JP2006260192A - Image printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image printer which serves as a material for remembering events around at photographing and for extending subjects of conversation by looking at the information on date, time and place and related information, when seeing a photographic at a later date. <P>SOLUTION: This image printer is equipped with a data-receiving means which receives photograph image data from a digital camera and a printing means which prints out event information, called from a network together and thus can simply add and print out the related information of the photographing date and place of the photograph photographing up on a commemorated day. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image printing apparatus capable of printing a photographic image taken by a user.

  2. Description of the Related Art There is known an image printing apparatus that captures image data captured by a user using a digital camera or the like and prints the captured image when the user inputs a fee. Such an apparatus is installed in a store or an accommodation facility, and is configured such that a photographic image taken by a user can be printed by a printer (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In a conventional image printing apparatus, when printing a digital image, it has been proposed to print a photographic image such as news together based on data registered in advance as a scheduled date (see, for example, Patent Document 2). .

  A service has also been proposed by printing a mail document together with a photograph (for example, Patent Document 3).

JP2002-197177 Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-373233 Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-132923

  By printing information such as news and weather for a special day, such as a child's birthday, when you see the photo at a later date, you can view the date and location information and related information at the same time. It helps to remember the events before and after shooting, and can play a role in expanding the topic.

According to the image printing apparatus of Patent Document 3, information registered in advance and a mail document can be printed together, but there is a problem that prior registration and document creation are troublesome and difficult to be used.
In addition, when the printing date and the shooting date are different, a document is created when printing, and there is a problem that it is difficult to remember the shooting date news and weather.

  According to the image printing apparatus of Patent Document 2, it is convenient to register an event schedule in advance, but it cannot cope with unregistered persons or sudden events.

  It was thought that the above problem could be solved by adding an unprecedented function of extracting necessary information by network connection and printing the favorite information together with the photographic image.

  The present invention has come up with the present invention by discovering a method for extracting information related to a photographic image using a network and printing the related information together.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an image printing apparatus that can easily add information related to the shooting date and shooting location of a photo taken on a memorial day.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image printing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is connected to a data receiving means for receiving photographic image data from a digital camera and an image information acquiring means for photographic image data via a network, and the image information and photographing It has a printing means for receiving event information related to the image information from a server storing event information corresponding to the date and time and printing it together with a photographic image.

  An image printing apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is the image printing apparatus, wherein the network connection uses the Internet, receives news on the date and time when taking a picture from a server connected to the Internet, and One or more of them are printed together with a photographic image.

  An image printing apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is the image printing apparatus, wherein the network connection uses the Internet, receives area information relating to the photo image shooting location from a server connected to the Internet, and receives the received area information. One or more of them are printed together with a photographic image.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image printing apparatus, wherein in the image printing apparatus, the related information of the shooting date and the shooting location is called out from the related information created in advance by the time of printing and stored in the server. It is characterized by printing.

  According to the present invention, news and local information at the time of shooting can be added relatively easily even during printing, which is convenient. Sentences can be inserted without a character input device such as a keyboard, and it is possible to improve usability by examining the relevant information in the network server in advance.

The data receiving means is in a state where it can be received from the standby state, and performs transmission / reception according to the screen instruction of the operation unit. The data transmission side is a digital camera or mobile phone (with a digital camera function) brought by the user. In the transmission / reception, the image printing apparatus receives via infrared rays or a storage medium (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a medium).
However, when using media, of course, it is not necessary to bring a digital camera or the like.

  When the user inputs a predetermined fee, the operation of the image editing function is released. In this state, the shooting date news (article) and the shooting location area information are displayed on the operation screen. The user selects an item to be printed from the displayed news (article) and regional information.

  The user selects a template that designates the prepared photo image pasting position and the selected event information pasting position.

  The image printing apparatus pastes an image created by using an image editing function and event information to a template selected by the user to create composite image data, which is printed by a printer as a printing unit.

The appearance of the image printing apparatus is shown in FIG. 1, and the appearance configuration of the image printing apparatus 20 will be described below.
The casing of the image printing apparatus 20 includes a display unit 22 that displays an image, an operation unit 22 that is operated by a user, a money insertion port 26 into which a user inputs money, and a payout port 29 that pays out change for the input amount. A media reading unit 28 into which a medium in which photographic image data is recorded is inserted, and an infrared light receiving unit 33 are provided.
Moreover, you may add the banknote identification machine (not shown) with the banknote insertion slot which inserts a banknote.

  The display unit 22 may be a display device such as an LCD or CRT as a user interface. However, when a touch panel type display device is used for the operation unit 24, the operation unit 24 is used as a user interface, and the display unit 22 may be used for displaying an advertisement screen for purposes other than the user interface. In some cases, the display unit 22 may be omitted.

  Since it is desirable that the media reading unit 28 supports as many standards as possible, the media reading unit 28 has media insertion ports 31 of various sizes. The media standards include smart media, compact flash (registered trademark), memory stick, memory stick Duo, xD picture card, SD card, miniSD card, and the like.

