JP5267537B2 - Nail printing apparatus and printing control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a nail print apparatus and a print controlling method by which a user can simply enjoy nail print by reducing the load of the user without sticking a printing agent such as ink directly on the fingers and nails of the user. <P>SOLUTION: Specified design images (D1 to D5) and contour lines (R1 to R5) of nail images are synthesized every kinds of a plurality of photographed fingers and the synthesized nail images (G1 to G5) are printed on a nail tip sheet (7) having an adhesive layer. After printing, the nail tip sheet (7) is cut automatically by a cutter or manually by scissors along the counter lines (R1 to R5) of the nail parts printed of the nail tip sheet (7), and thereby the nail tips with contour shapes corresponding to the contour shapes of each of nail parts different from each other are made. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2012,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a nail printing apparatus and a printing control method.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a nail print apparatus that prints design images such as characters and pictures on a human fingernail is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
The nail printing apparatus detects a nail region to be printed by photographing a nail to be printed with a photographing unit, and uses the inkjet print head or the like to design a design image selected by the user in the detected nail region. It is something to print.

  If such an apparatus is used, a nail print can be easily enjoyed without using a nail salon or the like.

Special table 2003-534083 gazette

However, when printing is performed by directly ejecting ink onto the upper surface of a person's nail as in a conventional nail printing apparatus, the user must wait without fixing his / her finger during the printing operation. There is a problem that the burden is large.
In addition, when printing is performed using an ink jet print head, ink mist may be scattered around the nail, and there is a possibility that the ink adheres to the finger and becomes dirty during printing.
Furthermore, when printing directly on the nail, if you want to change the printed design image to something else, you have to erase the printed image using a light removal liquid etc. . For this reason, there is also a problem that it is not possible to change the nail print according to clothes and mood and enjoy fashion.

  The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances as described above, and does not attach a printing agent such as ink directly to the user's finger or nail, thereby reducing the user's burden and allowing the user to easily enjoy nail printing. An object of the present invention is to provide a nail printing apparatus and a printing control method.

In order to solve the problem, the nail printing apparatus according to claim 1,
Photographing means for photographing a plurality of fingernails;
Finger type detection means for detecting the type of each finger from the images of the fingernails taken by the imaging means;
First storage control means for storing the finger type detected by the finger type detection means and the images of the fingernails taken by the imaging means in association with each other;
Design designation means for designating the design image to be printed from storage means storing a plurality of design images each associated with different nail image data for each type of finger;
A combined nail image that generates a combined nail image by combining the design image specified by the design specifying unit and the nail image for each finger type stored by the control of the first storage control unit. Generating means;
Print control means for controlling the composite nail image synthesized by the synthetic nail image generation means to print on the nail chip sheet;
It is characterized by having.

A second aspect of the present invention is the nail printing apparatus according to the first aspect,
Second storage control means for storing the design image designated by the design designation means;
Comprising a claw contour extraction means to extract a contour of the nail from the image of the nail taken by previous SL photographing means,
The synthetic nail image generation means is characterized in that a nail outline extracted by the nail outline extraction means in the nail image is synthesized with the design image to generate a synthetic nail image.

Moreover, the nail print apparatus according to claim 3
Photographing means for photographing a plurality of fingernails;
Finger type detection means for detecting the type of each finger from the images of the fingernails taken by the imaging means;
First storage control means for storing the finger type detected by the finger type detection means and the images of the fingernails taken by the imaging means in association with each other;
Design designation means for designating the design image to be printed from storage means storing a plurality of design images each associated with different nail image data for each type of finger;
Second storage control means for storing the design image designated by the design designation means;
Nail outline extracting means for extracting the nail outline from the image of the fingernail imaged by the imaging means;
Print control means for controlling the contour of the nail extracted by the nail contour extraction means to be printed on a nail chip sheet for each kind of finger stored by the control of the first storage control means;
It is characterized by having.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is the nail printing apparatus according to the third aspect,
The printing control means further includes a cutting control means for controlling the nail chip sheet to be cut along the contour line of the nail printed on the nail chip sheet.

The printing control method according to claim 5 is:
A finger type detection step of detecting the type of each finger from images of a plurality of fingernails imaged by the imaging means;
A first storage control step of storing the types of the fingers detected by the finger type detection step and the images of the plurality of fingernails captured by the imaging unit in association with each other;
A design designation step for designating the design image to be printed from storage means storing a plurality of design images each associated with different nail image data for each type of finger;
Synthetic nail image generation for generating a combined nail image by combining the design image specified by the design specifying step and the nail image for each finger type stored by the control of the first storage control step Steps,
A print control step for controlling the composite nail image synthesized by the synthetic nail image generation step to print on the nail chip sheet;
It is characterized by having.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the printing control method according to the fifth aspect,
A second storage control step for storing the design image designated by the design designation step;
A nail contour extracting step for extracting a nail contour from the image of the fingernail imaged by the imaging means;
With
The synthetic nail image generation step is characterized in that a nail contour extracted by the nail contour extraction step in the nail image is synthesized with the design image to generate a synthetic nail image.

The print control method according to claim 7 is:
A finger type detection step of detecting the type of each finger from images of a plurality of fingernails imaged by the imaging means;
A first storage control step of storing the finger types detected by the finger type detection step and the nail images of the plurality of fingers captured by the imaging unit in association with each other;
A design designation step for designating the design image to be printed from storage means storing a plurality of design images each associated with different nail image data for each type of finger;
A second storage control step for storing the design image designated by the design designation step;
A nail contour extracting step for extracting a nail contour from the image of the fingernail imaged by the imaging means;
A printing control step for controlling the contour line of the nail extracted by the nail contour extraction step to be printed on a nail chip sheet for each kind of finger stored by the control of the first storage control step;
It is characterized by having.

The invention according to claim 8 is the printing control method according to claim 7,
The printing control step further includes a cutting control means for controlling the nail chip sheet to be cut along the contour line of the nail printed on the nail chip sheet.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily create a nail chip having a contour shape that matches the contour shape of the user's claw portion without bothering the user. Thereby, when performing nail printing, a finger | toe becomes dirty with an ink or a printing agent, and a user's burden, such as waiting without moving a finger | toe during printing operation, can be eliminated. In addition, you can enjoy nail printing just by applying the nail chip with the design printed on your nails, so by changing the nail chip, you can easily change the nail print according to your clothes and mood. There is an effect that you can enjoy.

