JP2016175351A - Image formation apparatus, printer, image formation method and image formation program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image formation apparatus, a printer, an image formation method and an image formation program which allow a user to confirm whether or not a stamp face is made without any problem in advance.SOLUTION: An image formation apparatus comprises a control part which performs control so as to form a trial making ink transfer portion and a trial making ink non-transfer portion in a site to be an ink non-transfer portion before the ink non-transfer portion is formed in a stamp face material in which an ink transfer portion for transferring ink to a medium with contact and the ink non-transfer portion for transferring no ink to the medium even with contact are formed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 12

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a printing apparatus, an image forming method, and an image forming program.

  There is an apparatus for producing a stamp by heating a porous stamping material (plate making medium) having heat shrinkability with a thermal head. For example, by pressing a thermal head against the surface of a porous sheet and moving it to selectively heat a heating element, a marking surface composed of a melt-solidified portion through which ink does not pass and a non-melted portion through which ink passes is formed. 2. Description of the Related Art A stamp face manufacturing apparatus for a stamp face material to be formed is known (Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-100144

  When the stamp surface to be created contains small characters or thin lines, the porous nature of the stamp surface material must be maintained in such areas, but the influence of the surrounding heating during plate making In response, the porous material may heat shrink and lose its porosity. As a result, when the stamp surface is made, small characters and thin lines may be crushed and blurring may occur. If it is found that small characters and thin lines are crushed after the plate making, the printing surface data is corrected and the plate making is performed again, and the consumable printing material is wasted.

  In order to deal with such problems, improvement of the plate making method has been studied, but it may not be known whether small characters or thin lines are printed unless the plate making is actually carried out.

  In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus, a printing apparatus, an image forming method, and an image forming program capable of confirming in advance whether or not a printing surface is made without any problem. .

An aspect of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is as follows.
Before the ink non-transfer portion is formed in the printing material on which the ink transfer portion that transfers the ink to the medium by contact and the ink non-transfer portion that does not transfer the ink to the medium even if contacted are formed A control unit that controls to form a test plate-making ink transfer portion and a trial plate-making ink non-transfer portion in a portion that becomes the ink non-transfer portion;
It is characterized by that.

In addition, an aspect of the printing apparatus according to the present invention is as follows.
The image forming apparatus described above;
A printing plate making apparatus for forming the ink transfer portion and the ink non-transfer portion based on the control of the image forming apparatus;
It is characterized by providing.

An aspect of the image forming method according to the present invention is as follows.
Before the ink non-transfer portion is formed in the printing material on which the ink transfer portion that transfers the ink to the medium by contact and the ink non-transfer portion that does not transfer the ink to the medium even if contacted are formed , Control to form an ink transfer portion for trial plate making and an ink non-transfer portion for trial plate making at a portion to be the ink non-transfer portion,
It is characterized by that.

In addition, an aspect of the image forming program according to the present invention is as follows.
On the computer,
Before the ink non-transfer portion is formed in the printing material on which the ink transfer portion that transfers the ink to the medium by contact and the ink non-transfer portion that does not transfer the ink to the medium even if contacted are formed The ink transfer portion for trial plate making and the ink non-transfer portion for trial plate making are controlled to be formed in the portion that becomes the ink non-transfer portion,
It is characterized by that.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus, a printing apparatus, an image forming method, and an image forming program capable of confirming in advance whether or not the printing surface is made without any problem.

It is the external appearance perspective view (FIG.1 (a)) which shows a stamping plate-making apparatus with a stamping material holder, and the perspective view (FIG.1 (b)) drawn by cut | disconnecting at the perpendicular surface along a conveyance direction. It is sectional drawing (FIG.2 (a)) which shows the structure of the periphery of the discharge port of the stamping material holder of a stamping surface plate-making apparatus, and the external appearance enlarged view (FIG.2 (b)) which looked at the discharge port from the front. It is a block diagram of the system configuration of a stamping plate making apparatus. It is the schematic which shows an example of the stamp face material holder holding the stamp face material in which a stamp face is formed by a stamp face plate-making apparatus. FIG. 4A is a plan view. FIG. 4B is a VIB-VIB cross-sectional view, that is, a cross-sectional view cut along a vertical plane including the transport direction. FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view showing details of the VIC portion surrounded by a circle in FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which completed the plate-making of a stamp face, and the stamp face taken out from the stamp face material holder was attached to the stamp base, and was completed as a seal stamp. FIG. 5A is an external perspective view. FIG. 5B is a side view. 1 is a block configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a plate making flow diagram of the stamp face according to one embodiment of the present invention. It is (a) original stamp data according to an embodiment of the present invention, and (b) the stamp surface that has been made. (A) A display screen for designating and determining a trial platemaking range, (b) details of trial platemaking range data of the determined trial platemaking range. (A) Trial plate making range data arrangement display screen, (b) generated trial plate making data, and (c) trial plate making stamp. (A) A display screen in which trial plate making range data is arranged at different positions, (b) generated trial plate making data, and (c) a trial printing plate. It is a production | generation flowchart of the trial plate making data which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is an arrangement determination flowchart of trial plate making range data according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart of this plate making based on one Embodiment of this invention. (A) Initial stamp data, (b) Plate-making stamp, (c) Arrangement of trial plate-making range data, (d) Generated trial plate-making data according to another embodiment. (A) One embodiment for determining the trial platemaking range, (b) Another embodiment for determining the trial platemaking range.

  An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is a trial for a user to check whether or not a printing surface to be created is made as it is when making a printing surface for a stamp using a printing plate making apparatus. Generate plate making data. First, the stamp plate making apparatus will be described.

The stamping plate making apparatus is a device that forms a desired pattern on the stamping material to form (printing) the stamping surface. For example, a thermal printer can be used. The thermal printer has a thermal head and can selectively heat each heating element by a plurality of heating elements and a drive circuit (driver) for driving them.
The seal face material is a thermoplastic member that is made of a porous sponge body that can be impregnated with liquid ink and is made non-porous by heating. For example, a porous ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) can be used.
The stamping material holder is a jig used to pass through a stamping plate making apparatus to form a desired pattern on the stamping material. For example, a state in which the stamping material is held by the stamping material holder is supplied to the user of the stamping plate making apparatus. In this specification, for convenience, the stamping material holder includes a stamping material and a holding body that holds the stamping material.
The holding body is made of, for example, a thick paper board made of a coated ball. After stamping plate making, it is a member to be discarded after the stamping material is taken out from the stamping material holder.

