JP2007018427A - Print system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print system for preventing waste of a print consumable material due to a transmission failure between a print image data transmission means and a print image data receipt means connected via radio and achieving high-speed printing. <P>SOLUTION: In this print system constructed of a transmission means transmitting print image data, a receipt means receiving the print image data, a recording means storing failure/success of receipt, a determination means deciding a print procedure, and a print means performing printing, a failure/success result of print image data receipt is recorded, and according to the statistical result of the recorded result, the print procedure is switched. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system that wirelessly connects a thermal transfer printer and print information output, and more specifically, prints out electronic information captured by a still camera, a video camera, or the like that records a still image. The present invention relates to a printing system suitable for the above.

  Conventionally, heat-sensitive paper has been used as printing paper, and a plurality of heating elements arranged in the main scanning direction are selectively driven to convey the paper in the sub-scanning direction, thereby printing dots on the paper. There is a line thermal transfer type printer that performs this.

  In recent years, with the progress of input devices that handle images such as digital cameras, digital video cameras, and scanners on the input side, thermal transfer type printer apparatuses have attracted attention as printing means.

  Because the inkjet printer has only two choices of whether or not to drop the droplets, let the small droplets land on the paper and get an apparent resolution and gradation by methods such as error diffusion On the other hand, in the case of a thermal transfer printer, the controllable heat value can be easily changed in one pixel, so that a large gradation can be obtained for one pixel. As a result, it is possible to obtain a smoother and higher quality image as compared with the ink jet printer.

  In addition, the performance of the thermal head and the performance of paper materials have also improved, making it possible to obtain image prints that are as good as silver halide photographs with a finished quality, especially in order to keep pace with the recent progress of digital cameras. It is attracting attention as a printer for natural images.

  On the other hand, ink-jet printers have been developed with technology such as smaller droplets, and more high-quality printers have also appeared.

  Therefore, such a printer device is directly connected to a photographing device such as a digital camera or a digital video camera, or it is configured integrally and the photographed image information is passed through a device such as a computer for processing the image information. There is also a system for printing.

  According to such a system, it is possible to easily print out image information from a digital camera or digital video, which is very convenient.

As an example of these, Patent Document 1 proposes an image print system.
JP-A-10-191226

  However, in the above conventional example, when a system with a printer device or an image input device such as a digital camera is configured, a sufficient solution for miniaturization, low cost and high speed is not provided.

  For example, to achieve high-speed printing by wirelessly connecting a thermal transfer printer and an image input device such as a digital camera, move the print paper to the print start position in parallel with receiving the print image data, and an ink ribbon for thermal transfer printing. It is effective to shorten the printing time by preparing for printing such as detecting the leading position of the. However, when a printer using thermal transfer and an image input device such as a digital camera are connected wirelessly, there is a risk that a transmission accident that reception of print image data is not completed due to the condition of the transmission path during print image data communication may easily occur. is there.

  When such a transmission accident is handled as a printing failure, an ordinary thermal transfer printer does not rewind the ink ribbon that was in the print ready state to the print standby state. In order to perform this, there is a problem that the ink ribbon is wound up unused and the ink ribbon is wasted for one printing.

  The present invention provides a printing system that takes into account the above-described problems and realizes high-speed printing in a printing system in which an image input device and a thermal transfer printer are wirelessly connected and prevents waste of an ink ribbon. For the purpose.

  A printing system comprising a print image information transmitting unit, a print image receiving unit, a print image information reception success / failure statistical unit, a printing procedure determining unit, and a printing mechanism driving unit.

  That is, the technical contents of the present invention can solve the above-described problems by including the following configuration.

  (1) Image information transmitting means for wirelessly transmitting print image information, image information receiving means for receiving image information, printing means for performing printing from the received image image information, and recording means for statistically recording success or failure of image information reception And a printing procedure determining means for determining a printing procedure, and the printing procedure is changed according to statistics of success or failure of image information communication.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to simultaneously perform a high-speed printing operation while preventing waste of printing consumable materials as much as possible when printing image information reception fails.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  This printing system employs a sublimation type thermal transfer recording system in a printer unit, and can print out electronic image information for an arbitrary number of prints. An embodiment of a normal thermal transfer recording apparatus according to the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a side surface of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment.