1 is a perspective view conceptually showing an embodiment of a nail print apparatus according to the present invention, and shows a state in which a lid is opened. It is the perspective view which showed notionally the apparatus main body of the nail print apparatus of FIG. It is sectional drawing at the time of seeing the apparatus main body in FIG. 2 from the front side. It is sectional drawing at the time of seeing the apparatus main body in FIG. 2 from the right side from the right side. It is the block diagram which showed the nail print apparatus of FIG. It is a memory block diagram of ROM. It is a memory block diagram of RAM. (A) is a side sectional view of a finger holding member for four fingers, (B) is a front view of a finger holding member for four fingers, and (C) is a finger holding member for a thumb. (D) is a front view of the finger holding member for thumb. (A) is a sectional side view of the finger holding member for four fingers turned upside down, (B) is a sectional view of the nail chip sheet of this embodiment, (C) is a nail chip sheet It is sectional drawing which shows the state which peels a peeling layer after printing, and (D) is sectional drawing which shows the state which affixed the cut-out nail chip | tip on the fingernail. It is a flowchart of the first half of nail printing processing. It is a flowchart of the first half of nail printing processing. It is a flowchart of the latter half of nail printing processing. It is a figure which shows an example of the design mode selection screen of an operation part and a display part. It is a figure which shows an example of the design selection screen of an operation part and a display part. It is a figure which shows an example of the finger insertion instruction | indication screen of a display part. It is a figure which shows an example of the holding member insertion instruction | indication screen of a display part. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing a printing finger fixing part and a finger holding member for four fingers inserted into the first finger insertion part of the nail printing apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a state in which a finger holding member for four fingers is inserted into a first finger insertion portion of a printing finger fixing portion of the nail printing apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view showing a state where a thumb finger holding member is inserted into a first finger insertion portion of a printing finger fixing portion of the nail printing apparatus of FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows an example of the holding member extraction instruction | indication screen of a display part. It is a figure which shows an example of the sheet | seat placement instruction | indication screen of a display part. It is a figure which shows an example of the holding member reinsertion instruction | indication screen of a display part. It is the perspective view which showed the state which turned the finger holding member of the nail print apparatus of FIG. 1 upside down. 2 is a side sectional view showing a state in which a finger holding member for four fingers on which a nail chip sheet is placed is inserted into a first finger insertion portion of a printing finger fixing portion of the nail printing apparatus of FIG. It is the figure which showed the nail chip sheet | seat in which the synthetic | combination nail image for 5 pieces was printed. It is the figure which showed the nail chip | tip for five claws cut | disconnected from the nail chip | tip sheet | seat of FIG. It is the figure which showed the state which affixed the nail chip | tips for five nails of FIG. 26 on the nail | claw of five fingers, respectively. It is the figure which showed the state which affixed the nail chip | tip for 5 nails on which the fixed design was printed to the nail | claw of 5 fingers, respectively. It is the figure which showed the nail chip sheet | seat with a pattern in which the synthetic | combination nail image for 5 pieces was printed. It is the figure which showed the nail chip | tip for five claws cut | disconnected from the nail chip | tip sheet | seat of FIG. It is the perspective view which showed notionally the modification of the nail print apparatus of FIG.

An embodiment of a nail print apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of a nail print apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an internal configuration of the nail print apparatus.
In this embodiment, the nail print apparatus 1 is an apparatus capable of generating a nail chip 70 (see FIG. 26 and the like) to be attached to a fingernail. As shown in FIG. 1, the nail print apparatus 1 includes a case body. 2. In addition to the lid 4, the first finger insertion unit 20 a that is a finger insertion unit into which a finger (target finger U <b> 1) corresponding to a nail that is a collection target of information necessary for generating the nail chip 70 is inserted. A printing apparatus main body 10 provided, a finger holding member 6 configured to be detachable from the first finger insertion portion 20a, and the like are provided.

The case body 2 and the lid body 4 are connected to each other via a hinge 3 provided at the rear end portion of the upper surface of the case body 2.
The case body 2 is formed in an oval shape in plan view. An opening / closing plate 2c is provided on the front side of the case body 2 so as to be able to rise and fall. The opening / closing plate 2 c is connected to the case body 2 via a hinge (not shown) provided at the lower front end of the case body 2. The opening / closing plate 2 c is for opening and closing the front surface of the case body 2. The nail printing apparatus 1 is used with the front surface of the case body 2 opened. An operation unit 25 described later is installed on the top plate 2 f of the case body 2. Further, a display unit 26 is installed on the inner surface of the lid 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the case main body 2 accommodates the printing apparatus main body 10 of the nail printing apparatus 1. The printing apparatus main body 10 includes a printing finger fixing unit 20 constituting a printing finger fixing unit, a photographing unit 30 constituting a photographing unit, a printing unit 40 constituting a printing unit, and a control unit. The control device 50 (see FIG. 5), the operation unit 25, and the display unit 26 are provided. Among these, the printing finger fixing unit 20, the imaging unit 30, the printing unit 40, and the control device 50 are provided in the machine casing 11.
The machine casing 11 includes a lower machine casing 11a and an upper machine casing 11b. The lower machine casing 11 a is formed in a box shape and is installed in the lower part of the case body 2. On the other hand, the upper machine casing 11 b is installed above the lower machine casing 11 a and above the inside of the case body 2.

  The printing finger fixing unit 20 is provided on the lower machine casing 11 a in the machine casing 11. The printing finger fixing unit 20 includes a first finger insertion unit 20a, a second finger insertion unit 20b, and a grip unit 20c provided in the lower machine casing 11a.

  The first finger insertion unit 20a is a finger corresponding to the nail T (hereinafter referred to as “target finger U1”) that is a collection target of information necessary for generating the nail chip 70 (see FIG. 26 and the like) to be attached to the fingernail part. This is a finger insertion part for inserting a finger (see FIG. 17 and the like). In the present embodiment, the target finger U1 is inserted into the first finger insertion portion 20a while being held by a finger holding member 6 described later. In the following description, of the nails T, the nail of the thumb is T1, the nail of the index finger is T2, the nail of the middle finger is T3, the nail of the ring finger is T4, and the nail of the little finger is T5 (see FIG. 27, etc.) When “nail T” is used, these nails T are collectively referred to. Of the target fingers U1, the thumb is U1-1, the index finger is U1-2, the middle finger is U1-3, the ring finger is U1-4, and the little finger is U1-5 (see FIG. 27 etc.). When “finger U1” is designated, these target fingers U1 are collectively referred to.

