JP4449390B2 - Photo vending machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital image printing apparatus that directly prints image data on a storage medium, or processes the image data by a user or adds a character or image.

  Some printing apparatuses are equipped with a function that allows a user to process an image using the apparatus, such as a photo vending machine placed in a town. For example, it has a function of selecting a background image prepared in the apparatus, adding it to image data, and printing. There is also an apparatus that can print by changing the color of an image depending on the apparatus.

Patent Document 1 is an invention in which a person image taken in a photograph and a customer's request are transmitted to an operation center, and an image corrected by the operation center is received and printed. The correction items are body parts, fashion, and background images. Etc.
Patent Document 2 is an invention of a printed matter vending system, in which a user transmits image data from a personal computer to a server, and the server transmits image data to a printed matter vending machine. A user accesses a printed material vending machine directly or via a network, prints out image data, and obtains a printed material.
JP 2000-284356 A JP 2003-168160 A

However, in the above document, communication with the outside of a printing machine such as an operation center or a server is necessary for correction or image transmission in the printing system. For this reason, the whole system becomes large.
On the other hand, when using a printing apparatus, it is necessary to consider the following points. For example, when a group photo is taken, each name is remembered when the group photo is taken. However, when the group photo is viewed later, a person who does not fit for a while may not remember the name. Also, the name and face of people who meet for the first time may not match.

In the photo vending machine that performs photo printing processing based on photo image data stored in a medium loaded by a user , the above-described problem is to extract a human contour image from the group photo image data stored in the media a contour image generating means for generating an outline image data, an operation display panel means that the user writing input for the contour image and displays the contour image generated by the contour image generating means for input operation while viewing the display a storage means for storing the write input information input by the manipulation display panel means, and combining means for combining said write input information stored in the storage means and the contour image, created by the combining means achieved by providing a photo vending machine to an output means for printing out the synthesized image, characterized in that it has a Kill.

Here, the problem can be solved by the fact that the contour image extracted from the image data of the group photo belongs to each person of the group photo. That is, a name, etc. by writing input for each contour, since the group photograph is output, it is easy to match, Ru can solve the problem.

Further , the information to be written and input is a unique name of the image distinguished by the contour, and the name of the person being photographed can be entered.

Further, the outline image and the writing input information includes a writing means for writing to the storage medium, the outline image and writing information created by photo vending machine Ru can bring writing to the media.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to print a set of a group photo and characters of a group photo with a person's outline, characters, comments, and writings. As a result, it is possible to easily create a printed matter having an outline and a name corresponding to the group photo, and the name and the face photo can be compared one-to-one by comparison with the group photo. Therefore, you will never forget your name.

  Also, those who have met for the first time or those who have not yet been referred to are very effective in remembering their names and faces. Further, when the contour becomes complicated, the contour can be input by handwriting to cope with it.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is an external view of a printing apparatus (photo vending machine) 10 according to this embodiment. A display 11 displays a touch panel for operation. The display 11 is a panel that displays an operation guide and an operation menu until printing and is operated by the user. The display 11 constitutes an operation display panel of a block diagram to be described later.

  Reference numeral 12 denotes a media slot for reading and writing images. A medium (storage medium) on which an image to be printed is recorded is inserted. Supports several types of media such as memory cards and memory sticks. The printing apparatus 10 is also provided with a photo receiving port 13, a bill insertion port 14, a coin insertion port 15, a return lever 16, a fishing return port 17, and a receipt receiving port 18.

  FIG. 2 is a system block diagram of the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment. Reference numeral 20 denotes a controller which is a control unit of the apparatus, and controls each unit and the apparatus. The billing control unit 21 handles charges and fishing, 22 is a receipt printer, and 23 is a display control unit. The display control unit 23 displays an operation menu and an operation guide based on a menu program on an operation display panel described later.

The touch panel control unit 24 performs panel control, detects, for example, a user operation, processes it, and transmits it to the controller 20. The menu program processing may be performed by integrating the display control unit 23 and the touch panel control unit 24 without using the controller 20.
The operation display panel 25 displays an operation menu and an operation guide by a menu program. The group photo read from the media, outline display, text input, name input, comment input, etc. and their composite images and output status are also displayed.

The media reading / writing unit 26 reads / writes data from / to a medium storing group photo image data, that is, a storage medium. The writing input memory 27 is a memory for storing writing input such as user characters.
The contour image processing unit 28 creates the contour of each person from the group photograph image data. Although a method will be described later, a personal outline is created even in a personal photograph.

