JP2011186971A - Printer system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer system which corrects coloring characteristics variation caused by environment, secular change, difference in production lot or the like of an ink sheet, and easily changes the correction. <P>SOLUTION: The printer system includes: a thermal transfer type printer 3 which drives a thermal head 12 based on image data, and heats the ink sheet for printing; and a host PC 1 being external equipment which communicates with the thermal transfer type printer 3. The host PC 1 transmits correction control data for correcting drive of the thermal head 12 based on the image data to the thermal transfer type printer 3, according to predetermined characteristics of the ink sheet. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer system, and more particularly to a thermal transfer printer, and more particularly to a printer system for suppressing variations in color development characteristics due to changes in color development characteristics of print media and production lot differences.

  Thermal transfer (sublimation) printers use ink sheets and special paper (printing paper) to print image data such as digital photographs taken with a digital camera, etc. with high-definition image quality like silver halide photographs. Therefore, it is widely used in ID photo booths, self-printing terminals, reference medical image printing machines, and the like.

  However, in thermal transfer printers, the color sensitivity of the print media changes due to the temperature and humidity around the thermal transfer printer, changes over time from the production of the ink sheet, and differences in the production lot of the ink sheet. Therefore, it is necessary to correct the thermal control for the thermal head according to the difference between them.

  Regarding the difference in temperature and humidity around the thermal transfer printer, for example, the temperature of the thermal head during printing and the temperature / humidity inside the cabinet are measured using a thermistor, humidity sensor, etc., and stored in the flash memory provided in the thermal transfer printer. By referring to the correction control table for the thermal control of the thermal head, the correction value according to the temperature and humidity is determined, and control based on the correction value is performed on the thermal head via the thermal head controller, The energy applied to the thermal head can be appropriately controlled.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-141837 (page 9, FIG. 1)

  Thus, conventionally, in order to correct the influence from the environment during printing, the thermal head is controlled by referring to the thermal control correction control table stored in the flash memory of the thermal transfer printer. It was. Since the correction control table is a control parameter specific to the thermal transfer printer, it is generally stored in the memory in the thermal transfer printer. In order to enable the correction control table to be changed, the system must There were problems such as complexity.

  In addition, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-86400, correction of variations in color development characteristics of print media due to differences in environment, changes with time, and production lots is performed by capturing a test pattern with a built-in digital camera and measuring the printed test chart for calibration. Although a method has been proposed in which a color correction amount is obtained by performing a calibration, a device such as a colorimeter is required, which causes problems such as an increase in cost and a complicated system structure.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a printer system capable of correcting variations in color development characteristics of a print medium and changing the correction amount without complicating the configuration. The purpose is to provide.

  A printer system according to the present invention includes a thermal transfer type printer that performs printing by driving a thermal head based on image data and heating an ink sheet, and an external device that can communicate with the thermal transfer type printer. Transmits correction control data for correcting the driving of the thermal head based on the image data to the thermal transfer printer in accordance with predetermined characteristics of the ink sheet.

  According to the printer system of the present invention, a thermal transfer printer that performs printing by driving a thermal head based on image data and heating an ink sheet, and an external device that can communicate with the thermal transfer printer, The external device transmits correction control data for correcting the driving of the thermal head based on the image data to the thermal transfer printer according to the predetermined characteristics of the ink sheet, without complicating the system configuration. Therefore, it is possible to correct the color development characteristic variation of the print medium and change the correction amount.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a variation in printing density of an ink sheet with time and a lot variation according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the environmental dispersion | variation in the head application energy required for color development by Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing environmental variations in head application energy necessary for color development according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of data transferred from a host PC to a thermal transfer printer according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of a file format transferred from a host PC to a thermal transfer printer according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an image data file and a control data file in a removable disk according to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of the printer system according to the third embodiment.

<A. Embodiment 1>
Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the following examples, and can be arbitrarily changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

<A-1. Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of a printer system according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, in the printer system, a host PC 1 that is an external device and a thermal transfer printer 3 are connected via a USB 2 and can communicate with each other.

  The thermal transfer type printer 3 is connected to the USB controller 4 connected via the USB 2, the CPU 6, the image memory controller 9, the thermal head controller 11, the tag controller 13, and the CPU 6 connected to the USB controller 4 via the control bus 100. The thermistor 7 and the humidity sensor 8 for outputting data, the image memory 10 controlled by the image memory controller 9, the thermal head 12 controlled by the thermal head controller 11, and the antenna 14 connected to the tag controller 13 are provided. .