The second finger insertion unit 20b is a finger insertion unit for inserting a non-target finger U2 other than the target finger U1.
The grip 20c is a portion that can be sandwiched between the target finger U1 inserted into the first finger insertion portion 20a and the non-target finger U2 inserted into the second finger insertion portion 20b (from FIG. 17). (See FIG. 19). The grip portion 20c is constituted by a partition wall 21 that partitions the first finger insertion portion 20a and the second finger insertion portion 20b.
The second finger insertion portion 20b and the grip portion 20c need not be provided, but by providing these, the finger holding member 6 inserted into the first finger insertion portion 20a and the finger holding member 6 are held by this. The target finger U1 can be made more stable, which is extremely effective for fixing the target finger U1.

The upper surface of the partition wall 21 constitutes a flat finger holding member mounting surface. The finger holding member placement surface is for placing the finger holding member 6 inserted into the first finger insertion portion 20a. Note that this finger holding member placement surface is constituted by the floor surface of the first finger insertion portion 20a when the second finger insertion portion 20b and the grip portion 20c are not provided.
A bulging portion 22 is formed at the finger holding member insertion side end of the partition wall 21 (see FIGS. 17 to 19). The bulging portion 22 is formed by inserting the finger holding member 6 deeply into the first finger insertion portion 20a and inserting the non-target finger U2 deeply into the second finger insertion portion 20b. It is formed in the part where the base of U2 contacts. When the partition wall 21 (gripping portion 20c) is sandwiched between the target finger U1 and the non-target finger U2, the bulging portion 22 is held at the root of the target finger U1 and the non-target finger U2. Here, “holding” means that the roots of the target finger U1 and the non-target finger U2 come into contact with each other and the bulging portion 22 can be grasped. By holding the bulging portion 22, the wrist can be prevented from shaking left and right or up and down, and the hand can be stabilized.
As shown in FIGS. 17 to 19, the bulging portion 22 bulges downward from the lower surface of the partition wall 21 when viewed in a section along the insertion direction of the finger holding member 6 (in side view). It is so circular. The shape of the bulging portion 22 is not limited to a circular cross section, and may be a non-circular shape such as an elliptical cross section or a polygonal cross section. In short, any shape may be used as long as it is held at the base of the target finger U1 and the non-target finger U2.
In addition, the size of the bulging portion 22, that is, the thickness in the thickness direction of the partition wall 21, is about 1 to 2 cm so that the roots of the target finger U1 and the non-target finger U2 are sufficiently in contact with the bulging portion 22. Preferably, the thickness of the partition wall 21 is preferably about 0.5 to 1 cm smaller than the thickness of the bulging portion 22 so that the finger pad can be firmly pressed against the partition wall 21.

Next, the photographing unit 30 will be described. The photographing unit 30 is provided on the upper machine casing 11b in the machine casing 11 as shown in FIGS.
That is, a camera 32 having about 2 million pixels or more with a built-in driver is installed on the lower surface of the central portion of the substrate 31 installed in the upper machine casing 11b. An illumination lamp 33 such as a white LED is installed on the substrate 31 so as to surround the camera 32.
The photographing unit 30 includes the camera 32 and the illumination lamp 33. The photographing unit 30 illuminates the target finger U1 with the illumination lamp 33, images the target finger U1 with the camera 32, and includes a fingernail image including the nail image of the fingernail part, which is information necessary for generating the nail chip 70. This is a photographing means for photographing a nail image and taking in the image data. The photographing unit 30 is connected to a control unit 51 of a control device 50 described later, and is controlled by the control unit 51.

The printing unit 40 is a printing unit that performs printing on the nail chip sheet 7 (see FIG. 9B) for generating the nail chip 70 based on the nail image photographed by the photographing unit 30. Yes, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, it is provided on the machine casing 11 (mainly the upper machine casing 11b).
That is, two guide rods 41 are installed in parallel on both side plates of the upper machine casing 11b. A main carriage 42 is slidably installed on the guide rod 41. In addition, two guide rods 44 are installed in parallel on the front wall 42a and the rear wall 42b of the main carriage 42. A sub carriage 45 is slidably installed on the guide rod 44. A print head 46 is mounted at the center of the lower surface of the sub-carriage 45.
In the present embodiment, the print head 46 is an ink jet type print head that performs printing by atomizing ink and spraying it directly onto a print medium. The recording method of the print head 46 is not limited to the ink jet method, and various other printing methods such as a thermal printing method can be adopted.

The main carriage 42 is connected to a motor 43 through power transmission means (not shown), and is configured to move in the left-right direction along the guide rod 41 by forward and reverse rotation of the motor 43. The sub-carriage 45 is connected to a motor 47 via a power transmission means (not shown), and is configured to move in the front-rear direction along the guide rod 44 by forward and reverse rotation of the motor 47. The nail chip sheet 7 placed on the sheet placement portion 65 (see FIG. 9A) of the finger holding member 6 by the movement of the main carriage 42 and the sub carriage 45 and the ejection of ink from the print head 46. Can be printed.
Further, the lower machine casing 11 a is provided with an ink cartridge 48 for supplying ink to the print head 46. The ink cartridge 48 is connected to the print head 46 via an ink supply pipe (not shown), and supplies ink to the print head 46 as appropriate. Note that an ink cartridge may be mounted on the print head 46 itself.

  The printing unit 40 includes the guide rod 41, the main carriage 42, the motor 43, the guide rod 44, the sub carriage 45, the print head 46, the motor 47, the ink cartridge 48, and the like. The motor 43, the print head 46, and the motor 47 of the printing unit 40 are connected to a control unit 51 of a control device 50 described later, and are controlled by the control unit 51.

The operation unit 25 is input means for the user to perform various input operations. The operation unit 25 is provided on the top plate 2f of the case body 2. The operation unit 25 in this embodiment includes a power key 25a, a camera key 25b, a print key 25c, a stop key 25d, a character input key 25e, a selection key, and a selection key. A key 25f, a cursor key 25g, an enter key 25h, and the like are provided.
Here, the character input key 25e, the selection key 25f, and the cursor key 25g are keys used for selecting a design to be printed. The determination key 25h is a key for determining the design selected by the character input key 25e, the selection key 25f, and the cursor key 25g. The power key 25a is a key for turning on / off the power of the nail printing apparatus 1. The camera key 25b is a key serving as a trigger for starting shooting by the shooting unit 30. The print key 25c is a key that serves as a trigger for starting the printing process. The stop key 25d is a key used when stopping the printing process.
In this embodiment, the operation unit 25 and a design setting unit 511 described later constitute a design designation unit that designates a design image to be printed.