In the plate-making process, the heating element of the thermal head is selectively heated according to the image data, so that the surface of the printing surface material has a predetermined size, that is, for each dot corresponding to the size of the heating element of the thermal head, It means processing to make non-porous.
The non-heated dot refers to a dot that is not heated among a plurality of heating elements of the thermal head. When viewed from the image of the seal surface formed, it corresponds to a portion that allows ink to pass through, and corresponds to an ink transfer portion that transfers ink to a medium (print medium) by contact.
The heating dot refers to a dot to be heated among a plurality of heating elements of the thermal head. When viewed from the image of the printed surface to be formed, it corresponds to a portion that prohibits the passage of ink, and corresponds to an ink non-transferred portion that does not transfer ink to a medium (printing medium) even when contacted.
A conveyance part is a mechanism part which conveys a stamping material holder, for example, can be comprised by the platen roller and the stepping motor which moves it.
The control unit (CPU: Central Processing Unit) of the stamping plate making apparatus includes wired communication (USB (registered trademark): Universal Serial Bus) or wireless communication (Wi-Fi (registered trademark) (Wireless Fidelity), Bluetooth (registered trademark), It can be connected to a personal computer (PC), a smartphone, a tablet computer, and the like by a WLAN (registered trademark) (Wireless Local Area Network) or the like and function in cooperation with each other.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the mechanical configuration of the stamp plate-making apparatus 1 (thermal printer) will be described.
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a stamping plate making apparatus 1 together with a stamping material holder. Here, FIG. 1A is an external perspective view of the stamp plate making apparatus 1, and FIG. 1B is a perspective cross-sectional view showing a cross-sectional structure in the XZ plane (vertical plane including the conveying direction). is there. FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the structure around the discharge port of the stamping material holder of the stamping plate making apparatus 1. Here, FIG. 2 (a) is an IIA section shown in FIG. 1 (b) (in this specification, for convenience, a symbol corresponding to the Roman numeral “2” shown in FIG. 1 (b)). It is principal part sectional drawing which shows the cross-section in "II", and uses "V" for convenience as a symbol corresponding to the Roman numeral "5". FIG. 2B is a front view showing an appearance of the stamp plate making apparatus 1 including a discharge port.

  A printing plate making apparatus (hereinafter referred to as “printer”) 1 is a so-called thermal printer, and is inserted from a (print medium) insertion port 10c as shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), for example. The stamping material holder 20 is conveyed toward the discharge port 10d. Then, the printer 1 presses the thermal head 4 with a predetermined load against the marking material 21 on the marking material holder 20 being conveyed from the film with a predetermined load, and selectively heats a plurality of heating elements of the thermal head 4. A stamp surface (a portion that forms an imprint consisting of characters, symbols, figures, etc. when a stamp or stamp is pressed) representing a desired pattern (characters, symbols, figures, etc.) is applied to the stamp material 21 on the stamp material holder 20. Form.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, X, Y, and Z directions orthogonal to each other are set. About the sign of X, Y, Z which shows the direction described in drawing, an arrow direction is attached | subjected and "+" is shown, the reverse direction with respect to an arrow direction is shown with "-", and both directions are shown. In this case, no sign (“+” or “−”) is added. The X direction is the same direction as the direction in which the stamping material holder 20 including the stamping material 21 that is the object forming the marking surface is conveyed, and is also referred to as the front-rear direction. The Y direction is the same as the width direction of the printer 1 and is also referred to as the left-right direction. The Z direction is the same as the direction in which the thermal head 4 is pressed against the stamp material holder 20, and is also referred to as the vertical direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the printer 1 includes a case 10 including a lower case 10a and an upper case 10b, and a stamp material holder 20 is provided on the front and rear surfaces of the lower case 10a. An insertion port 10c and a discharge port 10d are formed for passing through. An input operation unit 6 is provided on the upper surface of the upper case 10b. The input operation part 6 will output the signal according to operation content, if operation by an operator is performed. The stamping material holder 20 is conveyed in the + X direction along the guide 14 (inclined surface 14a). The pressing part 4a that presses the marking material 21 in the thermal head 4 is provided in a straight strip shape along the Y direction. The thermal head 4 is provided with an IC chip (driver IC) 4b having a drive circuit for controlling the heat generation state of each of the plurality of heat generating elements arranged in the pressing portion 4a. The driver IC 4b is disposed, for example, at a position opposite to the conveying direction of the stamp material holder 20 (−X direction) with respect to the pressing portion 4a provided with a plurality of heating elements. FIG. 2A shows a cross-sectional view of the main part of the IIA portion shown in FIG.

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), the discharge port 10d of the lower case 10a has a predetermined height in the discharge port 10d on the lower inner surface 10e constituting the discharge port 10d. A plurality of ribs (supporting portions) 10f formed so as to protrude are arranged at predetermined intervals along the opening direction (Y direction) of the discharge port 10d. Here, the plurality of ribs 10f are arranged on the conveyance path of the stamp face material holder 20 discharged from the discharge port 10d. In other words, the plurality of ribs 10f have at least the pressing state of the thermal head 4 against the marking material holder 20 changed to a specific state when the marking material holder 20 inserted from the insertion port 10c is conveyed inside the printer 1. At this point, the back surface side near the one end side (+ X direction side) of the stamp material holder 20 is in contact with and supported by the surface opposite to the marking surface formation side on which the thermal head 4 is pressed, that is, the lower side in FIG. It is provided as follows. At this time, the plurality of ribs 10f are provided so as to come into contact with the back surface of the stamping material holder 20 to such an extent that the stamping material holder 20 is not curved (deformed), and more preferably for conveying (feeding amount) of the stamping material holder 20. It is provided so as to support the stamp material holder 20 to such an extent that it does not have an influence, for example, it is lightly contacted with little friction. The distance between the thermal head 4 and the platen roller 12 (indicated as “H” in FIG. 2A) is set to a predetermined constant value according to the configuration of the stamp face material holder 20. Or an interval adjustment mechanism (in FIG. 2A) for adjusting the interval H between the thermal head 4 and the platen roller 12 by moving the thermal head 4 or the platen roller 12 in the Z direction. May be represented as “32”).

Next, a functional configuration of the printer 1, that is, a functional configuration that functions by being controlled by a control unit (CPU: Central Processing Unit) 2 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 3, the printer 1 includes a central control circuit 2, and the central control circuit 2 includes a sensor 3, a thermal head 4, a power supply circuit 5, a motor driver 8, a display screen control circuit 47, and a memory control circuit 48. , A UI (User Interface) control circuit 49, a USB control circuit 40, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) module and a wireless LAN module 41.
Further, a stepping motor 9 is connected to the motor driver 8, a display device 43 is connected to the display screen control circuit 47, and a PC 44 is connected to the USB (Universal Serial Bus) control circuit 40.
In the case of this example, the sensor 3 is constituted by a reflection type optical sensor, and detects a notch provided in the stamping material holder. The central control circuit 2 detects and supplies power to the print start position and the media size by detecting a signal from the sensor.
Further, the display device 43, the display screen control circuit 47, the UI control circuit 49, the USB control circuit (USB communication control circuit) 40, the Bluetooth (registered trademark) module, the wireless LAN (Local Area Network) module 41, etc. are not necessarily all included. Is not necessary.

