JP2007181999A - Printer, control method and program of printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform label face printing suitable for an actual label printing surface by detecting the printable region on the label printing surface of an optical disc in a simple low-cost configuration. <P>SOLUTION: An optical characteristics measuring section 201 performs scanning over the label printing surface of an optical disc with a photosensor 211 for adjusting registration prior to label face printing, and measures the optical characteristics of the label printing surface. From the optical characteristics of the label printing surface thus measured, a print area detecting section 202 detects the printable area of the label printing surface, and a print data processing section 203 processes the data being printed out on the label printing surface according to the printable area thus detected. The detection of optical characteristics is performed for the entire disc or for a specific part, and the overall printable area is detected by estimation processing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that performs label surface printing on a label printing surface of an optical disc, a control method for the printing apparatus, and a control program for the printing apparatus.

  In recent years, not only read-only CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs, but also recordable optical discs such as CD-R, DVD-R that can be recorded only once, CD-RW, DVD-RW, etc. that can be recorded multiple times. The spread rate of writable optical discs is further increasing.

  These optical discs are optical information recording media capable of reproducing and recording optically readable information (optical information). With the widespread use of PCs (personal computers) and DVD video recorders, these devices are becoming popular as external storage media for these devices because of their large information recording capacity, ease of reproduction, and low cost of media. ing.

  Of these optical discs, for example, CD-R, for example, has a configuration in which a recording layer made of a dye, a reflective layer deposited with gold or silver, and a protective layer made of an ultraviolet curable resin are sequentially provided on a resin substrate. is doing.

  In an optical disc having such a structure, a label, that is, a surface opposite to the recording layer on which information pits are formed, may be provided with a display of characters or patterns suitable for the contents of the recorded optical information. Has been done. In the case of a music CD or the like that is produced in large quantities (read only), characters, pictures, and the like are printed on the label surface by printing by transferring a plate such as screen printing, tampo printing, or offset printing.

  On the other hand, as an external storage medium such as a PC (personal computer) or a DVD video recorder, an optical disk on which a user writes is desired to have a configuration in which characters, patterns, and the like can be given to the label surface after the user has recorded information. In this way, in order to create a label surface suitable for the contents of the optical disc, the user has conventionally printed a sticker or the like with a printer.

However, in recent years, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, a printing apparatus configured as a printable label printing surface and capable of printing characters, designs, and the like on the label printing surface has been put into practical use. In this type of printing apparatus, an optical disk is placed on a dedicated tray and printed by an inkjet method, so that characters, designs, and the like desired by the user can be printed on the label surface of the optical disk.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-94943

  However, the above prior art also has the following problems.

  First, the conventional technique can transport an optical disk as a print medium by a method capable of accurately printing by placing the optical disk on a transport tray. However, the print area on the label printing surface of the actual optical disk has any shape / There is no particular consideration for size. For this reason, if printing is performed without taking any measures for the printing area of the label printing surface that varies depending on the optical disc manufacturer, a printing margin may be generated in the printing area of the label printing surface, and conversely It may print over the print side.

  In order to solve this problem, the user has to finely adjust the print area of the label printing surface by using an optical disk printing application of a host device such as a PC.

  It is also conceivable that a database relating to the printing area of the label printing surface of the optical disk is prepared in advance and printing control is performed based on this database. However, since there are an enormous number of types of optical discs in circulation in the world, it is not realistic to support all optical discs, and even if it is possible, there is no guarantee that it will be compatible with optical discs that will be released in the future.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to detect a printable area on a label printing surface of an optical disk with a simple and inexpensive configuration so that label surface printing suitable for an actual label printing surface can be performed. It is in.

In the present invention, in the printing apparatus having the optical sensor for registration adjustment mounted on the print head and performing label surface printing on the label printing surface of the optical disc, its control method, and its control program,
Before label surface printing, scan the label printing surface using the optical sensor, measure the optical properties of the label printing surface,
Based on the measured optical properties of the label printing surface, a printable area of the label printing surface is detected,
A configuration is adopted in which print data to be printed on the label printing surface is processed in accordance with the detected printable area.