The display unit 26 is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal panel (liquid crystal display (LCD)) or the like, and is a display unit that performs various displays when performing a printing process. The display unit 26 is not limited to a liquid crystal panel.
A touch panel may be integrally formed on the surface of the display unit 26. In this case, various inputs can be performed by touching the surface of the display unit 26 with a stylus pen or a fingertip (not shown), and the display unit 26 has the same functions as the operation unit 25. .

In the present embodiment, the display unit 26 is, for example, a design mode selection screen (see FIG. 13) that prompts the user to select a design mode, and a design selection screen that prompts the user to select a design when an arbitrary design mode is selected (see FIG. 13). In addition to a design confirmation screen for displaying a design composite image in which the selected design is superimposed on the user's finger and requesting confirmation from the user, various instruction screens (FIGS. 15, 16, and 20 to FIG. 22) etc. are displayed.
As shown in FIG. 13, the design mode selection screen according to the present embodiment includes an arbitrary design mode key P1 for selecting an arbitrary design mode in which the user can arbitrarily select a design and a predetermined fixed value. A fixed design mode key P2 for selecting a fixed design mode assigned to each finger is displayed, and the user can select either the arbitrary design mode key P1 or the fixed design mode key P2. By selecting, an arbitrary design mode or a fixed design mode can be selected. When the arbitrary design mode is selected, the user can select a desired design for each finger from a plurality of designs prepared in advance.

  The control device 50 is provided in the upper machine casing 11b. The control device 50 is installed on a substrate 31, and as shown in FIG. 5, a control unit 51 constituted by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or the like (not shown) and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 52 as a storage means. And a computer having a RAM 53 (Random Access Memory) and the like. The storage means is not limited to the ROM 52 and the RAM 53 in the control device 50, and other storage means may be provided.

  When viewed functionally, the control unit 51 includes a design setting unit 511, a finger type detection unit 512, a nail contour extraction unit 513, a combined nail image generation unit 514, a print control unit 515, a display control unit 516, and the like. Yes. The functions as the design setting unit 511, finger type detection unit 512, nail contour extraction unit 513, composite nail image generation unit 514, print control unit 515, display control unit 516, and the like are functions of the CPU and the program stored in the ROM 52. Realized by collaboration.

The design setting unit 511 assigns and sets a design (hereinafter simply referred to as “design”) made up of one or a combination of characters or designs (including nail images) to be printed on the nail chip 70 for each finger. The design setting unit 511 constitutes design design means for designating a design image to be printed together with the above-described operation unit 25 and the like.
The design setting unit 511 functions as a second storage control unit that stores the design image designated by the design designation unit in a storage unit such as the RAM 53.

The finger type detection unit 512 is a finger type detection unit that detects the type of each finger from the fingernail images of a plurality of fingers photographed by the photographing unit 30. The finger type detection unit 512 detects the finger type of each fingernail image based on the arrangement of the fingernail image, the length dimension, the width dimension, and the like. Note that the finger type detection method is not limited to the one exemplified here.
The finger type detection unit 512 associates the finger type detected based on the fingernail image and the nail image of the nail part photographed by the photographing unit 30 for each nail and stores them in the storage means such as the RAM 53. 1 function as storage control means.

  The nail contour extracting unit 513 is nail contour extracting means for extracting the nail contour from the nail image included in the finger nail image photographed by the photographing unit 30. Note that the nail contour extraction unit 513 is not an essential component of the present invention, and the nail contour extraction unit 513 may not be provided, and processing may be performed without extracting the nail contour.

  The combined nail image generation unit 514 controls the design image stored in the storage unit such as the RAM 53 and the finger type detection unit 512 as the first storage control unit under the control of the design setting unit 511 as the second storage control unit. Is a combined nail image generating unit that generates a combined nail image by combining the nail image for each finger type stored in the storage unit such as the RAM 53. In this embodiment, the nail contour extraction unit 513 extracts the nail contour from the nail image, and the combined nail image generation unit 514 extracts the nail contour extracted by the nail contour extraction unit 513. A synthesized nail image is generated by combining the design image.

The print control unit 515 prints the combined nail image for each finger generated by the combined nail image generation unit 514 on the nail chip sheet 7 so that the combined nail image of each finger has a certain distance from each other. The print control unit generates print data to be arranged and outputs the print data to the print unit 40 to control the print operation of the print unit 40.
In the present embodiment, the print control unit 515 adjusts the arrangement of the combined nail image of each finger so that five fingers from the thumb to the little finger of one hand can be printed on one nail chip sheet 7, and printing is performed. Is generated (see FIG. 25).
Note that how many finger nail images are arranged on one nail chip sheet 7 may be set in advance, or may be arbitrarily set by the user according to the use situation. . For example, printing data may be generated so that only the combined nail image of four fingers excluding the thumb is arranged on one nail chip sheet 7, or all ten fingers of both hands are combined. After the nail images are generated, printing data may be generated so that the ten synthesized nail images are arranged on one nail chip sheet 7.

  The display control unit 516 is a display control unit that displays various displays on the display unit 26 as a display unit. In the present embodiment, the display control unit 516 displays the design mode selection screen, the design selection screen, the design confirmation screen, various instruction screens, and the like on the display unit 26 as described above.

  The ROM 52 as a storage means includes a finger type detection program for detecting the type of each finger from the fingernail image, a nail contour extraction program for extracting the nail contour, a design image and a nail image (this embodiment). Then, a combined nail image generation program for generating a combined nail image by synthesizing the image with a line indicating the outline of the nail part, a printing data generation program for generating printing data, and a printing process Various programs such as the print processing program are stored, and when these programs are executed by the control device 50, each unit of the nail print device 1 is controlled in an integrated manner.

In the present embodiment, the ROM 52 stores data corresponding to a design image that can be printed on the nail chip 70 attached to the nail portion. FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of the storage area 521 of the ROM 52.
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the storage area 521 of the ROM 52 includes a finger type area 521A, a finger number area 521B, a character area 521C that can be printed on each finger, and a pattern area 521D. In addition, each data such as a finger type, a finger number, a character, and a picture is stored. Among these, the data of the finger type and the finger number correspond one-to-one. Here, for the right hand, the thumb is set to finger number 1, the index finger is set to finger number 2, the middle finger is set to finger number 3, the ring finger is set to finger number 4, and the little finger is set to finger number 5. Although not shown here, for the left hand, for example, the thumb is set to finger number 6, the index finger is set to finger number 7, the middle finger is set to finger number 8, the ring finger is set to finger number 9, and the little finger is set to finger number 10. .