  First, the overall configuration of the recording apparatus will be described. A sheet feeding roller 3 separates and feeds sheets one by one from a sheet cassette 2 loaded with recording sheets P on the apparatus main body 1. At this time, the recording paper P is in contact with the paper feed roller 3 by the push-up plate 21 urged by the spring 20. The recording paper P conveyed by the paper feed roller 3 is nipped and conveyed by the conveying roller pair 4 so that the recording unit can reciprocate. The conveying roller pair 4 includes a pinch roller 42 and a grip roller 41.

  In the recording section, the platen roller 5 and the thermal head 6 that generates heat according to the recording information are opposed to each other across the recording paper conveyance path, and a heat-meltable or heat-sublimable ink stored in the ink cassette 7 is applied. The ink sheet 8 having an overcoat layer that is overcoated on the print screen in order to protect the ink layer and the print screen is pressed against the print paper P by the thermal head 6 and selectively heated. A predetermined image is transferred and recorded on P, and a protective layer is overcoated.

  The ink sheet covers the print area of the recording paper P and is provided with a yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) ink layer and an overcoat (OP) layer arranged in a size substantially equal to the size. After each layer is thermally transferred, the recording paper P is returned to the recording start position P1 and transferred onto the recording paper one after another. In this way, the recording paper P is reciprocated by the number of inks of each color and the number of overcoat layers by the conveying roller pair 4.

  At this time, the recording paper P after printing of each ink layer is reversed in front of the apparatus main body 1 and guided to the rear of the apparatus main body 1 through the front portion of the paper cassette and the lower guide portion. Since the recording paper P in the middle of printing comes out to the outside because it is reversed in front of the device, there is no waste of space or unintentionally touching it, making it possible to save space at the installation location, etc. Yes. Moreover, by directly using the lower part of the paper cassette 2 as a paper guide, the thickness of the apparatus main body 1 can be reduced, and the recording paper P is sandwiched between the ink cassette 7 and the paper cassette 2. The overall height of the apparatus main body 1 can be kept to a minimum by passing through the space, which enables downsizing.

  Reference numeral 25 denotes a paper transport guide portion of the paper cassette 2. This is a guide portion for reversing the recording paper P that has been reversed from the front of the apparatus main body 1 to the rear of the apparatus main body, and is provided in the paper cassette 2 to greatly contribute to downsizing of the entire apparatus main body 1.

  Reference numeral 26 also serves as a tray portion of the recording paper P printed on and discharged from the upper surface of the paper cassette 2, which also contributes to downsizing of the apparatus main body 1. After the printing of each ink layer is completed, the recording paper P is guided to the paper discharge roller 19-1 and the paper discharge roller 29-2 and discharged from the rear of the apparatus main body 1 to the front, and the recording operation is completed. The discharge roller 19-1 is configured to be in pressure contact only during the discharge operation of the recording paper P, and is configured so that no stress is applied during printing. The apparatus main body 1 includes a guide portion 15 for the recording paper P, and guides the recording paper P.

  Reference numeral 15a denotes a conveyance path switching sheet. After the recording paper P is fed, the recording paper P is guided to the discharge-side path.

  Further, the thermal head 6 for printing is integrally provided in the head arm 22, and when the ink cassette 7 is replaced, it is retracted to a position where the ink cassette 7 can be removed and inserted. This retreat operation can be performed by replacing the ink cassette 7 by pulling out the paper cassette 2. At this time, the head arm 22 is pressed by a cam portion (not shown) in conjunction with the attachment / detachment operation of the paper cassette 2. The cam portion of the cassette 2 is configured to move up and down as it retracts.

  In a normal thermal transfer recording apparatus, three colors of YMC are recorded three times in a surface sequential manner, so that it is necessary to control to accurately match the recording leading ends of the respective colors. For this purpose, it is necessary to convey the recording paper P firmly between the conveying roller pair 4 shown in FIG. For this reason, an unrecordable blank portion is required at the end of the recording paper P in the feed direction. In view of this, finally, in order to easily obtain a print having no border, as shown in FIG. 3, the recording paper P has a blank portion that is firmly sandwiched by the conveying roller pair 4 at the start of recording and cannot be recorded. A perforation 12 is provided so that it can be easily cut by hand later.

  The present invention is implemented using the recording paper P having the perforations described above and the thermal transfer recording apparatus, and the perforation region provided on the recording paper is overcoated. The area indicated by the diagonally slanting left line is a printing area, and is controlled so as to print an area including a perforation. The overcoat is an area that is substantially printed and is controlled so as to include an area that is printed slightly larger than the area to be printed.

  Furthermore, the detailed description regarding an apparatus is given below.