The image memory 29 stores image data and provides it to the contour image processing unit 28. The OR unit 30 combines the user's write input from the write input memory 27 with the contour of the person created by the contour image processing unit 28.
The print control unit 31 receives image data from the contour image processing unit 28, the image memory 29, and the OR unit 30, controls it to form a print image, and controls printing. The printer engine 32 includes four engines, and actually prints on paper.

The communication control unit 33 is used when communicating with the outside, and the hard disk 34 stores a program for controlling the apparatus, for example. The hard disk 34 is used for storing image data, and the apparatus can be used as an editing apparatus.
Reference numeral 35 denotes an external network, for example, the Internet, and 36 is a data center. For example, it has a function of accepting storage of consignor data.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.
The user loads a medium into which the group photo image data is inserted into the media slot 12. The user operates the operation display panel 25 of the display 11 and first selects a “group photo outline display” mode in the print mode. The controller 20 obtains mode information by operation from the touch panel control unit 24 and reads the image data of the designated group photo from the media through the media reading / writing unit 26. Also, the image data selected by the user from the media read / written by the media reading / writing unit 26 and displayed on the operation display panel 25 is used.

The controller 20 takes in the image data and develops it in the image memory 29. Subsequently, the image data is sent to the contour image processing unit 28, and the contour image processing unit 28 generates a contour image. This specific method is disclosed in JP-A-8-272979.
The contour image generated by the contour image processing unit 28 is displayed on the operation display panel 25. The user operates the operation display panel 25 while viewing this image, and considers the arrangement of writing a name (unique name) and a comment, editing an outline, adding an arrow and a balloon using a character input palette, a drawing palette, and the like. While doing. This additional write data is recorded in the write input memory 27 from the touch panel control unit 24 through the controller 20.

  When all the writing of the name, etc. and the editing of the contour are completed and the contour image is printed, the contour image and the data in the writing input memory 27 are combined by the OR unit 30 and transmitted to the print control unit 31. Is done. The print control unit 31 transmits data to the printer engine 32 for printing. A composite image of contour and writing input is output.

When printing the L size of the group photo and the created outline and composite image on the 2L size paper, the controller 20 expands each data to half of the memory area corresponding to the 2L size. To do.
As shown in FIG. 3, half of the frame memory in the print control unit 31 or the image memory 29 is used for the L-size group photo, and half is used for the L-size contour and writing composite image. The print control unit 31 transmits this data to the printer engine 32 and prints it out on one 2L size printing paper. As the output result, a group photo, a person's outline, and written character input are displayed as shown in FIG. The upper half of the 2L size is the actual photo, and the lower half is the outline display and the name photo. FIG. 5 shows another output example of 2L size output of group photo, contour, and writing input.

  Further, the created contour image data can be written back to the user's media by the user's operation and designation on the operation display panel 25, and can be taken home. The user's operation and designation on the operation display panel 25 are transmitted to the controller 20 through the touch panel control unit 24. The controller 20 transmits the contour image data from the contour image processing unit 28 to the media reading / writing unit 26 through the controller 20. The media reading / writing unit 26 writes the contour image data on the media. The user takes out the medium after the writing is completed.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the above process. First, the display of “group photo display / printing process” is displayed on the operation display panel 25 by the display control unit 23, and the group waits for selection of the group photo mode, that is, “group photo display / printing process”. Step (hereinafter referred to as S) 1).

If it is selected by the user's operation on the operation display panel 25, the process proceeds to step (S2). If not selected, the above process (S1) is repeated.
Next, in the process (S2), the group photo of the selected image is captured. In this processing, what is to be printed is selected from the group photo images read by the media reading / writing unit 26 from the media by the operation of the operation display panel 25 by the user. The selected image data is taken into the image memory 29.

  Next, contour extraction processing is performed on the image data of the group photograph selected by the contour image processing unit 28 (S3). That is, image data of the group photograph is transmitted from the image memory 29 to the contour image processing unit 28, and the above-described contour extraction processing is performed. By this process, the outline image data of the group photo is extracted.

Next, the extracted contour image is displayed (S4). That is, the controller 20 receives the contour image data from the contour image processing unit 28 and transmits it to the display control unit 23. The display control unit 23 displays the contour image data at a predetermined position on the operation display panel 25.
Next, a character input acceptance process is performed (S5). That is, an operation on the operation display panel 25 for inputting and writing a character by the user is received by the touch panel control unit 24 and received by the controller 20. The display control unit 23 displays an operation screen for the character input and writing menu or a character input screen on the operation display panel 25. And based on a user's operation, arrangement | positioning is set, a character input, a name, and a comment are written. The user enters, for example, character input or writing at the outline.

