updated at regular intervals accordingly. Configured to be updated automatically. In the “status” column, “calculated”, “under calculation”, “waiting for calculation”, and the like are displayed.

  Similar to the input job screen 85, the free space and the usage rate of the image information storage unit 79 (primary spool) and the data storage unit 80 (secondary spool) are displayed on the lower left side of the calculation job screen 87, respectively. Has been.

  Similar to the input job screen 85, various buttons are displayed on the lower right side of the calculation job screen 87. When the “delete”, “priority up”, and “priority down” buttons are pressed, a single image selected from the list of image recording jobs is displayed as in the input job screen 85. Alternatively, a plurality of image recording jobs are deleted, or the priority order in the list display of the selected image recording jobs can be raised or lowered. If you select an image recording job that is currently being processed and press the “Pause” button, the calculation process is paused. If you select a paused image recording job and then press the “Resume” button, the calculation process resumes. When the paused image recording job is selected and the “suspend” button is pressed, the computation processing is interrupted and the paused image recording job is deleted from the computation job screen 87, and the computed image recording job is selected. When the “recalculation” button is pressed, recalculation processing is performed for the image recording job.

  Further, when a calculated image recording job is selected from the list display of the calculation job screen 87 and the “property setting” button is pressed, a recording property setting screen 88 as shown in FIG. 15 is displayed. ing. On the recording property setting screen 88, the image recording processing content set by the image information transmitting apparatus 3 or the image recording processing content changed on the calculation property setting screen 86 (see FIG. 13) is displayed. It can be changed again.

  Further, in the present embodiment, various image recording conditions can be set in the “option” column below it. Here, the recording property setting screen 88 has one or more heads out of the two sets of eight heads of the recording apparatus 6 described above by checking “Perform recovery”. When one of the sets cannot be used due to a missing nozzle state, it is possible to perform setting so that image recording is performed with only the other set. Further, as described above, the recording apparatus 6 of the present embodiment can detect the end of the fabric and the seam of the fabric by the detection unit 62 and the like. In the recording property setting screen 88, the end of the fabric is detected. When a seam or seam is detected, a processing instruction for the recording apparatus 6 can be input by selecting from three options of sending a predetermined amount of fabric (that is, a predetermined amount L in FIG. 9), pausing, or not detecting. It is like that. Further, when the end is detected or when the joint is detected, it is possible to select whether or not to perform the head cleaning described above and whether or not to use the detecting means for detecting the wrinkle of the fabric.

  When one image recording job for data that can be recorded on the recording medium A is selected from the list of image recording jobs on the calculation job screen 87 shown in FIG. 14 and the “record job creation” button is pressed, The image recording job can be recorded, so to speak, it is in a waiting state. In the present embodiment, an operation for starting image recording cannot be performed on the calculation job screen 87, and when a radio button “record job” above the calculation job screen 87 is pressed, a so-called recording job screen 89 as shown in FIG. The display input means 71 is configured to display a list of the recording processing status of the image recording job on this recording job screen 89. Note that even if an image recording job for the result of the ink usage simulation is selected and the “record job creation” button is pressed, the image recording job is not displayed on the recording job screen 89.

  The image recording start operation is configured to be started by selecting an image recording job on the recording job screen 89 and pressing a “recording start” button.

  Further, when a plurality of image recording jobs for data that can be recorded on the recording medium A are selected from the list of image recording jobs on the calculation job screen 87 shown in FIG. A so-called output assignment setting screen 90 as shown in FIG. 17 is displayed. In the output assignment, as shown in FIG. 18A, a plurality of images of the same pattern or images of different patterns are repeatedly recorded in the horizontal direction on the recording medium A by using one recording apparatus 6. This is to prevent a decrease in the effective scanning rate in the main scanning direction when recording an image on a narrow fabric. As shown in FIG. 18B, the case where the same image or different image is repeatedly recorded on a plurality of narrow recording media A1 and A2 using one recording apparatus 6 is included. In the output assignment setting screen 90 (see FIG. 17) of the present embodiment, job names of a plurality of image recording jobs selected from the calculation job screen 87 (see FIG. 14) are displayed from the assignment job 1 to the assignment job at the top of the screen. 4 is displayed. The recording device 6 is configured to record images side by side in order from the smallest assigned job number. By specifying up and down with the spin buttons on the right side of the job name of the assigned job, the job name and the upper or lower job name are interchanged, and the order of the assigned jobs can be changed. In the output assignment setting screen 90, a recording job name can be input in order to handle a plurality of assigned image recording jobs as one image recording job, and the output length can be set. ing. Furthermore, the number of repetitions or the repetition length in the horizontal direction of each image recording job can be set, and the allocation interval between the image recording job and the image recording job can be set.