<A-2. Operation>
At the time of image printing, image data of 8 bits for each RGB color (256 gradations) for printing is transferred from the host PC 1 to the thermal transfer printer 3 via the USB 2 cable, and the image data is stored in the image memory 10. Then, the CPU 6 refers to the thermal energy amount corresponding to the image data from the conversion table stored in the image memory 10, and the CPU 6 sets an appropriate applied energy value to the thermal head 12 for the thermal head controller 11. Thus, the ink sheet is heated with color development characteristics corresponding to the image data, and printing is performed.

  Thermal control in the thermal transfer printer 3 is often controlled with gradations having a resolution higher than that of input image data. For example, input image data is 16 bits (8 gradations (256 gradations)). (65536 gradations).

  Here, in the thermal transfer type printer, it is necessary to correct the thermal control described above in consideration of variations in color development characteristics of print media. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a change in print density with the passage of time after a small volume of the ink sheet when a certain amount of energy is applied from the thermal head to the ink sheet as the print medium. In FIG. 2, the vertical axis represents the print density, and the horizontal axis represents the time elapsed since the ink sheet was wound on the ink ribbon.

  According to FIG. 2, it can be seen that, in the process of manufacturing the ink sheet, the printing density decreases from the time when the ink sheet is rolled up on each ink ribbon, and converges to the stable region after about 3 to 6 months. This change in print density over 3 to 6 months is referred to as aging variation.

  In addition, the transition of the print density between different lots A, B, and C is different, and the convergence value is also different in the stable region. These are due to the difference in production lot of each ink sheet, and this printing density difference is called lot variation.

  In addition, in a thermal transfer printer, in order to smooth the connection of images from white, as shown in FIG. 3, a residual heat control area is set in the head applied energy, and color development occurs when the image data is 0 gradation (white). Instead, the thermal head is given a residual heat that immediately develops color in one gradation. In FIG. 3, the horizontal axis represents input gradation data, and the vertical axis represents energy applied to the thermal head. This residual heat control area corresponds to a correction area made in response to environmental changes such as temperature and humidity.

  According to FIG. 3, in order to correct the change in color development characteristics (environmental variation) due to the influence of temperature and humidity during printing, an environment variation correction area is set in the applied energy range below the color development point of the ink sheet. It can be seen that the residual heat control of the thermal head 12 is performed so as to apply the optimum energy accordingly.

  FIG. 4 is an enlarged view in the vicinity of the coloring point in FIG. 3, and is a diagram schematically showing that the head application energy at the coloring point is different in an ink sheet having coloring characteristic variation.

  According to FIG. 4, the applied energy of the thermal head is controlled with reference to the conversion table so that the ink sheet reaches the coloring point between the 0th gradation and the 1st gradation of the image data. As described above, the color development characteristics vary due to changes in the ink sheet over time, production lot differences, and the like. For example, the color development point 1 of the ink sheet with the highest color development sensitivity and the color development point 2 of the ink sheet with the lowest color development sensitivity. There is a coloring point variation range between them as shown in the figure.

  In the thermal transfer type printer, when the variation of the coloring point in 0 gradation (white) occurs, the ink sheet having a high coloring sensitivity is colored on the printing portion that should be white (for example, in the case of the coloring point 1). In an ink sheet having a low color development sensitivity, an image area that is not originally overprinted is printed in white (for example, in the case of a color development point 2).

  Not only the color spots as described above, but also the print density varies due to variations in color development characteristics due to changes over time and production lots as shown in FIG. 2, but particularly when the color spots vary as shown in FIGS. It is generally known that the effects of are conspicuous visually.

  In the printer system according to the present invention, the correction control for correcting the color characteristic variation of the print medium as described above is performed using the correction control data transmitted from the host PC 1 to the thermal transfer printer 3.

  In the printer system according to the present invention, when image data is transferred from the host PC 1 to the thermal transfer printer 3, correction control data for fine adjustment of the gamma table inside the thermal transfer printer 3 is used as time variation, lot variation, environment variation. By transferring correction information for variation in color development characteristics of the print media due to, for example, from the host PC 1 that is an external device, it is possible to correct the thermal control of the applied energy of the thermal head 12 in the thermal transfer printer 3 from the outside.

  As the correction information, with respect to the temperature / humidity characteristics as the characteristics of the ink sheet, for example, the temperature / humidity measurement values acquired by the thermistor 7 and the humidity sensor 8 as the measuring means provided in the thermal transfer type printer 3 are stored in the host PC 1. There is correction information that is transmitted and created according to these transmitted measurements. In order to create the correction information, the host PC 1 is provided with a correction control table capable of generating correction information according to the measured values of temperature and humidity.