Next, it is determined whether the user's character input and writing is completed (S6). This determination is detected, for example, when the touch panel control unit 24 operates the character input on the screen of the operation display panel 25 and the end portion of the writing menu. If not detected, the process returns to the process (S5).
Next, an input character composition display is performed (S7). That is, the input character and writing data are read by the touch panel control unit 24 and written to the writing input memory 27 by the controller 20. The input character, the written data, and the contour image are transmitted to the OR unit 30 or the controller 20 and synthesized, and the synthesized data is displayed.

Next, it is determined whether or not the user who has seen the input character composition display corrects it (S8). This determination is detected by the touch panel control unit 24 operating the correction portion of the screen menu of the operation display panel 25.
If there is no correction (YES in S8), a printing process is performed (S9). That is, under the control of the controller 20, input character composition display and group photo image data are transmitted from the image memory 29 and the OR unit 30 to the print control unit 31, image data is transmitted to the printer engine 32, and printing processing is performed.

  By configuring in this way, it is possible to easily create a printed matter containing the outline and name corresponding to the group photo, and the name and face photo can be collated one-on-one by comparison with the group photo. In addition, people who have met for the first time or who have not been referred can be remembered by matching their names and faces.

Note that data may be stored in the data center 36 through the network 35 using the communication control unit 33 described above. In this case, the user can retrieve the data by accessing the data center 36 when he / she wants to retrieve the data.
In the above embodiment, the group photo is used, but any photo may be used as long as an effect can be obtained by adding an outline display and a comment. For example, the present invention can also be applied to images such as room layout diagrams and vehicle parts drawings.

  In addition, although the upper half of the 2L size is an actual photograph and the lower half is a contour display, the print result may be upside down as shown in FIG. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 8, you may reverse the up-down direction of one side, and when this is bent and used for two, it is comprised so that an upper side may become the same direction.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 9, the same size photographic images may be divided and output in two sheets, or as shown in FIG. 10, the photographic images of different sizes or other sizes are divided into two sheets and output. It is good also as a structure.
In addition, the group photo may be printed on a normal printing paper, and the outline image may be printed on a transparent or translucent film. In this case, normal print paper is prepared for one of the engine units in the apparatus, and translucent film paper is prepared for the other. When the paper to be ejected is different, the print control unit 31 transmits the respective data to different engine units, and activates each to perform the printing process.

For example, an example of this case is shown in FIG. Since it is a printed film paper with a contour display, it can be seen overlaid because it is transparent or translucent, and the person and name of the group photo can be compared. In this case, the outline display part may be erased and only the character part may be printed.
Further, in the above embodiment, only the character portion can be changed in the contour display and the character portion processing. However, the contour portion may be manually corrected after the contour creation processing.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. Note that the configuration is the same as the method of adding characters such as names and comments in the first embodiment.

  The second embodiment is a “with group photo outline comment” mode. This example is a mode in which the user can freely write the contour and output it without automatically generating the contour of the person in the group photo performed in the first embodiment. The user can select this mode by selecting the print mode.

  When a group photo is selected in the “with group photo outline comment” mode, as shown in FIG. 12, the user enters a mode in which a person's outline is written in the upper half. This writing is performed using a pen (not shown) according to the operation guide of the operation display panel 25, for example. Further, the user writes a comment such as a name in an arbitrary arrangement on the operation display panel 25.

  The lower half shown in the figure is a preview. The upper side is a real photograph, and the image input with the upper pen is displayed on the lower side. In this case, the input is read by the touch panel control unit 24 and transmitted to the display control unit 23 via the controller 20, and displayed on the operation display panel 25 by the display control unit 23. On the lower side, the actual photograph is displayed in a light color on the controller 20, and the contour and comment input in the upper half are displayed. Further, in the figure, the outlines and names of Mr. A and Mr. B inputted on the upper half side are displayed so as to be understood as the input status.

By configuring in this way, it is also possible to create a printed matter with outlines and names corresponding to the group photo, and by comparing with the group photo, the name and face photo can be verified one-on-one, and for the first time met You can remember people and uninquired people by matching their names and faces.
The upper and lower sides are L size and the whole is 2L size. The printing operation is performed after the user finishes contour input and writing. That is, what the user writes is read by the touch panel control unit 24 and stored in the write input memory 27 by the controller 20. This is transmitted to the print control unit 31 and printed by the printer engine 32. Only outlines, characters and comments are printed in the lower half of the L size. Note that only an outline may be input.