  In the list display of the recording job screen 89 shown in FIG. 16, when one image recording job is selected on the calculation job screen 87, the job ID and job name of the image recording job are added at the bottom. When a plurality of image recording jobs are selected and output assigned on the operation job screen 87, the recording job name of the newly created image recording job set on the output assignment setting screen 90 and the job management means 72 are displayed. The generated job ID and the like are added and displayed at the bottom. The displayed items are the same as those in the case of the input job screen 85 and the calculation job screen 87 described above. Similarly, the lower left portion of the recording job screen 89 is configured to display the free capacity and the usage rate of the image information storage unit 79 (primary spool) and the data storage unit 80 (secondary spool), respectively. Various buttons are displayed on the lower right side of the recording job screen 89. When the “delete”, “priority up”, and “priority down” buttons are pressed, the same as in the input job screen 85. In addition, it is possible to delete one or more image recording jobs selected from the image recording job list display, or to increase or decrease the priority in the selected image recording job list display. It has become.

  As described above, data output processing for image recording is configured to be started by selecting one image recording job waiting for recording on the recording job screen 89 and pressing the “recording start” button. . When the button is pressed, as described above, an output processing instruction for the image recording job selected from the display input means 71 is transmitted to the job management means 72, and the job management means 72 responds to the instruction by recording the image recording job. An output list of data used for the job is created, the output list is sent to the output processing unit 76, and an output instruction is issued. The output processing unit 76 adds the output list to the output list according to the output instruction. Based on this, one or more data are read out from the data storage means 80 via the data management means 75, the data are sequentially arranged on the memory, and the data are output to the recording device 6 via the printer port driver 81 and the USB driver 82. It is configured as follows.

  The display input unit 71 transmits information on the recording state of the image recording job to at least one of the data management unit 75 and the output processing unit 76 via the job management unit 72 about the recording status of the image recording job at regular intervals. In response to an inquiry from the display input means 71, the data management means 75 reports information related to the data output status from the data storage means 80, and the output processing means 76 relates to the data output processing status. Information such as the expected recording time and recording progress is reported and returned to the display input means 71. On the recording job screen 89 of the display input means 71, the display of columns such as “status” and “recording progress” is automatically updated at regular intervals. In the “status” column, “waiting for recording”, “waiting for printer”, “recording”, “recorded”, and the like are displayed. Here, the state of waiting for recording refers to the state of the image recording job from when the “record job creation” button is pressed on the calculation job screen 87 to before the “record start” button is pressed on the record job screen 89. Say.

  Also, if you select an image recording job that is being recorded and press the “Pause” button, the recording process will be paused. If you select a paused image recording job and then press the “Resume” button, the recording process will resume. When the paused image recording job is selected and the “interrupt” button is pressed, the recording process is interrupted and the state of the image recording job returns to the recording standby state. This temporary stop is performed by the operator of the image recording apparatus 5 when the fabric of the recording medium A is wrinkled during image recording or when a foreign object is found on the surface of the recording medium A, for example. This is a function for stopping the scanning operation and correcting wrinkles or removing foreign matter. Further, even when it is found that ink ejection from the nozzles of the head is not normal during image recording, the head can be temporarily stopped and the head can be cleaned.

  In the input job screen 85, the calculation job screen 87, and the recording job screen 89, job information such as properties of the image recording job is selected by selecting an image recording job displayed in a list and performing a special operation. It is configured to be able to confirm. In the present embodiment, when the image recording job portion displayed in a list is double-clicked, a screen on which job information is described is displayed. For example, when an image recording job displayed as a list on the recording job screen 89 is double-clicked, a property confirmation screen 91 for displaying the property state of the image recording job as shown in FIG. 19 is displayed. On the property confirmation screen 91, it is possible to confirm not only the job ID and job name but also the state of the calculation property and the recording property. In addition, when the “estimated ink usage” button is pressed in the radio button portion, an expected ink usage confirmation screen 92 (see FIG. 20) on which the result of the ink usage simulation can be confirmed for each ink color is displayed. When a button is pressed, a preview screen 93 (see FIG. 21) on which an image recorded in the image recording job can be confirmed is displayed.

  In the present embodiment, the reduced preview image displayed on the preview screen 93 is transmitted as image information and layout information by the image information transmitting device 3 and at the same time, an image corresponding to the transmitted image information is converted into an RGB image. The converted image is converted into a reduced image, and the image transmitted via the network 2 is displayed. In this way, if the preview image is created on the image information transmitting apparatus 3 side, the RGB image used for image editing by the image editing means 31 and its reduced image can be used. Is efficient. However, when the image processing apparatus 7 receives image information, it is possible to perform a reduction process or conversion into an RGB image.

  The expected ink usage amount confirmation screen 92 shown in FIG. 20 is configured to display the ink usage amount used for the entire image recording job and the ink usage amount per unit area of the recording medium A for each ink color. In addition to this, as described above, the head used in the recording device 6 during image recording in addition to the ink usage amount per unit length of the recording medium A and the result of ink usage simulation It may be configured to display in terms of the total ink consumption, including the amount of ink consumed in the cleaning and flushing.