An upper list 521a in FIG. 6 shows data of an arbitrary design by finger. In the present embodiment, the nail print apparatus 1 can select an arbitrary design mode and a fixed design mode as design modes (see FIG. 13). This is data of an arbitrary design image that can be selected when the design mode is selected. As data of this arbitrary design for each finger, here, data of various characters and designs are prepared for each finger. Specifically, hiragana, katakana, kanji, and symbol data are prepared as various character data, and D1 to Dn nail image data corresponding to various patterns are prepared as various pattern data. Has been.
In addition, a lower list 521b in the figure shows data of the finger-fixed design. The finger-specific fixed design data is design image data assigned to each finger when the user selects the fixed design mode as the design mode. As the finger-fixed design, data such as D1 to D4 patterns are prepared here. Specifically, D1 (heart) data on the thumb of finger number 1, D2 (face) data on the index finger of finger number 2, D3 (sun) data on the middle finger of finger number 3, and ring finger of finger number 4 Data for D4 (month) and data for D1 (heart) are prepared in advance in correspondence with the little finger of finger number 5.
Note that the selection of the design mode is not an essential element of the present invention, and for example, only one of the arbitrary design mode and the fixed design mode may be provided. In this case, data necessary for each configuration is prepared in the storage area 521 of the ROM 52.

  In the present embodiment, the RAM 53, which is a storage unit, includes a storage area 531 for storing various data and a work area (not shown) for developing programs and the like when the control unit 51 performs various processes. In the storage area 532 of the RAM 53, for example, the finger type data detected by the finger type detection unit 512 for a plurality of fingers for which finger nail images have been acquired by the imaging unit 30 corresponds to the nail image of the nail portion of each finger. Attached and memorized. Further, the RAM 53 stores design image data designated by the design designating means to be printed on the nail chip 70 to be attached to each finger in association with finger type information and the like.

FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the storage area 531 of the RAM 53. As shown in FIG. 7, design data to be printed out of printable design data stored in advance in the storage area 521 of the ROM 52 based on information input from the operation unit 25 in the storage area 531 of the RAM 53. Is selected and stored.
As shown in FIG. 7, the storage area 531 of the RAM 53 stores finger types, finger numbers, characters, designs, etc., nail area images, composite nail images, and coordinates in association with each other. The first column 531a, the second column 531b, the third column 531c, and the fourth column 531d of the storage area 531 of the RAM 53 include design information selected in the past.

For example, the first column 531a and the second column 531b in FIG. 7 will be described below.
In the first column 531a of FIG. 7, data “do” is applied to the thumb of the finger number 1 (data of the design image D1 in FIGS. 25 to 27), and data “re” is applied to the index finger of the finger number 2 (FIG. 25). In FIG. 27, data of design image D2), data of “mi” in the middle finger of finger number 3 (data of design image D3 in FIGS. 25 to 27), and data of “fa” in ring finger of finger number 4 ( FIGS. 25 to 27 show an example in which “so” data (data of design image D5 in FIGS. 25 to 27) is stored in the little finger of finger number 5 in FIG. 25 to FIG.
In the second column 531b of FIG. 7, D1 (heart) data is stored for the thumb of finger number 1, D2 (face) data for the index finger of finger number 2, and D3 (sun) data for the middle finger of finger number 3. In the example, data of D4 (month) is stored in the ring finger of finger number 4 and an image of D1 (heart) is stored in the pinky finger of finger number 5.
The storage area 531 of the RAM 53 may store not only design data selected from the design data stored in the storage area 531 of the ROM 53 but also new design data added later by the user. .

Next, the finger holding member 6 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 8.
As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, in the 1st finger insertion part 20a, four fingers from the index finger to the little finger are held as target fingers U1 (U1-2 to U1-5). The finger holding member 6a for fingers and the finger holding member 6b for thumb holding the thumb (U1-1) as the target finger U1 can be selectively inserted. In the following, when the finger holding member 6 is simply used, it includes both the finger holding member 6a for four fingers and the finger holding member 6b for thumb.
FIG. 8A is a side sectional view of the finger holding member 6a for four fingers, and FIG. 8B is a front view of the finger holding member 6a for four fingers viewed from the insertion direction of the finger. is there. 8C is a side sectional view of the thumb finger holding member 6b, and FIG. 8D is a front view of the thumb finger holding member 6b as viewed from the insertion direction of the finger.

As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B, the finger holding member 6 a for four fingers includes a holding member main body 60 capable of holding four fingers, and this holding member main body 60. Are provided with four finger insertion holes 61 as finger holding portions that open to the front side of the finger insertion side of the finger holding member 6a for four fingers. The inner upper surface of the finger insertion hole 61 is inclined upward from the substantially central portion in the finger insertion direction toward the opening side. Although the shape and structure of the finger insertion hole 61 are not limited to the illustrated example, the thickness of the finger increases from the fingertip to the root, so that the inner upper surface of the finger insertion hole 61 is inclined as in the illustrated example. In this case, the target finger U1 can be smoothly inserted into the finger insertion hole 61, which is preferable. Instead of inclining the inner upper surface of the finger insertion hole 61, a step is provided on the inner upper surface of the finger insertion hole 61 so that the thickness on the opening side is thicker on the opening side than on the inner side in the finger insertion direction. Also good.
A finger partition 62 is provided between the finger insertion holes 61. When four target fingers U1 (index finger U1-2 to little finger U1-5) are inserted into each finger insertion hole 61, each target finger is displayed. There is a moderate gap between U1. The thickness of the finger partition 62 is not particularly limited. However, if the target fingers U1 are too close to each other, it becomes difficult to recognize the contours of the nail portions of the target fingers U1, and thus the finger partition as in the present embodiment. It is preferable that an appropriate interval is maintained between the target fingers U1 by the unit 62.

The front surface of the finger holding member 6a for four fingers (the upper surface when the target finger U1 is inserted (the upper surface in FIGS. 8A and 8B)) and the back in the finger insertion direction On the side, a nail portion exposure hole 63 is formed at a position corresponding to each finger insertion hole 61 to expose the nail portion of each target finger U1 (index finger to little finger) inserted into each finger insertion hole 61.
In addition, the finger holding member 6a for four fingers is on the back surface (the lower surface when the target finger U1 is inserted (the lower surface in FIGS. 8A and 8B)) and the finger. On the back side in the insertion direction, a sheet placement portion 65 for placing a nail chip sheet 7 to be described later is formed. The sheet arrangement portion 65 is a cutout portion having a depth substantially the same as the thickness of the nail chip sheet 7 used in the nail printing apparatus 1 in the present embodiment. The vertical and horizontal dimensions of the sheet arrangement portion 65 are the same as or slightly larger than the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the nail chip sheet 7.