FIG. 13 shows the output result of printing. In the 2L size, the top is the actual photo, and the bottom is the outline, characters, and comments. Comments can be placed at any position, and arrows can be entered as well as outlines.
In the above embodiment, the pen is used for the user to input the contour. However, the present invention is not limited to the pen, and a fingertip or other instruction means may be used using a touch panel or the like. An example is shown in FIG. For character input, a pen is used to write characters on the touch panel for conversion and confirmation. The input method can be selected.

(Embodiment 3)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In this example, the shooting location is entered in a photograph or a receipt. That is, the shooting location is entered in a photograph or receipt to be printed using the longitude and latitude information of the shooting time information recorded in the image file and a database (not shown) in the printing apparatus 10.
For example, the user takes a picture with a camera with a GPS (Global Positioning System) function. Information at the time of photographing such as Exif (registered trademark) is recorded at the time of photographing, and longitude and latitude information is also recorded therein. Then, the user inserts a medium containing an image file in which longitude / latitude information is recorded into the printing apparatus 10.

The printing apparatus 10 reads the image file from the medium and displays it. Also, the printing apparatus 10 creates address and facility name data from the address book database in the printing apparatus 10 based on the longitude and latitude information in the shooting information such as Exif recorded in the image file.
FIG. 15 shows a print screen selection diagram of this example. Many images in the media are read and displayed side by side. The user selects an image to be printed on the touch panel and selects whether or not to print the shooting location in the image. When entering the shooting location, the display format is selected from the longitude / latitude, the address, and the facility name on the touch panel. When the printing device 10 detects an operation “with shooting location”, the selected shooting location display format data, that is, longitude / latitude or address or facility name is inserted into the print image data.

Thereafter, when the user operates with a fee, image data including the shooting location is transmitted to the engine unit, and a photograph including the shooting location is printed. FIG. 16 shows the output result of this example, where “Mount Fuji” and the shooting location are inserted in the lower right.
FIG. 17 is a view showing a modification of the present embodiment, and displays a settlement screen of the printing apparatus 10. The user uses the touch panel to select whether or not to print the shooting location on the receipt. Select whether the display format of the shooting location should be longitude / latitude, address, or facility name. When the selection is completed and the touch panel control unit 24 detects a printing operation, the controller 20 transmits data to the receipt printer 22 and prints it. FIG. 18 shows the printing result in this case. The shooting location is shown corresponding to the file name of the image.

With this configuration, it is possible to easily know the location and position where the photograph was taken, and the printing apparatus is extremely useful.

(Embodiment 4)
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Embodiments are added to comment input, character input, and write input of the present invention. It is explained by inputting comments.
FIG. 19 is an explanatory example of comment placement means, and is an operation screen where a comment field is placed. It is displayed on the operation display panel 25. The user selects an arrangement of comments from the four displayed, and selects an arrangement. As a result, the control is performed through the touch panel control unit 24, the controller 20, and the display control unit 23, and the arrangement is displayed in the lower light-colored image of the left side display in FIG. In FIG. 19, the layout is displayed by default “2 san”.

FIG. 20 shows an example of an operation screen at the time of comment input editing. Input editing is performed by writing characters with a pen in the square and converting and confirming in the same way as a word processor.
FIG. 21 is an example of adjusting the lightness of the light color display of the group photo at the time of comment placement. You can adjust it by clicking on the dark or light arrow. A signal generated by clicking the arrow is captured by the touch panel control unit 24 and sent to the controller 20. The controller 20 transmits the change in shading to the display control unit 23. The display control unit 23 adjusts the shade of light color display and displays it on the operation display panel 25.

Further, settings such as the print density, contrast, and hue of the actual image portion may be changed, and further, the contrast and hue of the light color display portion may be changed.
Comment input, that is, write input and print processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the display of “group photo display / printing process” is displayed on the operation display panel 25 by the display control unit 23, and the group waits for selection of the group photo mode, that is, “group photo display / printing process”. Step (hereinafter referred to as ST) 1). And if selection is detected by operation of the operation display panel 25 of a user (ST1 is YES), it will transfer to the next process (ST2).

The process (ST2) is a process in which the selected image is read from the medium by the media reading / writing unit 26 when the group photo mode is selected. The image data is transmitted to the controller 20 and developed from the controller 20 to the image memory 29. .
Next, an arrangement receiving process for the comment column is performed (ST3). For example, as shown on the right side of FIG. 19, four examples of comment arrangement are displayed, and the user selects them.