  The property confirmation screen 91, the expected ink usage confirmation screen 92, and the preview screen 93 can be displayed as the job information on the input job screen 85 and the calculation job screen 87, respectively. It is configured to be able to confirm. That is, an “output allocation information” button is displayed in the radio button portion of the property confirmation screen 91, the expected ink usage confirmation screen 92, or the preview screen 93, and when this button is pressed, FIG. An output assignment information confirmation screen 94 as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed, and the job ID and job name of the image recording job newly generated as a result of output assignment are displayed at the top of the screen, and the job of the image recording job used for output assignment Names and job IDs are displayed in order at the bottom of the screen. When an image recording job that has not been assigned an output is selected on the recording job screen 89, the “output assignment information” button is not displayed on the radio button portion of the property confirmation screen 91 or the like.

  When points to be corrected are found in the calculation properties, recording properties, output assignments, etc. on the confirmation screens, as described above, the “property setting” button on the input job screen 85 or the calculation job screen 87 is pressed. The setting can be changed by calling the calculation property setting screen 86 and the recording property setting screen 88, or by selecting a plurality of image recording jobs on the calculation job screen 87 and calling the output assignment setting screen 90.

  Further, in the present embodiment, it is possible to perform the cloth setting for making various settings in relation to the cloth that is the recording medium A on which the image is recorded by the recording device 6, and the printer screen 84 and the input can be performed. When a not-shown tag for screen switching such as the job screen 85 is pressed, a fabric setting screen is displayed. In the cloth setting, a cloth width detection screen 100 is displayed as shown in FIG. 23A, and the right position and the left position of the cloth width can be set by entering numerical values. In addition, when the “cloth width detection” button is pressed, the recording device 6 automatically detects the cloth width and the numerical values are displayed at the right position and the left position, and the numerical values can be changed. It is said that.

  Further, the head can be adjusted. As shown in FIG. 23B, on the feed adjustment / print reciprocation position adjustment screen 101, the cloth type data name, feed amount, bidirectional correction reference value, head height are displayed. An adjustment value can be input. Here, the bidirectional correction means that the recording apparatus 6 of the present embodiment is a serial head type ink jet printer as described above, and the ink ejection position from the nozzle in the forward path and the return path in accordance with the reciprocation of the carriage. This is correction that matches the ink ejection positions. When the bidirectional correction reference value is entered, the numerical value is displayed in the part where the bidirectional correction reference value of each of the 16 heads displayed at the bottom of the screen is entered, and it is possible to enter further correction reference values for each head. It has become. It is possible to print the test chart by pressing the “Feed adjustment test chart” button or the “Reciprocation position adjustment test chart” button, see the result, and re-enter the feed amount and bidirectional correction reference value of each head. ing.

  In addition, the operator can enter a memo in the “Memo 1” and “Memo 2” columns, and the contents described in the “Memo 1” and “Memo 2” columns are displayed on the printer screen 84 described above. “Memo 1” and “Memo 2” are displayed. As described above, at the time of registering the cloth type, the characteristics of the cloth may be registered as a part of the input set, and may be configured to be displayed in “Memo 1” and “Memo 2”. If the same kind of fabric is registered as different fabric types when the pre-processing and post-processing conditions are different, the same pre-processing as the image recording job or referring to “Memo 1” and “Memo 2”. You can select the fabric type for the post-processing conditions. By selecting the fabric type, the feed amount, bidirectional correction reference value, head height adjustment value, etc. used for previous image recording remain the same as the previous settings. Since it is displayed, the difference due to the change in conditions can be reduced, and the conditions under which image recording can be performed accurately can be stored. Furthermore, as described above, since this content is displayed not only on the display input means 71 of the image processing apparatus 7 but also on the information terminal 4, it can be used effectively for production management.

  In the present embodiment, the cloth width detection screen 100 and the feed adjustment / print reciprocation position adjustment screen 101 are sequentially displayed in a wizard format in the cloth setting so that the setting can be performed independently. It may be configured to do.

  In this embodiment, the recording apparatus 6 can be maintained at three levels.

  The first level of maintenance is normal maintenance performed by an operator of the recording apparatus 6 and the like. The nozzle missing of the head nozzle is detected, the head is cleaned, and the test pattern is printed. Specifically, when a tag (not shown) for switching the screen such as the printer screen 84 or the input job screen 85 is pressed, a normal maintenance screen 110 as shown in FIG. 24 is displayed. When the “inspection wizard” button is pressed, nozzle missing detection, head cleaning and test pattern printing can be easily performed in a series of operations in a wizard format.