  According to the above configuration, the printable area on the label printing surface of the optical disk is detected using the optical sensor for registration adjustment, and the print data is processed according to the detected printable area on the label printing surface of the optical disk. I am doing so. Therefore, label surface printing suitable for the actual label printing surface can be performed with a simple and inexpensive hardware configuration without adding an optical sensor or the like, regardless of individual differences in optical disks or differences in vendor specifications. There is an excellent effect.

  Hereinafter, as an example of the best mode for carrying out the invention, an embodiment relating to an ink jet printing apparatus will be described.

  FIG. 1 shows an external configuration of a printing apparatus 100 employing the present invention. The printing apparatus 100 in FIG. 1 has a basic function as a normal PC printer that receives data from a PC and prints it. Furthermore, the printing apparatus 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment has a function of reading and printing image data from a scanner, a function of directly accessing and printing a removable external storage medium, and receiving image data directly from a digital camera. It has a function to print.

  Although any recording method may be used for the printing apparatus 100, in this embodiment, since a high performance can be obtained with respect to recording resolution, print quality, and the like at a relatively low cost, a widely used inkjet printer is assumed. As the ink jet recording system, for example, a so-called bubble jet (registered trademark) system that ejects ink droplets toward a recording medium using thermal energy is used.

  In FIG. 1, a main body that forms an outer shell of a printing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a lower case 101, a printer cover 102, a document table cover 103, and an exterior member of a discharge tray 104.

  The lower case 101 forms substantially the lower half of the printing apparatus 100, has a hollow body structure having a storage space for storing each mechanism described later, and has an opening formed on the front surface thereof. . One end of the printer cover 102 is rotatably held by the lower case 101 so that an opening formed on the upper surface can be opened and closed.

  By opening the printer cover 102, a recording head cartridge (not shown) or an ink tank (not shown) housed in the main body can be replaced. The recording head cartridge is equipped with a photosensor for automatic registration adjustment (211 to be described later), and the reflection optical density (or reflected light density) obtained as a result of the light emitting unit irradiating light to a measurement object such as a medium. Measure intensity and reflectivity).

  In addition, a configuration for detecting the open / closed state of the printer cover 102 is provided from the viewpoint of preventing accidents / printing errors. For example, when the printer cover 102 is opened and closed, a protrusion formed on the back surface of the printer cover 102 is configured to rotate a cover opening / closing lever (not shown), and the rotation position of this lever is detected by a micro switch (not shown). Then, the open / close state of the printer cover 102 is detected.

  A switchback type optical disk transport unit is built in the lower case 101. This transport unit has a known configuration for transporting an optical disk held by, for example, a cassette or a tray-shaped adapter according to the progress of print output.

  Further, a scanner unit (not shown) is built in the printer cover 102. One end of the platen cover 103 is rotatably held by the printer cover 102. When the document table cover 103 is opened, the scanner provided in the printer cover 102 can be accessed, and by closing the document table cover 103, the reading surface of the scanner can be protected.

  One end of the discharge tray 104 is held in the opening of the lower case 101. When a recording operation is executed, the recording medium can be discharged from the discharge tray 104 and the discharged recording media can be sequentially stacked. It is like that.

  A power key 105 is provided on the right side of the printer cover 102 so that it can be pressed. Further, in the center of the printer cover 102, a liquid crystal display unit 106 capable of displaying menus and guides for user interface display is provided. An operation panel 109 having various key switches and the like is provided on the left side of the printer cover 102.

  Reference numeral 107 denotes an automatic feeding unit which automatically feeds the recording medium into the apparatus main body.

  Reference numeral 108 denotes a card slot, and the printing apparatus 100 can directly capture and print image data stored in a memory card loaded in the card slot 108. The format of the memory card is arbitrary, but for example, a compact flash (registered trademark) memory, smart media, a memory stick, and the like are conceivable.

  Reference numeral 110 denotes a connector terminal (USB terminal) for connecting to an external device, for example, for connecting a digital camera, an external optical disk device, or the like to directly receive image data. Further, a connector terminal (for example, a USB connector) for connecting a PC can also be provided on the rear surface of the printing apparatus 100.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the control system of the printing apparatus 100 of FIG.