Next, a comment field arrangement image is displayed (ST4). For example, the arrangement of comments is displayed by the display control unit 23 as selected on the left side of FIG. The above arrangement contains default characters.
Next, it is determined whether or not the arrangement of the comment column is completed (ST5). Here, when the next comment field arrangement is performed, the process returns to the process (ST3) by the user's operation and the process is repeated. On the other hand, when the comment column arrangement is finished (YES in ST5), the user operation is detected by the touch panel control unit 24 and the process proceeds to the next.

Next, comment edit acceptance processing is performed (ST6). Characters are input as shown in FIG. 20 described above, converted in the same manner as a word processor, and confirmed to change the comment from the default and input.
Next, it is determined whether comment editing is completed (ST7). Here, when the comment field is further edited, the process is returned by the user's operation, and when the character editing of the arranged comment field is ended, the user performs the comment editing end operation.

Next, a combined display of comments is performed (ST8). The OR unit 30 combines the contour display generated by the contour image processing unit 28 and the input comment. The composite image is displayed on the operation display panel 25 via the image memory 29, the controller 20, and the display control unit 23.
Next, it is determined whether there is correction of the composite image (ST9). If there is a correction operation, the touch panel control unit 24 detects it and returns to the process (ST5) to perform the correction process. On the other hand, if there is no correction and there is a printing operation by the user (YES in ST9), the group photo, the outline, and the comment image are printed and printed out. With this configuration, a photograph with a comment can be obtained, and the printing apparatus can be further useful.

  Note that the edited image may be stored in a recording medium such as a medium. Also, other devices such as mobile phones, using communication transfer means such as optical fiber, LAN, Internet, telephone system, wireless communication, Bluetooth, wireless LAN, infrared communication (IrDA), contactless IC card, etc. It may be transferred to a mobile PDA, PC, management server, digital camera, wrist camera, etc. and recorded.

  In addition, the edited comment, comment field, arrangement information, and the like may be transferred to the hard disk 34 or an external storage medium so that the information can be reused.

1 is an external view of a printing apparatus according to the present invention. It is a circuit block diagram of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a memory configuration in which half of a frame memory is used for an L-size group photo and half is used for an L-size outline and a written composite image. It is a figure explaining the example of a group photograph, the outline of a person, and a comment. It is a figure explaining the example of edit of a group photograph and a comment. 3 is a flowchart for explaining processing of the first embodiment. It is a figure explaining the example whose upper part is a contour display and whose lower part is a real photograph. It is a figure explaining the example which makes it possible to return an output result. It is a figure explaining the example output separately with the same size. It is a figure explaining the example output separately in a different size. It is a figure explaining the example which made the outline display transparent or semi-transparent. It is a figure explaining the example in the case of drawing an outline manually. It is a figure explaining the example at the time of drawing an outline manually. It is a figure explaining the example of the operation method of drawing and character input. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print image selection screen. FIG. It is a figure explaining the example of a photography place insertion photograph. It is a figure explaining the example of a payment screen. It is a figure which shows an example of the receipt output result of imaging | photography place description. It is a figure which shows the example of the operation screen at the time of comment column arrangement | positioning. It is a figure which shows the example of the operation screen at the time of comment edit. It is a figure which shows the operation screen of the density adjustment of a light color display part. 10 is a flowchart for explaining a processing operation of the fourth embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10 Printing device 11 Display (touch panel)
12 Media slot 13 Photo receiving port 14 Bill insertion port 15 Coin insertion port 16 Return lever 17 Change return port 18 Receipt receiving port 20 Controller 21 Charging control unit 22 Receipt printer 23 Display control unit 24 Touch panel control unit 25 Operation display panel 26 Media reading Write unit 27 Write input memory 28 Outline image processing unit 29 Image memory 30 OR unit 31 Print control unit 32 Printer engine 33 Communication control unit 34 Hard disk 35 Network 36 Data center

Claims (3)

In a photo vending machine that performs photo print processing based on photo image data stored in media loaded by a user,
Contour image generation means for generating contour image data obtained by extracting a human contour image from group photo image data stored in the medium ;
An operation display panel unit configured to input operation while viewing the user the display writing input for the contour image and displays the contour image generated by the contour image generating means,
Storage means for storing the writing input information input by the operation display panel means ;
Synthesizing means for synthesizing the contour image and the writing input information stored in the storage means ;
Output means for printing out the composite image created by the composition means;
A photo vending machine characterized by comprising: The write information input photo vending machine according to claim 1 which is a unique name of differentiated human image by the outline. 3. A photo vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising writing means for writing the contour image and the writing input information to a storage medium.

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