  In this embodiment, it is possible to perform nozzle missing detection and the like independently. When the “nozzle missing detection” button on the normal maintenance screen 110 is pressed, a nozzle missing detection screen 111 as shown in FIG. 25 is displayed. It is comprised so that. On the nozzle missing detection screen 111, a head for performing nozzle missing detection can be individually specified, or a nozzle can be detected by specifying a head for each color. It is also possible to specify all the heads. When the “Execute” button is pressed, nozzle missing detection is executed and the result is displayed. When a “head cleaning” button on the normal maintenance screen 110 is pressed, a head cleaning screen 112 as shown in FIG. 26 is displayed. Similarly, in this head cleaning screen 112, the head to be head-cleaned can be individually specified, or the head cleaning can be performed by specifying the head for each color, and all the heads can be specified. It is said that. Also, various maintenance can be performed by selecting various modes in the mode setting. When the “Execute” button is pressed, head cleaning is started and the result is displayed. In addition, the normal maintenance screen 110 can execute test pattern printing, belt cleaning, and LUT management.

  The second level of maintenance is maintenance at the level of an administrator who has undergone maintenance education. Although not shown, the head replacement, automatic cleaning execution setting, suction unit cleaning, damper air removal, and recording device 6 parameters are image-processed. Storage in the F-ROM for sucking to the apparatus 7 side, setting of a computer name, setting of a TCP / IP address, setting of a head voltage, and the like can be performed. In head replacement, specification of the head to be replaced, setting of the head drive voltage, suction of the replaced head, nozzle missing detection of the replaced head, cleaning of the head that has detected the nozzle missing, test printing of various check charts, head tilt and The front-rear position adjustment, the setting of gap parameters in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, and the like are performed in a wizard format. In the automatic cleaning execution setting, the setting of whether or not the head cleaning is required when the power is turned on, the start of image recording and during the recording, and the mode of each head cleaning that is performed three times in one cleaning (simple mode, normal mode) Mode or powerful mode is selected.). If the cleaning is not performed normally after three head cleanings, an error is displayed. Damper air bleeding can be performed by designating the heads individually or by color, or by designating all the heads in the same manner as the nozzle missing detection shown in FIG.

  The third level of maintenance is maintenance at an administrator level that has received a high level of education regarding maintenance. Although not shown, firmware rewriting, automatic cleaning execution settings, factory default settings, factory default data storage, initial value settings, IO check, winder / unwinder, dryer, serial number input of image processing apparatus, ink set designation, arbitrary data setting, etc. can be performed. In the ink set designation, the ink set to be used can be designated from the YMCK set, the YMCK and light YMCK set, or the special color set of YMCK and orange, violet, etc. Is changed, for example, display of ink sets (Y, M, C, K, etc.) such as a printer screen 84 (see FIG. 11), a nozzle shortage detection screen 111 (see FIG. 25), a head cleaning screen 112 (see FIG. 26), etc. LY, LM, LC, LK, etc.) are all changed. Also, in the arbitrary data setting, various parameters in the recording device 6 can be changed.

  Next, the operation of the image processing apparatus, image recording apparatus, and image recording system of the present invention will be described.

  When the client inserts an information recording medium such as an MO in which image information used for an image recording job is written into the input unit 30 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3 (see FIG. 3), the input unit 30 reads the image information and edits the image. Send to means 31. The client performs editing operations such as repetitive image creation and pasting, automatic placement, and repetition while viewing an image corresponding to the image information displayed on the display means 32 such as a monitor. The layout information for one image block including the image information edited by this editing operation and the arrangement information of the created image is stored in the storage means 33 as it is or by being reversibly compressed by the selection of the client. .

  The client calls the bridge 34 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3 and sets image recording conditions from the setting screen 35 (see FIG. 8). Since the image processing device 7 of the image recording device 5 connected to the network 2 is displayed on the setting screen 35, the client selects an appropriate image processing device 7 for transmitting an image recording job from among them. In addition, since a job comment can be input to the image processing apparatus 7 through the setting screen 35, the client gives the operator of the image recording apparatus 5 notes and instructions regarding the fabric that is the recording medium A, image recording, and the like. You can contact us about the deadline. Further, the image recording condition can be set in detail by an option for setting the image recording condition.

  If the client selects ink usage simulation (or calculation and ink usage simulation) as data processing on the setting screen 35, the client confirms the result of the ink usage simulation on the information terminal 4 as will be described later. And the cost of ink can be calculated. If the ink usage per unit area of the recording medium A, the ink usage per unit length of the recording medium A, the ink usage used for the entire image recording job, etc. are selected as the ink usage simulation Result of simple simulation calculation. In the setting screen 35, the image recording conditions can be set in detail with the option of setting the image recording conditions.

  The image information and layout information are transmitted to the image processing device 7 (see FIG. 10) of the selected image recording device 5 via the network 2, and image information management means are received via the reception management means 70 and the job management means 72. The image information is stored in the image information storage unit 79 for each image recording job. At that time, the image information management unit 73 assigns a unique job ID different from the job name to the image recording job, and the image information and layout information are managed in association with the job ID. The job ID, the image recording condition, and the like are sent to the display input unit 71 and registered, and the information is displayed on the input job screen 85 (see FIG. 12) of the display input unit 71. The operator of the image recording apparatus 5 can grasp the reception status of the image recording job registered on the input job screen 85.