  As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 8C and FIG. 8D, the finger holding member 6b for the thumb includes a holding member main body 60 capable of holding the thumb, and the holding member main body 60 includes a thumb. One finger insertion hole 61 is provided as a finger holding portion that opens in front of the finger insertion side of the finger holding member 6b. A step is provided on the inner upper surface of the finger insertion hole 61 so that the thickness in the vertical direction is greater on the opening side than on the back side in the finger insertion direction. Although the shape and structure of the finger insertion hole 61 are not limited to the illustrated example, the thickness of the finger increases from the fingertip to the root, so a step is provided on the inner upper surface of the finger insertion hole 61 as illustrated. When the thickness on the opening side is increased in the vertical direction, the target finger U1 (thumb U1-1) can be smoothly inserted into the finger insertion hole 61, which is preferable. Similar to the finger insertion hole 61 of the finger holding member 6b for four fingers, the inner upper surface of the finger insertion hole 61 is inclined upward from the substantially central portion in the finger insertion direction toward the opening side. May be.

On the surface of the thumb holding member 6b for thumb (on the upper side (the upper side in FIGS. 8C and 8D) when the target finger U1 is inserted) on the back side in the finger insertion direction Is formed with a claw portion exposing hole 63 that exposes the claw portion of the target finger U1 (thumb) inserted into the finger inserting hole 61 at a position corresponding to the finger inserting hole 61.
In addition, the back side of the thumb finger holding member 6b (the lower side when the target finger U1 is inserted (the lower side in FIGS. 8C and 8D) side) and the finger insertion direction A sheet disposing portion 65 on which a nail chip sheet 7 to be described later is placed is formed on the back side. Since the sheet arrangement part 65 is the same as the sheet arrangement part 65 provided in the finger holding member 6a for four fingers, the description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 9A shows the nail chip sheet 7 placed on the sheet placement portion 65 provided on the back side of the finger holding member 6a for four fingers by turning the front and back of the finger holding member 6a for four fingers upside down. It is the figure which showed a mode that it places. As shown in FIG. 9A, when the nail chip sheet 7 is placed on the sheet placement portion 65, the surface on the sheet placement portion 65 side of the finger holding member 6a for four fingers becomes substantially flush. ing.
FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the nail chip sheet 7 used in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9B, the nail chip sheet 7 is a sheet on a film, and a printing layer 71 on which ink is ejected and printing, an adhesive layer 72, and a release layer 73 are sequentially arranged. It is composed of overlapping.
As shown in FIG. 9C, when ink is ejected onto the nail chip sheet 7, the nail print layer 8 is formed on the print layer 71. After the printing, the nail chip sheet 7 is cut along a line indicating the outline of the nail portion printed on the nail chip sheet 7 so that the nail chip sheet 7 has a seal-like nail having a shape along the corresponding fingernail T. The chip 70 (in FIG. 26 and the like, the nail chip 70a for the thumb, the nail chip 70b for the index finger, the nail chip 70c for the middle finger, the nail chip 70d for the ring finger, and the nail chip 70e for the little finger). For example, the user cuts a portion indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 9C to form a nail chip 70 for each nail T, and then peels the release layer 73 of each nail chip 70 to expose the adhesive layer 72. Affix on the corresponding nail T. FIG. 9D shows a state where the nail chip 70 is attached on the fingernail T.

  Next, the flow of the printing process in the nail printing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 10 to 12 and FIGS.

In the first half of the nail chip printing process, as shown in FIG. 10, first, the control unit 51 of the nail printing apparatus 1 determines whether or not the power key 25a (see FIG. 13) has been operated (step S1). ) If the power key 25a is not operated (step S1; NO), the determination in step S1 is repeated. If it is determined that the power key 25a is operated (step S1; YES), the design mode selection screen (FIG. 13) is displayed on the display unit 26 (step S2).
And the control part 51 judges whether arbitrary design modes were selected about the design mode selection screen (refer FIG. 13) (step S3), and when it is judged that arbitrary design modes were selected (step S3; YES) Next, the design selection screen (see FIG. 14) is displayed on the display unit 26 (step S4). When an arbitrary design is selected by the user, a design composite image is displayed on the display unit 26 as a design confirmation screen in which the selected design is superimposed on a finger image (step S5).
The control unit 51 determines whether or not a touch operation for confirming the design or a switch operation using a key or the like has been performed (step S6). If the operation has not been performed (step S6; NO), the determination is repeated. If it is determined that an operation for confirming the design has been performed (step S6; YES), the confirmed design is associated with the type and finger number of the finger for printing the design in the RAM 53 (see FIG. 7). Store (step S7).
On the other hand, when the arbitrary design mode is not selected (step S3; NO), that is, when the fixed design mode is selected, the process proceeds to the next step without performing the processing from step S4 to step S7.

Next, the control unit 51 causes the display unit to display a finger insertion instruction screen (see FIG. 15) that prompts the user to insert a finger into the finger insertion hole 61 of the finger holding member 6 (step S8). In FIG. 15, an instruction to insert four fingers of the right hand or to insert the thumb of the right hand is displayed, but the display content of the finger insertion instruction screen is not limited to this. For example, when a series of processing for the four fingers of the right hand is completed, an instruction to insert the thumb of the right hand is displayed, and when processing for all the fingers of the right hand is completed, an instruction to insert the finger of the left hand is similarly given. In addition, instructions may be displayed sequentially.
Then, the control unit 51 prompts the finger holding member 6 to be inserted into the first finger insertion unit 20a with the finger inserted into the finger insertion hole 61, and switches the camera 32 after the insertion (camera key 25b). A holding member insertion instruction screen (see FIG. 16) for instructing to operate is displayed on the display unit 26 (step S9).

As shown in FIGS. 17 to 19, when the finger holding member 6 is inserted into the first finger insertion portion 20 a, the nail portion of the target finger U <b> 1 held by the finger holding member 6 is released from the nail portion exposure hole 63. It will be exposed and will be in the state which can be image | photographed and located under the imaging | photography part 30. FIG. In this state, a fingernail image is shot by the shooting unit 30 for the target finger U1 held by the finger holding member 6 (step S10 in FIG. 11).
When the fingernail image is photographed by the photographing unit 30, the finger type detection unit 512 detects the type of each finger from the fingernail image (step S11). The finger type detected by the finger type detection unit 512 is stored in the RAM 53 (see FIG. 7) (step S12).
In addition, the nail contour extraction unit 513 extracts the nail contour (nail region) from the nail image of the nail included in the fingernail image (step S13). The contour of the nail part extracted by the nail contour extraction unit 513 is stored in the RAM 53 (see FIG. 7) (step S14).