In FIG. 3, a central control circuit (control unit) 2 controls the entire printer 1. In this figure, most of the circuits are connected only to the central control circuit 2, but it is of course possible for the circuits to perform data communication through the bus. The central control circuit 2 is a circuit including a CPU, and when the CPU reads and executes a computer program as necessary, various functions (for example, conveyance amount detection, dimension setting, dimension determination, position detection, heating, etc.) Control, pressing force control, etc.).
The memory control circuit 48 includes devices such as a ROM and a RAM and controls them. The display device 43 refers to a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), for example, and the display image control circuit 47 controls data transfer to the display device 43 and lighting / extinguishing of the backlight.
In addition, computer programs necessary for realizing various functions are stored in a ROM or the like, and written and referred to in a RAM and used as necessary. This stamp plate making apparatus is installed with driver software and application programs installed on the personal computer (or smartphone) side, and operates in cooperation with a USB connection or the like. Therefore, the computer program in the stamp plate making apparatus and the computer program installed in an external device such as a personal computer cooperate to realize various functions.

For example, in the case of a printing plate making apparatus (printer) of a model having a configuration in which wired connection or wireless connection is indispensable with the PC 44, the user performs an operation on the GUI (Graphical User Interface) such as the PC 44 or a mobile phone terminal (not shown). For implementation, the display screen control circuit 47 and the display device 43 are not essential on the hardware side.
The UI control circuit 49 is based on information input from an input device such as a keyboard, a mouse, a remote controller, a button, or a touch panel by a user via a personal computer or an input device provided in the printing plate making apparatus (printer). In addition, the menu screen display and the like are controlled. The power supply circuit 5 includes a power supply IC (Integrated Circuit) or the like, and generates and supplies necessary power to each circuit.

The thermal head 4 receives the data output from the central control circuit 2 and the print signal, controls the energized dots by a driver IC inside the head, and makes a porous ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (hereinafter, referred to as a head) in contact with the head. Printing (plate making, hereinafter the same) is performed on a stamp material such as EVA. “Printing” in the present stamp plate making apparatus is not printing using ink, but by selectively heating a plurality of heating elements of the thermal head 4 according to image data, the surface of the stamping material 21 is made dot by dot. In addition, it means to process whether or not to make it non-porous.
In the configuration example of this system, other circuits receive only data and signals from the central control circuit 2, and power necessary for printing is obtained from the power supply circuit 5. Incidentally, in the apparatus of this example, the thermal head 4 has an effective print width of 48 mm at a resolution of 200 dpi, that is, 200 dots / 25.4 mm (0.125 mm per dot).
The motor driver 8 is a driving circuit that drives the stepping motor 9, receives a signal output from the central control circuit 2, and supplies a driving pulse signal and power to the stepping motor 9. Note that only the excitation signal is received from the central control circuit 2, and the actual drive power is obtained from the power supply circuit 5.

The control unit (central control circuit) 2 accurately counts how many steps of the stepping motor 9 are rotated by counting the number of pulses of the signal output to the motor driver 8, that is, how many mm the printing material holder is conveyed by the platen roller 12. Can be grasped.
The printer 1 in this embodiment employs 1-2 phase excitation drive, and the gear ratio is configured to be 16 steps per line (0.125 mm). That is, conveyance of 0.0078 mm is performed in one step.
In addition, you may use another method, without calculating the conveyance distance by the platen roller 12 in the control part 2 based on the number of pulses. For example, the rotation speed of the platen roller 12 may be detected by a rotary encoder, and the conveyance distance by the platen roller 12 may be calculated based on the detected rotation speed.

Next, the stamp material holder 20 and the stamp used to form (plate making) the stamp surface by the printer 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.
FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an example of a stamp material holder on which a stamp surface is formed by a printer. FIG. 4A is a plan view showing the stamping surface forming side (the side holding the stamping material 21) of the stamping material holder 20. 4B is a VIB-VIB line shown in FIG. 4A (in this specification, “VI” is conveniently used as a symbol corresponding to the Roman numeral “6” shown in FIG. 4A). Is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a cross-sectional structure along the line. FIG. 4C is a main part sectional view showing a sectional structure in the VIC part shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a stamp with a stamp material on which a stamp surface is formed. FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the stamp as seen from the stamping material side, and FIG. 5B is a diagram when the stamping material side is the bottom surface (when it is placed on paper when used as a stamp). It is a side view of a stamp.

The marking material holder 20 includes a marking material 21, a holding body 22 that holds the marking material 21, and a film 24 that protects the marking material 21. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the holding body 22 holds the stamping material 21 fixed to the central portion.
The stamping material 21 has a main surface 21a that actually becomes a marking surface. The stamp material 21 is formed of a porous sponge body that can be impregnated with liquid ink, for example, a porous ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (hereinafter referred to as “EVA”), and can be deformed by pressing. EVA has innumerable bubbles, and the bubbles are impregnated with ink.
Of the stamping material holder 20, the holding body 22 and the film 24 are jigs used when forming the stamping surface of the stamping material 21, and are separated from the stamping material 21 and discarded (or reused) after the stamping surface formation is completed. Is done. As shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C, the holding body 22 is configured by laminating an upper thick paperboard 22c made of a coated ball and a lower thick paperboard 22d. Moreover, as shown to Fig.4 (a), the notch 22a is formed in the one side part (drawing right side) of the holding body 22. As shown in FIG. Here, in order to reflect the light from the sensor 3 with a high reflectance, the surface of the holding body 22 is formed, for example, in white.

  As shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C, a positioning hole 22e for fixing the stamp material 21 is formed in the upper thick paperboard 22c. The marking material 21 is fitted and fixed in the positioning hole 22e. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the lower thick paperboard 22d has the same outer shape as the upper thick paperboard 22c, and is not provided with a positioning hole 22e. In a state where the lower cardboard 22d and the upper cardboard are bonded together, the lower cardboard 22d is in contact with the entire back surface 21b of the stamping material 21.