  The operator selects an image recording job from the list display on the input job screen 85 and presses the “priority up” button and the “priority down” button, thereby displaying the image recording job in the list display. It can be changed by raising or lowering the priority. When there is a request for deletion from the client, the operator can delete the image recording job by selecting the corresponding image recording job from the list display and pressing the “Delete” button. Image information and layout information of the image recording job can be deleted from the storage unit 79. Also, when the free space of the image information storage unit 79 (primary spool) displayed at the lower left of the input job screen 85 is reduced, the operator can display the list while referring to the data size of the image recording job. The user can select an appropriate image recording job and press the “delete” button to delete the unnecessary image recording job and efficiently increase the free space of the image information storage unit 79.

  The operator can select an image recording job from the list display on the input job screen 85 and press “property setting” to display the calculation property setting screen 86 (see FIG. 13). Thus, the operator can change the contents of the arithmetic processing set by the client on the image editing means 31 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3 and the setting screen 35 of the bridge 34 as necessary. The image recording conditions set by the image information transmitting device 3 can be changed in the same manner.

  Further, even when the client does not select the ink usage amount simulation on the setting screen 35 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3, the operator can select to perform the ink usage amount simulation on the calculation property setting screen 86. . Further, as ink usage simulation, for each ink color, ink usage per unit area of the recording medium A, ink usage per unit length of the recording medium A, ink usage used for the entire image recording job, etc. The total ink consumption is calculated by adding the amount of ink consumed by the head cleaning and flushing performed by the recording device 6 during image recording to the result of the ink usage simulation. If it is possible to set so as to calculate the ink usage amount, it is possible to set the ink usage amount simulation conditions in more detail. The image recording conditions set by the image information transmitting device 3 can be changed in the same manner.

  The operator selects an image recording job from the list display and double-clicks it, so that a property confirmation screen 91 (see FIG. 19), an expected ink usage confirmation screen 92 (see FIG. 20), and a preview screen 93 (FIG. 21). Display) and the job information can be confirmed. At this time, for example, if there is a point to be corrected in the calculation property or the record property of the property confirmation screen 91, the “property setting” button of the input job screen 85 is pressed to display the calculation property setting screen 86 to change the setting. Can do. Note that the radio button for the output assignment information is not displayed on the property screen 91 or the like called from the input job screen 85.

  Each image recording job displayed in a list on the input job screen 85 of the display / input means 71 is selected by the operator and the “calculation start” button is pressed.

  When an operation instruction is input to the display input unit 71 in this way, the image information associated with the job ID of the selected image recording job is read from the image information storage unit 79 to the operation processing unit 74, and the calculation is performed. The processing means 74 performs arithmetic processing such as color conversion, enlargement, error diffusion, etc. to convert it into dot image data, which is losslessly compressed. The data is stored in the data storage unit 80 in association with the newly generated job ID. In addition, when the ink usage simulation is specified by the client, the ink usage simulation is performed from the data obtained by the arithmetic processing, and a job ID different from the job ID generated for the dot image data is generated. Then, the simulation calculation result associated with the job ID is stored in the data storage unit 80 via the data management unit 75. The status of the arithmetic processing is not displayed on the input job screen 85, and the operator can grasp the arithmetic processing status on the arithmetic job screen 87 (see FIG. 14).

  As in the operation on the input job screen 85, the operator selects an image recording job from the list display on the calculation job screen 87 and presses the “priority up” button and “priority down” button. The priority can be changed in the list display of the image recording job by raising or lowering the priority. Further, when there is a request for deletion from the client or when the free capacity of the data storage means 80 (secondary spool) displayed at the lower left of the calculation job screen 87 is reduced, the operator selects an image from the list display. By selecting a recording job and pressing the “Delete” button, the image recording job instructed to be deleted or an unnecessary image recording job can be deleted, and the image information of the image recording job can be deleted from the data storage unit 80. It is possible to delete the layout information and increase the free capacity of the data storage unit 80 efficiently. Further, the operator can temporarily stop or restart the calculation process of the image recording job, interrupt the calculation process, delete the image recording job from the list display, or perform the recalculation process.

  Further, when the operator selects an image recording job from the list display on the calculation job screen 87 and presses “property setting”, a recording property setting screen 88 (see FIG. 15) is displayed on the display input means 71. In the “recording property” field of the recording property setting screen 88, the contents of the image recording processing set by the client on the image editing means 31 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3 and the setting screen 35 of the bridge 34 are automatically displayed. The contents can be changed by the operator as required. Further, the operator can set various image recording conditions in more detail in the “option” column below the operator.