  The control unit 51 always determines whether the detection of the finger type and the nail contour has been completed for all the target fingers U1 (step S15), and if not completed (step S15; NO), the step The process from S10 to step S14 is repeated. On the other hand, when it is determined that the detection of the finger type and the contour of the nail part has been completed for all the target fingers U1 (step S15; YES), the user holds the finger holding member 6 from the first finger insertion part 20a. A holding member removal instruction screen (see FIG. 20) that prompts the user to pull out is displayed on the display unit 26 (step S16). Then, the synthesized nail image generation unit 514 generates a synthesized nail image by synthesizing the detected nail contour and the character image or design image assigned to each finger for each detected finger type. The combined nail image is stored in the RAM 53 (see FIG. 7) (step S17).

As shown in FIG. 12, in the latter half of the nail chip printing process, the control unit 51 turns the finger holding member 6 over and places a sheet placement instruction that prompts the nail chip sheet 7 to be placed on the sheet placement unit 65. A screen (see FIG. 21) is displayed on the display unit 26 (step S21). Further, a holding member reinsertion instruction screen (see FIG. 22) that prompts the user to insert the finger holding member 6 into the first finger insertion portion 20a in a state where the nail chip sheet 7 is placed is displayed on the display unit 26 (step S22). S22).
When the holding member reinsertion instruction screen (see FIG. 22) is displayed, the user turns over the finger holding member 6 and places the nail chip sheet 7 on the sheet placement unit 65 as shown in FIG. Then, the finger holding member 6 is reinserted into the first finger insertion portion 20a so that the sheet placement portion 65 on which the nail chip sheet 7 is placed faces up. FIG. 24 shows a state in which the finger holding member 6 is inserted into the first finger insertion portion 20a with the nail chip sheet 7 placed on the sheet placement portion 65. As shown in FIG. 24, when the nail chip sheet 7 is placed on the sheet placement portion 65 and the finger holding member 6 is inserted into the first finger insertion portion 20a, the nail chip sheet 7 is positioned below the printing portion 40. The printer is ready for printing.

The control unit 51 determines whether or not the print key 25c (see FIG. 13) has been operated (step S23), and repeats the determination if it has not been operated (step S23; NO). On the other hand, when the print key 25c (see FIG. 13) is operated (step S23; YES), the contour lines R1 to R5 of the combined nail images G1 to G5 are printed on the nail chip sheet 7 for all fingers (step). S24, see FIG. 25).
And the control part 51 displays the guidance screen which shows the completion | finish of printing and the procedure after printing on the display part 26 (step S23). As a procedure after printing, for example, an instruction to pull out the finger holding member 6 from the first finger insertion portion 20a, and the nail chip sheet 7 are cut along the contour lines R1 to R5 of the combined nail images G1 to G5. For creating the nail chips 70a to 70e (see FIG. 26), and peeling off the peeling layer 73 of the cut nail chips 70a to 70e for each finger, and sticking it to each finger U1-1 to U1-5 of the user There are instructions to attach.
In FIG. 27, the user selects an arbitrary design mode and creates nail chips 70a to 70e (see FIG. 26) for each finger, which are placed on the nails T1 to T5 of the target fingers U1-1 to U1-5. The pasted state is shown. In FIG. 28, the user selects the fixed design mode to create nail chips 70a to 70e for each finger, and pastes them on the nails T1 to T5 of the target fingers U1-1 to U1-5. It shows the state.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the design images D1 to D5 designated by the user and the contours of the nail parts extracted from the nail images of the nail parts photographed by the photographing unit 30 are synthesized to form the synthesized nail images G1 to G5. And the contour lines R1 to R5 of the combined nail images G1 to G5 are printed on the nail chip sheet 7. For this reason, it is possible to easily create nail tips 70a to 70e having contour shapes that match the contour shape of the user's claw portion.
In addition, a finger type detection unit 512 that detects the type of each finger from the fingernail images of a plurality of fingers is provided, and the finger type detected by the finger type detection unit 512 and the nail image of the nail unit are associated with each other in the RAM 53. The nail images for each finger type and the design image designated by the user are combined to generate combined nail images G1 to G5, and the contour lines R1 to R5 of the combined nail images G1 to G5 are nail-coded. Printing on the chip sheet 7. For this reason, the nail tips 70a to 70e having contour shapes that match the contour shape of the user's nail portion can be easily and quickly created for a plurality of fingers.
And since the adhesive layer is provided in the nail chip sheet 7 for producing | generating the nail chips 70a-70e, after a user cut | disconnects each nail chip 70a-70e from the nail chip sheet 7, he peels a peeling layer. The nail tips 70a to 70e can be easily attached to their nails. This makes it possible to easily enjoy nail printing.
Moreover, since the nail | claw part outline is extracted from the nail | claw image of a nail | claw part and this is combined with a design image, the synthetic | combination nail | claw image G1-G5 is produced | generated, Therefore, the individual nail chip | tip 70 (70a To 70e), the user can easily determine the outlines R1 to R5 to be cut, and the nail tips 70a to 70e can be easily created.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
For example, in the above embodiment, the design image is synthesized with the nail image to generate a synthesized nail image and this is printed on the nail chip sheet 7. However, the nail image or the nail portion extracted from the nail image is illustrated. Only the line indicating the contour may be printed on the nail chip sheet 7.
For example, as shown in FIG. 29, when printing on a nail chip sheet 7 with a pattern, the user selects the nail chip sheet 7 with a desired pattern, and only the line indicating the outline of the nail portion is displayed. Print. Then, by cutting along the contour lines R1 to R5 printed by the user, a nail chip 70 as shown in FIG. 30 can be easily created.
The nail chip sheet 7 may be made of various materials (for example, glossy material, lame material, suede material, etc.) or prepared with a rhinestone or the like attached in advance. Therefore, it is possible to easily create nail tips with more variations.
Thus, when printing only the line which shows the outline of a nail | claw part, the effort which a user selects a design on the display part 26 can be saved. In addition, since only the line indicating the outline needs to be printed, the ink used for printing may be one color and the amount used may be small. Further, if a pattern or the like is provided on the nail chip sheet 7 itself, the pattern is less likely to be peeled off than printing with ink when rubbed.
Note that the nail printer apparatus 1 shown in the present embodiment may be configured so that a mode for printing only the line indicating the outline of the nail portion can be selected.