  As shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C, the main surface 21a (the left surface of FIG. 4B or the upper surface of FIG. 4C) of the stamping material 21 is the upper cardboard 22c. It protrudes slightly from the upper surface (the left surface of FIG. 4B or the upper surface of FIG. 4C). In this example, the combined thickness of the upper thick paperboard 22c and the lower thick paperboard 22d is set to, for example, 1.2 mm, whereas the thickness of the stamping material holder 20 including the film 24 and the stamping material 21 is set. The total thickness is set to 1.8 mm, for example. That is, in this example, the stamp material 21 is set to protrude 0.6 mm with respect to the upper thick paperboard 22c.

  As shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C, the stamping material holder 20 has a film 24 that covers the upper surface of the holding body 22 and the upper surface of the stamping material 21. The film 24 is made using PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) or polyimide as a base material, and has heat resistance, thermal conductivity, and surface smoothness. Here, with respect to the heat resistance of the film 24, a film that can withstand a temperature higher than the temperature of the thermal head 4 and the melting point of the stamp surface material 21 when the stamp surface is formed is used. As for the thermal conductivity of the film 24, a material that can transfer heat of the thermal head 4 at the time of forming the marking surface to the stamping material 21 and melt the marking material 21 satisfactorily is used. With respect to the surface smoothness of the film 24, a material is used in which the pressing portion 4 a of the thermal head 4 that is in contact with the printed surface is slid well with little friction.

  As shown in FIG. 4C, the upper thick paper board 22c and the lower thick paper board 22d are bonded together by, for example, a double-sided adhesive sheet 25. The film 24 is adhered to the surface of the peripheral portion of the holding body 22, that is, the surface of the upper thick paperboard 22 c into which the stamp material 21 is fitted by a double-sided adhesive sheet 26. The film 24 and the stamping material 21 and the stamping material 21 and the lower thick paperboard 22d are in contact with each other, and are not bonded together.

  In FIG. 4, an example of the stamping material holder 20 that is the target of the stamping surface formation in the printer 1 is shown, but the size of the stamping material 21 (the vertical and horizontal dimensions in FIG. 4A) is different. A plurality of types of stamp face material holders 20 can be targets for stamp face formation. Here, the thickness and width dimension of each type of stamping material holder 20 (lateral dimension in FIG. 4A) are set to be the same, and the length dimension of the stamping material holder 20 (FIG. The vertical dimension of a) is set to be different depending on the size of the stamping material 21. Corresponding to the size of the marking material 21 of each type of marking material holder 20, the holding body 22 is provided with notches 22a having different sizes (for example, vertical dimensions) in a one-to-one relationship. Then, the type (size) of the marking material 21 of the marking material holder 20 is specified by scanning the notch 22a of the holding body 22 by the sensor 3 of the printer 1 and detecting the size thereof.

  The marking material 21 is taken out from the holding body 22 after the marking surface has been formed in the printer 1. The taken stamp material 21 is, for example, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the lower surface of the rootstock 52 of the stamp 50 composed of a spherical handle 51 and a square rootstock 52. Affixed to the bottom surface of the rootstock 52 in FIG. 5B with a double-sided adhesive sheet 53 or the like.

Next, the principle of forming a marking surface on the marking material 21 will be described.
The stamp material 21 is made of EVA. Since EVA has thermoplastic properties, for example, when heated with heat of 70 ° C. to 120 ° C., the portion to which heat is applied is softened, and once the softened portion is cooled, it is cured. The cured portion is filled with air bubbles and becomes non-porous, and the portion cannot pass ink.
The printer 1 uses the characteristics of the stamping material 21 (EVA) to heat any portion of the EVA surface with a thermal head for about 1 to 5 msec, thereby making the portion of the EVA surface non-porous. And the passage of ink in that portion is prohibited. Note that the stamp material 21 is cut into a square in advance by a thermal cutter. For this reason, the four side surfaces (end surfaces) of the stamp material 21 are all made non-porous by the heat applied at the time of cutting and do not allow ink to pass through. In addition, the back surface 21b of the stamping material 21 is also heat-treated, and does not allow ink to pass through. As a result, the ink is prevented from oozing out from the surface other than the main surface 21a to be the marking surface.

  In plate making (thermal printing) of the printing surface, a portion that transmits ink is not heated, and a portion that does not transmit heat is heated, so that an ink transmission portion can be formed according to the impression desired to be obtained at the time of stamping. Note that the size of the stamping material 21 is set slightly larger than the desired imprint size, considering that errors may occur during the formation of the stamping surface and that the side surface (end surface) of the stamping material 21 does not pass ink. ing. For example, when the size of the seal impression is 45 mm × 45 mm, the size of the stamp face material 21 is set to 48 mm × 48 mm.

  In the following, trial plate-making data including data for a range (trial plate-making image) for confirming whether or not the plate-making is successfully performed is generated from the stamp surface data (main plate-making image) that is data for making the plate to be created. The apparatus configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.

  As illustrated in FIG. 6, the image forming apparatus 100 includes a display unit 110, an input unit 120, a storage unit 130, a communication unit 140, and a control unit 190, and the control unit 190 includes a stamp data acquisition unit 150 and a range data determination unit 160. , An arrangement determining unit 170, a determination notification unit 175, a trial plate making data generation unit 180, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 195, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 196, and a CPU 197. A printing apparatus including the image forming apparatus 100 and the stamp plate making apparatus 1 may be considered.

  The display unit 110 is a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and displays created seal face data, an operation screen, and the like.

  The input unit 120 is operated by a user to input instructions for creating stamp data and various editing operations, and includes a keyboard and a mouse including various input buttons. Alternatively, an operation screen such as a keyboard or an input button may be arranged as a touch screen on which the display unit 110 can be operated with a finger or a touch pen.

  The storage unit 130 stores stamp data that has been created or acquired from an external database, trial plate making data created in correspondence with the trial plate making image, book making data corresponding to the main plate making image, and the like.

  The communication unit 140 is an interface that transmits the created trial plate making data, main plate making data, and the like to the stamp plate making apparatus 1.

  The control unit 190 reads and executes various programs stored in the ROM 196 as necessary while the CPU 197 uses the RAM 195 as a work memory, so that the stamp data acquisition unit 150, the range data determination unit 160, and the arrangement determination unit 170 are read. In addition, functions as the determination notification unit 175 and the trial plate making data generation unit 180 are realized, and the entire image forming apparatus 100 is controlled.

  In response to a user operation from the input unit 120, the stamp surface data acquisition unit 150 causes the display unit 110 to display stamp surface data stored in the storage unit 130. The seal face data is electronic data representing the stamp face content, and the seal face data acquired from the database or created by the user is stored in the storage unit 130.