  The printing apparatus 100 has a function of connecting to a host device such as a PC via the connector terminal (USB terminal) 110 (or a similar terminal provided on the rear surface of the device) and performing printing in accordance with a command from the host device. . Also, a function for directly connecting to an imaging device such as a digital camera or an external optical disk device for printing, a function for directly accessing a memory card used in a digital camera or the like for reading and printing image data, and image data read by a scanner Has the function of printing. The control system of FIG. 2 is configured to realize the above functions.

  2 are the same as those shown in FIG. 1, and these are a connector terminal 110 that functions as an interface with an external connection device, and a card slot that functions as an interface that directly accesses a memory card. 108. The image reading unit 111 corresponds to the image reading mechanism in FIG. 1, and the print processing unit 210 corresponds to the printer engine unit of the printing apparatus 100 in FIG.

  The optical sensor 211 is mounted on the print head of the print processing unit 210 for automatic registration adjustment.

  In general, in this type of printing apparatus (printer), “registration adjustment” means correction of various printing position deviations, and may mean, for example, adjustment of paper position / posture deviation with respect to the transport mechanism. However, the registration adjustment performed using the optical sensor 211 mounted on the print head as in the present embodiment is correction of a print position deviation mainly caused by an error in the assembly position of a nozzle or the like to the print head. .

  In this type of registration adjustment, for example, a predetermined test pattern is printed, and the printing operation is controlled based on the printing result read by the optical sensor 211 mounted on the print head. For this reason, the optical sensor 211 includes a light emitting unit for illuminating the printing surface and an optical sensor that receives the reflected light.

  In the present embodiment, the printing area on the label printing surface of the optical disk is detected by using the optical sensor 211 for registration adjustment, and the label surface printing is controlled according to the result.

  The print processing unit 210 includes an ink tank (not shown) for each recording color component, a mechanism for scanning a carriage on which the recording head is mounted, a driving circuit for the recording head, and the like. Be controlled.

  The system control unit 200 is a control unit that controls the entire apparatus, and includes the following components. These components can be constituted by a CPU formed of a microprocessor or the like, hardware such as a program memory (ROM or the like) and software stored in the program memory and executed by the CPU.

  First, reference numeral 201 denotes an optical characteristic measurement unit, which measures the optical characteristic of the label printing surface of the optical disk using the optical sensor 211 mounted on the print head during the forward path when the optical disk is transported by the switchback method.

  Reference numeral 202 denotes a print area detection unit that detects a print area based on data measured by the optical characteristic measurement unit 201.

  For example, the measurement data of the reflected light measured by the optical sensor 211 is as shown in FIG. The label printing surface 301 of many optical discs 300 (the white portion excluding the meshes in the figure) is formed by coating / applying / printing a material that is easily placed on the ink jet printer ink in a concentric shape as shown in the figure. Yes.

  The label printing surface 301 is usually white and has a higher reflectance than the outer edge 302a and the inner edge 302b (which is often transparent). Therefore, the optical characteristic measurement result 304 (the amount of reflected light) measured by the optical sensors 211 to 201 is high in the printable areas 306 and 306 on the label printing surface 301 as shown in the upper part of FIG.

  Therefore, the print area detection unit 202 extracts the center point 305 of the portion where the waveform of the optical characteristic measurement result 304 changes greatly, and the value obtained by multiplying the point by the safety factor is used as the print area of the label printing surface of the optical disc.

  The optical characteristic measurement result 304 in FIG. 3 is a measurement result of the diameter portion (portion on the center line) of the optical disc 300. This is because the print head scans the optical sensor 211 a plurality of times in the print head scanning direction 303, so that the shape of the printable area 306 of the label printing surface 301 can be obtained more precisely.

  Since various shapes such as a circle and a square are conceivable, it is possible to cope with various shapes by measuring the entire optical disc as described above.

  If only a circular disk shape needs to be dealt with, a predetermined portion of the optical disk 300, for example, only on the center line, is scanned with the optical sensor 211 of the print head, and the circular shape of the printable area is estimated by the print area detection unit 202. It is good also as composition to do.