In the present embodiment, the case where the user himself / herself separates the individual nail chips 70a to 70e after printing on the nail chip sheet 7 is shown as an example. However, as shown in FIG. Is provided with a cutting means such as a cutter 5, and after the printing operation by the print head 46 is finished, each nail chip 70 is moved along the nail chip outlines R 1 to R 5 printed on the nail chip sheet 7 by the cutter 5. You may comprise so that it may isolate | separate automatically. In this case, the control unit 51 functions as a cutting control unit that controls the cutting unit such as the cutter 5. The position where the cutting means is provided is not limited to the illustrated example.
Alternatively, the cutter 5 may be used to cut all the layers of the nail chip sheet 7, leaving only the release layer 73. In this case, after cutting, the user peels off the layer (printed layer 71, adhesive layer 72) cut by the cutter 5 from the release layer 73, so that the nail chip 70 is exposed with the adhesive layer 72 exposed. Can be removed from the nail tip sheet 7.
As described above, when the nail chip 70 is configured to be automatically separated, the nail chip 70 can be created more easily and quickly without bothering the user.

In this embodiment, the sheet placement unit 65 is provided on both the finger holding member 6a for four fingers and the finger holding member 6b for thumb. However, the sheet placement unit 65 holds the fingers for four fingers. It is good also as what is provided in any one of the member 6a and the finger | toe holding member 6b for thumbs.
For example, when the thin nail chip sheet 7 is used by changing the depth of the sheet placement portion 65 between the finger holding member 6a for four fingers and the finger holding member 6b for thumb, a rhinestone is formed on the sheet. Etc. may be used so that the nail chip sheet 7 having various thicknesses can be handled.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Nail printing apparatus 2 Case main body 4 Cover body 5 Cutter 6 Finger holding member 6a Finger holding member 6b for four fingers Finger holding member 7 for thumb Nail chip sheet 10 Printing apparatus main body 20a Printing finger insertion part 20b Non-printing finger insertion Part 20c grip part (partition wall)
20 Printing Finger Fixing Unit 30 Imaging Unit 32 Camera 33 Illumination Light (LED)
40 Printing Unit 50 Control Device 51 Control Unit 52 ROM
53 RAM
60 Holding member main body 61 Finger insertion hole 62 Finger partition part 63 Nail part exposure hole 65 Sheet arrangement part 70 Nail chip 511 Design setting part 511 Design data holding part 512 Finger type detection part 513 Nail outline extraction part 514 Composite nail image generation part 515 Print control unit 516 Display control unit D1 to D5 Design image G1 to G5 Composite nail image R1 to R5 Contour line T (T1 to T5) Nail U1 (U1-1 to U1-5) Target finger U2 Non-target finger

Claims (8)

Photographing means for photographing a plurality of fingernails;
Finger type detection means for detecting the type of each finger from the images of the fingernails taken by the imaging means;
First storage control means for storing the finger type detected by the finger type detection means and the images of the fingernails taken by the imaging means in association with each other;
Design designation means for designating the design image to be printed from storage means storing a plurality of design images each associated with different nail image data for each type of finger;
A combined nail image that generates a combined nail image by combining the design image specified by the design specifying unit and the nail image for each finger type stored by the control of the first storage control unit. Generating means;
Print control means for controlling the composite nail image synthesized by the synthetic nail image generation means to print on the nail chip sheet;
A nail printing apparatus comprising: Second storage control means for storing the design image designated by the design designation means;
Nail contour extracting means for extracting the contour of the nail from the image of the nail photographed by the photographing means;
With
The combined nail image generation means is configured to generate a combined nail image by combining the nail outline extracted by the nail outline extraction means from the nail image with the design image. Item 2. The nail printing apparatus according to Item 1. Photographing means for photographing a plurality of fingernails;
Finger type detection means for detecting the type of each finger from the images of the fingernails taken by the imaging means;
First storage control means for storing the finger type detected by the finger type detection means and the images of the fingernails taken by the imaging means in association with each other;
Design designation means for designating the design image to be printed from storage means storing a plurality of design images each associated with different nail image data for each type of finger;
Second storage control means for storing the design image designated by the design designation means;
Nail outline extracting means for extracting the nail outline from the image of the fingernail imaged by the imaging means;
Print control means for controlling the contour of the nail extracted by the nail contour extraction means to be printed on a nail chip sheet for each kind of finger stored by the control of the first storage control means;
A nail printing apparatus comprising: Along the contour line of the nail printed on the nail chip sheet by the printing control means,
4. The nail printing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a cutting control means for controlling the cutting of the nail chip sheet. A finger type detection step of detecting the type of each finger from images of a plurality of fingernails imaged by the imaging means;
A first storage control step of storing the types of the fingers detected by the finger type detection step and the images of the plurality of fingernails captured by the imaging unit in association with each other;
A design designation step for designating the design image to be printed from storage means storing a plurality of design images each associated with different nail image data for each type of finger;
A combined nail for generating a combined nail image by combining the design image design image specified by the design specifying step and the nail image for each finger type stored by the control of the first storage control step An image generation step;
A print control step for controlling the composite nail image synthesized by the synthetic nail image generation step to print on the nail chip sheet;
A printing control method comprising: A second storage control step for storing the design image designated by the design designation step;
A nail contour extracting step for extracting a nail contour from the image of the fingernail imaged by the imaging means;
With
The synthetic nail image generation step is characterized in that a nail contour extracted by the nail contour extraction step in the nail image is combined with the design image to generate a synthetic nail image. 5. The printing control method according to 5. A finger type detection step of detecting the type of each finger from images of a plurality of fingernails imaged by the imaging means;
A first storage control step of storing the finger types detected by the finger type detection step and the nail images of the plurality of fingers captured by the imaging unit in association with each other;
A design designation step for designating the design image to be printed from storage means storing a plurality of design images each associated with different nail image data for each type of finger;
A second storage control step for storing the design image designated by the design designation step;
A nail contour extracting step for extracting a nail contour from the image of the fingernail imaged by the imaging means;
A printing control step for controlling the contour line of the nail extracted by the nail contour extraction step to be printed on a nail chip sheet for each kind of finger stored by the control of the first storage control step;
A printing control method comprising:   The cutting control means for controlling to cut the nail chip sheet along the contour line of the nail printed on the nail chip sheet by the printing control step is provided. The printing control method as described.

Images