  The range data determination unit 160 is a portion of data (hereinafter referred to as “trial plate making range data”) for confirming whether or not the plate making is performed well before the main plate making from the stamp data (hereinafter referred to as “trial plate making range data”). .) Specifically, the user looks at the image of the stamp data displayed on the display unit 110, specifies the trial plate making range (for example, in a rectangular range) via the input unit 120, and the range data determination unit 160 is specified. The data within the trial plate making range (heating data indicating the heated portion and non-heating data indicating the non-heated portion) is stored in the storage unit 130 or the RAM 195 as the trial plate making range data. The heated portion corresponds to a non-transfer portion for trial plate making that does not transfer ink to the medium even when contacted on the stamp material, and the non-heated portion is for trial plate making that transfers ink to the medium by contact. Corresponds to the ink transfer portion.

  The arrangement determining unit 170 arranges the trial plate making range data at an appropriate position in the stamp data so as to satisfy a predetermined condition described later. More specifically, the user designates the trial plate making range data at an appropriate position via the input unit 120 while viewing the initial stamp data displayed on the display unit 110. When the designated position satisfies a predetermined condition described later, the arrangement determining unit 170 decides to arrange the trial plate making range data in the trial plate making data at the designated position.

  The determination notification unit 175 determines whether or not the position of the trial plate making range data arranged by the user satisfies a predetermined condition to be described later, and if not satisfied, notifies the user to that effect.

  The trial plate-making data generation unit 180 arranges the trial plate-making range data at the position determined by the arrangement determination unit 170, and the printing surface data in which all the remaining printing surface areas are non-heated data (trial plate-making data). ) And stored in the storage unit 130 or the RAM 195.

  Next, an embodiment of image formation performed using the image forming apparatus 100 having the above configuration will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of a plate making flow from the stamp stamp surface acquisition to the main plate making performed using the image forming apparatus 100. As shown in FIG. 7, first, stamp surface data for a stamp is acquired via the input unit 120 of the image forming apparatus 100 and displayed on the display unit 110 (step S100). The stamp data is newly created or the already created stamp data is called from the storage unit 130. Moreover, you may acquire via an internet etc. from an external database. The image forming apparatus 100 may be a personal computer, a portable terminal, or the like, or a dedicated device may be used.

  Next, from the stamp data displayed on the display unit 110, trial printing is performed prior to the main plate making using only the stamp surface data for which it is desired to check whether or not the plate making is successfully performed, such as thin lines and small characters. Test plate making data to be performed is generated (step S200). Details of step S200 will be described later. Next, trial plate making is performed using the generated trial plate making data, and the user confirms whether or not plate making has been performed without any problem. When it is confirmed that the plate making can be performed successfully by the trial plate making, the user instructs to perform the main plate making for making the final stamp data (step S300). When there is a problem with the trial plate making, the user instructs to perform the main plate making after correcting the target stamp data. Alternatively, after the trial plate making data is corrected, it may be confirmed by performing trial plate making again.

  Details of each step will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 8A shows an example of stamp surface data for making a plate on the stamp material 21 obtained in step S100. This is referred to as initial stamp data 60. The stamp face material 21 is formed from a heat-shrinkable porous material, and is a material for making a stamp stamp face by selectively heating.

  The seal face data is used in the meaning of data displayed when the data is expanded as image data of the seal face. Data indicating the heated portion and non-heated portion of the stamp surface are referred to as heating data and non-heated data, respectively.

  The initial stamp surface data 60 includes non-heat data 64 indicating a non-heated portion of the stamp surface during plate making and heating data 65 indicating a heated portion in a stamp surface area 61 indicated by a solid line in FIG. In addition, the part illustrated in gray around the stamping area 61 indicates a blank area 62 that basically does not create a non-heated part (printing part) in consideration of the possibility that the stamping material 21 is displaced during plate making. . An area inside the margin area 62 indicates an image area 63 for creating a print portion.

  The seal face area 61 means an area where the seal face data 60 is displayed, and includes an image area 63 and a blank area 62. In addition, the “printing surface of the stamping material” refers to a surface region that forms the marking surface of the stamping material. The image area 63 is an area in which non-heated data 64 for printing / printing (hereinafter referred to as “printing”) such as characters, pictures, and figures is arranged, and is an area excluding the blank area 62. The blank area 62 is a peripheral area provided to allow the shift of the stamping material during plate making, and is usually an area where no non-heating data 64 is arranged.

  When the stamp surface data 60 shown in FIG. 8A is subjected to plate making using the stamp plate making apparatus 1, the left and right sides are reversed as shown in FIG. 8B on the stamp material. In other words, the non-heated portion 64a and the heated portion 65a are made upside down in the stamp surface 66 of the stamp material.

  Next, details of step S200 (generation of trial plate making data) in FIG. 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. The stamp surface data 60 in FIG. 8A includes a thin character “Thank you!”, Which may be crushed when it is made and stamped. Therefore, before making the plate with the original stamp data 60, trial plate making data is generated to check whether the portion of “Thank you!” Can be made according to the stamp data 60.

  As shown in FIG. 9A, first, the initial seal data 60 is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 110. Then, the user looks at the displayed initial stamp data 60, designates the trial plate making range 67 indicated by a dotted line, for example, via the input unit 120, and notifies the user that the designation button 71 has been designated.

  As shown in FIG. 9B, a trial plate making range 67 indicated by a dotted line includes, as trial plate making range data 68, non-heating data (non-heating dots) 69 indicating a non-heated portion and heating data (heating dots) indicating a heating portion. 70). In response to the designation notification of the trial plate making range 67 by the user, the range data determination unit 160 stores and acquires the shape of the trial plate making range 67, that is, the arrangement relationship between the heated dot data and the non-heated dot data as it is, and stores it in the storage unit 130 or RAM 195. Remember.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 10A, the user designates the arrangement position of the trial plate making range data 68 in the marking area 61 displayed on the display unit 110, for example, at a position below the marking area 61. Here, trial plate making range data 68 is arranged over the image area 63 and the margin area 62. In this state, the user presses the decision button 71 to notify that the arrangement position of the trial plate making range data 68 has been designated.

  When the arrangement position of the trial plate making range data 68 is determined to the position shown in FIG. 10A, the trial plate making data 75 generated by the trial plate making data generation unit 180 does not include the contents of the initial stamp surface data 60. The data is as shown in (b). The trial plate making data 75 includes the trial plate making range data 68 indicated by the dotted line in the stamp area 61 as it is, and all the regions other than the trial plate making range data 68 are non-heated data. The dotted line indicates the range, not the data to be made.