  Further, as in the case of the input job screen 85, the operator selects an image recording job from the list display on the calculation job screen 87 and double-clicks it, so that the property confirmation screen 91 (see FIG. 19) or the expected ink is displayed. The usage amount confirmation screen 92 (see FIG. 20) and the preview screen 93 (see FIG. 21) can be displayed to confirm the job information. In this case, for example, if there is a point to be corrected in the recording property on the property confirmation screen 91, the “property setting” button on the recording job screen 87 is pressed to display the recording property setting screen 88 to change the setting. Further, when modifying the calculation property on the property confirmation screen 91, it is necessary to recalculate the image recording job. Therefore, the “Property setting” button on the input job screen 85 is pressed once to display the calculation property setting screen 86. After changing the calculation property settings, you can recalculate by pressing the “Calculation Start” button. Note that the output assignment information radio button is not displayed on the property screen 91 or the like called from the operation job screen 87.

  In the present embodiment, the expected ink usage amount confirmation screen 92 displays the ink usage amount used for the entire image recording job and the ink usage amount per unit area of the recording medium A for each ink color. According to the setting of the calculation property setting screen 86, in addition to this, the amount of ink used per unit length of the recording medium A and the head cleaning performed by the recording device 6 during image recording based on the result of the ink usage amount simulation. And a value converted into the total consumption amount of ink including the amount of ink consumed by flushing is displayed. Therefore, the operator can confirm the result of the simulation calculation of the ink use amount by looking at the expected ink use amount confirmation screen 92.

  Each image recording job for data that can be recorded on the recording medium A displayed in a list on the calculation job screen 87 of the display input means 71 is not selected until the operator selects the “record job creation” button and starts the image recording process. Turned and waiting for recording. At that time, the operator can select one image recording job from the list display and shift to the image recording processing, but can select a plurality of image recording jobs and record the images by output assignment. . When a plurality of image recording jobs are selected and the “Create recording job” button is pressed, an output assignment setting screen 90 (see FIG. 17) is displayed, and the operator handles the plurality of image recording jobs as one image recording job. Therefore, a new job name is set, and an image recording condition for output assignment is set.

  The operator switches to the recording job screen 89 (see FIG. 16) and performs an image recording operation. The operator starts image recording by selecting an image recording job from the list display of the recording job screen 89 and pressing a “recording start” button. When an instruction for image recording processing is input to the display input means 71 in this way, an instruction for output processing for the selected image recording job is transmitted from the display input means 71 to the job management means 72, and the job management means 72 In response to the instruction, an output list of data used for the image recording job is created, the output list is sent to the output processing unit 76, and an output instruction is issued. In response to the output instruction, the output processing unit 76 reads one or more data from the data storage unit 80 via the data management unit 75 based on the output list, and sequentially stores the data on the memory based on the arrangement information. Arrange. Then, it is repeatedly output for the number of times set in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction based on the image recording conditions, sent to the recording device 6 via the printer port driver 81 and the USB driver 82, and the image is recorded on the recording medium A by the recording device 6. Is recorded.

  The operator can grasp the image recording processing status on the recording job screen 89.

  The operator selects an image recording job from the list display on the recording job screen 89 and operates the “Up Priority” button and the “Down Priority” button as in the operation on the input job screen 85 and the calculation job screen 87. By pressing a button, it is possible to change the priority by raising or lowering the priority in the list display of the image recording job. Also, when there is a request from the client or when the free space of the data storage means 80 (secondary spool) displayed at the lower left of the input job screen 85 is reduced, the operator can select an image recording job from the list display. An unnecessary image recording job can be deleted by selecting and pressing the “delete” button, and the image information and layout information of the image recording job can be deleted from the data storage unit 80. Further, the operator can suspend or resume the recording process of the image recording job, interrupt the image recording process, and return the image recording job to a recording standby state.

  Further, as in the case of the input job screen 85 and the calculation job screen 87, the operator selects an image recording job from the list display of the recording job screen 89 and double-clicks to display the property confirmation screen 91 (FIG. 19). The job information can be confirmed by displaying a predicted ink usage confirmation screen 92 (see FIG. 20) and a preview screen 93 (see FIG. 21). Further, when output assignment is performed, an output assignment information confirmation screen 94 (see FIG. 22) can be displayed to check the output assignment state.

  On the other hand, the operator looks at the printer screen 84 (see FIG. 11) to monitor the number of fabric seams detected by the detection unit 62 of the recording device 6, the length of the image recorded from the fabric seams, and the like. It is also possible to monitor the state of the dispenser and the ink state. Also, the column for displaying the status of the recording device 6 and the information of the image recording job being recorded is always displayed at the bottom of the printer screen 84 even if the printer screen 84 is switched to the input job screen 85 or the like. In the lower part of this column, a job comment input by the client on the setting screen 35 of the bridge 34 of the image information transmitting apparatus 3 is displayed. Therefore, the operator can smoothly execute the image recording job by checking the contents.

  When the ink in the ink pack runs out, the ink pack portion is displayed in red. In addition, when a problem occurs in the recording device 6, the unwinding machine, or the ink state, the error content is displayed in red in the corresponding part of the printer screen 84, and the error location and error content are displayed in red in the lower column. Therefore, the operator can deal with it accurately and quickly.