  In the recording apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, the conveying roller pair 4 includes a pinch roller 42 and a grip roller 41. The grip roller 41 is directly connected to the output shaft of a stepping motor (not shown) via a speed reduction mechanism. The stepping motor is driven to rotate forward and backward by rotation control. Since the recording paper P is firmly sandwiched by the conveying roller pair 4 and reciprocated, the recording paper P is also accurately position-controlled and driven by rotation control of the stepping motor.

  As an example, if the recording pitch for one line by the thermal head 6 is 85 μm and the number of steps of the stepping motor for transporting the recording paper P for one line is four, the recording paper P has a stepping motor. By controlling the rotation in four steps, one line (that is, 85 μm) can be conveyed.

  If the printing range shown in FIG. 3 is 144 mm in the transport direction, 1694 lines can be printed, and in order to transport the recording paper by this amount, the stepping motor may be rotated by 6776 steps.

  In the recording apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, a recording paper leading edge detection sensor 10 is placed at a position near the paper feeding roller pair 4 when the paper feeding roller 3 is viewed from the paper feeding roller pair 4. The leading edge is detected, and after the detection, a predetermined line is fed and stopped within a range that can be clamped by the conveying roller pair 4. This position is the position at the start of recording described above. From here, the thermal head is driven to generate heat according to the recording information from the first Y yellow, and a predetermined image of each color ink is recorded or the overcoat layer is transferred. When one color is finished, the recording paper is then returned from this position in the direction of the paper discharge roller 9 and conveyed, and a predetermined number of lines are sent back again, and YMC each color and overcoat layer transfer are repeated four times.

  In the recording apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, the distance of the position where the recording paper P is pressed by the recording paper leading edge detection sensor 10, the platen roller 5 and the thermal head 6 is 20 mm on the recording paper in consideration of the arrangement of components in the apparatus. However, this is not a limitation.

  At this time, the printed matter shown in FIG. 3 is obtained by transferring and recording each color ink and transferring the overcoat layer as described below.

  The color ink transfer and overcoat sequence will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  S1: The user instructs a print operation by a print button (not shown) or a print instruction from a digital camera or digital video camera.

  S2: Device main body 1 The processing circuit 18 inside the device main body 1 starts communication with the device that has executed the print instruction, and the processing circuit 18 checks various conditions necessary for printing with the device that has executed the print instruction. If necessary, image processing of image information to print information is performed.

  S3: When preparation for printing is completed, the control means 19 drives the motor connected to the paper feed roller 3 to start feeding the recording paper P.

  S4: After detecting the leading edge of the recording paper, the stepping motor is rotated by a predetermined step to start printing. At this time, the printing start position was set to 12.465 mm with reference to the leading edge of the recording paper.

  S5: Subsequently, while the stepping motor is rotated by four steps, the thermal head is driven to generate heat, and printing for one line is performed. The printing is completed by rotating for a total of 6776 steps (1694 lines). The print end position at this time is 156.455 mm with reference to the leading edge of the recording paper.

  S6: Next, the stepping motor is rotated by about 10 lines (40 steps) and stopped for deceleration until stopping.

  S7: From this state, the stepping motor is driven in the reverse direction, the recording paper P is conveyed in the reverse direction to the time of printing, is returned by a predetermined number of steps (6776 steps-deceleration), and for further deceleration, the predetermined number of lines. Rotate about 10 lines (40 steps) and stop.

  S8: The above is repeated three times for the three colors of YMC, and a desired mark image is transferred and recorded on the recording paper P.

  S9: Thereafter, the overcoat layer for protecting the printing screen is transferred once more.

  S10: Thereafter, the stepping motor is driven in the reverse direction and guided to the discharge roller 29-2 as it is, and the sheet is discharged by driving the discharge roller 29-2 to end a series of operations.

  In the above description, the control means (not shown) determines the number of steps of the stepping motor and the recording paper based on the recording paper leading edge detection signal first detected by the recording paper leading edge detection sensor 10 when the recording paper P is fed. Based on the positional relationship during the conveyance of P, the number of steps of the rotational driving of the stepping motor is managed at the time of all print recording, but the recording position management is performed. At the time of transfer recording of the overcoat layer, a recording sensor is provided at the leading edge of the recording paper to detect the leading edge of the recording paper, and based on the signal, the number of steps for rotational driving of the stepping motor is managed to manage the recording position It is good also as a structure which performs.