  When trial plate making is performed using the stamp face plate making apparatus 1 based on the trial plate making data 75 shown in FIG. 10B, the trial stamp face 72 as shown in FIG. 10C is made on the stamp face material. The user checks whether there is a problem such as crushing. Whether or not the plate can be made according to the data by the trial plate making may be confirmed by visually checking the surface of the stamped printing material and confirming whether or not the plate making is made according to the data. Alternatively, a small amount of ink may be put in a portion subjected to trial plate making and checked. In addition, when it confirms using an ink, wipe off ink well. 10B and 10C, the dotted rectangular range indicates the range in which the heating data 70 is included in the trial plate making (see FIG. 9B), and the rectangle itself is made by plate making. is not. That is, it indicates that portions other than the rectangle are not heated in the trial plate making.

  Here, when it is determined that the plate making has not been performed successfully, the user performs the main plate making after correcting the corresponding portion of the initial stamp data. If there is still a space for trial plate making, it may be confirmed by performing trial plate making again using the corrected trial plate making data.

  For example, when the trial plate making range data is arranged at the position shown in FIG. 10A and the trial plate making is performed, the trial stamp surface 72 shown in FIG. 10C is obtained. And Therefore, the user changes the trial plate-making data in the rectangular dotted line frame to a thicker font, and this time the trial plate-making data 68 is changed to the position shown by the dotted line frame in FIG. To notify the location specification. After the layout determination by the layout determination unit 170, the trial plate making data generation unit 180 finally generates the trial plate making data 76 shown in FIG. Therefore, when the user performs trial plate making using the same stamping material as the first trial plate, a trial stamp surface 73 as shown in FIG. 11C is obtained, which is confirmed. In addition, the rectangular shape of the dotted line shown in FIG.11 (c) shows the range in which a heating range is included by two trial plate-making, and the rectangle itself is not plate-making.

  In this way, if there is a remaining space, it can be corrected repeatedly to make trial plate making, and it can be confirmed whether or not plate making can be performed without any problem. If it is determined that the plate making can be performed without any problem, the main plate making is performed (step S300).

  Next, the trial plate making data generation step (step S200) in FIG. 7 will be described with reference to the trial plate making data creation flowchart shown in FIG. 12 and the trial plate making range data arrangement determination flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, the range data determination unit 160 requests the user to specify a range for trial plate making (step S210). Next, the user designates the trial plate making range from the displayed image via the input unit 120 and notifies the designation. The range data determination unit 160 determines the heating data 70 and the non-heating data 69 in the designated trial plate making range 67 as the trial plate making range data 68 and stores them in the storage unit 130 or the RAM 195 (step S220).

  Next, processing for determining the arrangement of the trial plate making range data 68 at an appropriate position in the stamp surface area 61 of the initial stamp surface data 60 is performed (step S230). Details of step S230 will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the arrangement determining unit 170 first displays the initial stamp surface data 60 on the display unit 110, and determines the position in the stamp surface region 61 where the trial plate making range data 68 determined in step S <b> 230 is arranged for the user. A request is made to designate (step S231).

  Next, for example, the user designates the position to be arranged as shown in the dotted line range of FIG. 10A (step S232).

  The position where the trial plate making range data 68 is arranged needs to be such that the heating data (dots) 70 of the trial plate making range data 68 is within the heating data 65 (see FIG. 8A) of the initial stamp surface data 60. is there. Furthermore, it is preferable that the heating data (dots) 70 in the trial plate making range data 68 satisfy the condition that they are separated from the non-heating data (dots) 64 of the initial stamp surface data 60 by a predetermined distance (dots) or more. The “predetermined distance” is a distance that does not affect the heat at the time of plate making heating, and is determined by conditions such as an apparatus configuration and a stamping material.

  The reason why the heating data (dots) 70 of the trial plate making range data 68 is included in the heating data 70 of the initial stamp surface data 60 is that the region heated by the trial plate making does not return to the original state, so that the plate making is performed on the non-heated portion by this plate making. This is because trial plate-making cannot be performed in the area where the image is processed. Further, the heating data (dots) 70 in the trial plate making range data 68 is located at a position more than a predetermined distance from the non-heating dots 64 of the original stamp surface data 60 because the influence of the heating in the heating part reaches the non-heating part. This is to prevent it from reaching. Further, it may be added as a condition that the test plate making data 75 is separated from the outermost end by a predetermined distance. This takes into account the possibility that the stamping material will shift during plate making.

  Therefore, next, the determination notification unit 175 determines whether or not the position of the trial plate making range data 68 designated by the user satisfies the above condition. That is, the determination notifying unit 175 has all the heating dots in the trial plate making range data 68 (heating data 70 indicating the heated portion) in the heating dots in the initial stamp surface data 60 and is not heated in the initial stamp surface data 60. It is determined whether or not the dot (non-heated data 64 indicating the non-heated portion 64a) is separated by a predetermined distance or more in dot units (step S233).

  For example, as illustrated in FIG. 10A, the determination notification unit 175 includes a character string (non-Thank!) In the upper end portion (heating data 70) of the arranged trial plate-making range data 68 and the initial seal face data 60. The shortest distance D with the heating data 64) is measured, and it is determined whether or not D is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance.

  If it is determined that the distance is greater than or equal to the predetermined distance (step S233: Yes), the arrangement determining unit 170 determines the position designated by the user as the arrangement position of the trial plate making range data 68, and stores the position in the stamp area 61 in the storage unit. 130 or RAM 195 (step S235), and the process proceeds to step S240 in FIG. If it is determined that the distance is not more than the predetermined distance (step S233: No), the determination notification unit 175 notifies the user that the arrangement condition is not satisfied (arrangement position designation error) (step S234), and performs trial plate making again. The process returns to step S231 which requests to specify the arrangement position of the range data 68.

  Returning to FIG. 12, after the arrangement determining unit 170 determines and stores the arrangement position of the trial plate making range data 68 (step S230), the arrangement determining unit 170 completes the determination of the trial plate making range data 68 and the operation of determining the arrangement position. It waits for the user's judgment of whether or not (step S240). When the user presses the return button 90 (step S240: No), the range data determination unit 160 determines the trial platemaking range data 68 of the trial platemaking range designated by the user, and the arrangement determination unit 170 determines the trial platemaking range data. Are determined, and the step (steps S220 to S240) of determining whether or not the determination notification unit 175 satisfies the condition is repeated.

  When the user notifies completion by pressing the completion button 91 (step S240: Yes), the trial plate making data generation unit 180 generates stamp face data including only the arranged trial plate making range data 68 as the trial plate making data, and the storage unit. 130 or RAM 195 (step S250). Only including the arranged trial plate making range data means that the heating data 70 and the non-heating data 69 as the trial plate making range data 68 are arranged at the determined position in the stamp area 61, and the non-heating data is arranged in other portions. It is to be.