  The operator can perform cloth width setting, head adjustment, head cleaning, automatic cleaning execution setting, head replacement, and the like through the cloth setting and various maintenances.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the display input unit 71 also performs reception management in the same manner as the information terminal 4 communicates with the reception management unit 70 of the information processing apparatus 7 using the TCP / IP protocol via the network. Communication is performed using the same protocol as the means 70. Therefore, the job management unit 72 can respond to the inquiry signal from the information terminal 4 with the same protocol as the response to the request from the display input unit 71.

  The production status of the recording device 6 can be monitored also by the client-side information terminal 4 (see FIG. 1) connected to the network 2. When an inquiry signal is transmitted from the information terminal 4, the network 2 Information such as the length of the image recorded from the image processing device 7 of the image recording device 5, the elapsed recording time, the recording start time, the scheduled recording end time, the remaining ink amount, the remaining amount of the fabric, the error content, the error avoiding method, etc. I get a reply. Specifically, as described above, the display unit of the information terminal 4 includes the printer screen 84 (see FIG. 11) and the input job screen (see FIG. 12) displayed on the display input unit 71 of the image processing apparatus 7. Similar screens are displayed, and the information can be confirmed on these screens. In particular, when the setting screen 35 of the image information transmitting device 3 is set to perform the simulation calculation of the ink usage amount, the same as the expected ink usage amount confirmation screen 92 displayed on the display input means 71 of the image processing device 7. If the screen is displayed, the result of the ink use amount simulation can be confirmed, and the cost of the ink used for the image recording job can be calculated from the result.

  As described above, according to the image processing device 7 and the image recording device 5 of the present invention, the operator of the image recording device 5 can paste the transmitted image recording job [see FIG. Aside from the case of sample recording created by arrangement (see FIG. 5), etc., especially when an image created by repetition (see FIGS. 6 and 7) is recorded on a fabric of several tens of meters or several hundreds of meters. When a large amount of ink is assumed to be used, the “Property setting” button on the input job screen 85 (see FIG. 12) displayed on the display input screen 71 of the image processing apparatus 7 is pressed to enter the calculation property setting screen 86. (Refer to FIG. 13) is displayed, and simulation calculation of ink usage can be selected. As a result, the amount of ink used in the image recording job can be grasped in advance, and appropriate ink management such as preparing an amount of ink necessary for the image recording job becomes possible.

  Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of recording failure due to the loss of ink in the middle of image recording, or the occurrence of uneven image quality due to slightly different image quality before and after replacing the ink pack, thereby stabilizing the product quality. be able to. Further, it is not necessary to replace the ink pack or to perform image recording by extending one portion that is no longer used, so that productivity can be maintained and improved.

  In addition, if the ink usage amount is simulated for each ink color as in this embodiment, the operator can accurately grasp the ink amount consumed for each color, and appropriate ink management can be performed. It can be performed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent ink shortage during image recording more precisely, which is preferable.

  Further, as shown in the printer screen 84 (see FIG. 11) displayed on the display input screen 71 of the image processing apparatus 7 of the present embodiment, the remaining amount of ink is displayed, and the ink level is displayed for each head and each ink pack mounted on the head. By displaying the ink status such as presence or absence, it is preferable because the operator can perform ink management accurately. In addition, if display is possible in this way, the operator can easily recognize the ink pack to be replaced when the remaining amount of ink is low and image recording must be interrupted, and for example, the recording can be performed. If the ink jet printer is temporarily stopped and the ink pack is replaced when the carriage is temporarily retracted from the recording medium A in order to pass the seam of the fabric or the like as the medium A, the image quality unevenness is in the middle of one counter-product. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which one part of the product becomes unusable, and product quality can be stabilized and productivity can be maintained and improved.

  Also, when viewed as the entire image recording system 1, by using the image processing device 7 and the image recording device 5 of the present invention as described above, image recording jobs transmitted one after another from the image information transmitting device 3 On the other hand, since the image recording apparatus 5 can appropriately cope with recording defects, image quality irregularities, image recording delays, and the like, it is possible to construct a very efficient system.

  As in this embodiment, the image information transmitting apparatus 3 can select an image processing apparatus 7 suitable for transmitting an image recording job from the image processing apparatuses 7 connected to the network 2. This is preferable because it enables more efficient image recording. Further, as in the present embodiment, if the image information transmission device 3 is configured to transmit only one block of the image repeatedly recorded by the image recording device 5, the image information transmission device 3 transmits the image. This is preferable because the amount of image information and the like is small and the input time to the image processing device 7 is shortened.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the recording device 6 and the image processing device 7 are independent devices is shown as the image recording device 5 (see FIG. 1). For example, the image processing device 7 is included in the recording device 6. It is also possible to form both of them as a single unit by, for example, incorporating them. The image recording apparatus 5 includes those in which both are integrally formed as described above.

  Further, in this embodiment, since the USB interface is used for the connection between the image processing apparatus 7 and the recording apparatus 6, the USB driver 82 is used for the image processing apparatus 7. However, SCSI, IEEE 1394 or the like may be used as the interface. A suitable driver or the like is appropriately used for the image processing apparatus 7. It is also possible to incorporate a CPU (Central Processing Unit) of the image processing device 7 on the recording device 6 side to provide a dedicated interface connection.