  The created correction information is transmitted to the thermal transfer type printer 3, and based on this information, the CPU 6 controls the thermal head 12 via the thermal head controller 11 to correct the environmental variation. By appropriately controlling the energy applied to the thermal head 12, gradation correction can be performed and an image can be printed appropriately.

<A-3. Effect>
According to the first embodiment of the present invention, in the printer system, the thermal transfer printer 3 that performs printing by driving the thermal head 12 based on the image data and heating the ink sheet can communicate with the thermal transfer printer 3. Host PC 1 which is an external device, and the host PC 1 transmits correction control data for correcting the driving of the thermal head 12 based on the image data to the thermal transfer printer 3 in accordance with predetermined characteristics of the ink sheet. Therefore, it is possible to correct the color characteristic variation of the print medium and to change the correction amount without complicating the system configuration. Even if the color development point varies for each ink sheet, the correction control data is transmitted from the outside, so that the user can perform correction control and can easily change the correction.

  Further, when the correction control table is enormous, the capacity is limited when it is provided in the thermal transfer printer 3, but such a problem can be avoided when the host PC 1 is used.

  According to the first embodiment of the present invention, in the printer system, the predetermined characteristics of the ink sheet are temperature / humidity characteristics, and the thermal transfer printer 3 measures the temperature / humidity around the thermal transfer printer 3. The thermal transfer printer 3 further transmits a temperature / humidity value to the host PC 1 that is an external device, and the host PC 1 converts the received temperature / humidity value to a thermistor 7 and humidity sensor 8 as measuring means. Accordingly, by further providing a correction control table for generating correction control data, it is possible to generate correction information according to the measured values of temperature and humidity based on the correction control table and transmit it to the thermal transfer printer 3. Appropriate correction for suppressing environmental variations can be performed on the thermal head 12.

<B. Second Embodiment>
<B-1. Transfer of correction control data>
FIG. 5 schematically shows an example of transfer data 17 transferred from the host PC 1 to the thermal transfer printer 3 in the printer system according to the first embodiment. The transfer data 17 is sequentially transferred from the host PC 1 with the correction control data 15 added to the head in addition to the image data 16.

  FIG. 6 shows a case where correction control data is embedded in the image data as a header 18 and transferred from the host PC 1 to the thermal transfer printer 3 as one file combined with the image data 19. As shown in FIG. 6, in a file format in which additional information can be embedded in the image data 19, for example, an EXIF format image file, the camera model, shooting date, exposure information, thumbnails are included in the header 18 of the image data 19. By storing correction information from the host PC 1 together with an image or the like, the thermal transfer printer 3 can be controlled from the host PC 1 which is an external device.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, in the file format of the correction control data attached to the file of the image data 20, for example, the header file format of the DPOF format, the file of the correction control data 21 is simultaneously transferred when the image data 20 is transferred. As a result, it is possible to control the thermal transfer type printer 3. This method can be applied to printer control by the user when printing the file of the image data 20 in the removable disk 22 such as a memory card with a self-printing terminal.

<B-2. Effect>
According to the second embodiment of the present invention, in the printer system, the correction control data is sequentially transmitted in succession to the image data transmitted from the host PC 1 which is an external device to the thermal transfer type printer 3. The correction control data is transmitted to the thermal transfer printer 3 together with the image data, and the control of the thermal transfer printer 3 from the host PC 1 can be realized.

  Further, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, in the printer system, the correction control data is stored and transmitted in the header of the image data transmitted from the host PC 1 which is an external device to the thermal transfer type printer 3. Thus, the correction control data is transmitted to the thermal transfer type printer 3 together with the image data, and the control of the thermal transfer type printer 3 from the host PC 1 can be realized.

<C. Embodiment 3>
<C-1. Operation>
The configuration of the printer system according to the third embodiment of the present invention is the same as the configuration of the printer system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, but the tag controller 13 and the antenna 14 in FIG. 1 are mounted on the thermal transfer type printer 3. It is possible to acquire individual information such as the date of manufacture and production lot of an ink sheet (not shown) and transmit the information to the host PC 1 via the USB 2 cable. The tag controller 13 and the antenna 14 are reading means for reading individual information of the ink sheet from a tag attached to the ink sheet attached to the thermal transfer type printer 3.