  Such trial plate-making data is generated by duplicating the trial plate-making range data 68 at the position of a predetermined data string of the new stamp surface data for the trial plate-making data, or the trial plate-making range data 68 is generated as the initial stamp data 60. It is possible to generate data by overwriting a predetermined position and converting the other initial stamp face data 60 into non-heated data.

  Next, the control unit 190 transmits the created trial plate making data 75 to the stamp plate making apparatus 1 via the communication unit 140 (step S260).

  Next, the main plate making (step S300) of FIG. 7 will be described using the main plate making flow of FIG. As shown in FIG. 14, the control unit 190 replaces the trial plate making data confirmed that the plate making can be performed according to the trial plate making with the corresponding portion of the original stamp data 60 (if there is no problem with the original stamp data 60). The master-making data is created and stored in the storage unit 130 (step S310). Next, the control unit 190 transmits the created main plate making data to the stamp plate making apparatus 1 via the communication unit 140 (step S320). The stamp plate making apparatus 1 makes a plate based on the transmitted main plate making data (step S330). This plate making is performed using a stamping material that has been subjected to trial plate making. The portion printed in the trial plate making (non-heated portion) becomes a portion not printed in the main plate making (heated portion), and no trace of the trial plate making remains.

  By carrying out the stamp plate making in this way, it is possible to confirm before making the plate making portions that are unclear whether or not the plate can be made according to the data, such as thin lines and small characters. If it is found that the plate cannot be made according to the data, the plate can be made after being corrected as appropriate, so that the consumable stamp material is not wasted.

(Modification)
In the above-described image forming embodiment, an example in which the entire character portion to be confirmed is designated and trial plate making is shown (FIGS. 8 to 11). However, the trial plate making range to be specified may be a part rather than the whole character or figure.

  In addition, the determined trial platemaking range data is arranged collectively in the above-described embodiment (FIG. 12). However, if the area to be arranged is small, the determined trial plate making range data may be divided and arranged individually. Such an example will be described below with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 15A is another example of the initial stamp data created. The marking surface data 86 includes a heating portion 81 and a non-heating portion 82 in the marking surface region 80. The non-heated portion 82 includes a thin character “Welcome”, which may be blurred as shown in FIG. Therefore, trial plate making is performed to check whether or not “Welcome” can be made according to the stamp face data 86 before the main plate making.

  However, there is no wide area in which the entire character “Welcome” can be placed. Therefore, the user divides the character string “Welcome” into four parts 84 “We”, “lc”, “o”, and “me” as shown by four solid rectangular frames in FIG. Each is placed in a separate area. In this case, the trial plate making data obtained without including the initial stamp data 86 is as shown in FIG. Note that the dotted rectangular shape shown in FIG. 15 (d) indicates the range that can be heated and is not made. 15C and 15D, a gray portion around the stamp area is a blank area 83. In this way, by dividing and arranging the range to be subjected to trial plate making, trial plate making can be performed even in a wide selection range, and it is also possible to make trial plate making in the image area 85 without using the margin area 83.

  In the above embodiment, the range designated by the user as the trial plate making range is determined as the trial plate making range data as it is (step S220). However, the range data determination unit 160 may determine a trial plate making range different from the range designated by the user as the trial plate making range data based on the range designated by the user. For example, the range data determination unit 160 detects a non-heated portion within a rectangular range designated by the user, and adds only a heated portion within a predetermined distance (number of dots) from the non-heated portion to the non-heated portion. Then, it may be determined and stored as trial plate making range data. In this case, the determination range is not a rectangle but an indefinite shape. The predetermined distance may be a distance that allows the user to determine whether or not the plate making is successfully performed.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 16A, it is assumed that the user designates a trial plate making range 67 indicated by a dotted line including a non-heated portion 64 and a heated portion 65, “Thank you!”. Then, as shown in FIG. 16B, the range data determination unit 160 determines a range indicated by a solid line including the non-heating data 64 and the heating data 65 in a predetermined range around it as the trial plate making range data 68. As a result, the trial plate making target range can be defined as narrow as possible, whereby it is possible to place the trial plate making range data in a narrow heating portion when determining the position where the trial plate making range data is arranged.

  Further, the range data determination unit 160 detects a non-heated portion within a range designated by the user, adds a heated portion of a predetermined range around the non-heated portion, and forms a predetermined shape so as to have a predetermined shape. It may be determined and stored as data. As a result, it is possible to select a trial plate making range having a necessary and sufficient size including print data to be confirmed within a simple shape range (for example, a rectangle).

  Further, when it is found as a result of the trial plate making that the plate making is not successful, in the above embodiment, the user corrects the portion and creates new stamp data. However, there may be provided means for automatically correcting characters and figures within the trial plate making range to generate new trial plate making data. For example, in the case of character data, the character data changing process for correcting the font data is performed, and in the case of graphic data, the graphic data changing process for correcting the bitmap data is performed to generate new trial plate making data. Trial plate making data correction means using the above may be provided.

  In the control example shown in FIG. 13, the arrangement determining unit 170 requests the user to specify the arrangement position in the stamp area where the trial plate making range data acquired in step S230 is arranged (step S231).

  However, the arrangement determining unit 170 may automatically determine the arrangement position of the trial plate making range data in the stamp area. For example, the heating portion of the printing surface area in which the entire trial platemaking range determined to be rectangular is searched while changing the direction of the trial platemaking range. It is determined whether or not the heated dot satisfies the condition that it is more than a predetermined distance in units of dots from the non-heated dot (and the end of the marking surface area) of the initial marking surface data. Determine the area.

  At this time, if an area where the entire trial plate making range can be arranged in a lump is not found, the user is notified to request to divide the range. Alternatively, the arrangement determining unit 170 may sequentially divide the trial plate making range into two parts, three parts,... Until it can be arranged, and search and determine each possible position.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the trial plate making data generation unit 180 arranges the trial plate making range data at the position determined by the arrangement determination unit 170, and all the remaining stamp areas are unheated portions. However, it is not necessary to make all the stamped surface areas other than those where trial plate making range data is arranged as non-heated parts. It can be an unheated part. Since the other areas are areas that are heated by both the heating part and the main plate making, no problem occurs.

  It should be noted that not only can an image forming apparatus provided with a configuration for realizing the function according to the present invention be provided in advance, but also an existing information processing apparatus or the like can function as the image forming apparatus according to the present invention by applying a program. You can also. That is, according to the present invention, a program for realizing each functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 illustrated in the above embodiment is applied so that a CPU or the like that controls an existing information processing apparatus can be executed. It can function as an image forming apparatus. The image forming method according to the present invention can be carried out using such an image forming apparatus.