  The present invention is very effective when a serial head type ink jet printer is used as the recording device 6 of the image recording device 5 and an image is printed on a fabric as the recording medium A. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Needless to say.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows the image recording system using the image processing apparatus of this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the main scanning direction or horizontal direction and sub-scanning direction or vertical direction of an image, (A) shows the state recorded on the recording medium, (B) shows the state displayed on the display input means. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image information transmission apparatus of this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the sticking function in the image editing means of an image information transmitter, (A) shows the state recorded on the recording medium, (B) shows the state displayed on the display means. It is a figure explaining the automatic arrangement | positioning function in the image editing means of an image information transmitter. It is a figure explaining the repeating function repeated in the vertical direction in the image editing means of an image information transmitter. It is a figure explaining the repeating function repeated in the horizontal direction in the image editing means of an image information transmitter. It is the schematic which shows the structural example of the setting screen displayed on the display means of an image information transmitter when calling the bridge | bridging of an image information transmitter. 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams illustrating a configuration example of a detection unit of the recording apparatus according to the embodiment, in which FIG. 3A illustrates a method for detecting the thickness of a seam, and FIG. . It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image processing apparatus of this embodiment. It is the schematic of the printer screen displayed on a display input means. It is the schematic of the input job screen displayed on a display input means. It is the schematic of the calculation property setting screen displayed on a display input means. It is the schematic of the calculation job screen displayed on a display input means. It is the schematic of the recording property setting screen displayed on a display input means. It is the schematic of the recording job screen displayed on a display input means. It is the schematic of the output allocation setting screen displayed on a display input means. It is a figure explaining output allocation, (A) shows the state which assigned output to one recording medium, and (B) shows the state which assigned output to a plurality of recording media. It is the schematic of the property confirmation screen displayed on a display input means. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an expected ink usage confirmation screen displayed on a display input unit. It is the schematic of the preview screen displayed on a display input means. It is the schematic of the output allocation information confirmation screen displayed on a display input means. It is the schematic of the screen displayed on a display input means by the cloth setting in an image processing apparatus, (A) is a cloth width detection screen, (B) shows a feed adjustment and printing reciprocation position adjustment screen. It is the schematic of a normal maintenance screen displayed on a display input means. It is the schematic of the nozzle missing detection screen displayed on a display input means. It is the schematic of the head cleaning screen displayed on a display input means.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image recording system 2 Network 3 Image information transmission apparatus 4 Information terminal 5 Image recording apparatus 6 Recording apparatus 7 Image processing apparatus 70 Reception management means 71 Display input means 73 Image information management means 74 Operation processing means 75 Data management means 76 Output processing means 79 Image information storage means 80 Data storage means A Recording medium

Claims (11)

Receiving management means for receiving image information corresponding to an image to be used for an image recording job to a recording medium;
Image information storage means for storing the received image information for each image recording job;
Image information management means for managing the contents of the image information storage means;
Arithmetic processing means for performing arithmetic processing on the image information and converting the data into data recordable on the recording medium;
Data storage means for storing the data for each image recording job;
Data management means for managing the contents of the data storage means;
Display input means for displaying a list of the contents of the image recording job and inputting a processing instruction for each image recording job;
The arithmetic processing means calculates the number of ink dots from the record-converted data or the received and stored image information, and performs a simulation calculation for calculating the ink usage from the ink dot number. Is configured to be able to
The image processing apparatus is configured to display the result of the simulation calculation of the ink usage amount on the display input unit.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display input unit is configured to display a result of a simulation calculation of the ink usage amount for each color of the ink.   The result of the simulation calculation of the ink usage is converted into the ink usage per unit area of the recording medium, the ink usage per unit length of the recording medium, or the ink usage for the entire image recording job. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus is configured to be displayed.   The display input means is configured to display an amount obtained by adding the amount of ink consumed in cleaning and flushing performed during the image recording job to the result of the simulation calculation of the ink usage amount. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the image processing apparatus is characterized.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display input unit is capable of inputting an instruction to perform a simulation calculation of the ink usage amount.   The result of the simulation calculation of the ink use amount is configured to be stored in the data storage unit separately from data recordable on the recording medium. The image processing apparatus according to one item.   An image recording apparatus comprising: the image processing apparatus according to claim 1; and a recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the recording apparatus is an ink jet printer including a head that ejects ink.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the display input unit of the image processing apparatus is configured to display the presence or absence of ink for each of the heads of the inkjet printer.   An image recording apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9, an image information transmitting apparatus for transmitting the image information, and an information terminal for monitoring a production status in the image recording apparatus Is connected to a network.   The image recording system according to claim 10, wherein the information terminal is configured to display a result of simulation calculation of ink usage displayed on the display input unit of the image processing apparatus. .

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