  In the above description, the transfer of the overcoat layer is described to be performed only by turning ON / OFF the heat generation drive of the thermal head. However, at the start of the overcoat transfer, the heat generation amount is gradually increased, and the overcoat layer is transferred. At the end of the transfer, it is also possible to add a control as obtained by gradually reducing the amount of heat generation.

  Here, communication between the apparatus that executes the above-described print instruction of S2 and the printer apparatus will be described in more detail.

  As an example, it is assumed that the print instruction is executed as a digital camera DC.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram in which the digital camera DC and the printer apparatus main body 1 are connected by wireless means represented by 802.11b, Bluetooth, IrDA, and the like.

  It is assumed that the digital camera DC holds image information in a memory inside the digital camera DC after shooting. As the memory, a removable memory such as a compact flash (registered trademark) card or smart media (registered trademark) is convenient. It is assumed that an arbitrary image is reproduced by setting a mode of the digital camera DC.

  Since the reproduction of the image information can be confirmed at any time by the liquid crystal display device included in the digital camera DC, the user can arbitrarily call the photographed favorite image information. If the wireless device can communicate with the printer apparatus main body 1, necessary information is communicated from the digital camera DC to the printer apparatus by a predetermined print execution button (not shown), and the printer apparatus 1 prints out the information. Is obtained.

  The necessary information includes information on negotiation with the digital camera DC, information on an image to be printed from the digital camera DC, information added to the image information at or after recording, and the like.

  In general, when the print image is large, the print image data communicated between the digital camera DC and the printer apparatus main body 1 is large, and the size of the print image data and the communication time are in a substantially proportional relationship. When trying to realize high-speed printing in response to a print instruction from the digital camera DC, the print paper is moved to the print start position without waiting for completion of reception of print image data, and the yellow portion of the ink ribbon for thermal transfer printing If print preparation for the printing mechanism drive system is started at the same time as the start of print image data communication, such as preparing for the start of take-up printing until the print is detected, the print image data receiving operation and the drive system print preparation process can be performed in parallel. Effective for shortening.

  FIG. 5 shows a procedure of print image data reception processing and print mechanism preparation processing.

  Procedure 1 in FIG. 5 is a procedure for preparing the printing mechanism after reception of the print image data is completed. Step 2 in FIG. 5 is a procedure for preparing a printing mechanism without waiting for completion of reception of print image data. Comparing these two procedures, it can be seen that procedure 2 takes T seconds earlier to start printing, and procedure 2 is more advantageous for high-speed printing. If reception of the print image data fails for some reason, the procedure 1 is before preparation for printing, so the print cancellation process can be performed as it is, whereas in step 2, the printing mechanism drive unit is in a print preparation state, so the next printing There is a problem in that the ink ribbon for thermal transfer printing is wound up until the yellow portion is detected again without being used, and the ink ribbon as a printing consumable material is wasted.

  Further, when the transmission path of the print image data is wireless, the distance between the digital camera DC and the printer apparatus main body 1 as compared to the wired connection, the obstacles that block radio waves, the digital camera DC, and the printer apparatus main body 1 Even if the digital camera DC instructs the printer apparatus 1 to perform printing depending on the state of the transmission path such as the intensity of the transmitted radio wave, the state of the transmission path changes during print image data communication and the communication becomes impossible. There is a high possibility that the reception of image data will not be completed. As described above, the print image data reception has failed in step 2 of FIG. 5, and a situation occurs in which the thermal transfer ink ribbon is wasted for one print.

  Details of the present invention made to avoid such a situation will be described below.

  FIG. 6 shows a print processing sequence in the present invention.

  In step 6-1, negotiation data is transmitted / received so that printing can be performed between the digital camera DC and the printer apparatus main body 1, and a transition to a printable state is made. At the same time, initialization processing of the printing mechanism drive system, initialization of a printing profile described later, and the like are performed on the printer apparatus main body 1 side.

  Step 6-2 is a state in which the printer main body 1 transitions to a printable state and waits for a print instruction from the digital camera DC.

  Step 6-3 refers to a print profile that records a statistical result of success or failure of the print image data communication process since the printer apparatus 1 was turned on.

  In step 6-4, it is determined based on the print profile referred to in step 6-3 whether printing is performed in the printing procedure 1 or the printing procedure 2 shown in FIG.

  Step 6-5 is a printing process according to the procedure 1 when the procedure 1 is selected at the step 6-4, and step 6-6 is a printing process according to the procedure 2 when the procedure 2 is selected at the step 6-4.