  Moreover, the application method of such a program is arbitrary. The program can be applied by being stored in a computer-readable storage medium such as a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or a memory card. Furthermore, the program can be superimposed on a carrier wave and applied via a communication medium such as the Internet. For example, the program may be posted on a bulletin board (BBS: Bulletin Board System) on a communication network and distributed. The program may be started and executed in the same manner as other application programs under the control of an OS (Operating System) so that the above-described processing can be executed.

  As mentioned above, although several Example of this invention was described, this invention is contained in the invention described in the claim, and its equality range. The invention described in the scope of the claims of the present application will be appended below.

(Appendix 1)
Before the ink non-transfer portion is formed in the printing material on which the ink transfer portion that transfers the ink to the medium by contact and the ink non-transfer portion that does not transfer the ink to the medium even if contacted are formed A control unit that controls to form a test plate-making ink transfer portion and a trial plate-making ink non-transfer portion in a portion that becomes the ink non-transfer portion;
An image forming apparatus.

(Appendix 2)
The control unit changes the test plate-making ink transfer portion to the ink non-transfer portion after forming the trial plate-making ink transfer portion and the trial plate-making ink non-transfer portion. The image forming apparatus according to 1.

(Appendix 3)
The control unit prints a trial plate-making image printed on a print medium by the trial plate-making ink transfer portion and the trial plate-making ink non-transfer portion on the print medium by the ink transfer portion and the ink non-transfer portion. The image according to appendix 1 or 2, wherein control is performed so as to form the ink transfer portion for trial plate-making and the ink non-transfer portion for trial plate-making so as to include a part of the main plate-making image to be produced Forming equipment.

(Appendix 4)
The image forming apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 3,
A printing plate making apparatus for forming the ink transfer portion and the ink non-transfer portion based on the control of the image forming apparatus;
A printing apparatus comprising:

(Appendix 5)
Before the ink non-transfer portion is formed in the printing material on which the ink transfer portion that transfers the ink to the medium by contact and the ink non-transfer portion that does not transfer the ink to the medium even if contacted are formed , Control to form an ink transfer portion for trial plate making and an ink non-transfer portion for trial plate making at a portion to be the ink non-transfer portion,
An image forming method.

(Appendix 6)
On the computer,
Before the ink non-transfer portion is formed in the printing material on which the ink transfer portion that transfers the ink to the medium by contact and the ink non-transfer portion that does not transfer the ink to the medium even if contacted are formed The ink transfer portion for trial plate making and the ink non-transfer portion for trial plate making are controlled to be formed in the portion that becomes the ink non-transfer portion,
An image forming program.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Thermal printer for plate making (printer, printing plate making apparatus), 2 ... Central control circuit (control part), 3 ... Sensor, 4 ... Thermal head, 4a ... Pressing part (heating element), 4b ... Driver IC (drive circuit) DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 5 ... Power supply circuit, 6 ... Input operation part, 8 ... Motor driver (stepping motor drive circuit), 9 ... Stepping motor, 10 ... Case, 10a ... Lower case, 10b ... Upper case, 10c ... Insertion port, 10d ... Exhaust Outlet, 10e ... inner surface, 10f ... rib, 12 ... platen roller, 14 ... guide, 14a ... inclined surface, 20 ... printing surface material holder, 21 ... printing surface material, 21a ... main surface, 21b ... back surface, 22 ... holding body, 22a ... notches, 22c ... upper cardboard, 22d ... lower cardboard, 22e ... positioning holes, 24 ... film, 25, 26 ... double-sided adhesive sheet, 27 ... perforation, 32 ... spacing adjustment mechanism 40 ... USB control circuit, 41 ... Bluetooth (registered trademark) module / wireless LAN module, 43 ... display device, 44 ... PC (personal computer), 47 ... display screen control circuit, 48 ... memory control circuit, 49 ... UI (user) Interface) control circuit, 50 ... stamp, 51 ... handle, 52 ... rootstock, 53 ... double-sided adhesive sheet, 60 ... original stamp data, 61 ... stamp area (in the stamp data), 62 ... margin area, 63 ... Image area, 64 ... non-heated data, 64a ... non-heated part, 65 ... heating data, 65a ... heated part, 66 ... stamped surface (in the stamping material), 67 ... trial plate-making range, 68 ... trial plate-making range data, 69 ... non Heating part data, 70... Heating data, 71... Decision button, 72.73. ... Marking area, 81 ... Heated part, 82 ... Non-heated part, 83 ... Blank area, 84 ... Divided and arranged part, 85 ... Image area, 86 ... Marking data, 90 ... Back button, 91 ... Complete button, 100 ... Image Forming device, 110 ... display unit, 120 ... input unit, 130 ... storage unit, 140 ... communication unit, 150 ... stamp data acquisition unit, 160 ... range data determination unit, 170 ... arrangement determination unit, 175 ... determination notification unit, 180 ... trial plate making data generation unit, 190 ... control unit, 195 ... RAM, 196 ... ROM, 197 ... CPU

Claims (6)

Before the ink non-transfer portion is formed in the printing material on which the ink transfer portion that transfers the ink to the medium by contact and the ink non-transfer portion that does not transfer the ink to the medium even if contacted are formed A control unit that controls to form a test plate-making ink transfer portion and a trial plate-making ink non-transfer portion in a portion that becomes the ink non-transfer portion;
An image forming apparatus.   The control unit, after forming the test plate-making ink transfer portion and the test plate-making ink non-transfer portion, changes the test plate-making ink transfer portion to the ink non-transfer portion. Item 2. The image forming apparatus according to Item 1.   The control unit prints a trial plate-making image printed on a print medium by the trial plate-making ink transfer portion and the trial plate-making ink non-transfer portion on the print medium by the ink transfer portion and the ink non-transfer portion. 3. The control according to claim 1, wherein control is performed so as to form the test plate-making ink transfer portion and the test plate-making ink non-transfer portion so as to include a part of the main plate-making image to be produced. Image forming apparatus. An image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A printing plate making apparatus for forming the ink transfer portion and the ink non-transfer portion based on the control of the image forming apparatus;
A printing apparatus comprising: Before the ink non-transfer portion is formed in the printing material on which the ink transfer portion that transfers the ink to the medium by contact and the ink non-transfer portion that does not transfer the ink to the medium even if contacted are formed , Control to form an ink transfer portion for trial plate making and an ink non-transfer portion for trial plate making at a portion to be the ink non-transfer portion,
An image forming method. On the computer,
Before the ink non-transfer portion is formed in the printing material on which the ink transfer portion that transfers the ink to the medium by contact and the ink non-transfer portion that does not transfer the ink to the medium even if contacted are formed The ink transfer portion for trial plate making and the ink non-transfer portion for trial plate making are controlled to be formed in the portion that becomes the ink non-transfer portion,
An image forming program.

Images