  In addition, by changing the value of the safety factor according to the shape of the changed portion, it is possible to cope with the optical characteristics of various optical disks to be measured. Such a value of the safety factor can be set as a threshold value for detecting the center point 305 from the waveform of the optical characteristic measurement result 304 in the print region detection unit 202, for example.

  Alternatively, as apparent from FIG. 3, if the waveform of the optical characteristic measurement result 304 is cut at a predetermined threshold value, the position information (distance information or coordinate information) can be obtained. The safety factor can be adjusted by adding or subtracting a value of distance (length) suitable for the desired safety factor to this position information.

  Needless to say, the safety factor in this embodiment is a print margin that allows for advance anticipation so that actual print data is not too large or too small relative to the actual printable area.

  Reference numeral 203 denotes a print data processing unit that processes print data on the print area of the label printing surface of the optical disk calculated by the print area detection unit 202 with print data created by the image processing unit 205 described later.

  Specifically, the shape of the print data is trimmed or deformed so as to fit the print area of the label printing surface of the optical disc. In this way, the print data on the label surface can be printed completely (with the minimum print margin) or in the print area of the label print surface of the optical disc so as not to protrude.

  Reference numeral 204 denotes a reception buffer, which receives image data sent to the printing apparatus 100 via the image reading unit 111, the card slot 108, and the connector terminal 110, and temporarily stores them.

  Reference numeral 205 denotes an image processing unit that performs image processing on the image data stored in the reception buffer 204 and creates print data for actual printing.

  FIG. 4 shows a processing procedure when an optical disk is drawn into the printing apparatus 100 and optical characteristics are measured during label surface printing. The processing procedure in FIG. 4 (the same as the processing procedure in FIG. 5 described later) is stored in, for example, the program memory (ROM or the like) of the system control unit 200 and is executed by the CPU of the system control unit 200.

  In step S <b> 401 of FIG. 4, first, the system control unit 200 pulls the tray loaded with the optical disk to be printed into the printing apparatus 100.

  When the tray pull-in process is started in step S401, in step S402, the optical characteristic measurement unit 201 measures the optical characteristic of the label printing surface of the optical disk being conveyed using the optical sensor 211 of the print head.

  In step S403, it is confirmed whether there is disturbance light. Since the optical sensor 211 may malfunction due to incident light from the outside, the presence or absence of disturbance light is detected in this way.

  In the detection of the presence or absence of disturbance light, for example, if the reflected light intensity detected by the optical sensor 211 becomes extremely strong during the measurement of optical characteristics, it is determined that there is disturbance light. If the intensity of the reflected light is within the normal range, the process proceeds to step S404. If the intensity of the reflected light becomes extremely strong, the process proceeds to step S406.

  In step S404, it is confirmed whether or not the optical characteristic measurement unit 201 has measured all measurement areas of the optical disc. If all the measurement areas have been measured, the process proceeds to step S405. If all the measurement areas have not been measured, the process returns to step S402. If only the optical characteristic data of the center line is measured as described above, it is confirmed in step S404 whether or not the optical characteristic measurement unit 201 has measured the central line part of the optical disc. If the measurement of the center line has been completed, the process proceeds to step S405. If the measurement of the center line has not been completed, the process returns to step S402.

  In step S405, the print area detection unit 202 detects the print area of the label printing surface of the optical disc as described above based on the optical characteristics measured up to step S404. If only the center line is measuring the optical characteristics, a concentric print area is detected based on the measurement data.

  In step S406, the system control unit 200 performs error processing, and ends the processing as it is.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when printing is performed on the label surface of the optical disc after measuring the optical characteristics according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In step S 501 of FIG. 5, first, image data for label surface printing sent from the external PC (or other host device) to the printing apparatus 100 is received and temporarily stored in the reception buffer 204.

  In step S502, the image processing unit 205 performs predetermined image processing on the image data received in step S501 to create print data. This image processing includes, for example, processing for developing bitmap data that can be transferred to the print head from print data described in PDL or the like (or image data in JPEG format or the like).