  In general, the thermal transfer printer 3 often does not have a clock function inside, but if the date of manufacture of the ink sheet can be transferred to the host PC 1, the current time and date of manufacture ascertained by the host PC 1. Thus, it becomes possible to estimate the amount of change with time. At this time, in the correction control table provided in the host PC 1, correction control data is created according to the information on the date of manufacture of the ink sheet, and can be used for detailed control of color development characteristic variations based on this.

  It is generally known that the sensitivity of the color development characteristics of the ink sheet decreases as time elapses from the time of manufacture, and the sensitivity of the ink sheet stored in a high temperature environment decreases with time. Since it is accelerated, control such as adding a large energy to the thermal head is required.

  Further, by transferring the information on the production lot of the ink sheet to the host PC 1, it is possible to perform appropriate correction control for lot variation from the host PC 1 to the thermal head 12. At this time, correction control data created in accordance with the information on the production lot of the ink sheet is used in the correction control table provided in the host PC 1.

  Hereinafter, an example of the processing procedure of the printer system according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The user selects an image to be printed on the host PC 1 (step S1), and the temperature and humidity inside the thermal head 12 and the thermal transfer printer 3 are measured by the thermistor 7 and the humidity sensor 8 on the thermal transfer printer 3 side (step S1). Step S2).

  The tag controller 13 and the antenna 14 acquire individual information such as the date of manufacture and the production lot of the ink sheet (step S3), and are connected to the host PC 1 on the thermal transfer printer 3 side via the USB 2 cable. Information is transferred (step S4).

  The host PC 1 refers to the correction control table held in the host PC 1 based on information such as the measured values of the temperature and humidity of the thermal transfer printer 3 transferred from the thermal transfer printer 3 and the individual data of the ink sheet ( Step S5) Create correction control data (Step S6), and transfer the correction control data and image data to the thermal transfer printer 3 (Step S7).

  The thermal transfer type printer 3 controls the thermal head controller 11 based on the transferred correction control data, and applies appropriate applied energy to the thermal head 12 (step S8). As a result, correction control for color variation is performed, and printing according to the color characteristics for each ink sheet can be performed (step S9).

<C-2. Effect>
According to the third embodiment of the present invention, in the printer system, the predetermined characteristic of the ink sheet further includes a time-varying characteristic and / or a production lot characteristic, and the thermal transfer printer 3 includes the date of manufacture of the ink sheet. A tag controller 13 serving as reading means for reading the date and / or production lot information and an antenna 14 are further provided. The thermal transfer type printer 3 can receive the date of manufacture of the ink sheet and / or the information of the production lot with an external device. The correction control table transmitted to a certain host PC 1 creates a correction control data in accordance with the received ink sheet manufacturing date and / or production lot information, and the time variation and lot variation. Is applied to the thermal head 12 in the thermal transfer printer 3. Ukoto can.

  1 Host PC, 2 USB, 3 Thermal transfer printer, 4 USB controller, 6 CPU, 7 Thermistor, 8 Humidity sensor, 9 Image memory controller, 10 Image memory, 11 Thermal head controller, 12 Thermal head, 13 Tag controller, 14 Antenna , 15, 21 Correction control data, 16, 19, 20 Image data, 17 Transfer data, 18 Header, 22 Removable disk, 100 Control bus.

Claims (5)

A thermal transfer printer that prints by driving a thermal head based on image data and heating an ink sheet; and
An external device capable of communicating with the thermal transfer printer,
The external device transmits correction control data for correcting the driving of the thermal head based on the image data to the thermal transfer printer according to predetermined characteristics of the ink sheet.
Printer system. The correction control data is sequentially transmitted in succession to the image data transmitted from the external device to the thermal transfer printer.
The printer system according to claim 1. The correction control data is stored and transmitted in a header of the image data transmitted from the external device to the thermal transfer printer.
The printer system according to claim 1. The predetermined characteristics of the ink sheet are temperature / humidity characteristics,
The thermal transfer printer further comprises a measuring means for measuring the temperature and humidity around the thermal transfer printer,
The thermal transfer printer transmits the temperature and humidity values to the external device,
The external device further includes a correction control table that creates the correction control data according to the received values of the temperature and humidity.
The printer system according to claim 1. The predetermined characteristic of the ink sheet further includes an aging characteristic and / or a production lot characteristic,
The thermal transfer type printer further includes a reading unit that reads information on a manufacturing date and / or a production lot of the ink sheet,
The thermal transfer type printer transmits information on the date of manufacture and / or production lot of the ink sheet to the external device,
The correction control table in the external device creates the correction control data according to the received manufacturing date and / or production lot information of the ink sheet,
The printer system according to claim 4.

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