The internal configuration of the image printing apparatus 20 is shown in FIG. 2, and the internal configuration of the image printing apparatus 20 will be described below.
The overall operation of the image printing apparatus 20 is comprehensively controlled by a control unit 40 including a central processing unit such as a CPU. The control unit 40 operates by executing a control program stored in advance in the storage device 50.
Note that the control unit 40 is connected to a storage unit 50 for storing in advance a template designating a pasting position of an image and event information and a stamp or a frame pasted on the image.

  The control unit 40 has an image composition means 42 and can execute a program for performing image composition. Further, the control unit 40 has network control means 44 and can execute a program for performing network control. In addition, the control unit 40 includes an image receiving unit 41 and a money control unit 43.

  The control unit 40 is connected to an infrared receiving unit 46 having an infrared receiving unit 33 for receiving data from a mobile phone or the like, and a receiving circuit 45 for amplifying the received signal or shaping the waveform. Data received from the infrared receiver 46 is sent to the controller 40.

  The control unit 40 is connected to a money machine unit 47 that detects that a predetermined fee has been inserted into the money insertion slot 26. An operation unit 24 is also connected, and the content operated and instructed by the user is input to the control unit 40.

  The image synthesizing unit 42 of the control unit 40 extracts the image data of the stamp or frame selected by the user from the storage unit 50 and synthesizes the stamp or frame with the image photographed by the user. Also, an image for printing can be created by pasting an image and event information at a predetermined position of the template.

  The combined image data b generated by the image combining unit 42 of the control unit 40 is output to the printer 48 that is a printing unit. The printer 48 is equipped with two types of plain paper and sticker paper and can be selected by the user.

Hereinafter, an example of the operation of the image printing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.
In the case where the user stores a medium storing image data captured in advance by a digital camera, the user inserts the medium storing the image data to be printed from the medium insertion port 31. When the image printing apparatus 20 displays an image stored in the medium on the display unit 22, the user operates the operation unit 24 to select an image to be printed while looking at the display unit 22, thereby controlling from the media reading unit 28. The image data to be printed is taken into the section 40.

  Next, the user inputs the date and time related to the photo (for example, the date and time when the photo was taken) from the operation unit 24. As this date / time information, shooting date / time data recorded side by side with image data recorded on the medium may be used.

  The image printing apparatus 20 transmits the date / time information to the server 53 connected to the image printing apparatus 20 via the Internet by the network control unit 44. The server 53 searches for news articles related to the date and time information, and transmits the search results to the print image apparatus 20. News article information may be fetched from the server 53 into the storage device 50 in advance by the network control means 44 and searched in the image printing apparatus 20.

The image printing apparatus 20 displays the received news article information on the display unit 22. The user selects the news article displayed on the display unit 22 to be printed together with the image. Only one news article may be selected, but two or more news articles may be selected.
Furthermore, the control unit 40 may affix a stamp or a frame to the image 55 captured by the image composition unit 42, or may perform pen input (so-called graffiti) using touch pen input.

  The user selects a template that specifies the image and news article pasting position stored in the storage unit 50. The image composition means 42 creates composite image data b by pasting images and news articles so as to have the same arrangement as the selected template.

  The control unit 40 transmits the created composite image data b to the printer 48 and prints it on a sheet designated by the user.

  The printing apparatus of the present invention can be used to print photographs on the spot by installing it in accommodation facilities such as hotels, inns, and souvenir shops in tourist spots, convenience stores, department stores, etc. You can print the date and location information and related information together without any hassle.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and it goes without saying that many modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

1 is an external view of an image printing apparatus according to the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of an image printing apparatus according to the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of a printing result.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 Image printing apparatus 21 Housing | casing 22 Display part 24 Operation part 26 Money insertion port 27 Printed material taking out port 28 Media reading part 29 Discharge port 31 Media insertion port 33 Infrared light-receiving part 40 Control part 41 Image receiving means 42 Image composition means 43 Image control means 43 Money control Means 44 Network control means 45 Receiving circuit 46 Infrared receiving part 47 Money machine part 48 Printer 50 Storage means 52 Network 53 Server 55 Image 56 Print result a Detection signal b Composite image data p Image data

Claims (4)

An event related to the image information and the shooting date and time from a server connected with a data receiving means for receiving photographic image data from a digital camera, an image information acquiring means for photographic image data, and storing event information corresponding to the image information An image printing apparatus comprising printing means for receiving information and printing together with a photographic image. The network connection uses the Internet, receives news of the date and time when taking a picture from a server connected to the Internet, and prints one or more of the received news together with a photographic image. The image printing apparatus according to claim 1. The network connection uses the Internet, receives regional information regarding the location where the photograph image was taken from a server connected to the Internet, and prints one or more of the received regional information together with the photograph image. The image printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The related information of the shooting date and the shooting location is called out from the related information created in advance by the time of printing and stored in the server, and the called information is printed together. The image printing apparatus of any one of Claims.

Images