  In step 6-7, the success or failure of the print image data communication process is recorded in the print profile described above, and the print profile is updated as a statistical result. Thereafter, the print instruction standby state is restored.

  Here, a method for determining a printing procedure from the printing profile shown in step 6-4 will be described in detail. When the printer apparatus main body 1 is turned on and the digital camera DC and the printer apparatus main body 1 are in a communicable state, the result of the print image data reception success / failure is recorded and stored for each printing. Unless reception of the print image data fails, it is determined that the state of the transmission path is good, and the printing operation is performed in the printing procedure 2 described above with reference to FIG. If reception of the print image data fails, the printing operation is switched to perform printing in the above-described printing procedure 1 so as not to waste the thermal transfer ink ribbon in the subsequent printing. The print profile is reset from the time when the printing procedure is switched to the printing procedure 1. From this state, recording is started in a print profile indicating success or failure of the print image data.

  Subsequent printing is performed with reference to the print profile, the number of receptions of print image data exceeds the number of receptions set arbitrarily, and the success rate of reception of print image data is set to a reception success rate. If it exceeds, it is determined that the state of the transmission path has improved, and the printing procedure is switched to printing procedure 2. High-speed printing is performed as long as the state of the transfer path of the print image data deteriorates due to this series of operations and reception of the print image data fails. This is an operation that emphasizes high-speed printing, but when the ink ribbon for thermal transfer printing, which is a printing consumable material, is unnecessarily weighted, the operation after the printer main unit 1 is turned on is set as a printing procedure 1. It is also possible to execute.

  In this case, when the printer apparatus main body 1 is turned on, any number of print image data receptions succeeds continuously, and the print image data reception success rate exceeds the arbitrary print image data success rate. By resetting the print profile due to failure in receiving the print image data and moving again to the printing procedure 1, it is possible to prevent consumption of the thermal transfer printing ink ribbon which is a printing consumable.

  Further, as the expansion operation, when the digital camera DC or the printer main body device 1 is driven by a battery, it is expected that the transmission intensity of each radio wave that can be transmitted is attenuated depending on the degree of consumption of the battery. It is also possible to dynamically change the number of times of receiving arbitrary print image data and the rate of success of receiving arbitrary print image data, and this is very effective as a means for preventing failure of receiving print image data.

  In addition, when either the digital camera DC or the printer apparatus main body 1 or both are driven by a battery when the power is supplied to the printer apparatus main body 1, the battery is exhausted until printing is actually started. Since the degree cannot be estimated, a method of starting the printing procedure from the printing procedure 1 is also very effective in order to prevent waste of the thermal transfer ink ribbon which is a printing consumable material when the battery is driven.

  In addition, when the digital camera DC and the printer apparatus main body 1 can directly detect the radio field intensity of the transmission path, a method of switching the printing procedure according to the radio field intensity is also very effective.

  As described above, it is possible to prevent waste of printing consumables while realizing high-speed printing by switching the printing procedure based on the success / failure result statistics of print image data reception.

Configuration schematic diagram of the first embodiment Flowchart 1 of the first embodiment Figure of the paper of the first embodiment Connection diagram of the first embodiment Printing procedure schematic diagram of the first embodiment Flow chart 2 of the first embodiment

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 2 Paper cassette 3 Paper feed roller 4 Carrying roller pair 41 Grip roller 42 Pinch roller 5 Platen roller 6 Thermal head 7 Ink cassette 8 Ink sheet 9-1 Paper discharge roller 1
9-2 Paper discharge roller 2
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Recording paper front-end | tip detection sensor 11 SW2 signal 12 Perforation 15 Guide part 16 Margin part 17 Print area 18 Processing circuit 20 Spring 21 Push-up board 22 Head arm 23 Head cover A
24 Head cover B
25 Paper transport guide section 26 Paper discharge tray section DC Digital camera

Claims (5)

  Image information transmitting means for transmitting print image information wirelessly, image information receiving means for receiving image information, printing means for printing from the received image image information, recording means for statistically recording success or failure of reception of image information, and printing A printing system comprising: a printing procedure determining means for determining the procedure in which the printing procedure is changed according to statistics of success or failure of image information communication.   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the printing system can select an initial setting of a printing procedure from power-on.   2. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein when the image information transmitting unit or the image information receiving unit or both units are driven by a battery, the printing procedure is changed according to the remaining battery level.   2. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the printing system changes the printing procedure set when the power is turned on when the image information transmitting unit and / or the image information receiving unit are driven by a battery.   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the printing system changes a printing procedure according to radio wave intensity.

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