  In step S503, the print data created in step S502 is processed and adjusted to fit the print area of the label print surface of the optical disc detected by the print data processing unit 203 in step S405. As described above, this processing includes trimming, scaling, deformation processing, and the like.

  In step S504, the print processing unit 210 performs printing on the label printing surface of the optical disc based on the print data adjusted in step S503.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the optical characteristics of the label printing surface of the optical disk are measured using the optical sensor used for automatic registration adjustment when the label surface of the optical disk is printed. Then, based on the measurement result, the print area of the label printing surface is detected (the size and / or shape of the print area is specified), and the detected print area is processed according to the print data.

  With the configuration as described above, even if there are individual differences of optical disks or differences in specifications of optical disk vendors, it is possible to automatically process the print data in accordance with the label printing surface of the optical disk. As a result, for example, the label surface print data can be printed in the print area of the label print surface completely (with the minimum print margin) or without protruding, and a beautiful label surface print result can be obtained. Can do.

  In addition, since optical sensors used for automatic registration adjustment are used to measure the optical characteristics of the label printing surface of an optical disc, it is possible to configure a printing apparatus easily and inexpensively with almost no additional hardware. it can.

  The present invention can be applied to various printing apparatuses that have a registration adjustment optical sensor mounted on a print head and perform label surface printing on a label printing surface of an optical disk. A control program for carrying out the present invention can be supplied by storing it in the ROM of the printing apparatus in advance. In addition, for example, the medium can be supplied from a medium such as an MO or a CD-ROM connected to the printing apparatus by a USB interface or from an arbitrary server via a network if the printing apparatus has a network interface.

1 is an external perspective view showing a configuration of a printing apparatus employing the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control system of the printing apparatus in FIG. 1. It is explanatory drawing which showed the measurement data example of the label printing surface of the optical disk obtained by the optical characteristic measurement means of FIG. It is the flowchart figure which showed the process sequence for measuring the optical characteristic of the optical disk in this invention. It is a flowchart figure which shows the process sequence for printing on the label printing surface of an optical disk after an optical characteristic measurement in this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Printing apparatus 101 Lower case 102 Printer cover 103 Document stand cover 104 Discharge tray 105 Power key 106 Liquid crystal display part 107 Automatic feeding part 108 Card slot 109 Operation panel 110 Connector terminal 111 Image reading part 200 System control part 201 Optical characteristic measurement part 202 Print area detection unit 203 Print data processing unit 204 Reception buffer 205 Image processing unit 210 Print processing unit 211 Optical sensor 300 Optical disc 301 Label printing surface 304 Optical characteristic measurement result

Claims (5)

In a printing apparatus that performs label surface printing on a label printing surface of an optical disc,
An optical sensor for adjusting the registration mounted on the print head;
Before label surface printing, the optical sensor is used to scan the label printing surface using the optical sensor and measure the optical properties of the label printing surface;
Print area detection means for detecting a printable area of the label printing surface based on the optical characteristics of the label printing surface measured by the optical characteristic measurement means;
A printing apparatus comprising print data processing means for processing print data to be printed on the label printing surface in accordance with the printable area detected by the print area detection means.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a specific portion of the optical disc is scanned by an optical sensor of the print head, and the print area detecting unit is configured to detect the label printing surface of the optical disc based on the obtained optical characteristics of the specific portion. A printing apparatus characterized by estimating a shape of an entire printable area.   2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when printing on the label printing surface by the print head while transporting an optical disk in a switchback manner, the optical sensor detects the label printing surface in a forward path of switchback transportation. A printing apparatus for measuring optical characteristics. In a control method of a printing apparatus that has an optical sensor for registration adjustment mounted on a print head and performs label surface printing on a label printing surface of an optical disk,
Before label surface printing, scan the label printing surface using the optical sensor, measure the optical properties of the label printing surface,
Based on the measured optical properties of the label printing surface, a printable area of the label printing surface is detected,
A printing apparatus control method, comprising: processing print data to be printed on the label printing surface in accordance with the detected printable area.   5. A printing apparatus control program for controlling hardware constituting a printing apparatus to implement the printing apparatus control method according to claim 4.

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